Illinois is receiving $148.8 million from Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family as part of a nationwide $7.4 billion settlement agreement that took effect Friday, marking the state’s latest payout from companies that systematically addicted generations of Americans to opioids.

The money will be doled out over the next 15 years, mostly in the next three, under the deal reached last spring by a coalition of state attorneys general including Illinois’ Kwame Raoul.

“No amount of money will ever put right the devastating effects of Purdue’s and the Sacklers’ prioritization of profits over people’s lives and the welfare of our communities,” Raoul said in a statement. “I will continue to ensure settlement funding is distributed equitably throughout the state to help support programs that are trying to mitigate the opioid addiction crisis.”

A nationwide investigation of Purdue Pharma was launched in 2016 over the company’s role in fueling the opioid epidemic through the over-prescription of painkillers like Oxycontin, and the downplaying of risk for addiction.

Illinois sued Purdue and its owners in the Sackler family in 2019, when Purdue filed for bankruptcy.

The overarching settlement agreement, which permanently bars the Sacklers from selling opioids in the U.S., calls for the family to pay $1.5 billion and Purdue to pay $900 million in the first payment. They’ll also pay $500 million in a year, the same amount in two years and $500 million in three years.

Opioid settlements with other companies linked to the nationwide crisis have totaled more than $58 billion, with Illinois so far earmarked for $1.6 billion.

More than $531 million of that has already been paid out to the state from various distributors and pharmaceutical companies.

About 725,000 people died of opioid overdoses across the country from 1999-2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overdoses spiked in Cook County during the COVID-19 pandemic, to a staggering high of 2,001 deaths in 2022, with 91% of those cases tied to fentanyl. Fatal opioid overdoses have declined since then, with 1,822 deaths countywide in 2023, 1,169 in ‘24 and 687 last year, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Settlement funds are dedicated to addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programs. For more information on treatment for opioid addiction, visit helplineil.org or call 833-2FINDHELP.

The world’s largest steam train is passing through Illinois as part of its 10-state route across the United States this summer.

The locomotive, officially known as Big Boy No. 4014, is heading east across the Mississippi River starting in late May to help celebrate America’s 250th birthday.

Here’s what we know about the train’s stops in Illinois.

What is Big Boy No. 4014?

Delivered to Union Pacific in 1941, the locomotive was among 25 built to haul wartime freight across the Continental Divide in Wyoming and Utah. Big Boy is the last one running, and in the 1960s was converted to burn oil instead of coal.

Big Boy is 133 feet long and weighs 1.2 million pounds. It traveled more than 1 million miles during its working life hauling freight between Cheyenne and Ogden, Utah. The train typically draws large crowds of rail enthusiasts, and it’s common to see superfans with cameras in hand chasing it in cars.

“Union Pacific couldn’t be prouder to share this powerful piece of history with the nation and to be a part of America’s birthday celebration,” Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said in a statement. “This tour celebrates our company’s rich 164-year history, our nation’s amazing story and the people who have helped build our great country and our railroad.”

When does Big Boy’s route begin? Where will it depart from?

The train will depart from Union Pacific’s headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 25.

This will be the first time it has crossed the Mississippi River since its westward delivery run in 1941, according to railroad officials.

Where is Big Boy stopping in Illinois? When will world’s biggest train be on display?

CHICAGO — A state board unanimously voted Thursday to approve a 204-page report detailing its investigations into misconduct by on-duty federal immigration agents amid Operation Midway Blitz.

It is also sending letters to local law enforcement agencies for potential prosecution of the agents. The letters are not determinations of guilt, but requests for further investigation by the relevant agencies.

“Where that record establishes reasonable cause to believe that misconduct may have occurred, we implore those responsible to ensure that this information is reviewed and that it is handled in an appropriate fashion,” said Patricia Brown Holmes, vice chair of the body.

The Illinois Accountability Commission, created by Gov. JB Pritzker through executive order last October, was tasked with forming a public record to document the impact of the federal immigration campaign on Chicago communities, but also to produce recommendations for harm reduction and prevention of future abuses.

To inform its report, the commission conducted 16 investigations for which it interviewed over 60 people, reviewed nearly 100 hours of body camera footage from 250 videos, and reviewed hundreds of hours more of footage from security cameras, personal devices and social media, according to commission officials.

It also held seven private neighborhood listening sessions and five public hearings, featuring testimony from law enforcement experts, community advocates and everyday Chicagoans.

“Documenting this was easy,” Commission Chair Rubén Castillo said. “The record is overwhelming; the video tapes are overwhelming. They’re devastating. They’re shameful. They’re brutal.”

RELATED | Woman shot by federal agents in Chicago testifies on 2nd day of Illinois Accountability Commission

Prosecution referrals

One of the referrals letters names Border Patrol agents Benito Nuñez, Carlos Chavira and Jesus Guillen, who the commission said used an intentional, high-speed car ramming maneuver in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood after being repeatedly instructed to stop by supervisors.

Body camera footage released by the commission shows the agents proceeded to use teargas on a street of onlookers in the Far Southeast Side neighborhood, including more than a dozen Chicago police officers who had explicitly asked agents not to deploy the gas.

Others name Border Patrol agent Charles Exum, who shot Chicago teacher’s aide Marimar Martinez five times last October and then bragged about it over text, and Border Patrol agent Timothy Donahue, who made headlines for aggressive conduct in Evanston last Halloween.

In some cases, the commission was unable to identify specific agents involved. For example, a military-style raid on a South Shore apartment building references approximately 300 agents who may have broken agency policy or criminal law.

The commission says that’s due to its limited powers, which do not include the authority to issue subpoenas. That’s why it says law enforcement agencies should carry forward the cases, including the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

“The issuance of this report is not the end, it is the beginning,” Castillo said. “We need a reckoning to occur.”

Commissioners said they hoped other states would follow Illinois’s lead, calling it an example for the nation.

SEE ALSO | Newly released video captures Border Patrol shooting of Chicago woman in Brighton Park

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement, “This is nothing more than a political stunt by Illinois sanctuary politicians. Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies. The states do not have the authority to run such an investigation.

“Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement. Where is the investigation into his own policies that allowed Sheridan Gorman’s killer to be released from jail to go on and commit her heinous murder?”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.