Environmental activists are ramping up advocacy efforts against hydraulic
fracturing, commonly called “fracking”. Meanwhile, the Illinois House Executive
Committee passed a regulatory compromise bill Tuesday and the full chamber is expected to take up the legislation any day now.
The oil and gas drilling technology, according to the bill’s opponents, is unsafe and damages the environment.
But as the bill makes its way through the Illinois General Assembly,
drilling companies have already leased land in Southern
Illinois — reportedly about half a million acres around the New
Albany Shale rock formation, according to the Star-Telegram.
“Fracking is not safe, it
destroys communities; it endangers our water supply; it is not safe for
the workers; and it is not a bridge fuel,” said Melody Lamar, a
member of Illinois People’s Action. “I’m so sickened by what I’ve seen
from our legislators.”
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Although the Chicago Board of Ed 
Reforming the sugar program in the nation's farm bill would make U.S. manufacturers more competitive and reduce prices for consumers, said U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), co-sponsor of an amendment to revamp the system.
As the Illinois General Assembly continues to wrestle with passing concealed carry legislation by their court-imposed deadline, the House bill 
Energy was high outside the Chicago Board of Education meeting
Wednesday morning as education activists, union members, teachers,
students and parents gathered in anticipation of a vote that could close
a staggering amount of schools across the Chicago Public Schools (CPS)
district. 
Englewood residents are not yet sure what will become of their six
neighborhood schools on Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) list to shut down or
relocate in June.
Education activists headed to Springfield early Wednesday morning to lobby for a moratorium on school closings. Their campaign for legislative action comes on the same day as the Chicago Board of Education votes on a
proposal to close a record-breaking number of public schools in Chicago. Meanwhile, the Illinois General Assembly has less than one month left in the spring session, which ends May 31.
Senate confirmation hearings for Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker’s 
Parents and community groups from Chicago and Philadelphia stood in solidarity against school closings at a gathering outside the Chicago Board of Education’s headquarters Tuesday morning. The activists also blasted the national trend of privatizing education.