Robert McCoppin – Page 14

Tarik Shahzad walks around Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary in Chicago on Jan. 24, 2025, while bird-watching. Shahzad set a record by identifying 294 birds in Cook County in 2024. (Audrey Richardson/baiduhai)

New bird-watching record marks Cook County as prime hot spot for bird-watching

January 29, 2025 at 12:23 p.m.

Tarik Shahzad logged 294 birds last year, a new record to Cook County, which is a hot spot for bird-watching in the Midwest.

A family picks up their child at Two Rivers Head Start Agency on Sullivan Road in Aurora on Jan. 28, 2025. Earlier Tuesday Donald Trump's administration announced a freeze on federal grants, which could affect Illinois Head Start child care programs. However, a federal judge late Tuesday afternoon temporarily blocked the freeze. Two Rivers is among programs that would be
in danger of shutting down without the necessary federal funding. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

Trump administration’s surprise federal funding freeze sows havoc across Illinois before being blocked by federal judge

January 29, 2025 at 9:53 a.m.

The Trump administration's surprise federal funding freeze spurred discord and pushback in Illinois even as a judge temporarily blocked the effort.

Anthony Marsico works in the flower room at the Ataraxia medical marijuana cultivation center in Albion, Illinois, in 2015. Verano later acquired Ataraxia's grow house in Albion. (Seth Perlman/AP)

Former executive for cannabis company Verano indicted on insider trading charges

January 21, 2025 at 6:36 p.m.

The indictment accused Anthony Marsico of using confidential information to make an illegal profit of about $607,000 by buying stock in another marijuana company that Verano planned to acquire.

Charles Wu gives a tour at Prescribd, a cannabis cultivation company, on July 17, 2021, in Bridgeview. Wu, a lobbyist for the Illinois Hemp Business Association, made campaign contributions of over $21,000 to various state legislators, including Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch and state Rep. LaShawn Ford. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)

Hemp advocates gave campaign donations to lawmakers in fight over regulations

January 26, 2025 at 12:34 p.m.

Hemp business owners recently gave more than $30,000 to oppose a bill they said would have shut them down.

Marijuana plants grow in an Illinois cultivation facility in 2023. (Shanna Madison/baiduhai)

Illinois approves 4 new conditions for women for medical marijuana

January 14, 2025 at 11:41 a.m.

Endometriosis, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids and female orgasmic disorder were approved conditions to qualify for medical cannabis.

People stand on a rooftop before watching PJ Harvey perform at the Salt Shed on Sept. 30, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Hemp THC products to be sold at Salt Shed, as cannabis companies enter the hemp market

January 13, 2025 at 1:51 p.m.

One of the largest cannabis companies in the country, Green Thumb Industries, announced Friday that it will open a hemp products store selling edibles and margaritas at the concert hall.

State Rep. Nicholas Smith speaks on April 11, 2024, at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield as Cannabiz IL and state legislators present bipartisan legislation regulating hemp consumer products and prohibiting synthetic THC intoxicants such as Delta-8. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Hemp regulation bill stalls after lobbying battle between Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker

January 7, 2025 at 11:48 a.m.

Legislation to regulate hemp sales, supported by Gov. JB Pritzker and opposed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, stalled in the Illinois House.

Parishioners carry a Virgin Mary figure in honor of Nuestra Señora Virgen de la Nube, Our Lady of the Cloud, during a procession through the Albany Park neighborhood after Mass on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2025, at Our Lady of Mercy on the Northwest Side. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Ecuadorians celebrate Mass and community at Albany Park church

January 2, 2025 at 11:42 a.m.

Members of the Ecuadorian community held a procession for the Virgin Mary in Albany Park commemorating a religious holiday known as the Virgin of the Cloud.

Gabriela Gomez holds packages of Hits Blunt, a product that was confiscated by police in a raid in August, in her husband's store, the Smoke House, on Dec. 31, 2024, in East Dundee. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Hemp business owner sues over what he calls illegal raid, as officials in several towns consider bans

January 2, 2025 at 9:18 a.m.

A raid and criminal charges against a suburban smoke shop owner have ignited a dispute over enforcement of hemp laws, with the store owner filing a lawsuit claiming improper arrest.

An empty parcel of land, top, is all that remains of the former U.S. Steel South Works site on Oct. 22, 2024, in Chicago. PsiQuantum has plans to anchor the new Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, a 128-acre quantum campus, on the site. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

PsiQuantum plans to build one of the world’s first commercially useful quantum computers in Chicago — despite huge obstacles

January 2, 2025 at 9:56 a.m.

If successful, quantum computing is expected to address problems like climate change. But huge engineering obstacles remain.

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