Local News
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Area Sports Roundup | Palos youths face older competition in World Wiffle Ball Championship
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Palos Elite team played last weekend in the World Wiffle Ball Championship. The tournament, which was held July 15-16 at Memorial Park in Midlothian, is composed of teams consisting primarily of adults; but Jack Burke, 14, was Elite’s senior citizen. Some teams have a mix of adults and youths,…
Pro Soccer Report | U.S. women coming to Soldier Field
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Chicago Red Stars have no games scheduled at Soldier Field this season. But one player – goalie Alyssa Maeher – could be on that historic field in September. The four-time FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion United States will take on South Africa there at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 24. The…
Chicago Christian grad Adam Brouwer named top freshman in Great Lakes Valley
By Mike Walsh Correspondent Illinois-Springfield pitcher Adam Brouwer was chosen the 2023 Freshman of the Year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Brouwer, a Chicago Christian graduate, is the first Prairie Star to achieve the accolade. Brouwer was also named to the All-Great Lakes Valley Second Team. Brouwer was 7-3 with a 3.94 ERA last…
Storylines are Normal for 2023 high school football
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer This year, the road to a state football championship ends at Hancock Stadium in Normal. For Class 7A defending champion Mount Carmel and Class 6A champ East St. Louis, it begins there, too. The two titans kick off the opening weekend of 2023 against each other at 7 p.m. on…
State Police honor Bridgeview Sgt. Stein for bravery
By Steve Metsch It’s true, Bridgeview Police Sgt. Jason Stein said. When death seems imminent, your life does indeed flash before your eyes. “You see your life pass before your eyes. You do. Oh, yeah. Everything. Some stuff I didn’t want to remember,” Stein said. For his death-defying moment – a gun was pointed at his head nearly four…
Suspected tornado slams Countryside, nearby towns
By Steve Metsch A suspected tornado slammed into the south part of Countryside around 6 p.m. Wednesday, causing plenty of damage but no known injuries. Damage was also reported in Hodgkins, Lyons and McCook. “There’s lots of damage, but no injuries have been reported. That’s great news,” Countryside Mayor Sean McDermott said at 8:45 p.m.…
MLR happy with SeatGeek Stadium, but championship return uncertain
By Jeff Vorva They came from the East Coast. They came from the West Coast. Heck, one guy came in from Canada and was wearing a wrestling mask. An announced crowd of 10,103 descended on SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview on July 8 to witness the fifth Major League Rugby Championship. And that included Toronto’s Wayne…
Pro Sports Report | Free Jacks top Legion for Major League Rugby title
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer After a good afternoon of running, kicking and celebrating, Jayson Potroz needed a little rest. So, the New England Free Jacks flyhalf found a spot in the SeatGeek Stadium grass in Bridgeview and threw a shirt over his head. “I’m actually exhausted,” he said. In Major League Rugby’s first neutral-site…
Area Sports Roundup | Adversity volleyball finishes 5th in nation
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Adversity was faced with adversity. As a result, its dreams of a national championship were dashed. Adversity 16 Adidas-South still finished tied for fifth in the nation at 50th AAU Boys National Volleyball Championships held in Orlando, Florida, in early July. The team is top-heavy with rising juniors from Marist.…
Illinois News
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…