Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Gov. J.B. Pritzker to sign bill raising smoking age to 21 statewide
Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to sign a bill Sunday that will raise the legal age for purchasing cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 to 21 statewide.
Public health advocates have been trying for years to raise the legal age in Illinois, arguing that people are less likely to become smokers if they haven’t started by the time the turn 21. Lawmakers approved the bill for the second time in as many years last month after then-Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed an earlier version last year.
Peoria Journal-Register: Bill stripping townships of zoning control over wind farms heads to governor
The Illinois Senate has passed and sent to Gov. JB Pritzker a bill aimed at resolving a conflict in eastern Illinois over which unit of local government has authority to control zoning for wind farms.
House Bill 2988 provides that only a county may enact zoning regulations for wind farms in the rural parts of a county, outside the zoning jurisdiction of incorporated cities, even in counties that don’t have countywide zoning regulations.
Chicago Tribune: In Tribune interview, Chicago Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot sketches out plans for a new City Hall
From the moment Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot finished her election night victory speech Tuesday, the City Hall stopwatch started.
She must name a transition team, build out a Cabinet and hire top staffers in less than six weeks, or as Lightfoot put it, “an insanely short period of time.”
WBEZ: Chicago Charter School For Girls Is Closing
The only all-girls charter school in Chicago plans to close its doors by the end of this school year as it struggles with financial issues and declining student enrollment.
The Young Women’s Leadership Charter School serves ninth through twelfth graders in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side. In the last 10 years, the school has lost 45 percent of its students, dropping to just 138 students. The Chicago Board of Education is expected to vote to formally close the school later this month. A hearing is scheduled for next week.
WBEZ: UIC Graduate Student Union Suspends Strike After Three Weeks
After three weeks of picketing, the graduate student employee union at the University of Illinois at Chicago has suspended its strike after agreeing to what it’s calling an historic contract.
The new contract, which still needs to be ratified, includes a 14 percent wage increase over three years and a reduction in health insurance costs for members. For the first time, it also includes partial health coverage for dependents.
Daily Herald: District 202 moves on after 'mandate' at the polls
Given a rare opportunity to reduce their property tax bills, Lisle Unit District 202 voters decided to leave things as they are.
They overwhelmingly rejected a ballot proposal on Tuesday that would have reduced the school district’s property tax levy by roughly $1.2 million. In addition, four incumbents who opposed the tax-cut plan were re-elected over three challengers who supported it.
State Journal-Register: No more stickers? Springfield looks at changes to yard waste pickups
A proposed expansion of Springfield’s yard-waste collection program would increase the city’s cost by almost half but lead to less confusion for residents and spare people the expense of buying $2-per-bag stickers in the months when free pickups weren’t available in the past.
Those are some of the benefits outlined by Public Works director Mark Mahoney front of the Springfield City Council last week.