Free Republic

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker found himself in a very awkward situation when he was confronted over advocating that men should use women’s bathrooms. The stammering Democrat tried to deny that he had ever taken such a stance during a fiery House Oversight Committee hearing with sanctuary state governors, but Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) showcased a 2017 tweet from Pritzker that stated: “As a protest against Trump’s rescinding protections for trans kids, everyone should use the other gender’s bathroom today!”

A man in the midst of an armed robbery and carjacking spree was shot dead when he confronted a concealed carry license holder in Humboldt Park on Tuesday night. Chicago police have not publicly identified the deceased criminal, but Cook County Medical Examiner records show he was 18 years old. Investigators found a recently carjacked Toyota at the shooting scene, along with robbery proceeds that had just been taken from two women in a nearby armed robbery, leading them to conclude that the concealed carry holder ended a robbery spree in progress. Just 18 minutes before the shooting, around 10:30...

JUST IN: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker goes mute after Rep. Brandon Gill stumps him on his previous tweet about men in women's bathrooms. Gill: Do you think men should be allowed in women's restrooms? Pritzker: I'm not sure why this has come to this issue. Gill: You tweeted: 'As a protest against President Trump, everyone should use the other gender's bathroom today.' Have you ever used the women's restroom? Pritzker: Not that I can recall. Gill: So you just wanted everybody else to do it, but you didn't? Pritzker: ...

Last night I attended a fundraiser for a man named David Timm, He's running for Sangamon County sheriff. That's good news. In Sangamon County, we are use to not electing people, but having them appointed. Why? Because the Sangamon County Republican Party would rather appoint people, than trust the voters to elect their representatives. Which is really NO Republican Party at all. The Republican Party Chairman in Sangamon County Andy Van Meter believes he is the KING MAKER. Andy Van Meter Sangamon County Republican Chairman has been referred to as the MIKE MADIGAN of Sangamon County. He hands out jobs...

Mayor Brandon Johnson urged Chicagoans to “rise up in this moment” against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort, even as he acknowledged Wednesday that the deployment of the military to help carry out immigration raids in Los Angeles could happen here. Johnson refused to say precisely what he would do if mass demonstrations in Chicago — perhaps as soon as Saturday’s “No Kings Day of Defiance” protests — provoke an L.A.-style federal response. The mayor would only say that he is concerned enough to have spoken directly with Gov. JB Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle about the...

Chicago’s radical, progressive, Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson told the media on Wednesday that the Trump administration is “what our country would look like had the Confederacy won.” The race-obsessed, left-wing mayor railed against the Trump administration after hundreds of protesters flooded the streets of the Windy City in opposition to the president’s lawful immigration enforcement policies. Johnson by turns called Trump a “terrorist” and a “racist” in his comments to the press. The mayor with the single worst approval rating in the entire country also reminded the media that he recently said that Trump’s immigration policy is “what terrorism looks...

BREAKING - Protesters have taken over the streets of Chicago, completely halting traffic, with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson refusing to take any action.

At least fourteen businesses throughout Illinois are scheduled to begin laying off employees this summer, according to information provided to Illinoisworknet.com from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity as part of Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — of the WARN Act. According to the site, the "information ... does not encompass layoff activity and is not intended to be a proxy for employment or job loss data. Additional layoff activity may be represented outside of an official WARN correspondence, which might not necessarily reflect the company's final action.​"

Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old Democratic candidate for Illinois' ninth congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, said "every single person in the world deserves healthcare," even illegal immigrants. "How is it controversial?" Abughazaleh asked a CNN "NewsNight" panel on Thursday night. The young progressive candidate, with a campaign website that reads, "I don't have health insurance, and I'm running for Congress," repeatedly told the panel that every person is entitled to healthcare when asked if that includes illegal immigrants. "I'm such a monster… How is it controversial that I don't want someone to die in the hospital if they...

An Illinois YMCA is hosting an LGBT-themed camp for second graders alongside an activist organization that hands out so-called “gender-affirming” clothing items like “tucking underwear” and chest binders to anyone regardless of age. The Stephens Family YMCA in Champaign will host “Camp Kaleidoscope,” a program designed for “LGBTQ+ youth or youth who are part of LGBTQ+ families.” The camp is offered at a “privately rented residential space” in partnership with Uniting Pride of Champaign County, an activist organization that distributes clothing items meant to alter the physical appearance of people who identify as transgender. Two sessions will be offered: one...

Surprise: everything is expensive. That seems to be especially true in Illinois. At the very last minute over the weekend, Illinois passed their budget for the next fiscal year. Major elements of it included adding a tax to online sports betting and tobacco tax. Not every part of the budget passed since it came down to the 11th hour. Besides issues involving Chicagoland transit, there was another part of the proposal that restaurant allies are calling the "pizza tax". The bill would include a $1.50 delivery tax (on food, Amazon deliveries, etc.) on anything delivered with a motor vehicle. It's...

A bill that would compel Illinois public universities to provide, prescribe, and even promote abortion drugs is now one signature away from becoming law. House Bill 3709 passed the state senate May 31 and is now awaiting action from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. If signed, the bill would require schools to refer students to abortion providers and, where pharmacies are available on campus, directly distribute abortion drugs like mifepristone, according to a May 20 press release from Illinois Right to Life. The bill would also mandate that universities include information about chemical abortion on their websites, elevating the practice to...

Illinois’ unpredictable weather is throwing a curveball to the state’s farmers. Some areas of the state are significantly behind in rainfall and early indications are that the conditions will persist this summer. “It has just been super dry from Springfield and Peoria up to Rockford and especially over the Chicago area we have had half of our normal rain, a third of our normal rain,” said CBS Chicago meteorologist David Yeomans during an Illinois Soybean Association webinar. According to the latest crop progress and condition report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly a fifth of farmers who responded said...

Hundreds of billions of screaming insects are emerging from the ground throughout the US in a jarring sight that hasn't taken place in 17 years. The long-awaited cicada invasion is here, and the bugs have already been spotted hatching in at least three states: Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Scientists are also expecting billions more to emerge at any moment in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. This startling awakening of cicadas is referred to as Brood XIV. The insects last appeared in 2008, and now the next window in their synchronized...

Illinois’s Democrat governor, J.B. Pritzker, is about to sign a new bill into law that will allow illegal immigrants to become driving instructors. .. A proposal that’s passed both chambers would allow some immigrants to become driving instructors in Illinois. In the state, non U.S. citizens can apply for a special drivers license called a Temporary Visitor Drivers License or TVDL. You might ask, “Where did that TVDL come from?” We’ve had a Democrat-controlled state legislature since 2003, and they currently have supermajorities in both chambers. Except for a single-term RINO governor in 2015–18, we’ve also had 100% Democrat governors...

President Donald Trump plans to commute the sentence of a notorious Chicago gang leader, his attorney said. Attorney Jennifer Bonjean confirmed to ABC7 Wednesday that her client, Gangster Disciples founder Larry Hoover, is being granted clemency by the president.

Legislators in Illinois are working to quietly legalize assisted suicide by attaching pro-assisted death language to a food preparation sanitation bill as an amendment. The move comes after a proposed assisted suicide bill appears to have stalled in the House and Senate as the 2025 legislative session comes to a close. KEY TAKEAWAYS: An assisted suicide bill introduced in Illinois in January appears to have stalled in both the House and Senate, and the legislative session will close on May 31. Democratic Rep. Robyn Gabel has attached the stalled assisted suicide bill’s language to a food preparation safety bill as...

A new battle is stirring on Capitol Hill as Senate Democrats have threatened to not move forward with confirmations of President Donald Trump’s US attorney nominees around the country – already following through with a hold on one of his picks. Senate Democrats say they are merely following precedent established by now-Vice President JD Vance under President Joe Biden, when the then-senator held up US attorney nominations in protest of what he called the political prosecutions against Trump. Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Thursday that he would hold the nomination of Jason Reding...

Chicago’s Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson, the least popular mayor in the country, went on a rant Thursday and called President Donald Trump a racist “monster” for investigating the mayor’s city hiring practices. Johnson, a self-professed “progressive,” raised eyebrows last weekend when he told a congregation of churchgoers that he is proud to have filled all his top posts with black people. His comment spurred a federal probe into his hiring practices under the suspicion that his discriminatory, race-based hiring might violate civil rights and equal opportunity laws. In response to the investigation, Johnson lashed out, and, as he typically does,...

The father of the terror suspect accused of gunning down two soon-to-be-engaged Israeli Embassy staffers at the Capital Jewish Museum was honored by a far-left member of Congress with an invitation to President Trump’s joint address this past March, The Post has exclusively learned. “Eric Rodriguez was our guest during the President’s Joint Speech to Congress, but we don’t know his family,” Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) said Thursday night. In March, he hailed Rodriguez as “an outspoken advocate against attacks on veterans’ services and the rights of unionized federal employees.” “Eric represents the very best of our community —...