Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Gov. J.B. Pritzker extends ‘modified’ Illinois stay-at-home order through May 30
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday that he will extend a statewide stay-at-home order through May 30, with several modifications.
Among them is a requirement that anyone over 2 years old wear a mask or face covering when in a public place and unable to maintain a distance of six feet from others. In addition, greenhouses and garden centers will be allowed to reopen.
Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois is already in the peak for COVID-19 deaths – but projections show the pain is far from over
Illinois has reached its peak — but that high level in coronavirus deaths could last “a couple of weeks” and see as many as 150 Illinoisans dying of COVID-19 a day.
The COVID-19 projection and worst-case fatality scenario are from scientific modeling released exclusively to the Chicago Sun-Times by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration.
The Center Square: Judge puts halt to Illinois work comp rule for essential employees
A Sangamon County Judge has granted a temporary restraining order halting a state edict that assumed any essential worker who came down with COVID-19 got it from their workplace.
In a release from the plaintiffs, Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John M. Madonia issued the order Thursday afternoon following a lawsuit filed by a consortium of more than two dozen business organizations earlier this week.
Capitol News Illinois: Illinois rents 10 refrigerated trailers as COVID-19 morgue contingency
Illinois has rented 10 refrigerated semi-truck trailers to store the bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients in case morgues become filled to capacity.
A running total of state COVID-19-related expenditures from the comptroller’s office shows a Tuesday invoice of $29,137.02 for the “rental of 10 refrigerator trailers for COVID-19 response.”
The Center Square: Unemployment still high in Illinois, but falling
Elevated unemployment continues in Illinois as more than 102,000 workers filed claims last week.
Though it is lower than the week prior, new claims for unemployment insurance were elevated well above normal levels in Illinois for the fifth week, coming in at 102,736 for the week ending April 18, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That was a decrease of 38,424 from the previous week’s 141,160 but still well above the numbers seen before the COVID-10 pandemic hit the United States.
Belleville News-Democrat: How hard will the coronavirus pandemic hit Illinois school finances and for how long?
The monumental task of transitioning two million students from classroom to remote learning may turn out to be easy compared to what Illinois school districts are facing in the coming months and years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker already has warned of expected shortfalls in the state budget, which provides an average 27% of funding for about 850 school districts across the state. And no one seems to know how the health and economic crisis will affect local property taxes, which account for 66%.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot accused of using pandemic as an excuse to consolidate power
Mayor Lori Lightfoot was accused Thursday of using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to consolidate power.
One day before the City Council is scheduled to meet again to consider granting Lightfoot expanded spending and contracting authority for the duration of the public health crisis, a handful of aldermen and community leaders tried to drum up opposition.
Crain's Chicago Business: GOP stalwart Skinner to lead Lightfoot's new recovery task force
Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled the launch of an economic recovery task this afternoon, with local business, political, labor and academic leaders helping chart the city’s course in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What’s my future look like? That’s a question on everyone’s mind,” Lightfoot said at a press conference today. “The purpose of this recovery task force is to help answer that question for us as a region. While we’ve made progress, we’re a long way from being out of the woods, but at the same time we need to plan in a thoughtful, deliberative way about what the future is going to look like.” The city does not yet know how long it will take to reach the other side of the COVID-19 plateau and begin to see a decrease.
Chicago Tribune: Alderman calls for City Council to meet twice monthly to respond faster to coronavirus crisis
The Chicago City Council should meet twice as often during the coronavirus stay-at-home order to act faster on plans to deal with the emergency, an alderman said Thursday.
North Side Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, said he will introduce a plan to the council this week to require the body to have twice-monthly meetings during the pandemic, instead of meeting once a month as usual.
WBEZ: Cook County government braces for big budget gap due to COVID-19
Preliminary projections show Cook County expects to have a shortfall of least $200 million this budget year, a ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The biggest loss in revenue is in sales tax — the largest moneymaker for the county, Chief Financial Officer Ammar Rizki told WBEZ. A dip in hotel and amusement tax dollars isn’t far behind, he said.
Crain's Chicago Business: City Hall shouldn't pick sides in this fight
Put Chicago Ald. Scott Waguespack’s proposed ordinance regulating food delivery fees in the latter category. As my colleague John Pletz reported on April 21, Waguespack wants to cap the amount delivery services like Grubhub, Doordash and UberEats can charge restaurants at 5 percent of the food bill.