Politics
CHICAGO – In April 2017, a top staffer in then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office was looking to leave his job after a combined nearly 18 years working for the speaker’s office and as his political director. Will Cousineau applied for a high-level job with electric utility Commonwealth Edison, and the director of ComEd’s human…
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CHICAGO – Being the longtime friend of longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan granted Mike McClain certain privileges not afforded to other lobbyists in Springfield, jurors heard in a federal corruption trial that, in part, centers around the relationship between the two. McClain “had pretty free access” to the offices in Madigan’s suite on the…
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The Illinois House passed 41 bills to the Senate Tuesday ahead of a scheduled Friday deadline. The measures, among others, included a ban on polystyrene food containers, bills focusing on gender inclusivity in state law and a requirement that expectant parents have a “duty” to split pregnancy-related costs, including for abortions. Below are a few…
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Jury hears 16 more recorded calls; Rep. says Madigan ruled ‘through fear and intimidation’ CHICAGO – Facing a perceived betrayal during a make-or-break election season in 2018, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called the person he often sought counsel from: longtime friend and confidant Mike McClain. Several Democratic candidates running for the state Senate…
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CHICAGO — A veteran Democratic state lawmaker who sponsored major gaming legislation in the Illinois House of Representatives told a federal jury Monday that former Speaker Michael Madigan once ruled that chamber “through fear and intimidation.” When asked what Madigan valued most in other legislators, state Rep. Robert “Bob” Rita answered, “loyalty.” And before the…
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Missouri is one of just 13 states that levies a sales tax on grocery food items. Citing the hefty burden on low-income shoppers and rising cost of food, several other states have moved to reduce the burden of the grocery sales tax. Kansas began phasing it out this year and Illinois suspended the tax for one year. But in Missouri, renewed bipartisan…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers are debating whether the state should join a growing list of jurisdictions in the United States that allow voters to pick more than one candidate for an office, ranking them in order of preference rather than choosing just one. Ranked choice voting, or as it’s sometimes called, “instant runoff voting,” actually…
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CHICAGO – In fall 2018, longtime former State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, received a phone call from Mike McClain, who had spent decades lobbying for electric utility Commonwealth Edison after 10 years in the General Assembly. McClain was delivering a message from House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was worried Lang was becoming a liability to…
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CHICAGO – Michael J. Madigan couldn’t be bothered to call one of his top deputies, who had decades of experience in the legislature, to tell him it was time to step down over a brewing allegation of misconduct that might go public. So the powerful Illinois House speaker got on the phone with his key…
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Trial’s second day included hours of opening arguments, first witness CHICAGO – Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan isn’t set to go on trial for racketeering and corruption charges until next summer, but his decades of power in Illinois government and politics loomed large Wednesday as opening arguments got underway in a related case. Madigan’s name…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — For the first time since their indictment on corruption and bribery charges in November 2020, three former lobbyists and one former executive of electric utility Commonwealth Edison appeared at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago on Tuesday – the first day of what’s expected to be a six-to-eight-week trial. It’s Illinois’ biggest public…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers advanced a bill last week that would effectively abolish life sentences for any incarcerated individual who was under the age of 21 when they received their sentence. In January, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law that makes any individual who was under the age of 21 when sentenced to life in prison eligible…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 208 into law Monday, ensuring at least 40 hours of paid leave for Illinois workers. Effective Jan. 1, 2024, workers will begin to earn paid leave on their first day at a rate of one hour of leave for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours of paid…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Michael J. Madigan will likely never step foot in the federal courtroom where four former political power players are about to face trial, accused of trying to bribe the longtime Illinois House speaker to benefit ComEd. But the case starting Tuesday is all about Madigan. And once it’s underway, it is expected to…
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SPRINGFIELD – Parents who make money posting videos of their children on social media channels may soon be legally required to share that revenue with their kids. The Illinois Senate Labor Committee this week unanimously approved a bill that would guarantee children a right to a percentage of that revenue if the videos meet certain criteria. “Parents…
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MEMPHIS, Mo. — The ousted administrator of a northeast Missouri hospital is accusing board members and employees of conspiring to have him fired by falsely claiming he violated federal laws and embezzled millions. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Dr. Randy Tobler claims he has been unable to find employment because of the way he was fired…
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CHICAGO – Religious and environmental ideals are at odds for some in the ongoing debate around what to do with human remains. A proposal at the Illinois Statehouse would legalize and regulate “natural organic reduction,” a process in which human remains are rapidly decomposed into compost. The process is also known as human composting or…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers began working through mountains of proposed legislation this week as a Friday deadline approaches for bills to pass out of their original committees. As of Tuesday, more than 6,500 bills had been introduced in the 2023 session. While many of those bills could miss that deadline, there are multiple ways to…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday highlighted a proposed grant program that would direct $70 million per year over the next three years to school districts facing the greatest teacher shortages. The Teacher Pipeline Grant Program, which Pritzker included in his budget proposal to lawmakers, would target vacancies in 170 school districts that…
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SPRINGFIELD — One year ago today, former House Speaker Michael Madigan – for decades the most powerful figure in Illinois politics – was indicted on 22 counts of racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and extortion. The anniversary comes roughly two years after Madigan’s fellow Democrats forced him to cede the title of longest-serving speaker of any legislature in…
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ELGIN, Ill. — Illinois Governor JB Pritzker visited Streamwood High School in Elgin to highlight a new teacher pipeline initiative aimed at addressing chronic shortages in the state’s most understaffed districts. The proposed Teacher Pipeline Grant Program will direct $70 million per year over the next three years to the 170 school districts with the…
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SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday announced the release of nearly $60 million in grant funding to help local governments develop public parks and open spaces, over 20 percent of which will go to “distressed” communities. The money through the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grants was distributed to 118 projects, all but…
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SPRINGFIELD – S&P Global Ratings announced Thursday that it had raised Illinois’ long-term credit rating to A-, up from BBB+, marking the seventh upgrade the state has received from a major rating agency in less than two years. The rating applies to roughly $27.7 billion in outstanding general obligation, or GO, bonds. “The upgrade on…
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SPRINGFIELD – A bill that would allow restaurants, hotels and other public places to designate “all-gender multiple-occupancy” restrooms passed out of a House committee Wednesday, sending it to the full House for consideration. House Bill 1286, sponsored by Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, is similar to one that passed through the House in 2021 but died…
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All 59 Republican members of the Illinois General Assembly are calling for legislative hearings on a state-run mental health center in rural southern Illinois, citing findings of a culture of abuse, cover-ups and poor patient care from a monthslong investigative series by Lee Enterprises Midwest, Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica. Late last week, the members sent a…
Read Full Article December 22, 2024
MUDDY RIVER NEWS: FR. CHUCK EDWARDS
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