Illinois quick hits: Gun ban challengers petition SCOTUS; man sentenced for COVID fraud

Illinois quick hits: Gun ban challengers petition SCOTUS; man sentenced for COVID fraud

August 27, 2025/
Spread the love

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

Gun ban challengers petition SCOTUS

The Second Amendment Foundation is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take a challenge to Cook County’s ban on semi-automatic firearms.

Originally filed in 2021, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals sided with the county, upholding the ban in June of this year. In 2023, the state enacted a similar ban.

A Second Amendment challenge for the statewide ban is set to be heard by the appeals court Sept. 22. A district judge found the state’s ban unconstitutional last year.

Man sentenced for COVID fraud

A federal judge has sentenced a former Chicago man to a year and half in prison for scheming to fraudulently obtain nearly $2 million in small business loans from COVID relief funds.

Prosecutors say Samuel W. Jackson, 45, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering after he and others spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury vehicles and at restaurants and entertainment venues.

Airport funding announced

More than $8 million in federal tax funds from the Trump administration is headed for airports across Illinois.

The U.S. Department of Transportation funding goes to improve taxiways, accommodate more passengers and make travelling easier.

An airport in Peoria is getting $7.6 million. Airports in Decatur and Bloomington are also receiving funds.

Leave a Comment





Latest News Stories

Illinois Quick Hits: Illinois to join WHO's alert network

Illinois Quick Hits: Illinois to join WHO’s alert network

By Jim Talamonti | The Center SquareThe Center Square (The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois is joining the World Health Organization’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network....
GOP candidates for Illinois governor challenge Pritzker on state finances

GOP candidates for Illinois governor challenge Pritzker on state finances

By Jim Talamonti | The Center SquareThe Center Square (The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed ways for Illinois to better fund pensions, but one of the governor’s...
Date set for Clintons to appear before House committee

Date set for Clintons to appear before House committee

By Sarah Roderick-FitchThe Center Square Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will appear before the House Oversight Committee later this month, after being threatened with...
Lawmaker says adopting federal ‘no tax on tips’ would help workers

Lawmaker says adopting federal ‘no tax on tips’ would help workers

By Catrina BarkerThe Center Square A growing debate over how tipped income is taxed in Illinois has resurfaced as state Rep. Regan Deering, R-Decatur, introduced legislation aiming to align Illinois...
AGs request probe into climate activists’ influence on Federal Judicial Center

AGs request probe into climate activists’ influence on Federal Judicial Center

By Tate MillerThe Center Square Twenty-two state attorneys general sent a letter to chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committee, requesting that an investigation concerning improper influence on judges...
Detroit judge among four charged with exploiting vulnerable adults

Detroit judge among four charged with exploiting vulnerable adults

By Elyse ApelThe Center Square Four Michiganders, including a sitting judge, have been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with embezzlement-related charges. All four are residents of Detroit and...
Govt. funding bills pass House on razor-thin margins, head to Trump's desk

Govt. funding bills pass House on razor-thin margins, head to Trump’s desk

By Thérèse BoudreauxThe Center Square The U.S. House passed a critical government funding package along bipartisan lines in a nail-biter Tuesday vote, sending it to the president’s desk. Once President...
DOJ announces more arrests in St. Paul church protest, nine total

DOJ announces more arrests in St. Paul church protest, nine total

By Elyse ApelThe Center Square Federal officials have made nine arrests in connection with a protest that disrupted a Sunday morning church service in St. Paul on Jan. 18. That...

WATCH: Dems call for Noem’s impeachment, dismantling DHS

By Emily Rodriguez and Andrew RiceThe Center Square A coalition of Democrat lawmakers called for the impeachment of Kristi Noem, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary, on Tuesday. The...
WATCH: Los Angeles area robotics team starts 25th season

WATCH: Los Angeles area robotics team starts 25th season

By Esther WickhamThe Center Square Culver City High School’s California-based robotics team - known as the Bagel Bytes - has begun its 25th season of competition with this year's challenge...
Miller: Illinois ‘dragging its feet’ on voter rolls as election nears

Miller: Illinois ‘dragging its feet’ on voter rolls as election nears

By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributorThe Center Square (The Center Square) – Congresswoman Mary Miller, R-Oakland, slammed the Illinois State Board of Elections on Monday for what she...
Illinois Quick Hits: Pritzker wants to extend pension buyout program

Illinois Quick Hits: Pritzker wants to extend pension buyout program

By Jim Talamonti | The Center SquareThe Center Square (The Center Square) – With Illinois’ unfunded public sector pension liability hovering around $140 billion, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed an...
Dems fail in first try to use ‘state sovereignty’ to ‘veto’ ICE

Dems fail in first try to use ‘state sovereignty’ to ‘veto’ ICE

By Jonathan Bilyk | Legal NewslineThe Center Square As a federal judge in Chicago prepares to hear Illinois' and Chicago's lawsuit seeking to all but halt ICE and Border Patrol...
Illinois Quick Hits: McIntyre back as inspector general for DCFS

Illinois Quick Hits: McIntyre back as inspector general for DCFS

By Jim Talamonti | The Center SquareThe Center Square (The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker has reappointed Ann McIntyre to continue serving as inspector general for the Illinois Department...
Lawmakers discuss budget, spending, tax credits as Illinois Senate returns

Lawmakers discuss budget, spending, tax credits as Illinois Senate returns

By Jim Talamonti | The Center SquareThe Center Square (The Center Square) – The Illinois Senate Appropriations Committee chair says greater federal scrutiny of state government spending will not change...