Politics
CHICAGO — A state watchdog has identified at least $7.2 million in fraudulent claims and more than 275 instances of misconduct by state employees accused of bilking a federal program designed to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the Office of the Executive Inspector General has been investigating allegations that state employees fraudulently…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – For the second time in seven months, then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called up Chicago Alderman Danny Solis after reading about a proposed real estate development in the alderman’s ward. “Danny, I think there’s a, a proposed development in – it’s called Peoria Park,” Madigan said in the January 2018 call, apparently conflating…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD — State Senator Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) joined several legislative colleagues during a Capitol press conference Tuesday to address a number of reported medical reactions involving Corrections staff exposures to illicit drugs — and inmate exposure deaths from illicit drugs — at correctional facilities in Illinois. Tracy and fellow Senators Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), Chapin Rose…
Read Full Article CHICAGO – It’s been a month since the jury in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s federal corruption trial last heard the name of star government witness Danny Solis during opening statements. The government’s brief explanation that the ex-Chicago alderman agreed to cooperate with the FBI after “abusing his own office” – and the defense’s…
Read Full Article BUSHNELL — The State of Illinois has provided a $5 million grant to enable Marshalltown Hammer to acquire and establish operations in the former Vaughan & Bushnell facility. “Economic prosperity for the working families of Illinois ought to be our state’s North Star,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Today, we celebrate an important milestone, securing jobs, facility improvements…
Read Full Article Just about nothing happened in the first week of veto session in the House and the Senate. The Democratic legislative leaders are still trying to figure out what their members want to do in the wake of Republican President-Elect Donald Trump’s victory and whether that can be done. Whether that action starts in the second…
Read Full Article In less than two years of selling legal recreational weed, Missouri’s cannabis market has grown to $1.4 billion — outperforming states with a longer history of marijuana legalization like Arizona, Colorado and Nevada. “Those are mature marketplaces, and you are surpassing them,” said Laurie Parfitt, CEO at LKP Impact Consulting. “Missouri is doing amazing things,…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Illinois isn’t following the lead of California Gov. Gavin Newson and convening a special session in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s win. There’s no need, given that Illinois legislators are already set to return to Springfield on Tuesday for a previously scheduled two-week veto session, as they customarily do each fall. But Illinois Gov.…
Read Full Article By the time the NFL playoffs begin in January, sports betting will be legal in Missouri. The only remaining question now that voters approved Amendment 2 is whether bettors will use platforms licensed in Missouri or if players will have to use accounts linked to licenses from other states. The amendment directs the Missouri Gaming Commission to…
Read Full Article QUINCY — With a voter turnout rate above 70 percent, Adams County residents showed up en masse this Election Day to exercise their right to vote in the general election. Some were more hopeful than others, but the overall mood of the day was that people were tired of today’s political climate. Unity was what…
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