By: Robert Times

"Legislation to protect residents from gas or electric utility service disconnection for nonpayment of bills has been passed by the Illinois House of Representatives.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul initiated House Bill 1541 to amend the Public Utilities Act (PUA).

The legislation is for when temperatures are 90 F or above, or when the National Weather Service issues an excessive heat watch, heat advisory, or excessive heat warning."

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By: Andrew Adams

Lawmakers are looking at several ways to improve learning outcomes and access for young students in Illinois.

On Thursday, members of the House of Representatives approved a proposal that would require school boards in Illinois to provide full-day kindergarten starting with the 2027-28 school year.

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By: Jonathan Bilyk

A raft of current and former prosecutors from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, including two whose departures from the office grabbed local headlines and raised eyebrows, account for nearly a third of the 22 new judges recently appointed to the bench in Cook County.

Others on the list include those appointed to a state hate crimes commission by Gov. JB Pritzker and a longtime Illinois assistant attorney general, serving under Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

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By: Clare Edlund

"Officials at the Brown County Circuit Clerk’s Office just got a $43,000 technology upgrade which they said was much-needed."

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By: Sam Metz

"Gwyneth Paltrow‘s attorneys asked the daughter of a man suing the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer over a 2016 ski collision about missing GoPro camera footage that they called “the most important piece of evidence” at trial Thursday."

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By: Nigel Jaquiss

"Although Oregon’s public defender crisis has brought attention to a shortage of criminal defense lawyers in the state’s courts, the percentage of litigants without a lawyer in landlord-tenant and family law cases is far higher than in criminal cases. (Criminal defendants have a constitutional right to an attorney while civil litigants do not.) An Oregon Senate bill seeks to rectify that problem by expanding who can assist litigants in those cases."

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By: Carrie Johnson

"Sixty years ago today the Supreme Court ruled that people accused of crimes but without means to pay for a lawyer would be provided with one at public expense.

The promise of that landmark ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright has been frustrated by heavy caseloads for public defenders and tight budgets that prioritize police, prosecutors and prisons over the right to counsel."

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By: Julia Marnin

"A former Department of Justice paralegal is going to prison after exposing two people who “snitched” on her son while knowing it could lead to “violent consequences” for them, federal prosecutors announced."

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"Illinois is poised to become the next state to mandate paid leave for nearly all workers.

Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to sign into law the “Paid Leave for All Workers Act,” which states that employees will accrue at least one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to 40 hours total."

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By: Alyssa Patrick

"Illinoisans can buy pretty much anything online with a few clicks. But there is some gray area when it comes to purchasing a car electronically.

A new bill being proposed in the legislature would bring Illinois into the 21st century by modernizing its virtual car dealer laws."

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