Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Tier 3 restrictions will remain in place for the next few weeks, even if some regions are on track to meet the requirements for have the restrictions removed.

“We are still very much in a precarious place and we have got to take the time to evaluate any Thanksgiving effect before we make any premature adjustments,” he said.

Pritzker said hospitalizations in all Illinois regions are down slightly, but “still eclipsing the Spring peak,” and said he has met with health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Rob Murphy, from Northwestern, and Dr. Emily Landon, of Illinois Chicago Medicine, who all advised that the nation may see a surge in cases following the Thanksgiving holiday.

More than 65,000 new jobless claims were filed in Illinois the week of Nov. 16 – a whopping 40 percent jump from the week before.

The big question – will those out of work get help? All we know is that Illinois’ unemployment system continues to Fail – with a capital F – the people out of work in Illinois.

As another former American serviceman dies at the Illinois Veterans Home in downstate La Salle, family members say they have had enough. For the first time since the veterans COVID crisis began at LaSalle in early November, the loved one of a resident is speaking out about the death toll that has now climbed to 28.

Until now Cathy Patenaude has only privately criticized state handling of the crisis. Now she has talked with the I-Team about the fast-moving outbreak that now has infected at least 106 residents and 96 employees.

Illinois lawmakers will get another crack at redrawing the state’s political boundaries following this year’s Census, and that process every ten years has been run by House Speaker Michael Madigan for decades.

University of Illinois politics professor Kent Redfield said with Madigan’s speakership uncertain, there could be a lot of uncertainty.

Sky-high pot prices will increase even more at the start of the year in two Illinois cities.

Ten municipalities and two counties will levy an additional tax on recreational weed sales at the start of the year. Though most of those places don’t currently have dispensaries, the new retailers taxes will affect sales at PharmaCann’s Verilife store in Arlington Heights and the Consume location in Carbondale and any future stores that open.

Cannabis consultant Andy Seeger complained that “prices are already way too high” across Illinois, adding that the new taxes will likely “narrow margins even more for the still nonexistent legal adult-use supply chain participants.” In Chicago, an eighth of an ounce of cannabis flower can cost as much as $80 after taxes.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit hard in March, it prompted shutdowns of schools, businesses, sports venues, national parks and other sites. Legislatures across the country halted sessions, the Illinois General Assembly among them. The suspensions were a justified response to a grave public health emergency.

A public finance watchdog has raised questions about if Gov. J.B. Pritzker is being truthful in his application to borrow more federal funds to balance the state’s budget.

Pritzker has implemented statewide restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Because of lost tax revenue, Pritzker announced he will borrow $2 billion of the $5 billion the state Legislature approved earlier this year.

“Short term borrowing is a short term Band-Aid to address the urgency of a short term problem like one caused by a pandemic,” Pritzker said Wednesday