CHICAGO (WLS) — One of the world’s most legendary explorers, James Lovell, spoke with ABC7 on Saturday about the honor of December 21 being named Captain James Lovell Day in Illinois.

The honor has been a long time coming for the 96-year-old, who is now being recognized for his incredible contribution because of the efforts of two Illinois state senators.

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Lovell began his career in aviation as a navy pilot before being chosen by NASA in 1962.

As an astronaut, Lovell had several missions that make up the fabric of historic firsts.

He was a part of the Gemini 12 mission, which was the first rendezvous of the two-manned maneuverable spacecraft, as well as his favorite mission, Apollo 8, where he and his fellow crewmen became the first humans to leave earth’s gravitational pull and orbit the moon.

But Lovell is best remembered as commander of the Apollo 13 mission, where an oxygen tank exploded two days after the launch, depleting oxygen and power inside the command module odyssey.

The mishap sparked a rush to rescue the crew stranded more than 200,000 miles from home and the remarks of Lovell were made famous in the 1995 “Apollo 13” movie starring Tom Hanks.

Lovell’s heroics were celebrated as the trio returned safely to earth.

Now, Lovell resides quietly in Chicago’s north suburbs, remembering his career as an explorer.

And while he managed to accomplish so much, he wishes he could have gone to Mars.

Artifacts from his many travels are housed at the Adler Planetarium, as are his many dreams of future space exploration as he continues to look to the stars.

Customers of the Illinois Department of Public Health may have had personal information exposed in a hack of an employee’s email.

IDHS said it experienced a “privacy breach” through a phishing campaign that was sent to employee emails April 25.

Hackers gained access to files that included Social Security numbers of 4,701 customers and three employees, IDHS said. Hackers also accessed public assistance information for more than 1.1 million customers.

That information included name, public assistance account number, some combination of address, date of birth, Illinois State Board of Education Student Information System ID number, Recipient Identification Number and cellphone number.

IDHS said it worked with the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology to investigate the extent of the breach and to determine which individuals were included.

Written notices were sent to all customers and employees whose information was accessed.

(WIFR) – Almost 300 new laws ring in the new year including one that affects the way employers post open positions.

The Illinois Equal Pay Act, enacted in 2003, adds several amendments starting January 1st, 2025. Among these are laws that strengthen pay transparency and promotion posting requirements.

Businesses with 15 or more employees must include the salary range and a general description of the benefits and other compensation for open positions posted on job sites.

Additionally, employers must announce all promotion opportunities to all current employees no later than 14 days after posting externally.

Dave Vella, 68th District State Representative, hopes to put more money into residents with these amendments. He says this is an opportunity to empower the Illinois worker.

“As we saw from the last election, there’s a lot of discontented people who want the economy to change,” Vella says. “This is a way to change the economy is to get people paid better. Which is, I think is a good thing overall, for all of us.”

But 90th District State Representative John Cabello disagrees. He believes Illinois is acting as a nanny state and these changes will do little to nothing to boost the economy. Cabello adds that the beauty of our country exists in the free market that keeps the government out of personal business.

“If you can get the better-paying job, you’re probably going to go do that. And if you are one company that’s not paying the same amount, you’re probably going, “Why am I not getting better employees or more talented people?” Well, that’s probably because you need to raise your pay,” Cabello says.

On the other hand, Vella believes this is a step towards leveling the playing field between worker and employer. Besides worker empowerment, he says these amendments decrease gender and racial disparities.

“Women ask for less money for their job than men do. If we say how much the low end and the high end is, it will, I think give women more of a prompt to ask for more money so that there’s a pay equity,” Vella says.

You can check out the full amended Illinois Equal Pay Act here.

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