Get the latest news from around Illinois.
State Journal-Register: Springfield unemployment rate hits all-time high
Springfield’s unemployment rate increased to a record-high 14.2% this April, an increase from 3.5% in April last year.
The capital city also lost nearly 13,000 jobs in the same time period, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s latest report.
Crain's Chicago Business: These scars will show long after COVID subsides
With little clarity about how bad the damage will be to the state’s revenue from room rentals, agencies that oversee Chicago’s convention and trade show business, tourism promotion and debt on publicly owned sports facilities are bracing for a fiscal year that at best will drain their reserves and wreak havoc on their budgets.
Chicago Sun-Times: ‘They launched a raid’: nursing home says Cicero officials barged in, violated court order
A Cicero nursing home where 10 people died from complications related to the coronavirus is accusing town officials of raiding the facility and barging into the private rooms of residents.
Earlier this month, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Alison Conlon allowed Cicero officials to make two unannounced visits to the City View MultiCare Center to ensure that guidelines were being followed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Belleville News-Democrat: Illinois Supreme Court picks replacement for removed St. Clair County judge
The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday announced that it had picked a temporary replacement for former St. Clair County judge Ronald Duebbert, who was removed by the Illinois Courts Commission in January.
Attorney Bill D. Stiehl, Jr., a Belleville native, will take over as an at-large circuit judge from July 15, 2020, to Dec. 5, 2022.
Crain's Chicago Business: New payment model at Cook County Medicaid plan
CountyCare and the Medical Home Network Accountable Care Organization have entered into a new reimbursement agreement with some government-funded community health centers. Under the deal, doctors will get a set amount per patient per month, rather than getting paid for each medical service provided.
Crain's Chicago Business: Chicago faces an aviation apocalypse
United expects its white-collar workforce to be at least 30 percent smaller when federal coronavirus-relief funding for airlines runs out Oct. 1. It hasn’t specified a number for union employees, from pilots to baggage handlers, with whom it must negotiate furloughs.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago will experiment with shutting down some neighborhood streets for outdoor dining options
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday that six streets in different neighborhoods throughout the city will be shut down to allow restaurants to set up tables for expanded outdoor dining.
The streets included in the upcoming pilot program aimed at helping restaurants that have been hurt during the coronavirus pandemic are: 75th Street from Calumet Avenue to Indiana Avenue; Broadway from Belmont Avenue to Diversey Parkway; 26th Street from Central Park to Harding Avenue; Rush Street from Oak Street to Cedar Street; Taylor Street from Loomis Street to Ashland Avenue; and Randolph Street west from I-90-94 to no farther than Elizabeth Street.
Chicago Sun-Times: Second round of Chicago’s electric scooter pilot delayed until late summer
Chicago’s love-hate relationship with electric scooters will resume, but not until the end of the summer because of financial concerns tied to the coronavirus, a top mayoral aide said Friday.
Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi acknowledged transportation options are needed now, more than ever, as the Chicago economy prepares to partially reopen and mass transit struggles to reassure commuters it’s safe to return to buses and trains.