Category: State News

Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO – A state watchdog has identified at least $7.2 million in fraudulent claims and more than 275 instances of misconduct by state employees accused of bilking a federal program designed to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the Office of the Executive Inspector General has been investigating allegations that […]

Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO – Then-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis had already been cooperating with the FBI for a little more than a year in June 2017 when he received an unexpected voicemail from powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. “Danny, it’s Mike Madigan,” began the brief message, which included none of what the speaker wanted […]

Capitol News Illinois The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office is under investigation by the U. S. Department of Justice for civil rights violations, but the probe may go beyond the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey. The U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights probe will investigate the sheriff’s department, but also Sangamon County Central Dispatch and the […]

Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO – It was a sunny and mild spring afternoon in May 2019 when roughly 100 FBI agents were dispatched to the homes – and one office – of eight allies to then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. The coordinated raids – all conducted within the same hour or so to preserve “the […]

Capitol News Illinois With nearly half a million dollars of state funding, a new electric vehicle charging station opened in Joliet on Monday. It is the first of hundreds of charging stations set to be installed over the next 18 months as part of a state-funded grant program. That growth in chargers is important as […]

Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO – Chicago businessman Juan Ochoa had heard little more than crickets in the six months since then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan asked for his resume in November 2017. Ochoa and his political mentor, soon-to-be-retired Congressman Luis Gutierrez, had met with Madigan to ask for his backing for an appointment to electric […]

Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO – The first time Ed Moody ever took a vacation with his wife was a decade ago, marking their 25th wedding anniversary. Prior to that, Moody used all his vacation days – plus most weekends and many evenings – doing political work for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Even after […]

Capitol News Illinois A conservative Catholic legal group is suing Illinois over a landmark state law enshrining a “fundamental right” to abortion care and requiring insurance companies to cover abortion and other reproductive health care. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Chicago by the Thomas More Society, seeks to prevent the state from […]