Category: State News

By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois draju@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois public schools wishing to teach their students about the dangers of overdoses and substance use disorder now have a blueprint to do so from the state. The Illinois State Board of Education published the resource guides in accordance with a law passed in 2023. While a school’s […]

By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com A little over a month after the shooting death of Sonya Massey by a sheriff’s deputy, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell on Friday announced his retirement, effective no later than Aug. 31. His announcement comes amid intense pressure to resign, including from Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday.  The […]

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday signed a measure designating the “giant puffball” as the state’s mushroom after signing hundreds of bills on Friday, completing action on legislation sent to him by lawmakers this spring.  Pritzker has now signed more than 460 bills without issuing any vetoes. Below is […]

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A federal judge is ordering Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration to move the vast majority of those incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet out of the aging prison by the end of September, citing health and safety concerns posed by the facility. The Illinois Department of Corrections had […]

By HANNAH MEISEL & ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday kicked off a decade-long process to address the needs of aging Illinoisans, signing an executive order to hire a chief planning officer within the state’s Department on Aging. With the U.S. Census Bureau estimating that approximately one quarter of Illinois’ […]

By BETH HUNDSDORFER  Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com Members of Sonya Massey’s family and their attorneys called a news conference Wednesday to push for federal and state legislation in the wake of Massey’s shooting. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump called former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson “a ticking time bomb waiting to explode,” but also […]

By PETER HANCOCK & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com  SPRINGFIELD – Democrats gathered in Springfield Wednesday for their annual rally at the Illinois State Fair amid a surge of enthusiasm and a renewed sense of optimism about their chances of retaining the White House in November. “There’s a new level of energy in this […]

By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois  jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois Democrats were buoyed by a polling surge for Vice President Kamala Harris as they took to Springfield for their largest annual gathering on Wednesday.  Just over three weeks ago, President Joe Biden was behind in the polls to former President Donald Trump when he decided to exit […]

By JERRY NOWICKI  Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Despite a weather delay, Illinois Republicans gathered at the state fairgrounds Thursday to hear party leaders’ plans for whittling away at Democratic dominance.  For the third straight election season, the party is grappling with a presidential candidate that’s far more popular with the party’s base than the Illinois […]

By PETER HANCOCK & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Republicans say they are still as united about the upcoming election as they were at their national convention in Milwaukee last month, despite surge of enthusiasm for the Democrats’ new presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. “Republicans are ready,” state party chair […]