Will County News

  Kankakee County State's Attorney Jim Rowe issued the following press release on Wednesday, December 28, 2022: "Kankakee County, IL –  Earlier today Circuit Judge Thomas Cunnington, Chief Judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit, issued his ruling in the case of Rowe, et al., v. Pritzker, et al.  Judge Cunnington ruled in favor of the Plaintiffs and held the Pre-Trial Fairness Act, specifically the bail reform and pre-trial release provisions, unconstitutional.  The immediate net effect of this ruling is that the pre-trial release provisions and bail reform will not go into effect in the 65 counties that were party to the lawsuit.  The other provisions of the Safe-T Act, such as body cameras, training, etc., were upheld. The Plaintiffs in this lawsuit consisted of 65 counties throughout Illinois who filed suit against Governor JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Senate President Donald Harmon and Speaker of the House Christopher Welch.  Kankakee County and Will County were

The City of Joliet's Regional Water Authority project was selected for federal funding, as announced by Illinois 11th District Congressman Bill Foster.  The funding is part of the 2022 Federal omnibus spending bill. The Regional Water Authority was one of 15 projects selected for funding in the 11th District.  Joliet will receive  $3,452,972 to "to support the creation of a regional water authority and construction of the infrastructure to bring Lake Michigan water to Joliet and surrounding towns, pursuant to their local agreement, in order to reduce the overall burden of the cost of water on property owners in the region."  The other projects selected for funding are included here:

 The U.S. Census Bureau reported population estimates on Dec. 22, 2022.   Illinois was on the list of states that have lost population: " Eighteen states experienced a population decline in 2022, compared to  15 and DC  the prior year. California, with a population of 39,029,342, and Illinois, with a population of 12,582,032, also had six-figure decreases in resident population. Both states’ declining populations were largely due to net domestic outmigration, totaling 343,230 and 141,656, respectively. "