By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – Education bureaucracy has left parents behind, say Illinois Senate Republicans who want kids’ moms and dads to have more of a voice in what happens in the classroom. But they would not provide an example of a subject they didn’t want taught to their kids and instead presented their ideas…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – A Black teenager from Waukegan – Martell Williams, 15 – was reportedly detained for two days after police allegedly squeezed a false confession out of him for a shooting. The story is that officers bribed him with food from McDonald’s. And it led to a lengthy speech Wednesday on the…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was on his way out of Eastern Europe as Russia invaded Ukraine. And, in a Zoom call with reporters from O’Hare International Airport, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin would be on the receiving end of some economic hurt. “We’re just beginning a massive sanctions…… MORE
Prices at the pump could pass $4 per gallon in the coming weeks, as oil passed $90 a barrel for the first time since 2014.… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The governor’s road show – following his Feb. 2 budget address – continued Wednesday in Decatur. “I urge every local taxing district to take a hard look at reducing property taxes that they impose on their communities. It in fact is imposed at a local level,” said Gov. JB Pritzker…… MORE
A bill to make it easier to file an order of protection was the subject of a news conference at the Capitol.… MORE
The mask melodrama in the Illinois House of Representatives just won’t go away.… MORE
An Abraham Lincoln author shared stories of the Great Emancipator Monday for an audience at SIU’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.… MORE
By Neil Doyle BLOOMINGTON – According to GasBuddy, prices in the state are up two cents over the week, averaging $3.69 a gallon. Gas prices in Illinois are 22 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and 94 cents more expensive compared to this time last year. GasBuddy price reports show the cheapest station…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD-It’s congratulations, or maybe condolences, for Mike McCuskey, a retired judge who is now legislative inspectors general, appointed Thursday after a fractious debate in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly. While Peoria native McCuskey is seemingly universally respected, Republicans accused super majority Democrats of ramming the appointment through, as opposed to…… 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…