State regulators on Thursday ordered Chicago’s natural gas utility, Peoples Gas, to abandon its approach to a long-beleaguered pipeline replacement program. Consumer advocates praised the decision, but the company said the decision could cost customers. … MORE
With a deadline approaching for U.S. citizens to obtain Real IDs, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is urging Illinois residents to “Get Real.”… MORE
Majority Party Democrats had mixed reactions to Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget address Wednesday, with leadership in the General Assembly offering praise amid criticisms from members of the legislature’s Black and Latino caucuses. … MORE
Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed growing spending by about $2 billion without new income or service taxes in the upcoming fiscal year – though his administration acknowledged policy changes by the Trump administration could drastically alter the fiscal landscape. … MORE
The Illinois Community College System headquarters is pictured in downtown Springfield. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Campbell)… MORE
With an increasing number of officials warning Illinois might struggle to meet its renewable energy goals, regulators and lawmakers met Tuesday to discuss how the state should regulate its energy industry. … MORE
A day ahead of Gov. JB Pritzker’s annual budget address Wednesday, Senate Republicans said they want budget negotiations to include cuts to noncitizen spending while bringing in “transparent accounting.”… MORE
A second protest against the Trump administration took place in front of the Illinois Capitol Monday, less than two weeks after the first such protest was held.… MORE
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention says the risk of an outbreak of the bird flu in humans is low, although Illinois’ health department is preparing for the possibility. … MORE
The impending closure of a University of Illinois soybean research lab due to federal funding cuts could impede the study of a fungal disease that experts say would decimate the crop if it makes its way into the country. … 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…