Illinois Quick Hits: Gaming board renews Joliet casino license | Illinois
(The Center Square) – The Illinois Gaming Board has renewed Hollywood Casino Joliet’s license for four years to 2030. The casino opened its new land-based facility near Interstates 80 and 55 in August 2025. In meeting Friday, the IGB also approved new rules regarding the board’s oversight of fantasy contests and adopted amendments to the […]
Illinois students being failed by low academic standards, lawmaker says | Illinois
(The Center Square) – State Rep. Regan Deering is calling for greater accountability in Illinois schools following concerns about academic performance at Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills. While appearing on Newsmax, education whistleblower and author Geno Young said a tenured Hillcrest teacher told him the school was testing at about a fourth-grade level […]
Illinois Quick Hits: State offers $35M to encourage transit use by students | Illinois
(The Center Square) – The Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois State Board of Education announced on Friday that a total of $35 million in funding is available for agencies to establish programs that encourage public school students to use transit outside of the Chicago area. The Downstate Reduced Fare Grant Program and the […]
Illinois Quick Hits: Applications open for state-funded diverse apprenticeship program | Illinois
(The Center Square) – State officials say $25 million in taxpayer funds for the sixth round of the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program will increase representation of people of color, veterans and women in the construction trades. According to an announcement from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, qualified […]
Local hike on Springfield hotels ups rate to second highest in state | Illinois
(The Center Square) – A new tax set to be imposed will soon make hotel rooms in Springfield the second-most taxed in the state, behind the city of Chicago. Debate over the new tax saw economic development pit against a burden the tax could place on the local hotel industry. A new 3% hotel tax […]
NITA takes over public transit with $1.5B annual taxpayer funding | Illinois
(The Center Square) – Beginning Tuesday, the Northern Illinois Transit Authority officially took full control of Chicagoland public transit, including the CTA, Metra and Pace, from the Regional Transit Authority. NITA brings with it $1.5 billion in annual public funding for the system. The act creating NITA and associated funds was signed by Gov. J.B. […]
Feds close trucking schools in alleged fraud crackdown | Illinois
(The Center Square) – Trump administration officials say they have ordered the emergency removal of 110 commercial driver’s license schools associated with more than 5,000 drivers who failed English language proficiency tests. They have also shutdown of 150 additional schools that claim to be certified but have unlicensed instructors and don’t have adequate space to […]
Estimated $17B in tariff costs hit Illinois producers, consumers | Illinois
(The Center Square) – A U.S. taxpayer advocate says tariffs are hitting manufacturers and producers, leading to higher costs for Illinois families. According to estimates prepared by Trade Partnership Worldwide for the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, executive tariffs have cost Illinois an estimated $17 billion since January 2025. Bryan Riley, director of the National Taxpayers […]
Illinois quick hits: Man charged with murdering Chicago mail carrier | Illinois
Pritzker names new IDNR leader Gov. J.B. Pritzker has appointed Jim Montgomery to serve as the new director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, effective Monday, August 31 and pending Senate approval. Montgomery previously worked as executive director of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. He was mayor of Taylorville from 1997-2005. Man charged with […]
Pritzker mocks Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario amid trade discussion breakdown | Illinois
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday renaming Lake Ontario, the smallest of the Great Lakes by surface area, to Lake America. With Canada as Illinois’ top international trade partner, the largely symbolic renaming is part of a wider economic story. Trump explained his reasoning for the renaming Thursday. “We’re […]