News

One more thing: Swept funds restored

By Sun-Times Wire

Before naming Marc Miller the IDNR director on Thursday, Gov. Quinn celebrated the signing of Senate Bill 1132.

SB1132 restored the funds swept by Gov. Blagojevich from six wild funds: Wildlife and Fish Fund, Fish and Wildlife Endowment Fund, State Pheasant Fund, Illinois Habitat Endowment Trust Fund, Illinois Habitat Fund and State Migratory Waterfowl Stamp Fund.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago), Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Cicero) and Rep. Gary Hannig (D-Gillespie.)

The original deadline from the feds for restoring the funds was Monday, but an extension was given for Quinn to formally sign it Wednesday night.

Miller said it should lead to the restoring of more than $15 million in funds from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but he wasn’t sure how interest would impact all the funds.

Next Up In News

Netflix looks to curb password sharing, considers ads

Aiming to predict COVID, future pandemics better, CDC opens infectious diseases forecasting center

Joliet farmers wrangle cows thrown from semitrailer after crash on Interstate 80

1 killed, 3 wounded in shootings Tuesday in Chicago

Obama relatives sue Milwaukee school alleging racial bias

Unmasked transit: Pritzker ends mask mandates in public transportation, airports

Latest Stories

The Latest

Jim Gwinn, who has worked at Conn-Selmer for 11 years, works on a trombone at the factory in Elkhart, Indiana Wednesday, March 27, 2024. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Photography

Picture Chicago: 18 must-see Sun-Times photos from this week in news

Hundreds gathered for a memorial service for Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, a mysterious QR code mural enticed Taylor Swift fans on the Near North Side, and a weekend mass shooting in Back of the Yards left 9-year-old Ariana Molina dead and 10 other people wounded, including her mother and other children.

By Sun-Times staff

Untitled design (25).png

Inking Well

Chicago tattoo artist Allie Marie gives pets a permanent spot on their owners' bodies

The artist at Goodkind Tattoo in Lake View incorporates hidden messages and inside jokes to help memorialize people’s furry friends.

By Katie Anthony

Artist Jason Messinger stands with the murals he created hanging in the Ogden stationhouse at the Illinois Medical District stop on the Forest Park branch of the CTA Blue Line.

Murals and Mosaics

For Illinois Medical District CTA station, muralist wanted to relax patients arriving on the L

Chicago artist Jason Messinger created the murals in 2018 during a Blue Line station renovation and says his aim was for “people to look at this for 30 seconds and transport them on a mini-vacation of the mind. Each mural is an abstract idea of a vacation destination.”

By Genevieve Bookwalter

The Watchdogs

'Deceptive' real estate firm tied to Loop's Monroe Capital sued by Kwame Raoul

MV Realty targeted people who had equity in their homes but needed cash — locking them into decadeslong contracts carrying hidden fees, the Illinois attorney general says in a new lawsuit.

By Stephanie Zimmermann

Police crime scene tape.

Suburban Chicago

Two dead after apparent murder-suicide in Lemont motel

The bodies of Richard Crane, 62, and an unidentified woman were found shot at the D-Lux Budget Inn in southwest suburban Lemont.

By Sun-Times Wire