By Tim Drea and Pat Devaney Jay Larson’s co-workers stepped in for his mail route in Rockford earlier this month when Jay’s final deliveries ended in unspeakable tragedy. March 27, Jay was senselessly murdered, the victim of a horrendous attack while on his mail route in which he was stabbed
Sam McCann, charged with misusing campaign funds, set for trial next week By Hannah MeiselCapitol News Illinoishmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Springfield – On what was supposed to be the third morning of a weeklong corruption trial of former State Sen. Sam McCann, the onetime third-party candidate for governor instead videoconferenced into U.S. District
Comptroller of Illinois, Susana Mendoza, is warning Illinoisans of email, telephone and mail tax scams as the 2024 filing season begins. One scam, for example, may contain a letter in a cardboard envelope with an IRS letterhead that contains the text “about your unclaimed refund.” That letter may request personal
Shortly before 1 A.M., December 9, 2023, Aurora Police Department Telecom received 9-1-1 calls about shots fired outside a business in the 700 block of N. Lake Street. Officers arrived on scene and found evidence of a shooting in the parking lot. At the same time, a 29-year-old Aurora man
Oswego Police arrested a 15-year-old male juvenile Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, for possession of a loaded firearm at Oswego East High School, 1525 Harvey Road, Oswego. At approximately 10 a.m., Oswego Police were notified by school staff members that a student had turned over a backpack containing a firearm. The
Shortly after 3 P.M., December 6, 2023, Aurora Police Department Telecom received 9-1-1 calls reference shots fired and a gunshot victim near Fifth Avenue and Bangs Street. Officers arrived on scene and found a 22-year-old Aurora man suffering from gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. Aurora Fire Department Paramedics transported the
One of several speakers at the Justice for Wadea Vigil points to a sign that the living young boy is not a threat, at the support evening Tuesday, Oct. 17 in Plainfield.
By Beth Hundsdorfer & Hannah Meisel In courtrooms around the state early this week, judges conducted the first hearings under a new system that determines whether a defendant will be jailed while awaiting trial based on dangerousness and risk of fleeing prosecution, rather than their ability to post bail. The
At approximately 2:41 p.m. September 12, officers were dispatched to Aurora Public Library District branches after a bomb threat was received through an online source. An evacuation was ordered at all three branches as a precautionary measure while officers investigated. A physical search of each location was conducted, and no
U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) released the following statement regarding the shooting in Willowbrook, Ill. Sunday, June 18: “I’m heartbroken to see the news from Willowbrook this morning. We live in a tragic reality where you cannot go to school, go to the grocery store, go to your place of
By Hannah Meisel Catholic dioceses in Illinois failed to disclose hundreds of abusive clerics before the State opened what would become a years-long investigation into sex abuse within the Church, Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Tuesday. Included in a scathing 700-page report published by Raoul’s office at the end of
By Hannah Meisel A federal jury Tuesday, May 2, convicted three ex-lobbyists and the former CEO of electric utility Commonwealth Edison for their involvement in an alleged bribery scheme aimed at longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Prosecutors alleged the foursome gave Madigan allies jobs and contracts at the utility
By Hannah Meisel Facing a perceived betrayal during a make-or-break election season in 2018, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called the person he often sought counsel from: longtime friend and confidant Mike McClain. Several Democratic Party candidates running for the state Senate were using lines in their campaign ads
Hello, I’m Chief Keith Cross of the Aurora Police Department. This week, we are releasing portions of the 911 call and body-worn camera footage from the officer-involved shooting that occurred Sunday, Feb. 5. In compliance with the Illinois Law Enforcement Worn-Body Camera Act, the faces and identifying characteristics of the
When a black man, a son, father, brother, nephew, and a friend loses his life at the hands of five black now ex-cops, mere miles from where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. laid down his life, it’s hard to talk about racial progress and to celebrate Black History Month. April
By Keith M. Cross, Chief of Police, Aurora Police Department Saturday, Jan. 7, similar to many other people all over the world, I watched the horrific events that unfolded during a police/civilian interaction in Memphis, Tenn.. When I watched Tyre Nichols being beaten by several police officers after being pulled
By John & Nisha Whitehead It takes a special kind of evil to both promote prostitution and traffick a child for sex, and yet this evil walks among us every minute every day. Consider: Every two minutes, a child is bought and sold for sex. Hundreds of young girls and
By Jerry Nowicki A Kankakee County judge ruled Wednesday, Dec. 28, that lawmakers overreached their constitutional authority in passing a measure to abolish cash bail in Illinois, while other provisions in the wide-ranging SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform were not affected by the ruling. The ruling by Judge Thomas W.
Reprinted from November 28, 2019Second of three parts Nearly two-thirds of imprisoned mothers have never received a visit from their children. Jill McCorkel, professor of sociology and criminology, Villanova University in Philadelphia, submitted the following article to The Conversation. “Visits are the exception rather than the norm in American prisons.
Reprinted from November 28, 2019 First of three parts With the holidays here, most families look forward to sharing special times with their families. But mothers in prison aren’t likely to see their families this Thanksgiving, or any other day. Nearly two-thirds of imprisoned mothers have never received a visit
