Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Crain's Chicago Business: Pritzker calls for national mask-wearing order
In remote testimony before a U.S. House panel, Pritzker ramped up his longstanding criticism of how the Trump administration has handled the pandemic. But he suggested there is still time for actions that could curb it as confirmed cases and hospitalizations soar in states in the South and West, potentially affecting Illinois.
The Center Square: Pritzker seeks federal funding to cover state, local government revenue losses
Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized the Trump administration’s handling of COVID-19 Wednesday and said it can do better moving forward, including passing a measure to provide billions of dollars to cover lost revenue for states and local governments.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, supported Congressional Democrats’ $3 trillion bill.
The Center Square: Like seat belt use, mask acceptance could take time, psychology professor says
The decision to wear a mask or face-covering in public is becoming a divisive and sometimes political statement in a brewing culture war over containing COVID-19 and some have likened it to the early resistance to the mandatory use of seat belts in vehicles.
Many Illinois businesses require face coverings, but some customers still refuse. Northern Illinois University Professor of Psychology Brad Sagarin said some Americans just don’t like being told what to do.
State Journal-Register: AG asks Clay County judge to rule on last issue in Bailey’s lawsuit
The Illinois attorney general’s office on Tuesday night asked a downstate judge to address the one outstanding issue in Rep. Darren Bailey’s lawsuit challenging Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney decides whether Pritzker’s April 30 emergency declaration correctly defines COVID-19 as a disaster, the state is procedurally barred from asking a higher court to reconsider the Xenia Republican representative’s lawsuit.
WBEZ: Red-light camera business, O’Hare janitorial contractor got millions from federal PPP loans
The red-light camera company entangled in a federal corruption investigation and an airport janitorial contractor in Chicago are among the clout-heavy companies getting large amounts of federal funding to weather the coronavirus pandemic, according to documents released this week by Trump administration officials.
Another loan from Washington’s new Paycheck Protection Program went to the security firm owned by Sean Morrison, the south suburban politician who leads the Cook County Republicans and is a commissioner on the county board.
Chicago Tribune: The retail bankruptcies and store closings just keep coming. For some merchants, the pandemic was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back.’
Many of America’s storied retailers already were facing big challenges, but the COVID-19 pandemic has hastened difficult decisions that will mean job losses and empty storefronts in the Chicago area and elsewhere.
Stay-at-home orders, layoffs and furloughs dented consumer spending that is only now coming back in fits and starts. U.S. retail and food service sales rose an estimated 17.7% in May compared with April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Still, many consumers are dealing with the economic fallout of the pandemic and worries about venturing into stores, especially as an increase in new COVID-19 cases nationwide has led some states to slow their reopening plans.
The Center Square: Pritzker calls for national face-covering requirements
Gov. J.B. Pritzker urged federal lawmakers on Wednesday to adopt a nationwide face-covering requirement as the number of cases of COVID-19 increases in some states.
The governor took part in a U.S. House committee hearing about the response to COVID-19. He laid out several things he said the federal government could do moving forward, such as requiring face coverings nationwide.
Chicago Sun-Times: Northside College Prep votes to remove its CPD officer, becomes first CPS school to do so
A Northwest Side school has elected to remove the police officer stationed in its building in a first-of-its-kind vote that offers a potential preview of dozens more similar decisions likely to be considered in the coming weeks.
The Chicago police officer at Northside College Preparatory High School will be kicked out this fall after the school’s elected body of parents, teachers and community members, along with a lone student, voted unanimously Tuesday evening to make the change.
Chicago Tribune: Despite President Donald Trump’s push for nation’s schools to reopen this fall, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the decision should be local
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday said the question of whether schools should reopen this fall must be a local decision, and she doesn’t put much thought into what President Donald Trump says, adding that it’s ironic for a Republican to advocate against individual states’ rights.
“Making some broad declaration at the federal level and ignoring the particular circumstances of a locality, where they are … what their plans are, eliminating the possibility for some kind of a hybrid model, that doesn’t make any sense,” Lightfoot said.
The Center Square: Despite Pritzker's optimism, group warns Illinois about COVID-19 metrics
Coronavirus metrics in Illinois are not as grim as they were two months ago, but a coalition is warning Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state leaders that the state is starting to move in the wrong direction.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday told the U.S. Committee on Homeland Security that the state took decisive action early in the pandemic, which has kept Illinois from becoming another COVID-19 hotspot.
Chicago Sun-Times: Berwyn to get biggest share of $51 million in federal funds Cook County is doling out to cover suburban COVID-19 expenses
More than 100 Cook County suburbs will receive roughly $51 million in federal relief dollars for personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and other expenses related to the coronavirus, officials said Wednesday.
Of those municipalities, Berwyn will receive the most money. A total of $788,000 of the funding has been allocated to that western suburb.
Daily Herald: Aurora begins review of police training, use-of-force policies
A review of the Aurora Police Department’s use-of-force policy started Wednesday with some residents calling for a ban on chokeholds, zero tolerance for excessive force and other changes.
In the wake of protests across the country about police brutality, Aurora is holding a series of meetings so residents can review and provide feedback about the police department’s force and training policies.