By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Senate Republicans say it’s far past time for Illinois to get tough on crime. During a Zoom news conference Wednesday, lawmakers trained their sights directly at the supermajority Democrats. “Senate President (Don) Harmon (D-Oak Park) has said he has nothing on his list that is that important to do…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Life is not easy for older Illinoisans who are in the LGBTQ community. AARP Illinois advocacy and outreach manager Mary Anderson says a study her organization conducted along with SAGE – an advocacy group for older LGBTQ adults – is unique. “And the findings are staggering,” Anderson told an online…… MORE
By Neil Doyle BLOOMINGTON – Gas prices are up five cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.32 a gallon across the state, according to GasBuddy. GasBuddy says prices in Illinois are two cents higher than a month ago and over a dollar more expensive compared to this time last year. GasBuddy price reports…… MORE
Illinois’ economic performance over the last month was surprisingly good, at least as the University of Illinois Flash index sizes it up.… MORE
The congressional map-making expected this month will almost assuredly favor Democrats, according to a political scientist at the University of Illinois. One way to make life difficult for Republicans, says professor Brian Gaines, would be to put two in the same district. That’s not all.… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRNGIELD – The flags on the University of Illinois Springfield quad tell the story: almost three thousand of them, each representing a wrongful conviction. They’re black, except for the 359 blue ones, representing those in Illinois. Christine Ferree, program director of case evaluation of the Illinois Innocence Project, says she is not…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Horse racing fans upset over losing the Arlington International Racecourse – potentially to a new stadium for the Bears – may have hope. To hear former Arlington president Roy Arnold tell it, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. “There is absolutely no reason why you can’t have…… MORE
By HOI ABC SPRINGFIELD – As production of electric vehicles begins at the Rivian plant in Normal, governors from Illinois and four other states announced Thursday they’re working together to speed up building the infrastructure needed to charge those vehicles throughout the region. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and chief executives from Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and…… MORE
The deadline is approaching for small businesses to apply for state recovery grants.… MORE
Gov. JB Pritzker says he’d be disappointed if the Chicago Bears moved out of the city.… 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…