Illinois Politics
SPRINGFIELD – Along with fried foods, carnival rides and an 800-pound cow made of butter, the Illinois State Fair is known for its political theater. For the Statehouse press corps, it means we clear our schedules for at least two days in mid-August each year to take in the candidate stump speeches, hand shaking and…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Republican candidate for governor and state Sen. Darren Bailey continued his trend of not taking questions from the news media Tuesday after speaking at a small rally outside of the Illinois State Capitol. The rally was organized by Awake Illinois, an organization focused on parental rights that has also engaged in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and once…
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SPRINGFIELD – In a series of downstate news conferences coinciding with the Illinois State Fair, Gov. JB Pritzker this week gave an update on the possibility of a special session, outlined new state infrastructure investments and announced a new program for some Illinoisans over age 55. While the governor quickly announced he would call a…
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SPRINGFIELD – With new guidance from the CDC that addresses the need to keep students in classrooms while protecting residents from COVID-19, the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education announced in a Friday press release they are adopting new operational guidance for schools and early education from the CDC that eases some restrictions…
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SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Department of Transportation on Friday laid out a $34.6 billion six-year spending plan for road, bridge, transit, rail, airport and port upkeep. It’s the latest multi-year plan backed by the state’s 2019 Rebuild Illinois bipartisan infrastructure law, which doubled the state’s motor fuel tax from 19 to 38 cents per gallon and scheduled it…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois State Fair organizers unveiled the 101st State Fair butter cow Wednesday, an unofficial kickoff of the fair which began Thursday, Aug. 11, and runs through Aug. 21. The sculpture – by Iowan Sarah Pratt – consists of more than 800 pounds of recycled butter in the shape of a cow…
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SPRINGFIELD – Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said this week he is actively reaching out to businesses in Indiana and other states that have recently passed restrictive abortion laws in hopes of luring those companies to Illinois. “Well, already I’ve reached out to companies that are affected in Indiana. I want to make sure that they…
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GOP candidate for governor Darren Bailey is criticizing the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform which will eliminate cash bail in Illinois by Jan. 1, 2023. The Illinois Supreme Court Pretrial Implementation Task Force has been in the process of breaking down several aspects of the SAFE-T Act as Illinois approaches 2023. It has released four flow charts showing how…
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SPRINGFIELD – Ten months after Illinois lawmakers passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act which set a goal of putting 1 million electric vehicles on state roads by the end of the decade, state agencies are engaged in a flurry of regulatory planning aimed at meeting those goals. The effort to electrify the state’s transportation sector and ensure the…
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SPRINGFIELD – Beginning Friday and lasting through Aug. 14, the state will reduce its sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 1.25 percent for certain clothing items costing less than $125 and school supplies. The “tax holiday” was included in Gov. JB Pritzker’s “family relief plan,” one prong of several bills making up the Fiscal…
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Within hours of a news report that GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey had said the Holocaust “doesn’t even compare” to legalized abortion in 2017 campaign video, Gov. JB Pritzker’s campaign was online with an ad publicizing the statement. “I believe that abortion is one of the greatest atrocities of our day and I believe it’s one…
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The racketeering case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his longtime confidant will likely not see any significant court action until next year after a judge Tuesday granted the defense a lengthy extension to review the massive pile of evidence turned over by prosecutors. In the first status hearing in the bombshell case…
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The Adams County Board’s Finance Committee went into closed session May 9 to discuss giving themselves raises and lay out a political strategy to deal with potential fallout from voters who might not approve of the action. These actions are not permitted under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. “The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker issued a public health emergency declaration and declared Illinois a disaster area in response to the monkeypox virus Monday, a move his office said would help mobilize resources. The governor’s office said the proclamation will aid in moving vaccines to the most impacted communities and will allow the Illinois Department…
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One month after staging a primary upset, Republican Darren Bailey is struggling to reel in supporters of a top Republican primary rival and has yet to log a six- or seven-figure campaign contribution in his fall fight against billionaire Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Compounding Bailey’s troubles, hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin, who put $50 million into the…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced plans Friday for how the state will distribute its share of funds from a national settlement with opioid companies. Illinois expects to receive approximately $760 million over 18 years from a $26 billion national settlement with three opioid distributers – Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen…
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SPRINGFIELD – After years of failed efforts that spanned multiple administrations, the state has finalized the sale of the controversial James R. Thompson Center in Chicago to a company that will make it the new Chicago home of tech giant Google. Gov. JB Pritzker made the announcement during a news conference at the building, along…
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SPRINGFIELD – A contentious race for leadership of the state’s Democratic Party appears to be down to a single candidate ahead of a Saturday morning vote after the party’s current chair pulled herself from the running Friday. State Rep. Lisa Hernandez, backed by Gov. JB Pritzker and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, appeared to have…
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MRN Publisher Bob Gough spoke with Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Oakland) Thursday via zoom while Miller was in Washington D.C. Miller also said she would have one of her 15th District offices in Quincy. The last member of Congress to have an office in Quincy was Dick Durbin when he was a representative. His Quincy office…
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QUINCY — Members of the Democratic and Republican parties of Adams County voted to keep their party chairpersons in place Wednesday night. The members of the Central Committees for each respective party held their bi-annual caucus at the Adams County Courthouse. The Republican and Democratic members met in separate courtrooms to cast their votes. Dave…
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SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Democrats are vying to make Chicago the host city for the Democratic National Convention in 2024 while considering who will lead their party for the next four years. Meanwhile, the state’s Republican Party is hearing calls for a censure of one of its sitting congressmen. Officials for the Democratic National Committee were…
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A new poll from the firm Morning Consult showed Gov. JB Pritzker’s approval rating at 51 percent among Illinois voters, or seven points “above water” in polling lingo. It’s the latest quarterly poll from the firm, and data included 14,258 registered voters polled from April 1 through June 30. While it’s a truism of polling that any…
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CHICAGO — The city of Chicago will host a NASCAR race next summer. The taxpayer cost of the event is not yet known. The first-ever NASCAR Cup Series street course race will take place on Sunday July 2, 2023, with a lower-level race running on Saturday July 1, 2023. NASCAR officials and Mayor Lori Lightfoot…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois economy added 18,800 jobs during June as the unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent, the lowest it has been since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is down one-tenth of a percentage point from May, and down two full percentage points from June 2021. Preliminary numbers released by the U.S.…
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CHICAGO — After being notified of several close contacts testing positive for COVID-19, Gov. Pritzker received a positive test result during his routine COVID testing regimen. The Governor is experiencing mild symptoms and has been prescribed the anti-viral medication, Paxlovid. He will follow CDC guidelines by working from home. The Governor is fully vaccinated and…
Read Full Article November 13, 2024
DAILY MUDDY: QUINCY HOBBY CENTER CLOSING AND EFB COFFEE TALK
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