In recognition of  National Women's Small Business Month, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) recently announced it will host a series of webinars to support the advancement of women-owned businesses. The discussions scheduled by DCEO and a host of industry partners, including Groupon, will offer support and insights for small businesses to grow, position themselves, and seek out resources that will help them overcome the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Granger Movement Promotional Poster, ca. 1873.
Library of Congress

Agriculture has been the backbone of Illinois’ economy from the very start. Whether it is farming itself, the manufacturing of farm equipment, or the transport, storage and sale of farm commodities, the agricultural sector has been a dominant part of Illinois’ economy for its entire history.

Just after the Civil War Illinois farmers were struggling. The farm economy had been hit with several challenges all at once. Soldiers returning from the war expected their jobs back, while new competition was coming from homesteaders arriving in the plains states west of the Mississippi. This all created new rivals for markets and eventually led to overproduction of corn and wheat. All the while, the post-war revolution in farm machinery compelled farmers to buy new equipment or risk falling behind.

Illinois State Police (ISP) Division of Forensic Services (DFS) unveiled the online sexual assault tracking system, known as CheckPoint, to allow sexual assault survivors to monitor the progress of evidence taken in their cases. 

The CheckPoint system will allow survivors of sexual assault to monitor the status of their evidence throughout the entire process, from collection at the hospital, through law enforcement pick-up and submission to the forensic lab, and ultimately to the State’s Attorney’s office where final results are received. To ensure privacy, the system will use unique case numbers and passwords to limit access to survivors and law enforcement. 

Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will be implemented in Region 1, the northwestern most counties in Illinois, beginning Saturday, October 3, 2020. The region is seeing a 7-day rolling average test positivity rate of 8% or above for three consecutive days, which exceeds the threshold set for establishing mitigation measures in the region under the state’s Restore Illinois Resurgence Plan. This announcement follows last week’s warnings to local leaders that additional mitigation measures would be implemented if the region continued to see an increase in cases. Region 1 includes Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties.

ETHICS
House Special Investigating Committee to hear from ComEd. The Chicago electric utility holding company is one of the focal points of the Committee’s investigation into allegations that House Speaker Michael J. Madigan allegedly took part in conduct worthy of potential disciplinary action. Commonwealth Edison has already agreed to a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Office of the U.S. Attorney that includes the payment of $200 million. Announcement of the payment in July 2020 coincided with reports that ComEd was cooperating with federal prosecutors. Now, one or more ComEd executives will be called as witnesses by the Committee.

Illinois is known for Presidents and for debates. Specifically, the four Chief Executives who came from the Prairie State and made history in the Oval Office, and the most well-known series of debates in American history: the contests on the 1858 U.S. Senate campaign trail which launched Abraham Lincoln to national fame.

Where these two come together is also in Illinois: the most famous Presidential debate in American history happened right here in Illinois some 60 years ago this week.

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst Talks Criminal Justice Reform in Illinois. Read more about Rep. Windhorst.

Have All Voted Who Wish · Leading Voices: Rep. Patrick Windhorst