Politics
Soon after the 2020 election, Eric Coomer’s name started trending on Twitter, often accompanied with the hashtag #ArrestEricCoomer. At the time, he was living in Colorado and working as director of product security for Dominion Voting Systems, the company ensnared in unfounded election fraud conspiracies following former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden. Coomer…
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Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s emergency rule blocking access to certain medical procedures for transgender children and adults faces a lawsuit seeking to block implementation days before it is scheduled to go into effect. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit Monday in St. Louis County calling Bailey’s rule “an…
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CHICAGO – Attorneys for both the defendants and the government made the same appeal to a federal jury Tuesday before it was left to deliberate the fate of four former Commonwealth Edison officials accused of bribery. “Use your common sense,” U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said while wrapping up the government’s final rebuttal in the trial’s…
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CHICAGO – Before jury deliberations begin on the fate of four ex-Commonwealth Edison officials after a six-week bribery trial, an attorney for one of the defendants got emotional Monday afternoon when imparting the weight of the jury’s task. “Be the shield that you were meant to be,” Patrick Cotter told jurors after gathering himself. “The…
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A Cole County judge on Friday rejected a challenge to a 2021 law used by Missouri’s attorney general to sue school districts over COVID-19 mask policies. In a case that focused on whether lawmakers had put too much into the bill, rendering it unconstitutional, Judge Daniel Green decided that everything fit under the broad category of…
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A defense attorney for a longtime friend of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called on a federal jury Monday to “be the shield” between a private citizenand a “very powerful government committed, dedicated and on a mission to get Mike Madigan.” But federal prosecutors asked that same jury to reject the idea that a “stunning” stream…
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QUINCY — Adams County First Assistant State’s Attorney Todd Eyler will formally announce his candidacy for Adams County State’s Attorney this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The event will be held in the lower level of Tower Pizza & Mexican, 2701 Broadway. Eyler, a Republican, is running to replace Gary Farha, who is not seeking re-election,…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois is one of just 12 states that still has a state estate tax, and State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) is sponsoring legislation to eliminate that tax and keep Illinois competitive with the 38 other states in the nation. Senate Bill 140 amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act to eliminate the state…
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SPRINGFIELD – The state estimates an expansion of state-sponsored health care to individuals who are ineligible for Medicaid based on their citizenship status is expected to cost $990 million in the upcoming fiscal year, far outpacing the original price tag cited when the measures became law. In 2020, Illinois made noncitizens aged 65 and older…
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Illinois is in its fourth year of legal cannabis, and it’s meant millions in revenue for the state. But where do those tax dollars end up? Four places. Here’s the breakdown. Administrative expenses: This refers to costs for the agencies that carry out state cannabis laws. Reinvestment: Restore Reinvest Renew (R3) grant funds are designated for Illinois communities that have been affected…
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SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers advanced a measure that would require public elementary and high schools to include a unit of Native American history in their social studies curriculum, beginning with the 2024-2025 school year. House Bill 1633 passed out of a Senate committee this week with a 10-3 vote after passing the House 75-32 last month. It…
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CHICAGO – After nearly six weeks, a federal jury has heard almost all the evidence in the bribery trial of three ex-lobbyists for electric utility Commonwealth Edison and its former CEO who are accused of bribing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Prosecutors allege the four arranged for Madigan allies to get jobs and contracts…
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SPRINGFIELD – Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson said Wednesday his goal was to unify the state while calling Illinois a “vanguard for progressive policy all over this country” in an address to a joint session of the General Assembly. Johnson, a former middle school teacher and one-time staffer for Senate President Don Harmon, said he came…
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CHICAGO – When the former CEO of Commonwealth Edison was interviewed by federal prosecutors and agents in September 2019, she denied knowing the substance of the case the government was building against her and her colleagues. Specifically, Anne Pramaggiore said that until the feds’ investigation into ComEd became public four months prior, she was unaware…
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QUINCY — Incumbent Democratic Alderman Ben Uzelac took all three votes in the 7th Ward that were verified Tuesday afternoon by the Adams County Clerk’s Office. Uzelac defeated Republican challenger Tim Siemer 208 votes to 205 votes. Write-in candidates received 13 votes. About 20 people were in attendance, including Siemer and Uzelac as well as…
Read Full Article CHICAGO – In May 2018, Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore called the utility’s longtime top contract lobbyist, Mike McClain, with some news: she was about to be promoted to CEO of Exelon Utilities. In that role, she would oversee ComEd and five other utilities under the parent company’s umbrella. “Never would’ve happened without you and…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Near the end of a long day of animated testimony Monday, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore’s voice grew quiet. The jury in the “ComEd Four” bribery trial had just heard for the second time a wiretapped recording on which she told a close associate of then-House Speaker Michael Madigan, “You take good care of me,…
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The Illinois Supreme Court has denied a motion to disqualify two justices from hearing a challenge to the state’s new gun ban over perceived conflicts of interest. The two justices also declined to recuse themselves. Before Elizabeth Rochford and Mary O’Brien were elected to the Illinois Supreme Court in November 2022, Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave…
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Differences between the House and Senate on how strict a ban on certain transgender health care could spell trouble for the proposal’s chances as the Missouri legislative session nears completion. Republican leaders in both chambers told reporters on Thursday that they wanted their versions passed and sent to the governor. The Senate passed a version last…
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SPRINGFIELD – Some Illinois lawmakers are calling for a review of one of the tests prospective teachers must pass in order to be licensed in Illinois. The test is known as the Teacher Performance Assessment, or “edTPA,” and it is intended to determine whether a prospective teacher has the knowledge and skills necessary to be…
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CHICAGO — As university faculties around Illinois strike for better pay and working conditions, budget analysts have found that state spending on higher education has fallen dramatically over the past 20 years. When adjusted for inflation, state spending on higher education fell 46 percent between 2000 and 2023, according to a new research report from the left-leaning…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Federal jurors have spent five weeks listening to the voice of former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, caught in a cache of secret FBI recordings in which prosecutors say she conspired with her colleagues to bribe then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. But late Thursday, the polished former energy executive and theater major finally got the chance to…
Read Full Article Anne Pramaggiore to take rare – and risky – step of defending herself to jury CHICAGO – Federal prosecutors on Wednesday rested their case against three ex-lobbyists and the former CEO of electric utility Commonwealth Edison in a trial where the four stand accused of orchestrating a yearslong bribery scheme to influence Illinois’ most powerful…
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A legendary precinct captain for former House Speaker Michael Madigan told jurors in the “ComEd Four” bribery trial Tuesday that the speaker got him a $45,000-a-year contract with one of the utility’s top lobbyists but made it clear the deal would disappear if he stopped working on campaigns. Edward Moody, for years one of Madigan’s…
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SPRINGFIELD – The overall financial health of Illinois school districts has been improving in recent years, according to a recent state report, but a bill moving through the General Assembly seeks to rein in the amount of money some districts are saving. Senate Bill 1994, which passed unanimously out of the Senate last week and now…
Read Full Article December 22, 2024
MUDDY RIVER NEWS: FR. CHUCK EDWARDS
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