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Bill overhauling Illinois child labor laws heads to Pritzker’s desk

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Bill overhauling Illinois child labor laws heads to Pritzker’s desk


SPRINGFIELD (WGEM) – A bill overhauling Illinois’ child labor laws is heading to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk. The state Senate voted unanimously to approve the amended House version of the bill.

The House passed the bill with bipartisan support Tuesday.

The bill would substantially update the state’s child labor laws for the first time in nearly 75 years.

An initiative of the Illinois Department of Labor, agency officials argue piecemeal changes over the years have created outdated, conflicting and disjointed provisions in state law.

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“Were trying to just create a whole new bill, gut and replace it, and allow for an easier new way to manage the bill and understand and so employers and everyone else can understand it. I think right now it just creates a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings for a bill that is very important in protecting the vulnerable,” said state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, the bill’s House sponsor.

The bill would ban kids from working in jobs not covered 75 years ago. Those include working in cannabis shops and adult entertainment facilities.

It also limits the number of hours kids 15 and younger can work weekly to 18 hours during school weeks and 40 hours when school is not in session.

“We want them continue providing a great resource to our community and hopefully become that future doctor and so on, but we need to protect them now in those first jobs that they have,” Hernandez said.

The bill also adds protections for children in the film industry.

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State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, opposed the bill. He was highly critical of the bill not having exceptions for businesses owned by the child’s parent.

“This bill goes over the top,” Ugaste said. “It has limitations on hours and other things that don’t need to be as drastic as they are. I don’t mind revising this law to the extend it needs it but this, as it’s written, is an overreach.”

The bill does have exceptions allowing kids under 16 to work on their family’s farm.



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Multiple people shot in Centralia, Illinois: REPORT

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Multiple people shot in Centralia, Illinois: REPORT


CENTRALIA, Ill. – An investigation is underway after multiple people were shot Sunday in Centralia, Illinois, according to a report from WFCN News in southern Illinois.

FOX 2 has confirmed the Illinois State Police is investigating a shooting and taking over the investigation, but ISP could not confirm many further details as of 9 p.m. Sunday.

“The investigation is in its infancy and to protect the integrity of the investigation, no additional details will be released at this time,” ISP said in a statement to FOX 2.

According to WFCN News, the shooting happened around 5 p.m. near the 900 block of East Kell Street in Centralia. Multiple law enforcement agencies have since responded to scene and multiple victims are hospitalized, according to the report.

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It’s unclear how many people may have been injured and what led up to the shooting.

Centralia, Illinois is about 70 miles, or just over an hour, east of St. Louis.

This is a developing story. FOX 2 will update as more information becomes available.



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Weather service assessing damage across Iowa, Illinois and Missouri

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Weather service assessing damage across Iowa, Illinois and Missouri


The National Weather Service has teams of storm surveryors in the field April 18 investigating several reports of severe storms and tornado touch downs across eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois and northeast Missouri.

According to the weather service’s website, windgusts of up to 60 to 70 mph along with teacup-sized hail and several tornadoes were reported April 17.

Many homes and outbuildings were damaged, trees were uprooted and power lines were downed in Lena, Illinois, where the most significant damage occurred, the site pointed out.

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Very strong winds also were reported near Washington, Iowa, and Colmar, Illinois, where several outbuildings and grain bins were destroyed.

The weather service received reports of confirmed and possible tornadoes in the areas of Lena, Pecatonica, Shirland, Rockton, Roscoe and Capron.

The teams will be assessing damage this weekend into next week along with county emergency management teams to determine what types of storms occurred and their paths.

Dozens of power outages were reported, as well.

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As of the afternoon of April 18, ComEd was reporting 85 active power outages across northern Illinois, down from 241 on April 17, and 6,751 customers affected, down from more than 18,000.

The bulk of those outages and the most customers impacted are concentrated in Jo Daviess and Stephenson counties.



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5 tornadoes confirmed in Illinois from Friday’s storms

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5 tornadoes confirmed in Illinois from Friday’s storms


Freeze Watch

from MON 12:00 AM CDT until MON 9:00 AM CDT, Lake County, Kankakee County, La Salle County, DuPage County, Northern Will County, DeKalb County, Southern Will County, Kendall County, Southern Cook County, Northern Cook County, Grundy County, Eastern Will County, Kane County, McHenry County, Lake County, Newton County, Jasper County, Porter County



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