Politics
As I write this, multiple news outlets have reported that the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is preparing to deploy its Special Response Teams to five major US cities, including Chicago, in the very near future. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told reporters last week: “There will be tactical teams,…
Read Full Article A $1.5 billion stadium funding plan aimed at convincing the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to stay in Missouri was signed into law Saturday afternoon by Gov. Mike Kehoe shortly before his trip to France on a trade mission. Kehoe signed two other bills on Saturday: one providing $125 million in aid for communities hit…
Read Full Article Thousands turned out in Columbia, Jefferson City and dozens of towns across Missouri on Saturday to join a nationwide mobilization against the expansion of executive power by the president. The “No Kings” demonstrations took place in all 50 states, with at least 30 rallies in Missouri, from Columbia to St. Louis, Kansas City to Cape…
Read Full Article Longtime former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was sentenced to 90 months in prison on Friday for his February conviction on 10 corruption-related counts. U.S. District Judge John Robert “Jack” Blakey delivered the sentence late Friday afternoon, which includes a $2.5 million fine and three years of supervised release after he serves his prison term.…
Read Full Article Gov. JB Pritzker spent hours Thursday defending his governing record and Illinois’ immigration policies as he was peppered with questions from members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee. Pritzker and Democratic governors Kathy Hochul of New York and Tim Walz of Minnesota were summoned to Washington, D.C., by committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., to answer…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Mark Philpot, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, chastised the Quincy City Council on Monday night for its inaction after members recently received a letter that Philpot said was “contrary to promoting good racial harmony within our fair city.” Philpot spoke for three minutes during the public comment portion of the meeting. He…
Read Full Article CHICAGO – Sentencing for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is scheduled for Friday, after a judge denied Madigan’s motion for a new trial. Judge John Robert “Jack” Blakey made the ruling Monday afternoon at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago. A jury convicted Madigan Feb. 12 on 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy,…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Angel Smith grew up during the Cold War, a time when the world held its breath as the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a passive-aggressive nuclear-armed headwrestle for global political, economic and ideological influence. The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of the war, and the…
Read Full Article A week out from a hectic end to the legislative session, many Capitol insiders are beginning to ask what is next for the legislative proposals big and small that failed during session. The session’s most-watched subject matter was transit funding. With northern Illinois transit agencies facing hundreds of millions of dollars in budget shortfalls this year, officials wanted…
Read Full Article As I write this column, the spring legislative session is a day away from adjournment. Nothing of great importance has cleared both chambers. So, there’s no point in writing about any of that. I’ll let you know my thoughts next week. Let’s discuss a different topic instead. For quite a while now, most folks in…
Read Full Article Reporter: This budget relied on a few one-time fixes. You’ve tried in the past to fix the structural deficit in 2020. Is that something that you’re going to be looking to spend political capital on going forward? Something a little bit more long-term? So we don’t have to do this every year—the one-time moving stuff…
Read Full Article State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) says the $55.2 billion spending plan passed at the last hour Saturday represents a nearly 40 percent increase since the current administration took office in 2019 and also requires an extra $1 billion in taxes. “Gov. Pritzker has made it abundantly clear that Illinoisans are not his priority. By any…
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