Get the latest news from around Illinois.
State Journal-Register: Pritzker suggests no large gatherings until coronavirus vaccine available
Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday that he doesn’t see how there can be large gatherings in the state again until a coronavirus vaccine is available, something that is probably months away.
As a result, the Department of Agriculture said it is evaluating what the coronavirus will mean for this year’s state fair.
Chicago Sun-Times: Empty streets mean idle red-light cameras – and budget holes
Like many Chicagoans and other home-bound folks across the state, red-light cameras must be getting bored.
With many city and suburban streets looking like the main drag of a ghost town, the hated traffic enforcement cameras are, not surprisingly, catching fewer drivers running red-lights during the coronavirus pandemic.
Crain's Chicago Business: Small biz seeking lifelines that aren't there
The co-owner of a Chicago bakery cafe, a snack entrepreneur and a suburban financial services pro are all counting on a government loan to bandage their businesses while the pandemic keeps people home, sapping revenue and adding costs.
State Journal-Register: Gig workers, self-employed face delays in jobless aid
After Rich Cruse saw about $3,000 in income for his photography business quickly disappear to the coronavirus, he tried to apply for unemployment benefits in California. But like many states, his isn’t yet accepting claims from the self-employed like him.
That’s left Cruse, 58, earning just meager pay driving for Uber Eats near San Diego. And he worries about the health risks.
Chicago Sun-Times: Parents, advocates urge Pritzker to release inmates as prison coronavirus cases skyrocket
Parents and advocates of people incarcerated for violent crimes in Illinois prisons urged Gov. J.B. Pritzker during a virtual news conference Thursday to release their loved ones as cases of the coronavirus skyrocket.
As of Thursday afternoon, 134 inmates and 86 prison staff have tested positive for the virus. Two inmates have died from COVID-19 so far and two dozen more are hospitalized.
State Journal-Register: Bar, restaurant workers miss paychecks, customer connections
For most of her adult life, Sarah Jacobs has found steady employment in Springfield’s bars and restaurants.
Jacobs, 32, has been a bartender at Celtic Mist Pub for the past five years with previous stops at Obed & Isaac’s Microbrewery and Eatery, American Harvest Eatery and Indigo Restaurant.
Chicago Sun-Times: Wife of clout-heavy builder pushes to ban all pot businesses from her Gold Coast neighborhood
The wife of a clouted Chicago construction boss has launched a petition drive to keep pot shops out of her affluent Gold Coast neighborhood — and she is relying on a provision in state law that allows the city to ban all recreational weed businesses from entire precincts in the city.
Patricia Walsh, who is married to The Walsh Group Co-Chairman Daniel Walsh, filed a notice of intent March 3 with the Chicago City Clerk’s office to prevent any weed businesses — including dispensaries, cultivation centers and pot transportation and infusion operations — from opening in a patch of prime real estate that stretches from Division Street to the north, Elm Street to the south, Lake Shore Drive to the east and Clark Street to the west.
State Journal-Register: Authorities lifting Rolling Meadows quarantine
The quarantine at one senior housing complex in Taylorville is being lifted Saturday, while residents of another complex will remain under quarantine through at least April 19.
Rolling Meadows Senior Living, where 13 people tested positive for COVID-19, was placed under a 14-day quarantine as of March 27. The Christian County Health Department, after screening residents and finding no additional symptoms and with approval of the Illinois Department of Public Health, is lifting the quarantine as of 8 a.m. Saturday, according to a statement Friday from the Christian-Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency.