Immigrant communities around Illinois braced Tuesday for threatened mass deportations. But the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago, facing subzero temperatures, saw little foot traffic and no anticipated raids as of Tuesday afternoon on the second day of the Trump Administration.… MORE
A wave of executive orders and bold pronouncements of his vision for the country highlighted President Donald Trump’s first day back in the White House Monday. … MORE
Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed a long-awaited bill to stop Illinois organizations from paying less than the minimum wage to workers with disabilities.… MORE
Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, announced she will be stepping down on Wednesday, Jan. 8.… MORE
Amid multiple recent challenges to state gun control laws, the Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday concerning the constitutionality of concealed carry licenses and open carry bans.… MORE
Sangamon County, its sheriff’s office and its central dispatch system on Thursday announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve an investigation spurred by the shooting of Sonya Massey.… MORE
Attorneys for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan rested their case Thursday, marking the beginning of the end of the longtime Democratic powerbroker’s corruption trial.… MORE
Former Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health Dr. Ngozi Ezike, who led state health policy during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, will pay a $150,000 fine for violating a state anti-corruption law. … MORE
For the past three months, the judge presiding over former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s federal corruption trial has reminded jurors before each lunch break and evening recess not to discuss the case with anyone, even among themselves.… MORE
The Illinois State Board of Education voted Wednesday to approve a budget request for the upcoming fiscal year of nearly $11.4 billion, a 4.6% increase over this year’s budget, despite projections that the state will face a substantial revenue shortfall next year.… 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…