Local News
Boys Volleyball | Marist tops Jones, advances to state quarterfinals
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent For the first time since 2019, Marist will play in the IHSA state finals. The RedHawks (36-2) beat Jones, 25-13, 25-13, for their 17th straight victory and a Marist Sectional championship on May 28 in Mount Greenwood. They will face Payton in the state quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 31…
Baseball | Sandburg tops Marist to open playoffs, but falls to LW West in regional final
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent For the second consecutive year, Sandburg’s season came to an end at the hands of Lincoln-Way West. The Eagles (21-12) fell to the Warriors, 6-1, in the Class 4A Sandburg Regional championship game on May 25. They had advanced to a second playoff game with a 7-3 comeback victory over Marist…
Emma Sears scores match’s lone goal as Louisville blanks Red Stars
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Red Stars are miles ahead of where they were last year. The team secured its 16th point on May 12. In 2023, it had to wait until July 7 to hit its 16th point during a season in which it finished in last place in the NWSL. Despite that,…
Sports Bits | St. Michael seventh-grader sets Illinois state record in 110-meter hurdles
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent • St. Michael School seventh-grader Tommy Walter set a grade-school state record en route to winning the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 2A 110-meter hurdles at the grade-school state meet held May 10-11 in East Peoria. Tommy set the Class 2A record in the event with a time of 16.31. •…
Water Polo | Lions, Eagles, Macs, Crusaders and Mustangs earn All-State honors
All-State water polo Lyons girls water polo standout Maya Mladjan was named to the Illinois Water Polo organization’s All-State first team. The Lions’ Delaney Judkins and Isabella Recker, and Mother McAuley’s Becca Engquist earned second-team honors. Sandburg’s Claire Donnell made the third team and the Mighty Macs’ Andi Moriarity made the fourth team. In the…
Chicago Christian’s Grace Mullin caps successful spring by committing to Air Force
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Grace Mullin has proven talents on the ground. In the future, the Chicago Christian graduate may show more talents in the air. After an incredible spring and track season, Mullin — who graduated May 23 — capped things off by committing to the Air Force Academy. This came less than a…
Boys Tennis State Finals | Lyons’ Jack McLane and Mason Mazzone take 2nd
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Two doubles teams from Lyons made deep runs at the IHSA Class 2A boys tennis state finals, with one of them bringing home some hardware. The boys state tennis finals were held at various sites in the north and northwest suburbs May 23-25. The Lions’ Jack McLane and Mason Mazzone won…
Postseason Roundup | Area teams still alive in playoffs
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Several area baseball, softball, boys volleyball and girls soccer teams were still alive in the postseason heading into this week. Among those was two-time defending Class 3A champion Nazareth, which is competing in Class 4A this season. The Roadrunners, Brother Rice and Mount Carmel won regional titles. So did De La…
Boys State Track Finals | St. Laurence’s Harley Rizzs wins 100m title, helps Vikings to 400m relay gold
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent St. Laurence junior Harley Rizzs was a member of the Vikings football team that earned a 2023 Class 4A state runner-up trophy the day after Thanksgiving. He bettered that two days before Memorial Day when he became the first St. Laurence track athlete to win an individual state championship. Rizzs won…
Boys Volleyball | Sandburg seeks 26th regional title
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Coming off the worst season in program history in 2023, Sandburg was not going to settle for anything less than better results this year. Past the midway point of this season, however, the Eagles had a record of 11-8. But they closed the regular season strong, winning 11 of their last…
Baseball | Red-hot Reavis looks to make noise in postseason
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Reavis is determined to send their head coach Don Erickson into retirement on a high note and will head into the postseason red hot and as South Suburban Red champions. The Rams defeated Oak Lawn 3-0 for the second straight day on May 15 to clinch the conference title. They followed…
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Illinois News
Marijuana license reform passes both houses, Pritzker says he’ll sign it
By RAYMON TRONCOSO Capitol News Illinois rtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate passed a bill Friday creating new licenses and lotteries for marijuana dispensary licenses, addressing issues that have plagued the process set forth by a 2019 law legalizing recreational marijuana. House Bill 1443 would create two new marijuana dispensary lotteries offering 55 licenses each,…
Union workers rally behind Climate Union Jobs proposal
By GRACE BARBIC and JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Hundreds of union workers joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers Friday in front of the Illinois Capitol in support of the state’s nuclear power industry The rally came with just four days remaining in the legislative session and amid a complicated backdrop for the…
Governor signs pretrial interest legislation into law
By RAYMON TRONCOSO Capitol News Illinois rtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Friday allowing for plaintiffs to collect pretrial interest on money awarded in some civil suits, after vetoing a previous version of the provision in March. An amendment to Senate Bill 72, introduced by Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, grants 6 percent pretrial…
Dems say court remap reflects population shifts, GOP calls it power grab
By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News Illinoissmansur@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Partisan outrage over new proposed district lines for the Illinois Supreme Court was on full display Friday in the Illinois General Assembly. The House passed the court remap legislation by 72-45 vote. It was up for debate in the Senate at of 5:15 p.m. Friday, Legislative Republicans…
From Better Government Association: Illinois Medicaid companies rake In record profits from pandemic
By DAVID JACKSON Better Government Association The for-profit insurance companies running Illinois Medicaid collected hundreds of millions of dollars in extra profits during the COVID-19 pandemic — much of it for services never provided to patients, an investigation by the Better Government Association has found. The windfall was the result of a payment system based…
Bill banning ‘hairstyle discrimination’ in schools passes House
By TIM KIRSININKAS Capitol News Illinoistkirsininkas@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House passed a bill Thursday to prevent “hairstyle discrimination” in schools, sending it back to the Illinois Senate. Senate Bill 817, originally introduced by Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, prevents Illinois schools from enforcing dress codes that prohibit hairstyles historically associated with race, ethnicity or texture,…
Latino Caucus lays out undocumented immigrant protection agenda
By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News Illinoissmansur@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus laid out a policy agenda Thursday that includes bills to strengthen protections for immigrants among several other measures. One of the proposals, Senate Bill 225, would prohibit the Illinois Secretary of State from sharing facial recognition data with local, state or federal…