Following an influx of new funding for rejuvenating businesses in districts across Illinois, State representative Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, called attention to $1.7 million dollars in grant opportunities for local businesses in her community. “Businesses have struggled thoughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and many continue to do so,” said Hernandez. “I look
By John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead The Christmas story of a baby born in a manger is a familiar one. The Roman Empire, a police state in its own right, had ordered that a census be conducted. Joseph and his pregnant wife, Mary, traveled to the little town of
By Jerry Nowicki A State program aims to take a comprehensive approach to ending Illinois’ firearm violence epidemic will be expanded under a law signed Friday by governor JB Pritzker. The Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA) became law in June, but the expansion signed Friday, Dec. 10 clarifies guidelines in
By Jason Crane The Aurora City Council honored the Metea Valley High School girls volleyball team Tuesday, Dec. 14 at the Aurora City Council meeting. Metea Valley won the Class 4A State championship last month. It was the School’s first State championship. The Aurora team, with a 40-2 record, defeated
Question: Who’s afraid of Anthony Fauci? Answer: We all should be, because he’s not to be trusted, because he’s not a part of the solution to COVID-19, but a part of the problem. Apparently, president Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress are afraid of him. There have been calls
By Beth Hundsdorfer In the wake of the Friday night, Dec. 10 storms that left six dead at an Amazon warehouse in downstate Edwardsville, a disaster proclamation was issued Monday for 28 counties in southern and central Illinois. The proclamation will bring personnel or equipment from the Illinois Emergency Management
Candidates for one elective office can affect the outcomes for others on the same party ticket. For example, an unattractive, or goofy, candidate at the top of the ticket can depress turnout of the party faithful, thus depriving all candidates down the ballot of their votes. That is what scares
By John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead Santa’s found a new helper. No longer does the all-knowing, all-seeing, jolly Old St. Nick need to rely on antiquated elves on shelves and other seasonal snitches in order to know when you’re sleeping or awake, and if you’ve been naughty or nice.
By Jerry Nowicki The application portal is now open for another $297 million of rental assistance for Illinoisans who lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Illinois Rental Payment Program, or ILRPP, money comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in
Water will, in fact, link the communities of Montgomery, Oswego, and Yorkville. For more than a year, elected officials and staff members from each municipality have researched and reviewed future alternate water source options individually and collectively as a regional team aptly named WaterLink. After months of meetings, presentations, conservation
By Jason Crane At the Aurora city government Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin expressed enthusiasm about the historic City government budget of more than a half billion dollars, $529 million. Mayor Irvin said, “For the first time in years, probably over a decade, I
What is Adam Kinzinger going to do? What should he do? Friends ask me. His options aren’t good, yet I have a path forward for Kinzinger. First, some background. Kinzinger is the typically conservative, four-term Republican congressman from the edge of the Chicago suburbs, who has been dissing Donald Trump
Late last month, statehouse Democrats and governor JB Pritzker enacted a new map defining the boundaries of central Illinois congressional districts for the next 10 years. Three districts cover territory within a 35-mile radius of Peoria , the 15th, 16th, and 17th. It was my privilege to represent large parts
By John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead Who gets to decide when it comes to bodily autonomy? Where does one draw the line over whose rights are worthy of protecting? And how do present-day legal debates over bodily autonomy, privacy, vaccine mandates, the death penalty, and abortion, play into future
By Peter Hancock Attorneys for the General Assembly’s Democratic Party leaders filed documents in federal court Wednesday last week to deny that newly- drawn State legislative district maps amount to racial gerrymandering, instead accusing the plaintiffs in the three lawsuits of trying to use race to redraw districts for their
Ambassador Reyna Torres Mendivil, the Consul General of Mexico in Chicago, was well-received during her first visit to Aurora Monday, Nov. 29. “Wow, Aurora really knows how to make you feel at home,” said the ambassador. “I love the diversity and the energy and how beautiful and organized everything is.”
By Mike BrittonNaperville, Ill. The American Heritage Dictionary defines treason as “The betrayal of allegiance toward one’s own country, especially by committing hostile acts against it or aiding its enemies in committing such acts”. Anyone watching the news or visiting the Southern border can see our Commander in Chief has
Chief Judge Clint Hull was recently reelected by his fellow circuit judges to serve a second term as chief judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit. He was first elected as chief judge in 2019 and will begin his second two-year term December 6. Just three months into his first term
By Peter Hancock The Illinois unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point in October to six percent as employers added 40,900 jobs during the month, the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said recently. According to the preliminary data, the industry sectors with
By John T. Shaw Those in government rarely have time to extract themselves from the relentless rush of daily drama and urgent deadlines to think about the future. Former North Carolina governor Terry Sanford once observed there is no one in the governor’s office looking out the window, pondering the
