Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: State health officials announce 488 new cases of COVID-19; deaths rise to 34
State health officials said Friday the number of cases of COVID-19 and the number of COVID-19 related deaths has continued to rise.
Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced 488 new cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, including eight deaths. About 86 percent of the deaths were among patients 60 and older.
Chicago Sun-Times: No masking pain coronavirus will inflict on state finances – but no one knows ‘exactly how bad it will be’
A rainy day fund that one state official says couldn’t fund state government for 30 seconds. An epic budget impasse that devastated state finances. And $134 billion in unfunded pensions liabilities.
And that was before a pandemic crippled Illinois’ – and everyone else’s – economy.
Chicago Tribune: Confronting the coronavirus, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says crisis could peak in April: ‘Popular or not, you have to do what’s right’
When voters elected Lori Lightfoot to be Chicago’s 56th mayor, she expected to have her hands full with a yawning budget deficit, labor battles with the city’s teacher and police unions, and federal public corruption probes inside City Hall.
But nearly a year into her first term, Lightfoot and her administration instead are consumed with battling the coronavirus, a fast-spreading global pandemic that’s drastically changed daily life for Chicagoans and forced the mayor to take the previously unimaginable step this week of shutting down the city’s lakefront in an effort to save lives.
The Center Square: Illinois residents, governments to get part of $2 trillion federal coronavirus package
Illinois residents are in line for payments of $1,200 per person plus $500 per child from federal tax dollars under terms of a bill President Donald Trump is set to sign.
The legislation will provide payments of $1,200 to each adult and $500 to each child younger than 17, depending on 2019 household income. A married couple with children could get up to $3,400. The payments start to phase out for people with income of $75,000 or more, or income of $150,000 for couples filing jointly. People making more than $99,000 or couples earning more than $198,000 would not be eligible.
Crain's Chicago Business: State aims to turn this Marriott into a COVID-19 command center—but there's a hitch
The owner of the Chicago Marriott Schaumburg, Arbor Lodging Partners, has agreed to lease the hotel to the state of Illinois, which would use the property as “the primary control post” for coronavirus containment efforts in Chicago’s western suburbs, Schaumburg Mayor Tom Dailly wrote in a letter yesterday to executives at Ladder Capital, the hotel’s New York-based lender.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago police disperse groups from lakefront, will start ticketing as Mayor Lightfoot scolds residents ignoring stay-at-home order
Four days into a statewide stay-at-home order, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday scolded restless Chicagoans who have taken advantage of spring weather and packed local parks, trails and the city’s lakefront despite growing numbers of people infected by the coronavirus disease.
Standing alongside interim police Superintendent Charlie Beck and public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, the mayor threatened to “shut down our parks and the entire lakefront” if residents continue to flout Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order aimed at getting people to practice social distancing. Lightfoot and Beck also warned residents that those who don’t listen could be ticketed $500 for a first offense while repeat offenders could be arrested.
Crain's Chicago Business: Chicago population dips again
The bureau estimates in the year ended July 1, 2019, population in the Illinois/Wisconsin/Indiana metro area dipped by about 36,000 residents, to 9,458,539. Most of the drop came in Cook County, which lost an estimated 21,000 residents.
Chicago Tribune: New order by Gov. Pritzker gives schools more flexibility amid coronavirus shutdown but leaves door open to extending school year
A Friday executive order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives Illinois school districts more flexibility in quickly responding to the coronavirus pandemic amid the statewide school shutdown.
The order suspends certain rules governing school terms and attendance and empowers the Illinois State Board of Education to define acceptable outlines of remote learning.
Chicago Sun-Times: Small suburban park project draws big-time players swept up in federal corruption probe
Legion Park in southwest suburban Summit is a small neighborhood park where kids and adults can come together to play, walk the dog or relax under a gazebo.
Its most distinctive feature is a newly refurbished World War II anti-tank cannon that serves as the centerpiece of a veterans memorial.
Chicago Sun-Times: Legalizing pot deliveries gains momentum during coronavirus crisis
As Illinoisans are ordered to hunker down to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, calls to allow legal marijuana deliveries have increased.
Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago) introduced legislation last month that would allow cannabis dispensaries to deliver marijuana to both medical pot patients and recreational customers. Now, she’s calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to take immediate action amid the rising public health crisis.
The Center Square: Prosperity study shows mixed bag for Illinois
A recent study on prosperity in the United States has good news and bad news for Illinois.
The state ranked 23rd overall in the report conducted by the Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank and educational charity with a global vision to lift people out of poverty.