A National Football League Hall of Famer wants tax dollars diverted away from locking up nonviolent drug offenders and instead put into schools. … MORE
A National Football League Hall of Famer wants tax dollars diverted away from locking up nonviolent drug offenders and instead put into schools. … MORE
A poll conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute shows seven out of 10 Illinois voters polled think a judge should be allowed to give veterans with conditions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or traumatic brain injuries less than a mandatory minimum sentence if they see fit.… MORE
Illinois now has $130 billion in pension debt and only 38 cents on the dollar with which to pay for it, according to a new report.… MORE
The U.S. House Agriculture Committee concluded a round of hearings examining the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.… MORE
The Rauner administration is wasting little time reacting to the Illinois Labor Relations Board’s decision that talks with AFSCME are at an impasse.… MORE
The latest jobs report shows Illinois only gained 2,200 jobs in October, not enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising to 5.6 percent. … MORE
Illinois lawmakers spent about 48 hours in Springfield this week — all on their own dime — and a growing number of them aren’t happy about it.… MORE
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin won’t be swapping Capitol Hill for the Statehouse anytime soon.… MORE
The Illinois Senate has overridden the governor’s veto of automatic voter registration. … MORE
After trying for months to not say his name, Gov. Bruce Rauner will actually talk about President-elect Donald Trump.
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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…