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With nearly half a million dollars of state funding, a new electric vehicle charging station opened in Joliet on Monday. It is the first of hundreds of charging stations set to be installed over the next 18 months as part of a state-funded grant program. That growth in chargers is important as Illinois aims to rapidly transition toward having more electric vehicle drivers. As of last week, there were about 120,000 EVs on Illinois roads, while the state’s goal is to have 1 million on the road by 2030.

A plan moving in Springfield could require the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to prioritize placing youth with their relatives. More than 10,000 youth in care currently live with relatives. Yet, over 60% of those caregivers are denied foster care benefits necessary to care for young people. House Bill 4781 requires DCFS to pursue federal funding to establish a kinship navigator program to help relatives who have youth in care.

The new protocols have been implemented to curb threats to the Capitol, the Secretary of State’s Office announced in a memo sent out Monday. The new rules all took effect Tuesday, Nov. 19. Some threats from earlier this year include a bomb threat in March and a threatening 911 call in April. In early January, the FBI was investigating several state capitols that received bomb threats on the same day, including the Illinois State Capitol.

Lawmakers and special interest groups want the state to enforce existing law that requires nursing home operators to meet staffing requirements. At a news conference Tuesday in Springfield, Illinois AARP Senior Director of Advocacy and Outreach Ryan Gruenenfelder said that in 2010, staffing standards were imposed to ensure patients' needs were met.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources Coastal Management Program has awarded $1,075,395 in grants to Illinois organizations for coastal education, recreation, water quality protection, planning, and design and engineering projects along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Through a federal-state partnership with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, Illinois will pass through these federal funds to support local efforts that protect and restore the Illinois coast, reflecting both a national and local interest in Great Lakes restoration.