Capitol Briefs: State allocates additional $14M for grocery startups
By ALEX ABBEDUTO & COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillnois.com Grocery startups can now apply for funding allocated in last year’s $20 million Illinois Grocery Initiative aimed at preventing and eliminating food deserts in Illinois. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which is administering the grants, is currently accepting applications in the second round…
Pritzker names Sen. Ann Gillespie new head of state insurance oversight agency
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday announced a change in leadership at the agency in charge of regulating the state’s insurance industry. State Sen. Ann Gillespie, D-Arlington Heights, will take over as acting director of the Illinois Department of Insurance starting April 15, replacing Dana Popish Severinghaus,…
Capitol Briefs: State allocates additional $14M for grocery startups; announces first awardees
By ALEX ABBEDUTO & COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillnois.com Grocery startups can now apply for funding allocated in last year’s $20 million Illinois Grocery Initiative aimed at preventing and eliminating food deserts in Illinois. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which is administering the grants, is currently accepting applications in the second round…
Total Solar Eclipse
Capitol News Illinois student photographers were on the scene in southern Illinois to capture the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Photography by Lylee Gibbs and Dominique Martinez-Powell. Visit our Facebook page to see our full Total Solar Eclipse photo albulm. Read More: ‘The great show in the sky’: Solar eclipse will once again…
Federal Funding Secured to Reduce Eastern Will County Truck Congestion
U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant announced the approval of $500,000 in federal appropriations for the Eastern Will County Truck Routing Project. The project, aimed at reducing congestion in Eastern Will County, is part of the Fiscal Year 2024 government appropriations packaged approved by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden.…
Illinois AFL-CIO, Rail Labor, First Responders Applaud Biden Administration for New Rule on Two-Person Crews
The Illinois AFL-CIO, Illinois railroad unions, and Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois (AFFI) applaud the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) for finalizing a new federal rule requiring railroads to maintain minimum two-person crews for most freight and passenger operations. In 2019, the same organizations worked to pass SB 24 (PA 101-294)…
State spends $73 million to protect Illinois’ only undeveloped Lake Michigan shoreline
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com A $73 million state-funded project in Lake County aims to stabilize the last undeveloped Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois and help protect native endangered species. Illinois Beach State Park in Zion on the state’s northern border contains about 10 percent of Illinois’ Lake Michigan shoreline, with 6.5 miles.…
Bill ending state’s tipped wage advances but prospects uncertain amid pushback
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois House committee advanced a measure that would end the state’s subminimum wage for tipped workers amid bipartisan opposition this week, but the bill’s sponsor said she’d seek further compromise before presenting it for a vote. Current Illinois law allows employers to pay their tipped…
‘The great show in the sky’: Solar eclipse will once again drive Illinois tourism
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com The total solar eclipse on the afternoon of April 8 will be visible over 128 miles throughout southern and southeastern Illinois, a phenomenon that is expected to bring up to 200,000 visitors to the eclipse’s prime viewing path. “We know this year’s solar eclipse will have an extremely…
Court upholds law limiting where child sex offenders can live
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that a state law restricting where previously convicted child sex offenders can live is constitutional, although it left open the possibility that it was improperly applied to one individual. In a 6-0 decision, the court found the residency restriction “does…
Bill ending state’s tipped wage advances but prospects uncertain amid pushback
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois House committee advanced a measure that would end the state’s subminimum wage for tipped workers amid bipartisan opposition this week, but the bill’s sponsor said she’d seek further compromise before presenting it for a vote. Current Illinois law allows employers to pay their tipped…
In Chicago visit, Attorney General Garland announces $78M anti-violence initiative
By DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois draju@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – In a visit to Chicago on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced $78 million in federal grant funding for community-based anti-violence programs. Garland, a Chicago area native, made the announcement while speaking at the second annual Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative Conference featuring…
Lawmakers question Pritzker’s plan for new early childhood agency
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to consolidate the state’s early childhood programs into one new cabinet-level agency ran into tough questions this week during a House budget committee hearing. The plan, which Pritzker first announced in October and which he included in his budget address in February,…
Amid controversy at Prisoner Review Board, Pritzker calls for more training as GOP again seeks reform
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com After two members of the state’s Prisoner Review Board resigned last week following the release of a prisoner who then stabbed his ex-girlfriend and killed her son, Republicans are again calling for reforms while Gov. JB Pritzker says he will order better training. The PRB voted in February…
Photographing History
BY Dean Olsen Courtesy of the Illinois Times The date was Jan. 29, 2009, and Pat Quinn was sitting at his desk in the lieutenant governor’s office, writing notes for what would become his inaugural speech as governor while the state Senate, one floor above, considered voting to remove Rod Blagojevich from office. A few…
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