By Hannah MeiselCapitol News Illinoishmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A federal judge is ordering governor JB Pritzker’s administration to move the vast majority of those incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet out of the aging prison by the end of September, citing health and safety concerns posed by the facility. The Illinois Department
By Hannah Meisel & Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com Governor JB Pritzker Tuesday kicked off a decade-long process to address the needs of aging Illinoisans, by signing an executive order to hire a chief planning officer within the State’s Department on Aging. With the U.S. Census Bureau estimating that approximately one
By Jason Crane Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin’s appointment of Dan Barreiro as the new Ward 1 alderman was approved 10-1 by the Aurora City Council Tuesday, Aug. 13. Ward 8 alderwoman Patty Smith was the dessenting vote, without explanation. A swearing-in ceremony is planned for 7 p.m., Tuesday, Aug.
By John & Nisha Whitehead “You shall have no other gods before me.”—The Ten Commandments “Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore.”—Donald
By Hannah MeiselCapitol News IllinoisHmeisel@Capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois governor JB Pritzker Wednesday, July 31 signed legislation aimed at curtailing the practice of “captive audience” meetings, a strategy businesses sometimes use to dissuade workers from forming a union. The law, dubbed the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” was a top priority this Spring
Illinois State representative Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego) has been elected vice president of the Executive Board of the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Women’s Legislative Network. “I am deeply honored to be appointed as vice president of the NCSL Women’s Legislative Network,” said Kifowit. “This role presents an incredible opportunity
By Jason Crane Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin announced his appointment of Dan Barreiro as the new Ward 1 alderman Tuesday, August 6 at the Aurora City Council Committee of the Whole meeting. If approved next week, Barreiro’s term will be until the next general election in April 2025. Barreiro,
August 5, 2024Dear editor; Thank you, voters of Kane County Board, District 4, for electing me as your Kane County Board member in 2020 and 2022. Now I am running again in the November 5 election. I have deep roots in Aurora and raised my family here. My career includes
By John & Nisha Whitehead Q: “How can you tell if a politician is lying?” A: “When his lips are moving.” The First Amendment assures us of a right to free speech. It does not, unfortunately, explicitly assure us of a right to not be lied to by our government
July 30, 2024Dear editor; As the General Election season is in full swing, the League of Women Voters of Central Kane County is in the process of scheduling forums for area candidates in contested races for Kane County, IL General Assembly and US Congress. Forums are designed to provide a
A diverse group of applicants have expressed interest in serving as Aurora’s next Ward 1 alderman. Due to the resignation of Ward 1 Alderman Emmanuel Llamas, the Aurora mayor must appoint a new alderman to serve until the next general election in April 2025. The group consists of nine men
By Beth Hundsdorfer & Molly ParkerCapitol News Illinoisinvestigations@capitolnewsillinois.com An Illinois lawmaker heading a child welfare committee said the state must strengthen its laws and policies to protect homeschooled children facing inadequate education, abuse and neglect. Representative Terra Costa Howard, the chair of the Adoption and Child Welfare Committee in the
A new measure carried by State Representative Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, will create new child labor protections to keep children safe and free from exploitation in the workplace, and was signed into law this week. “Our children deserve robust protections if they take part in Illinois’ workforce,” Hernandez said. “Exploitation and
By John & Nisha Whitehead “Whenever any American’s life is taken by another American unnecessarily—whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response
By Jason Crane The Aurora City Council unanimously approved a Resolution to appoint Kevin Nickel as deputy fire chief at the Tuesday, July 23 Aurora City Council meeting. Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin swore in Kevin Nickel, who was most recently assistant chief of operations with the Aurora Fire Department.
The League of Women Voters of the United States, as a member organization of the National Task Force on Election Crises, released the following statement on the Democratic Party’s replacing its presumptive presidential nominee: “While a major party’s presumptive nominee withdrawing his presidential candidacy is an extraordinary occurrence, rules and
By John & Nisha Whitehead “Whenever any American’s life is taken by another American unnecessarily—whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response
By Peter Hancock, Hannah Meisel, & Andrew AdamsCapitol News Illinoisnews@capitolnewsillinois.com MILWAUKEE – A former Republican congressman from New York told Illinois Republicans Tuesday, July 16 that to win more elections in their deeply blue state, they need to reach beyond the traditional conservative voting base. “We need to challenge ourselves
By Jason Crane The Aurora City Council is considering a $325,000 loan to an Aurora grocer to turn a vacant West Side building into its fourth store. The agenda at the Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting, Tuesday, July 16 presented a Resolution to approve a forgivable loan to Carniceria
July 11, 2024Dear editor; Allan Lichtman has predicted the winning president 90% of the time since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election. He uses 13 key elements, one of them being the incumbent as a winning key, so why is their talk of replacing Joe Biden? Joe Biden is one of our
