By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – When you think of a farmer, you probably don’t think of a Black person. And you’d be right. State Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago), a Black woman, chairs the Illinois House Agriculture Committee. “In 1920, Illinois had 892 Black farmers. As of the 2017 USDA agricultural census, there are 188 individually…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Members of the state’s largest public employee union say caring for the disabled is a tough job – and a low-paying one as well. The bulk of these direct service providers – DSP’s – work for agencies with whom the state contracts. AFSCME is pushing for a raise of four…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Alexi Giannoulias has marked 100 days as Illinois secretary of state. We’ve heard the words modernization and efficiency from Giannoulias, so – in an office employing thousands of people and long notorious for political patronage – that has to mean a smaller workforce, right? Wrong. “Our goal in modernization is actually to make our employees’…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Senate Republicans have a package of bills which they say will put the priority back on the victims. “Over the last several years,” said State Sen. Dale Fowler (R-Harrisburg), “Illinois has seen policies and proposals that prioritize criminals, while seemingly making victims out to be second-class citizens. “This is…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ Department of Innovation and Technology is sharing “what’s next.” Acting secretary Brandon Ragle’s department put on an “Innovation Day,” which, he said, “is really just to show collaboration and awareness. How broad, when we say innovation and technology, what that really means. It’s not just computer programming. It’s working…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Not everybody in the cannabis business is hitting the jackpot. Craft growers say they have millions tied up in licenses which have yet to generate money. The growers blame aggressive regulations. Illinois Independent Craft Growers Association executive director Lisbeth Vargas Jaimes says state leaders need to think about “social equity”…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House and Senate Wednesday welcomed the next mayor of Chicago to a rare joint session. Brandon Johnson called Chicago a union town and Illinois a union state. “Just look at our state constitution, where we grant workers the fundamental right to organize and to collectively bargain. Right there…… MORE
By USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 5.9 days suitable for fieldwork in the week ending April 16, 2023. Statewide, the average temperature was 62.7 degrees, 11.5 degrees above normal. Precipitation averaged 0.65 inches; 0.45 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 1 percent very short, 11 percent short, 63 percent adequate, and 25 percent…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ largest teachers union has a new president. It’s Al Llorens, who has been a math teacher and girls’ track and cross country coach at Thornridge High School in Dolton. He says teaching is not getting any easier. “Certain things that are coming in the door are unexpected at the…… MORE
By Jake Fogal SPRINGFIELD – Your kid’s studying to be a doctor? So what !! A new book shows such professions face diminishing public respect, “Crisis in the Professions: the New Dark Age” fleshes this out. Co-uthor Kevin Leicht is a sociology professor at the University of Illinois … “We really have the disinformation of…… 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…