Little Leaguers to parade
Weeks after tulips and daffodils herald the arrival of spring, the earliest hints of summer start to appear. This year, that means the youthful exuberance of the Opening Day parade of Clear-Ridge Little League, tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, April 23. The route is expected to run from the west parking lot of Kennedy High School, near 57th and Narragansett, south to Hale Park. – Supplied photo
Local News
Pritzker visits Hodgkins, stumps for votes as Election Day nears
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch It’s not often the governor of Illinois knocks on your front door. But such was the case Thursday afternoon in the 8800 block of Lyons Street in Hodgkins at the home of Joanna Filkins. Filkins’ house was one of a few Gov. J.B. Pritzker visited after delivering a speech to…
County clerk reminds residents of voting options
Spread the loveAs Election Day approaches, the Cook County Clerk’s Office is reminding suburban voters of the options that are available to cast their ballot in the November 8 Gubernatorial Election. The Clerk’s Office also reminds voters that if they have a Mail Ballot that they wish to drop at a secure drop box location,…
Pigskin Wrap: Catholic League teams power through first round of playoffs
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Todd Kuska Era at St. Rita is coming to a close. The retiring coach would prefer it would come two days after Thanksgiving, meaning the Mustangs would be playing in the IHSA Class 7A state championship game for a second straight season. The 12th-seeded Mustangs took the…
Newcomers square off in Illinois 21st House race
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong For the first time in more than a decade, voters in the 21st Illinois House District (formerly the 23rd District) will be sending a new state representative to the General Assembly in Springfield. Longtime lawmaker Michael Zalewski was defeated in the Democratic primary by Abdelnasser Rashid who is taking on…
Postseason Roundup: Riverside-Brookfield boys lead bevy of area teams going to state
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer An army of area cross country teams and runners will compete at the state finals on Saturday. The leading boys team invading Detweiler Park in Peoria is Riverside-Brookfield, which won the Kaneland Class 2A Sectional Oct. 29 with 97 points. Junior Cooper Marrs led the way for the…
Boys Soccer Playoffs: Mount Carmel holds off Washington for sectional title
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Mount Carmel survived an upset bid from Kankakee in a Class 2A Brother Rice Sectional semifinal, prevailing 4-3 in overtime. But the poor defensive effort was a wake-up call for a Caravan team that has prided itself on shutting teams down all year. “That was way too many goals,”…
MVCC hosts 9th annual Halloween 5K run/walk
Spread the loveBreak out the running shoes, grab a costume and head to the ninth annual Halloween 5K Run/Walk and Kid’s Dash on Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m., at Moraine Valley Community College, 9000 W. College Parkway, Palos Hills. Participants can walk or run the officially timed 5K (3.1 mile) path throughout campus. The Kid’s…
Interior Secretary Haaland tours site of Emmett Till Memorial
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, visited Summit last Friday to get a first-hand look at the site of the future Mamie Till Mobley and Emmett Till Memorial at Argo High School. Haaland then met with community leaders and had lunch with Emmett’s cousin, the Rev. Wheeler Parker, at the…
Neighbors
Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan
By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For the last two decades, each time a governor has moved to close a large state-run facility like a prison or mental health center, a legislative oversight panel has voted on the plan. That changed on Friday – at least for now –…
‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…
Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children. The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although…
Members of House speaker’s staff sue over ongoing unionization conflict
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Members of a would-be union representing staffers in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office filed suit against their boss on Friday, asking a Cook County judge to force recognition of the union. The Illinois Legislative Staff Association, which formed in the fall of 2022, claims Welch’s…
Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A hearing officer is recommending the Illinois State Board of Elections dismiss a complaint that alleged conservative radio host and political operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated with former Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey during his 2022 campaign for governor. Proft, a one-time gubernatorial candidate himself, is behind an…
Communities, commission push Pritzker admin for more prison plan details
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Jimmy Soto spent more than 42 years wrongfully imprisoned in Illinois Department of Corrections facilities. In 2020, he was moved to the “F-House” at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, a condemned unit, not because he was being punished, but because it was where the facility was housing individuals…
Judge blocks law that would have banned newly slated candidates from ballot
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A Sangamon County judge on Wednesday blocked the Illinois State Board of Elections from enforcing a new law that would have prevented certain General Assembly candidates who didn’t run in the March primary from getting on the November ballot. The move doesn’t void the bill in its entirety,…
“No Schoolers”: How Illinois’ hands-off approach to homeschooling leaves children at risk
By BETH HUNDSDORFER & MOLLY PARKER CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS investigations@capitolnewsillinois.com This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. It was on L.J.’s 11th birthday, in December 2022, that child welfare workers finally took him away. They arrived at his central Illinois home to investigate an abuse allegation and decided…
Brushing off concerns of overspending, Pritzker signs $53.1 billion state budget
By ANDREW ADAMS JERRY NOWICKI & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed the state’s $53.1 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, the largest in state history. The signing caps months of work – and tension – among top Democratic leaders in Springfield and within the…
Stalled bills: ‘Dignity in Pay Act,’ Prisoner Review Board changes fail to move
By ALEX ABBEDUTO, COLE LONGCOR & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com A bill eliminating the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities failed to pass the General Assembly ahead of its May adjournment, although sponsors say they hope to pass it when lawmakers return in the fall. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938…