Lawmakers heard from students, parents, advocates and local and state school officials about the policy of schools putting certain students in isolation and restraints.… MORE
![Illinois lawmakers to grapple over banning isolation in schools or just modify policies](https://www.wjbc.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/389/2015/04/IllCapitolFkrakaKath-125x125.jpg)
Lawmakers heard from students, parents, advocates and local and state school officials about the policy of schools putting certain students in isolation and restraints.… MORE
Illinois’ Congressional delegation is sounding off on the president’s powers under the decades-old War Powers Act after President Donald Trump used a drone strike to kill an Iranian general.… MORE
Illinois State Police officials are working on a new service to reduce a backlog of more than 60,000 new, changed, or renewal requests for Firearm Owners’ Identification cards, but it’s expensive and will take time.… MORE
Illinois officials are promoting an education grant program designed to provide financial aid to undocumented students and transgender students.… MORE
There wasn’t much of a line Monday midday at the recreational cannabis dispensary in Springfield, despite some Chicago-area dispensaries that closed amid labor and product shortages. This after the state announced more than $10.8 million in sales from more than 271,000 transactions in the first five days cannabis has been legal in Illinois. … MORE
The Illinois Property Tax Relief Task Force has missed its deadline to file recommendations and minority Republicans say they can’t sign off on a draft report.… MORE
McLean County native Kelly Loeffler was officially sworn in Monday as Georgia’s newest U.S. Senator.… MORE
The Illinois Department of Corrections changed its policy guiding the way prisons are allowed to ban books for inmates – and it can’t be because of their social, sexual, religious or political content.… MORE
United States Navy veteran Nikita Richards is running for chair of the McLean County Democratic Party.… MORE
Illinois’ brick and mortar small-business vaping industry may be getting a break from President Donald Trump, but they’re not out of the woods yet.… MORE
By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …
By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…
By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…
Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…