By AIDAN KLINEMAN Medill Illinois News Bureau news@capitolnewsillinois.com Article Summary The Senate Executive Committee heard nearly three hours of testimony on Gov. JB Pritzker's BUILD plan for more affordable housing in Illinois. Proponents of BUILD argued that the primary driver of the current housing affordabilit...

By JENNA SCHWEIKERT Capitol News Illinois jschweikert@capitolnewsillinois.com Ahead of an estimated 150,000 Illinois households losing access to federal food assistance on May 1, Illinois launched two websites aimed at providing work, training and volunteer hours to those households. Job Ready IL collects training p...

NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) - ISU students organized a walk-out Thursday to show their support for the AFSCME Local 1110 workers on strike. The walkout started at one p.m. on the quad of Illinois State University. Around 100 students and workers on strike attended. The goal was to show the administration at ISU that the studen...

By WMBD TV BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) - The American Red Cross brought its 'Sound the Alarm' campaign to Bloomington, installing free smoke alarms in homes across the city. State Farm Insurance sponsored the campaign. The goal is to install free 10-year smoke alarms in vulnerable communities across the county. "It's...

By Erika Tulfo and Jacques Abou-Rizk, Medill Illinois News Bureau news@capitolnewsillinois.com From his view on East Adams Street, Prairie Archives owner Robb Paul has witnessed firsthand how downtown Springfield has evolved. His secondhand bookstore 522 E. Adams St. has been in the same spot since 1992, straight acro...

By WMBD TV NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) - A Chiddix Junior High School teacher was arrested Thursday on grooming charges after an investigation involving the United States Marshals Service. On Wednesday, April 22, Brandon Knapp, 43, of Hudson, was indicted on two counts of grooming by a McLean County Grand Jury, said Normal Pol...

By NIKOEL HYTREK CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS nhytrek@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD - Lawmakers emphasized the need for transparency about how much water data centers use to cool their facilities at the final of three data center-focused hearings in the House Executive Committee. Undisclosed water use is one of the most...

By BEN SZALINSKI Capitol News Illinois bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Article Summary It's looking increasingly likely that Illinois voters will not see an amendment about creating a "millionaire tax" on the ballot in November. House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch said the proposal did not have e...