Local News
Baseball | Marist claws way back to .500
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent This season has thus far not been what Marist had expected, but the RedHawks came into this week at .500. Marist was 2-8 after 10 games this season, with three of those first eight losses coming via shutout. But the RedHawks turned things around with a stretch of eight wins in…
Red Stars fall to Spirit for third loss in past four matches
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent After enjoying one of their best starts in franchise history, the Chicago Red Stars have slid to the middle of the NWSL standings, with the latest setback being a 4-2 loss to Washington at SeatGeek Stadium. The Stars (3-3-1) entered this week having dropped three of their past four matches. Against…
Red Stars take aim at NWSL attendance record with Wrigley game
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Red Stars are thinking big when it comes to their upcoming game at Wrigley Field. The team is taking aim at the NWSL record for single-game attendance when it hosts Bay FC at the historic home of the Chicago Cubs on June 8. The record is held by Seattle,…
IHSA announces boys volleyball postseason assignments
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Last year, the area sent a pair of boys volleyball teams to state as Lyons finished runner-up to champion Glenbard South and Brother Rice lost in the quarterfinals. This year, both could face each other in the sectional finals. The Lions picked up the second seed and the Crusaders the third…
Badminton players from Reavis and Lyons going to state
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Reavis singles player Dania Amjad finished third in the Bolingbrook Sectional on May 2 to qualify for the IHSA state tournament. The Lyons doubles team of Simone Brown and Mia Graziano finished fourth in the York Sectional to qualify for state. The state finals are May 10-11 at DeKalb High School.
Brother Rice, Sandburg sending boats to bash fishing state tourney
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Brother Rice is sending two boats to the IHSA state bass fishing tournament. The Crusaders had first- and third-place finishes at the Des Plaines River Big Basin Marina Sectional on May 2. Sandwiched in between the Brother Rice boats was a group from Sandburg in second place. The Crusaders’ No. 2…
Dread over car drifters on streets
. Reckless drivers take over SW Side intersections . By Tim Hadac At the April meeting of the Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch, a police officer admitted that the drag racing/drifting phenomenon seen and heard in the Midway area in recent years “probably will increase, but we hope not.” The admission was triggered by a brief…
CTA launches ‘chat’ feature on website
. From staff reports Artificial Intelligence has made another step forward at the Chicago Transit Authority. CTA officials recently launched the “Chat with CTA” chatbot, a new virtual automated service featured on transitchicago.com. The communication tool allows riders to report issues, provide feedback and receive answers in real-time. Additionally, it provides the CTA with customer feedback where…
New effort to aid kids with disabilities
. From staff reports A new grant program aimed at providing financial assistance to families of children with disabilities was launched recently by Mayor Brandon Johnson, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and Ada S. McKinley Community Services. Children with disabilities is a population disproportionately affected by the pandemic, officials said.…
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Illinois News
State school board weighs increased funding requests ahead of budget season
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Officials at the Illinois State Board of Education say they’re receiving more requests for increased funding for next year than the state could possibly afford, and they’re bracing for the possibility that budgets will start to tighten in the near future. “It does appear that…
Advocates hail regulatory ‘earthquake’ as state slashes requested gas rate increases
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Regulators at the Illinois Commerce Commission on Thursday unanimously approved rate hikes for four major natural gas utilities, but the little-known regulatory body’s decision was perhaps more notable for what it rejected. The five-member board flexed its regulatory muscle, slashing the utilities’ requested rate increases by…
Pritzker designates additional $160M for migrant response as winter approaches
By HANNAH MEISEL & JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – As winter quickly approaches, Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday announced plans for the state to spend an additional $160 million to aid and house a sustained influx of migrants sent to Chicago from the nation’s southern border. The administration sold the plan…
State Supreme Court weighs constitutionality of lifetime restrictions on child sex offenders
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court is weighing whether it is constitutional to impose lifetime restrictions on where a person can live after they’ve been convicted of a sex crime involving a minor. “It’s been 21 years – almost 21 years since my conviction,” Martin Kopf told the…
State high court to hear case against staffing agencies accused of suppressing wages
By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments from three staffing agencies that say their industry is exempt from state antitrust laws in a case claiming the firms conspired to hold down wages for their workers. The Chicagoland-based companies have already lost twice in…
State police still drafting assault weapons registration rules as deadline nears
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Officials at the Illinois State Police said Tuesday they are working to finalize rules for registering assault weapons and other items that are now tightly regulated under the state’s new assault weapons ban as a Jan. 1 compliance deadline approaches. ISP attorney Suzanne Bond told the…
Gun rights groups to seek Supreme Court ruling on assault weapons
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gun rights advocacy groups say they intend to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state’s assault weapons ban after a federal appeals court on Friday refused to block enforcement of the law. In a statement Saturday, the Illinois State Rifle Association said it was…
Inside Illinois’ youth lockups, children go without basic services and face “excessive” punishments
By MOLLY PARKER Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Capitol News Illinois. In late December, a teenage boy with a broken arm was left to suffer alone in his cell at a youth lockup in rural southern Illinois. Staff were aware he’d been seriously injured;…
State police still drafting assault weapons registration rules as deadline nears
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Officials at the Illinois State Police said Tuesday they are working to finalize rules for registering assault weapons and other items that are now tightly regulated under the state’s new assault weapons ban as a Jan. 1 compliance deadline approaches. ISP attorney Suzanne Bond told the…
Lawmakers pass bill aimed at modernizing professional licensing in Illinois
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com As Illinois faces shortages of health care practitioners and mental health professionals, the state agency in charge of licensing for those and more than 100 other industries has struggled to keep up. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has failed to meet its goals to speed…