By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The top Republican in the Illinois House, Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), waved the 106-page, 22-count indictment of former House Speaker Mike Madigan as he reacted to the news during a late-afternoon news conference Wednesday at the Capitol. “Speaker Welch, Mike Madigan’s hand-picked successor, and all of the House…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Anyone who thought former House Speaker Mike Madigan would slip away from the feds was wrong. “Today a federal grand jury returned a 22-count indictment charging former House Speaker Michael Madigan with racketeering conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, and extortion offenses, said U.S. Attorney John Lausch at a late-afternoon news conference…… MORE
Illinois’ Senior Senator is charring a committee set to question President Biden’s Supreme Court nomination.… MORE
Amid an invasion by Russian troops in Ukraine, one central Illinois Congressman thinks the United States can do more to help Ukraine.… MORE
By HOI ABC BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Police will soon have the technology officers said they need to help solve major crimes. The city council voted 8-1 Monday night to approve a two-year contract with Flock Safety to install automatic license plate-reading cameras. The first year of the contract, cameras will be placed at 10 locations…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – During a review of the week at the state Capitol, House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) said the budgeting process would include working with Republicans, specifically with the GOP’s House “budgeteer,” State Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon). As a lack of bipartisanship has been a standing complaint of the superminority Republicans,…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Education bureaucracy has left parents behind, say Illinois Senate Republicans who want kids’ moms and dads to have more of a voice in what happens in the classroom. But they would not provide an example of a subject they didn’t want taught to their kids and instead presented their ideas…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – A Black teenager from Waukegan – Martell Williams, 15 – was reportedly detained for two days after police allegedly squeezed a false confession out of him for a shooting. The story is that officers bribed him with food from McDonald’s. And it led to a lengthy speech Wednesday on the…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The governor’s road show – following his Feb. 2 budget address – continued Wednesday in Decatur. “I urge every local taxing district to take a hard look at reducing property taxes that they impose on their communities. It in fact is imposed at a local level,” said Gov. JB Pritzker…… MORE
A bill to make it easier to file an order of protection was the subject of a news conference at the Capitol.… 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…