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Moon alertThere are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The moon is in Leo.Aries (March 21-April 19) A dynamic day Take a moment today to take stock of yourself and your situation. Do a reality check. Be on the lookout for unexpected opportunities in surprising places. Creative discussions might help you write, study or come up with innovative plans.Taurus (April 20-May 20) A positive day As the financial wizard of the zodiac, you'll be pleased today that you might come up with excellent moneymaking ideas! Ultimately, your new ideas could benefit your home, your family or potential real estate negotiations? You're in the zone today. Oh yeah.Gemini (May 21-June 20) A positive day This is wonderful day for family discussions. It's also a great day to plan some home improvements or repairs. This is why you might be thinking of costs and what you can afford to do. Those who work at home might see ways to get richer. Ka-ching!Cancer (June 21-July 22) A positive day Life is good today, and you're happy to be in your own skin. Although you're happy to relax and take a back seat to events going on around you, your ability to research and sleuth answers to hidden problems is phenomenal today. (Who knows? You might find secrets to the universe?)Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) A dynamic day Today the moon is in your sign dancing beautifully with the sun and playful Mercury. This bodes well for fun socializing with others. In addition, your interactions with groups and organizations (including conventions) will be superb. Today your words are golden!Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) A positive day Today you impress parents, bosses and anyone in authority because you appear competent, successful and affluent in the eyes of others. They see you as someone who can take control of a situation and clearly explain what needs to be done. (Use this advantage!)Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) A positive day Enjoy your popularity with others today. This is an especially good day to talk with friends and acquaintances and catch up on history, maybe even gossip. You'll find it easy to verbalize your feelings. You'll also be sensitive and aware of other peoples' feelings as well.Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) A positive day Today you're high-visibility. People notice you. (In fact, some will know personal details about your private life. Be aware of this in case you have to do some damage control.) Discussions with bosses and parents about shared property, budgets or the allocation of funds will be successful.Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) A dynamic day This is a great day to travel or do anything to expand your experience of the world. If you can't travel, then make travel plans. Learn more through study, courses, books, film and talking to people from different backgrounds and other cultures. Legal and medical matters will go well.Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) A positive day If you need to discuss how to divide an inheritance or share something with someone, this is an excellent day to do this. It's also a good day to ask for a mortgage or a loan. All financial discussions will favor you. Keep your pockets open!Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) A positive day A playful day! Accept all invitations to party and schmooze. Enjoy warm interactions with spouses, partners and close friends. Playful activities with kids, the arts and the entertainment world will delight you — as will getaway vacations. Do something special to enjoy your day!Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) A positive day Enjoy entertaining at home today. This is also an excellent day to explore real estate opportunities. Family discussions will be informative and yet lighthearted. Look for opportunities to improve family relations or where you live in little (or big) ways. This is because unexpected opportunities to improve your life exist today. (This is a blessing.)If today is your birthdayActor Clint Eastwood (1930) shares your birthday. You love a new venture! You're individualistic, pragmatic and innovative. This year is the last year of a nine-year cycle for you, which means it's time to let go of people, places and things of the past that have held you back. It's time for some external and internal housecleaning.

SPRINGFIELD — After months of negotiating through one of Illinois’ toughest budget seasons in years, state legislators on Friday unveiled a $55.2 billion spending bill that Democratic leaders say bridges an estimated $1 billion shortfall in part through increased gambling and tobacco taxes, along with controversial cuts to immigrant health care.The budget proposal — revealed about 30 hours before a key state constitutional deadline to pass it — largely follows the spending priorities laid out earlier this year by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, coming in about $200 million lower than his February proposal, officials said.It includes more than $1 billion in estimated new revenue through heightened “sin taxes” on some casino games, tobacco and vape products, as well as through an amnesty program intended to collect more money from tax delinquents.And it follows through with the governor’s proposed savings of some $400 million by cutting the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program — a politically perilous reduction that threatens health care coverage for nearly 33,000 people between the ages of 42 and 64 in Illinois without legal status.“That's in recognition of the challenges that we're seeing coming out of Washington and the devastating effects that those proposals are having on our state and states across the country,” said state Sen. Elgie Sims, the Chicago Democrat who serves as top budget negotiator.But the plan also includes almost 5% pay raises for legislators, an increase that officials said was tied to inflation.A full rundown of the tax increases wasn’t immediately available, but Sims said “we're trying to make sure that individuals pay their fair share, and corporations who are the most profitable also pay their fair share.” Pritzker’s proposal banked on $100 million by taxing casino table games at the same graduated rates applied to slot machines.“This budget is balanced, it's responsible and it's a statement of our priorities,” said Sims, adding that there are “no broad-based tax increases in this budget.”A spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said the plan includes about $382 million in cuts “to government administration” and includes “management tools to prepare for possible federal disruption or shortfall.”A tough budget year got even tougher last month when a state analysis revealed revenues are on track to fall $471 million short of the total projected in the governor’s proposal, further complicating a fiscal situation clouded by potential federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.The cuts to immigrant health care, vehemently opposed by the General Assembly’s Latino Caucus, could pose one of the biggest obstacles to passage. A boost in funding to federally qualified health care centers was intended to offset some of the losses in coverage, Senate sources said. That won't be enough, according to state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero. "It's heartbreaking. And it doesn't mean the cost is going to go away," said Hernandez, referring to people who will show up at emergency rooms for care. "This program actually was a way to approach it in a much more cost-effective way."Hernandez said she and her Latino Caucus colleagues had to fight to keep a separate program in the budget at $110 million to provide health coverage for people 65 and older without legal status. Asked if she'll support the budget, Hernandez — a Democratic deputy majority leader — said: "We'll see."Earlier in the day, legislative leaders swatted aside the possibility of internal strife in hammering out a spending plan among moderate and progressive members of Democratic supermajorities in the Capitol.“We’re all on the same page,” Illinois Senate President Don Harmon said after a meeting with Pritzker and Welch. “We expect to be working together all the way through the final passage of the budget.”Pritzker stressed earlier in the week that he would veto any spending plan that hikes income taxes or sales taxes.The proposed budget would increase legislators’ annual salaries to $98,304, up from $93,712.Republicans in the state house, relegated to super-minority status, were still reviewing the proposal late Friday. State GOP chair Kathy Salvi preemptively lambasted the Democratic spending plan that she said “treats Illinois families as a piggy bank for do-nothing policies and a bloated budget that prioritizes physician-assisted suicide and illegal immigrants.”Lawmakers generally wait until the last minute or overtime to pass a budget. But there’s an added pressure to avert any “overtime” session and pass a budget with a simple majority by midnight Saturday. Under the state Constitution, bills up for a vote on June 1 or later require a three-fifths majority — likely too high a threshold for consensus even among Democratic supermajorities in a difficult budget year.And smooth budget passage without unpopular tax hikes is important to Pritzker as he ponders his political future. The governor still hasn't announced if he will seek a third term — and he has long been floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.His office didn’t have any immediate comment on the bill. After his meeting with Harmon and Welch, Pritzker said, “We’re all moving forward.”As lawmakers wrangled over the budget, the future of mass transit in the Chicago area remained up in the air as the legislative clock winds down.Legislators were largely in agreement Thursday on the new governance structure of the proposed new Northern Illinois Transit Authority to oversee the CTA, Metra and Pace — but funding proposals that included a toll hike were dead on arrival amid opposition from suburban leaders and organized labor.An amended bill was expected Saturday morning.

As a storied political fixture for a half century, convicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan accumulated a lot of friends.Nearly 250 of them flooded the judicial docket late Friday with letters of support for the politically and legally vanquished, 83-year-old Democratic political boss who could be a federal inmate into his 90s if prosecutors get their way.A former governor and first lady, ex-members of Congress and the legislature, his 13th Ward neighbors, church and union leaders, pillars of Chicago’s legal community and the owners of Madigan’s most beloved restaurant and baseball team all urged against that.They sought leniency, and so did the ex-speaker’s kids.“In a city where people used to talk about having parking tickets ‘fixed,’ I learned from Mike that I was expected to follow the law — either feed the parking meter or pay the parking tickets,” said his daughter, former four-term Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan.She said he instilled in his children the same life lessons he lived under himself — get as much education as possible, work hard, help others, and be “honest and scrupulously ethical.”“I know Mike Madigan would never intentionally commit a crime. He is the consummate rule follower,” she said. “Punishing him for trying to help people — something we are all taught to do — is the true injustice.”On June 13th, Michael Madigan should learn from U.S. District Judge John Blakey whether or how long he’ll be going to prison for 10 separate convictions on bribery, conspiracy and fraud.The feds want Blakey to impose a 12 ½-year sentence and $1.5 million fine against Madigan. In their own filing, Madigan’s legal team pushed for no prison time and just five months probation and “a reasonable fine.”One of the best-known writers on Madigan’s behalf was former two-term Republican Gov. Jim Edgar, who is battling pancreatic cancer. He said he’d known Madigan for nearly 50 years. Through their time together at the Capitol, Edgar described the long-serving ex-speaker as someone who “always kept his word, and that is somewhat unusual for people in that world.”“Mike made mistakes — as we all did in our professional careers — but he did far more good in making this state a better place to live,” wrote Edgar, who was governor between 1991 and 1999.Former Illinois First Lady Jayne Carr Thompson said her late husband, four-term Republican Gov. James Thompson, also regarded Madigan as someone whose word could always be trusted regardless of whether they were “collaborating or fiercely opposed.”She asked Blakey to “show mercy in sentencing Mike Madigan” and “to consider his many years of dedicated public service to the people of our state and his reputation for honesty and disciplined hard work over more than half a century.”Another supporter of Madigan’s who wrote Blakey was former Orland Park Police Chief Timothy McCarthy, a one-time Madigan-backed candidate for secretary of state. McCarthy’s enduring fame, however, came from the bullet to the chest he once took, as a Secret Service agent, for President Ronald Reagan during a 1981 assassination attempt.“He impressed me with his honesty and advice that truthfulness was the most important quality for a successful candidate for public office and for a successful political career,” McCarthy said. “And while I lost the election, I came away with a very positive impression of our speaker of the House.”Former U.S. Rep. William Lipinski, a longtime Madigan ally who represented the Southwest Side in Congress for 22 years, told Blakey he’d known the ex-speaker since 1970 and that it was an honor “to call him my friend.” He described Madigan as “Mr. Integrity.”“I know him firsthand to be an outstanding husband and father and, believe me, that can’t be said about too many men in public life,” Lipinski wrote.In another letter, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf vouched for Madigan’s “character and his lifetime commitment to improving the lives of all Illinoisans.” He recounted Madigan’s crucial role in rounding up votes during the dramatic late-night legislative coup in 1988 that authorized construction of the White Sox’ current home field. It kept the team from moving to Florida.“Saving the White Sox resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefit to Illinois, not to mention making possible the first World Series championship in 88 years,” Reinsdorf wrote. “At no time in the process, either before, during or after, did he ask for any consideration in exchange.”Reinsdorf asked Blakey “take into consideration [Madigan’s] advanced age” in determining his sentence.One other letter of support for Madigan came from the proprietors of what arguably is his favorite Italian restaurant, Bruna’s, in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood. During Madigan’s trial, recordings showed him as a frequent patron of the restaurant, sometimes as often as three times a week.“Mr. Madigan has always been a gracious and kind customer and friend,” wrote the restaurant’s longtime owners, Ilona and Luciano Silvestri, who described Madigan as a customer “for many years.”“He has been accommodating to our customers who wish to shake his hand or engage in conversation,” they said. “He has also been very kind and generous to our employees and goes out of his way to help them when asked for advice. He is always a gentleman.”Dave McKinney covers Illinois government and politics and is the former longtime Springfield bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times.

A man was killed and a woman wounded in a drive-by shooting Friday morning in the Garfield Park neighborhood. The pair were standing outside in the first block of South Springfield Avenue when a black car drove by and someone inside fired shots about 10 a.m., Chicago police said. The man, 33, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The woman, 30, suffered a grazed wound to the neck and was treated by paramedics at the scene. No arrests were made.

A woman arrested on suspicion of stabbing her three children this week in Greater Grand Crossing is facing charges for attempted murder. Aurionah-Rakii-Karie Parker-White, 23, allegedly stabbed her 1-year-old daughter and two sons, ages 3 and 5, in their wrists with a sharp object in the 7100 block of South Harvard Avenue about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, Chicago police said. Tow truck driver DeVaughen Stringfellow, who was on his way to help a friend, saw the 1-year-old in the street next to an abandoned car tire wearing nothing but a bloodied diaper.He pulled over and drove Parker-White and the children to Saint Bernard Hospital. The children were later transferred to Comer Children’s Hospital, where they were all in serious condition, police said.Stringfellow said Parker-White had said that she was struggling and the children all had different fathers.On Friday, Parker-White was charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated battery to a child.