By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – It seems like serving on a volunteer fire department is something more people did in Ye Olde Tymes. Now, people are busy, work in town, or whatever. Maybe a $500 tax credit would be an incentive for more people to join up. Illinois Firefighters Association lobbyist Margaret Vaughn is pushing…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – A bill to replenish the money that pays unemployment benefits to Illinoisans passed the House Wednesday night on a partisan vote. “The $4.5 billion deficit in our unemployment insurance trust fund is historic, it’s monumental and very difficult to address,” said State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea) at a post-session news…… MORE
By HOI ABC BLOOMINGTON – Five Republican candidates for the McLean County Board, including the current board chairman, face possible removal from the June primary ballot because of technical errors with the nominating petitions they filed earlier this month. Just before Monday’s 4:30 p.m. deadline, some local Democrats filed challenges to the petitions which contain…… MORE
Illinois’ appointment process has become a Big Partisan Thing, and one of the biggest complaints Illinois Senate Republicans have about Gov. JB Pritzker.… MORE
While Republicans try to make hay from Gov Pritzker’s record on crime … there’s also the record of the Prisoner Review Board to examine.… MORE
Another contempt of court for the head of DCFS in Illinois as the agency struggles to place children in proper care settings.… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – A champion swimmer and a woman whose body was pulled from Lake Michigan a few days ago have two things in common: they are transgender, and they were brought up on the floor of the Illinois House Tuesday. State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) said the acceptance of transgenderism, including allowing…… MORE
By HOI ABC SPRINGFIELD (WGEM) – A bill honoring the life of Jelani Day is one step closer to becoming law in Illinois. Day was a graduate student at Illinois State University who went missing in August. Despite efforts to find him alive, authorities found his body floating in the Illinois River on September 4. His family…… MORE
By HOI ABC NORMAL – An estimated $20 million agriculture complex to be built at Heartland Community College’s campus in Normal won unanimous approval Monday night from the town council. The new home for Heartland’s ag department will be located on the southwest edge of the campus off of West Raab Road. The council approved…… MORE
For a while this past week, there were two speakers in the Illinois House of Representatives.… 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…