Illinois Quick Hits: State unemployment rate hits 5%

(The Center Square) – The Illinois Department of Employment Security says the state’s unemployment rate reached 5% in February, up 0.1 percentage point from January and up 0.3 percentage point from the same month, one year ago.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payrolls decreased 0.3% in February.

FEDS ANNOUNCE MIDWAY BLITZ-RELATED CONVICTION

Sentencing is scheduled on July 22 for a Lyons man who admitted that he used his vehicle to impede, intimidate, and interfere with the work of federal immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago last October.

Prosecutors say Anthony Gonzalez Alvarez, 27, admitted that he drove his pickup truck into a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle and filed a false police report to conceal his involvement in the collision.

Gonzalez Alvarez faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

CPS RESTORES FEDERAL FUNDS CUT OFF FROM SPECIAL ED STUDENTS

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