The Home Front

By Don DeBat Financially squeezed homeowners in Chicago and across Illinois finally can look forward to some relief on soaring property insurance costs thanks to a new consumer-oriented law recently signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The legislation, which took years to pass, hit on a theme Democrats, who control the General Assembly, have been focused on in this election year. It is a top Democratic priority to pass bills that make goods and services more affordable for

(Above) City workers remove water from Lower Wacker Drive near Randolph Street after overnight flooding on May 18, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP. By Don DeBat The once extremely profitable Illinois property insurance industry literally is blowing in the wind and battling a rising tide of property damage from weather extremes nationwide. Billions of dollars in losses sparked by California wildfires and forest fires in western states – and an unprecedented

(Above) 2017 photo of a flooded Chicago Riverwalk. As recent monsoon-like rains inundate neighborhoods, Chicago homeowners are grappling...