Lauren Underwood: Thanks to the PACT Act, if a veteran’s illness is on the greatly expanded list of presumptive conditions and they meet the service requirements, then they qualify for care and benefits.

That siren means something life-threatening is happening, the National Weather Service says. Whether it’s a tornado, strong wind, hail or another emergency depends on the agency that controls the sirens going off.

While the lottery encourages more people to get vaccinated, this game sets a bad example. There has to be another way to get people vaccinated without making it yet another game of chance.

The spring session of the Illinois General Assembly is now history. At the beginning of the session, there was renewed hope that critical aspects of Illinois government might change. After all, for the first time in decades, the House had a new speaker.

We employ police officers to make tough, sometimes violent, decisions on the street. It’s an important job that can determine whether someone lives or dies. We know from the deaths of George Floyd and others that sometimes officers use lethal force inappropriately.

The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority has been a thorn in taxpayers’ side since its late-1980s creation paved the way for junking the original Comiskey Park, and it’s also responsible for the early 2000s Soldier Field renovation that cost nearly $400 million. There’s no way elected officials could stay out of yet another mega-development, which tends to mean using public money to offset the expenses of private companies who will make profits once games are played.

The first members of the Hall of Fame will be bands REO Speedwagon, Chicago, Cheap Trick, Ides of March and The Buckinghams; bluesmen Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters; deejays Dick Biondi and Larry Lujack; Chicago radio powerhouse WLS-AM; and Chess Records, a Chicago blues label founded by two brothers who immigrated from Poland.

We have come so far and made much progress over the past 18 months. And have much to look forward to. We don’t want to revert to where we were.

The bill expands limitations on fundraising efforts, preventing lawmakers from holding campaign fundraisers across the state on any day the General Assembly is in session.