Redistricting

The request sets the stage for an escalation of a war between the Trump administration and Illinois Democrats, with Gov. JB Pritzker at the helm. But it’s unclear what role federal agents can play in the matter, and there were no reports of FBI activity in the area housing Texas Democrats as of Thursday morning.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has told NPR if Texas and other Republican majority states redraw new congressional districts outside the usual schedule after census periods, Illinois and blue states might follow the political escalation.

Around 400 people were evacuated and have safely returned to the premises after police conducted a search, St. Charles police said. Texas Democrats are in Illinois to deny Republicans a quorum on a controversial redistricting.

Democrats in New York, California and Illinois are threatening to redraw their own maps in retaliation to Republican redistricting efforts in Texas.

Texas Democrats joined Gov. JB Pritzker at a Sunday night news conference in Carol Stream, where the Democratic governor railed on President Donald Trump as a “cult leader” and “would-be dictator of the United States” for demanding redistricting.

The maps Illinois Democrats approved in 2021 sealed in their political power for a decade — adding one Hispanic-majority blue seat in Congress and forcing two Republicans out of their districts.

Bloomington City Council members stressed the need for funding roads and sewers with federal American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) money when they discussed the issue last fall.

The City of Bloomington could soon offer amnesty to parking violators with overdue fines.

Bloomington Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe says two city council wards will need significant adjustments during redistricting. Ward 8, which takes in the east side Grove subdivision areas near the airport and Old Farm Lakes subdivision, had significant growth in the last decade and now includes more than 10,000 residents.

The city of Bloomington plans to give the public until mid-to-late June to make recommendations for its new ward maps.