$13 million for electric school buses
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has announced more than $13 million in grants for 46 new electric school buses.
The grants are funded by a multi-billion dollar Volkswagen settlement and will be distributed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
The state EPA plans to add future funding from the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Diesel Emission Reduction Act Program.
New public safety administrator
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has appointed former Cook County Public Defender’s Office chief of staff Era Patterson as executive director of the Chicago Office of Public Safety Administration.
The mayor’s office credited Patterson with leading legislative initiatives and contributing to Illinois’ SAFE-T Act.
The appointment requires city council approval.
Man sentenced for threatening FEMA, police
A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for threatening Federal Emergency Management Agency employees and local law enforcement officers.
Prosecutors say Darren D. Walton, 31, of Midlothian made more than 100 phone calls to FEMA employees in connection with an application for disaster assistance that Walton filed in 2023.
The calls included violent threats against FEMA employees and Midlothian police officers.
