A Chicago law prohibiting pet stores to sell puppies obtained from puppy mills has been upheld in a federal appeals court. The federal court found that the city’s policy goals, including reducing financial support to these large mill-style breeders, are legitimate governmental concerns.

This ruling was made at the same time California Governor Jerry Brown began looking at a bill that is trying to achieve this, for the first time, at the state level. The court dismissed claims from pet stores that the law went against the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause.

A string of similar rulings by other federal courts went against the claims of Congressmen Steve King, R-Iowa, and Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., whose bills attempt to get rid of state and local rulings that protect animals from cruel practices. The Congressmen have implied that the laws they’re trying to purge are unconstitutional.

These Congressmen have also consistently voted against efforts to strengthen rules and regulations against horse slaughter, aggressive confinement of farm animals, and other animal welfare standards.

Countering the allegation that these laws are unconstitutional, federal courts have found that these state and local laws are well within their rights to regulate the sale of animals and animal products, as well as the conditions in which said animals were raised.

In Illinois and Texas, federal courts upheld the right of states to prohibit horse slaughter and the sale of horsemeat for human consumption. It was ruled that these states did not act in conflict with federal meat inspection laws.

California’s law banning the sale of force-fed foie gras has been reinforced, stating that under the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, force-feeding is not an “ingredient requirement”. Under this law, California has the right to regulate activity it deems cruel to animals, especially geese, ducks, and chickens, which Americans consume 90 pounds of every year.

Overall, approximately half of the 11 federal courts of appeals have ruled in at least one case by approving states’ rights to ban products of animal cruelty. These courts are sending a message to opposers, saying proposals to strip states of their animal cruelty prevention rights is a threat to the Constitutional system.

For those with skin allergies, finding the right products can be a tricky process. But with a quick scan of the ingredients on a hypoallergenic label, you can generally make a well-informed purchase.

Or can you?

A study by Northwestern University published in JAMA Dermatology found that many popular skin moisturizers that were labeled as “hypoallergenic” or “fragrance free” often were not. Northwestern Now reports that the study involved the top 100 best-selling moisturizers from Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Target.

The researchers found that 45% of the products labeled “fragrance free” had a botanical ingredient or a fragrance cross reactor, according to Northwestern Now. They also found that 83% of products labeled “hypoallergenic” actually have a potentially allergenic ingredient. For those with skin allergies, this could come as an unwelcome surprise.

Household allergy sufferers generally know what makes them sneeze and itch their eyes. Some need to be wary of mold. And with 2,000 dust mites lurking on one ounce of carpet, others needs to up their house cleaning. In situations of mislabeled ingredients, however, there is little people can do to safeguard their sensitive skin.

So, who is responsible for providing this detailed ingredient information? First author Steve Xu, resident physician in dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Northwestern Now that companies may need to form closer ties with dermatologists.

“If manufacturers did list all the ingredients, their labels would be 75 pages,” he said. “As it stands now, patients have a challenging time making an informed decision by glancing at the back of the bottle. Our study highlights that and aims to make that search easier on consumers by informing dermatologists.”

Researchers also found that “dermatologist-recommended” products were generally not that different from their competitors. They were, however, $0.20 more per ounce than the other products, according to the study.

“We looked into what it means to be ‘dermatologist-recommended,’ and it doesn’t mean much because it could be three dermatologists recommending it or 1,000,” Xu said.

As for the products that did make the cut, researchers found that 12% of the studied products were free of North American Contact Dermatitis Group allergens. The top three products that were both affordable and safe for skin were Ivory raw unrefined shea butter, Vaseline original petroleum jelly, and Smellgood African shea butter, according to Northwestern Now. To find their ideal products, Xu says that consumers need a change in mindset.

“We could recommend a moisturizer that has no allergy risk and is affordable and effective, but if the patient doesn’t like it, it’s a wasted recommendation,” he said. “We need to program into our minds to think differently and strike that fine balance between safe ingredients and user preference.”

Annual sales in the restaurant industry may have reached $783 billion in 2017, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is flocking to their local eateries. In fact, nearly 20% of 2016 survey respondents said that they use a food delivery service at least once a week, and millennials spend 44% of their food dollars eating out — much of which gets eaten up by services like GrubHub and Seamless or quick service restaurants. To compete in a market that’s based more on convenience with every passing year, Chicago dining establishments and food-related startups are finding they have to be a bit more creative than ever before.

When customers can’t find their favorite food spot on their delivery app of choice, they may end up spending their money elsewhere. Although delivery made up only 3% of all restaurant transactions this past year, customers ate in sit-down restaurants just 37% of the time. In contrast, 39% of customers opted for carryout, and 21% of all restaurant transactions were made at the drive-thru. In response, many area restaurant owners have had to take a crash course in the latest technology. On top of that, some have had to redesign their establishments — from food prep lines to expanded waiting areas — to account for the increasing demand for takeout. The average home kitchen in the U.S has around 25 feet of counter space, but some businesses have had to design new, separate kitchens just for mobile orders.

In Chicago, Duck Duck Goat added a quick carryout option, Duck Duck Ta Go, just four months after they opened their initial establishment. The “Ta Go” portion has its own small kitchen and offers dishes that aren’t available on the regular menu. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a restaurant group with dozens of outlets to its name, recently opened a takeout- and delivery-only spot, Seaside’s, in Lincoln Park. Now that takeout is moving away from the bar area and into the main lobby of many locations (or even outside), restaurant layouts are being adjusted accordingly. Heat lamps and to-go shelving is in; cash register space is out.

But some restaurants are steadfast in their belief that delivery isn’t for them. And some, like Smoque BBQ in Irving Park, have been forced to give in due to the increasing customer demand to provide more takeout options. Around 40% of their transactions were already attributed to takeout orders, but they’ve begrudgingly started offering delivery now through Caviar, another food delivery service.

“We were getting a lot of pressure from customers,” co-owner Barry Sorkin told the Chicago Tribune. “This is how people get food now, whether we like it or not … We were still uncomfortable, but [Caviar takes delivery] seriously, and there’s a degree of professionalism.”
The fact that Caviar places limits on their delivery zones and uses thermal bags to keep food hot doesn’t hurt, either.

Still, some consumers may not want to deal with food delivery services yet are too tired to cook a big meal. Tovala, a Chicago-based startup, promises a solution in the form of a tech-friendly oven and meal preparation subscription service, combined. The oven steams, broils, and bakes food (either the meals obtained through the company’s weekly subscription service or the consumer’s own dishes) until it’s fully cooked and ready to enjoy. The smart oven costs $399 and the three-meal subscription service is $36 a week — but if you crunch the numbers, you might find it’s a bargain, depending on how much you normally spend on food in a given week.

Regardless of whether the smart oven catches on, it’s likely that consumers (especially younger ones) are going to continue to seek out convenient and delicious ways to eat. In other words, restaurants will need to stay on their toes and keep adapting if they want to stick around.

In August, Governor Bruce Rauner signed State Bill 1933, making Illinois the latest state to implement some form of automatic voter registration. Under this new law, which takes effect immediately, Illinois citizens will be automatically registered to vote when they register or renew their driver’s license.

The bill is similar to the one that Rauner vetoed a little more than a year ago. At the time, Rauner feared that automatic voter registration opened up the door for voter fraud, a concern that most experts say is totally unfounded despite its hold on the political Zeitgeist in the past few years.

Since then, Democrats have worked to make the bill more palatable for the Republican Governor, especially as political pressure from grassroot activist campaigns mounted.

“We retooled parts of this plan based on suggestions from both sides of the aisle. There’s no plausible reason Gov. Rauner shouldn’t sign it the moment it lands on his desk,” State Senator and co-sponsor of the Bill Andy Manar (D) said in a statement in May, according to Huffington Post.

And as it would happen, they succeeded.

“This is good bipartisan legislation and it addresses the fundamental fact that the right to vote is foundational for the rights of Americans in our democracy,” Rauner said during the bill signing ceremony in Chicago, as reported by The Washington Post. “We as a people need to do everything we can to knock down barriers, remove hurdles for all those who are eligible to vote, to be able to vote.”

Proponents of the bill are celebrating. They believe that it will help to reduce the barriers to civil engagement, thereby enabling more people to take part in the electoral process. Critics, on the other hand, still believe that automatic voter registration bills are problematic, in part because they feel it can lead to potential voter fraud, but also because they feel it is a governmental overreach.

In 2015, Oregon was the first state to sign a law for automatic voter registration. Like the Illinois bill, the DMV was central to their plan.

As of 2015, 218 million of the nearly 245 million American adults had a driver’s license. That means the DMV database has important information like social security and citizenship status for 89% of the entire population, making it an ideal agency to handle voter registration.

Since then, the law has been deemed a success, with more than half of all registered voters participating in the 2016 election, according to the New York Times.

The United States has a complicated history with voting rights. Over the past two and a half centuries, voting rights have spread beyond landholding white men, always marching towards greater inclusion. In 1920, women won for themselves the right to vote after a long campaign of suffrage.

Americans of color were granted the right fifty years earlier in 1870, but oppressive measures during the reconstruction and Jim Crow era made it near impossible for many African Americans to exercise the right to vote. That changed with the passing of the Voting Rights Act the year after the Civil Rights act passed, banning discrimination in public facilities.

And while there might still be a great deal of controversy and speculation over voting rights, bills like SB1933 keep progress moving forward.