Capitol News
Capitol Briefs: Senate advances elections bill, measure targeting ‘predatory’ lending
By PETER HANCOCK & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A bill that would put more controls on certain kinds of high-cost loans to small businesses cleared the Illinois Senate Thursday. Senate Bill 2234, known as the Small Business Financial Transparency Act, targets a relatively new kind of nontraditional lender in the credit…
Law enforcement community honors fallen officers at Illinois Capitol
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Six fallen police officers were honored at an annual memorial service outside the State Capitol Thursday. The Illinois Police Officers Memorial occurs annually on the first Thursday of May to honor officers who died in the line of duty and to support their families. “No one…
Democrats muscle through changes to ballot access, advisory questions
By JERRY NOWICKI HANNAH MEISEL & PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House moved quickly Wednesday to push through a change to state election laws that partially limits ballot access and adds three nonbinding referendums to the 2024 general election ballot. It’s a move that caused minority party…
After 3 years, state poised to enforce law aiming to end lending discrimination
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Community Reinvestment Act, a federal law that sought to wipe away the last vestiges of racial discrimination and redlining in America’s home mortgage industry. The idea was simple. By requiring lenders – primarily banks – to make…
Capitol News Illinois partners with ‘Illinois Lawmakers’ program to bring it back to air
Capitol News Illinois announced today it will produce the long-running “Illinois Lawmakers” program this spring, in partnership with longtime host and producer Jak Tichenor. “This new partnership is absolutely critical to providing Illinois residents with reliable, independent, in-depth, up to date coverage from the Illinois Capitol after many newspapers and broadcasters shuttered their Statehouse bureaus over…
Election officials to weigh whether Darren Bailey and GOP operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated
By ANDREW ADAMS & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A year and a half after Republican Darren Bailey lost his campaign to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker, state election officials are weighing whether he illegally colluded with conservative radio show host and political operative Dan Proft in the 2022 campaign. The State Board…
Immigrant advocates tout new report showing benefits of state-funded health plans
By PETER HANCOCK and JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Immigrant rights advocates on Friday continued to push for one of their top budget priorities: full funding for state-run health care programs that benefit noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status. Those programs offer health coverage for low-income individuals who would otherwise qualify for…
As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com Lead pipes in public water systems and drinking fixtures have been banned in new construction since 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, but they are still in use across the U.S. and in Illinois. The presence of lead pipes has persisted due in part to…
Capitol Briefs: State unveils report on racial disparities among homeless populations
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Tackling homelessness requires addressing racial injustice, according to a new report commissioned by the state’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. The report found that Black people are eight times more likely to experience homelessness than white people. Remedying this disparity, according to the report, would require “long-term…
Flooding is Illinois’ Most Threatening Natural Disaster. Are We Prepared?
by Meredith Newman, Illinois Answers Project April 16, 2024 This story was originally published by the Illinois Answers Project. The electricity in Mary Buchanan’s home in West Garfield Park was not working – again. The outage lasted four days, starting just after a crew dug up her front lawn to install a check valve in…
Bears pitch $3.2B stadium plan, but Pritzker still ‘skeptical’ despite team’s $2B pledge
By DILPREET RAJU & JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com The Chicago Bears laid out a $3.2 billion plan for a new domed stadium on Chicago’s lakefront on Wednesday afternoon, painting pictures of future Super Bowls and other major public events while pinning their hopes on yet-to-be-had conversations with the governor and lawmakers. The Bears…
Regulators weigh future of gas industry in Illinois, while clamping down on Chicago utility
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Natural gas is fueling a fight between consumer advocates, a powerful utility company and the state. Amid competing advertising campaigns, accusations of mismanagement and state decarbonization efforts, the Illinois Commerce Commission is starting a process that will shape how the state regulates the increasingly controversial industry. …
Komatsu mining truck named 2024 ‘coolest thing made in Illinois’
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A mining truck manufactured by Komatsu was crowned the winner of the 2024 “Makers Madness” contest, earning the title of “the coolest thing made in Illinois” at the Governor’s Mansion Wednesday. The truck was one of more than 200 entries in the 5th annual contest hosted…
Giannoulias calls for disclosure of lobbyist contracts
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For decades, lobbyists in the Illinois Statehouse have been required to report how much they spend wining, dining and entertaining lawmakers. Currently, though, there is no law requiring lobbyists to disclose how much they are paid by corporations, industry groups or other special interest organizations. That…
Illinois Senate advances changes to state’s biometric privacy law after business groups split
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – It’s been more than a year since the Illinois Supreme Court “respectfully suggest(ed)” state lawmakers clarify a law that’s led to several multi-million-dollar settlements with tech companies over the collection of Illinoisans’ biometric data. On Thursday, a bipartisan majority in the Illinois Senate did just that,…
Illinoisans can now get documents notarized online
By ALEX ABBEDUTO Capitol News Illinois abbeduto@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinoisans who need a notary public can now access those services online through a new “E-Notary” portal launched by the secretary of state’s office. This process is one of the latest initiatives of Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ ongoing effort to modernize the office and its services. Notaries…
Prairie Band Potawatomi becomes 1st federally recognized tribe in Illinois
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Nearly 200 years after Native Americans were forced out of Illinois, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has become the first federally recognized tribal nation in the state after a decision from the U.S. Department of the Interior last week. The move represents the first victory in the tribe’s…
Remembering Lee Milner
NEWS TEAM Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com On Wednesday, April 17, the Springfield, Illinois Capitol and journalism communities lost a devoted friend and advocate when Lee Milner passed away. As Dean Olsen wrote in his piece in the Illinois Times earlier this month, “Readers of Illinois Times often have seen Milner’s work as a freelance photojournalist. But…
Capitol Briefs: Expansion of postpartum coverage, ban on kangaroos among hundreds of measures to pass House
By ALEX ABBEDUTO & COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois kangaroo owners are one step closer to being forced to surrender their marsupials this week after the House passed a bill criminalizing their possession. That was one of more than 300 bills to pass the House ahead of a Friday procedural deadline.…
Pritzker says state ‘obviously’ needs to change 2010 law that shrunk pension benefits
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com With a month-and-a-half left in the General Assembly’s spring session, Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is readying its proposal to address Illinois’ chronically underfunded pension system. But the governor this week also acknowledged in the strongest terms yet that any plans to finally get the state on track toward…
Pritzker’s health insurance reforms targeting ‘utilization management’ clear House
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated a partial legislative victory Thursday night when the House passed his initiative to end some practices health insurance companies use to control the amount and cost of health care services individual patients receive. The “Healthcare Protection Act,” House Bill 5395, cleared the…
Lawmakers, cannabis industry calls for ban on ‘delta-8’ and other psychoactive hemp products
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ largest cannabis business association is pushing to ban the sale of delta-8 THC, an increasingly popular psychoactive substance that’s popped up in corner stores across the country in recent years. New legislation filed in Springfield this week revives an ongoing debate over delta-8 and other…
As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com Lead pipes in public water systems and drinking fixtures have been banned in new construction since 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, but they are still in use across the U.S. and in Illinois. The presence of lead pipes has persisted due in part to…
Capitol Briefs: Bill creating new early childhood agency among 244 to advance
By ALEX ABBEDUTO HANNAH MEISEL & COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to create a new state agency to oversee Illinois’ various early childhood programs moved forward on Friday after the state Senate’s unanimous approval. It was one of 244 bills that cleared the Senate this week. Early childhood…
Local News
Blotter: Evergreen Park police issue scam alert
The Evergreen Park Police Department is warning the public of an ongoing scam where a caller claims to be an Evergreen Park Police Officer, and instructs the individual to send money in order to avoid criminal charges. In some versions of this scam, the offenders tell individuals they missed a court date related to a…
Palos South eighth-grade girls volleyballers go undefeated
From staff reports Palos South’s eighth-grade girls’ volleyball team finished first in the Southwest Interscholastic Conference (SWIC) on March 9, completing an undefeated season with a record of 19-0. This is the fifth straight year that Coach Marty Duggan has led the Cardinals to a first-place finish in the tournament, which was held this year…
Moraine Valley Speech and Debate Team headed to nationals to defend title
When the Moraine Valley Community College Speech and Debate Team heads to the Phi Rho Pi National Tournament in Reno, Nevada, for nine days this month, they’ll have a target on their back as incoming consecutive champions. But they’re ready. “Last year’s team was amazing. Everyone was on their A game. This year is a…
Summit attic fire displaces 4 families
By Bob Bong A fire Saturday afternoon in Summit left four families without a home. One firefighter was injured fighting the attic fire at 7613 W. 60th St. He was treated for a shoulder injury at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and released. No other injuries were reported. “We had a three-story apartment…
‘Impressive and beautiful’ eclipse wows Argo students
By Steve Metsch Argo High School freshman Nicholas Kokarczyk was feeling pretty good after his solar eclipse debut. “I’ve never seen one personally. It looks like a big frowny face now,” Kokarczyk said around 2:15 p.m. Monday. “It’s better than I expected.” Kokarczyk, 14, of Justice, was joined by roughly 1,900 of his fellow students…
Bridgeview condemns wars around globe in new resolution
By Steve Metsch As village officials noted, warring factions in the Middle East and elsewhere probably don’t care much about what happens at the Bridgeview Village Hall. But the village board still took a strong stance against war at its latest meeting. At their April 3 meeting, trustees unanimously approved a resolution that affirms that…
Cardinal Cupich celebrates Mass on ‘a special day’ at St. Cletus
By Steve Metsch After waiting patiently in line, Indian Head Park resident Tim Kyzivat enjoyed a rare chance to visit with Cardinal Blase J. Cupich. Kyzivat, 77, was among several hundred people who attended the 11 a.m. Mass said by the Archbishop of Chicago at St. Cletus Roman Catholic Church in La Grange on Sunday.…
Photo caption: White Castle closes at 79th and Pulaski
For more than half its 103-year history–since November 1964, to be exact–White Castle has sold its signature sliders and more from its restaurant at 7912 S. Pulaski. That run ended last weekend, as the restaurant closed for good. A spokesman for the Ohio-based company said staff would be offered employment at other White Castle locations.…
Swallow Cliff Chapter NSDAR awards students
At its February meeting, Swallow Cliff Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, held its annual Youth Awards program to honor the DAR Good Citizens Award winners. Seven local high schools nominated outstanding seniors to be candidates for the DAR Good Citizens Award. To be eligible for this award, students had to demonstrate the…
Evergreen Park to hold hearing on proposed cannabis dispensary
By Joe Boyle Evergreen Park residents and community leaders will get an opportunity to weigh in on a request to open a cannabis dispensary in their village. A public hearing on the request will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 15, in the board room of the Village Hall, 9418 S. Kedzie Ave. A petition has…