By WMBD-TV SPRINGFIELD – The FBI is sending a warning out to parents and guardians of online solicitation schemes aimed at kids. A Springfield FBI news release states that “sextortion” involves the predator coercing the minor to produce sexually explicit images or video before threatening to release the material unless the victim produces even more.…… MORE
The wait is over – for now, anyway – for Illinois police and prosecutors to now have rules by which the state’s new assault weapons registry is supposed to work.… MORE
By WMBD-TV SPRNGFIELD – Governor JB Pritzker has officially proclaimed Jan. 15-21, 2024 as Community Risk Reduction (CRR) Week in Illinois. CRR is a process used to identify and prioritize local risks, threats, and hazards using data. Once identified, strategies for emergency response and prevention are implemented and evaluated. The goal for CRR Week is to make communities…… MORE
By WMBD-TV SPRINGFIELD – Illinois State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs is spreading the word on the dangers a federal government shutdown would have on Illinois families. According to a news release from Frerichs, parts of the government are set to shut down on Jan. 19 if the U.S. House and Senate cannot agree on a…… MORE
Illinois has set a new annual record for the third consecutive year in cannabis sales.… MORE
The Illinois secretary of state has a New Year’s resolution for you: “Ditch the DMV.”… MORE
With the state’s primary election a little more than two months away, and this being a presidential election year, Wednesday was as good a time as any, it would seem, for an Illinois House committee to listen to testimony about voter access.… MORE
It’s been said that you had better toot your own horn, in case nobody else will.… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – A new book by a University of Illinois labor and employment relations professor examines the relationships people have with their jobs. Robert Bruno asks students to come up with six words to follow the phrase Work Is … He says the responses fall under some dominant themes: “Feeding family. Sustenance. Work…… MORE
From Carbondale to Waukegan, Planned Parenthood of Illinois wants its facilities along Illinois’ borders – opposite states with more restrictive abortion laws.… 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…