There are 61 national parks. California has nine. Illinois has none. In the past couple of years, the Arch in St. Louie and the Dunes in northwestern Indiana both have been designated as national parks. Illinois had better rattle its tin cup in Washington, D.C., because it appears to be
By Peter Hancock A plan to consolidate 649 downstate municipal police and firefighter pension funds into just two unified systems hit an unexpected snag Tuesday, but officials on both sides of the disagreement vowed to continue talking in hopes of reaching an agreement. Just hours before the bill was scheduled
October 21, 2019Dear editor; I see that Aurora and several surrounding communities have jumped on the bandwagon to get a share of the predicted windfall of new taxes generated by the legalized sale of marijuana. I noted that many mothers have expressed concern about the logic of this proposal. Possession
August 16, 2019Dear editor; Regarding ‘A disagreement in detail on State law,’ letter in the August 15 issue of The Voice, I too was dismayed at news reports of governor JB Pritzker’s signing HB 246. Wayne Lela expressed his dismay in what I took as a religious viewpoint. At the
August 13, 2019Dear editor; So, now governor JB Pritzker signed a bill, House Bill 246, that will ensure students in Illinois public schools will learn about the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, individuals in State and National history. Of course, there is no fair and balancing law which
Tourism officials released 2018 local impact numbers this week indicating another year of growth for tourism in the Aurora Area of Illinois. Visitors to the Aurora Area spent $201.5 Million on lodging, gas, dining, and other travel-related expenditures in 2018, a 3.7% increase over the prior year, representing the fourth
By Jim Nowlan Many rural Midwest towns have become similar to my stereotype of Appalachia, main streets of mostly empty storefronts; lots of unskilled folks left behind, yearning for jobs on the line that are gone forever; too many single mothers struggling to make it on low-wage work, or welfare,
By Peter Hancock – The unemployment rate in Illinois climbed one-tenth of a point to 4.4% in March. The State recorded a net loss of 2,300 jobs, the Illinois Department of Employment Security report Thursday, April 18. According to preliminary, seasonally-adjusted numbers, the biggest job losses occurred in the professional
By JERRY NOWICKI – Capitol News Illinois Jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Stakeholders from northern Illinois added to the State’s list of capital funding requests Monday, April 22 when lawmakers from both sides of the aisle acknowledged more revenue would be necessary to get the State’s infrastructure back in working order. “The need
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com A key supporter of an initiative to legalize adult recreational marijuana in Illinois said substantial bill language will be filed soon, and the issue could be one of the first discussed by State lawmakers when they return to the Statehouse in Springfield
The new Driver Services facility in Plano at 236 Mitchell Drive opened in February. The new facility is approximately 3,600 square feet which is more than double the size of the former facility on east Route 34 in Plano. The new facility in Plano is approximately 1.5 miles from the
March Madness makes visits around the country in basketball each year. The college pairings announcements Sunday, March 17 for the 68-team NCAA Division I tournament, which will begin two days later and end in early April, is the visibly-diagnosed cases of March Madness each year. There are many other observations,
By Jackie LaVia – It’s human nature to be more inclined to complain and give a bad review than it is to speak up and give a good review. I think YELP, an internet-based service review website, proves that. One-hundred individuals will have a good meal, and only one will
July 23, 2018 Dear editor; Most of us who use electronic banking and paperless payment systems take the ease of those systems for granted. But if you’re an Illinois physician who treats injured workers under the Illinois workers’ compensation system, you’ll be using the technological equivalent of an abacus to
Property taxes in Illinois were in the middle of the pack nationwide 20 years ago, but since then have risen 52%, driven largely by pensions, according to new research released today from the Illinois Policy Institute. The report, “Pensions make Illinois property taxes among the most painful,” reveals that the
Three students from East Aurora High School recently qualified to compete in the 2018 Illinois History Day competition May 3 in Springfield. State History Day qualifiers include Sam Stade and Sebastian Valerio, whose documentary on the Haymarket Riot qualified for the competition. The third state qualifier is sophomore Sama Kreidi,
