Politics
In April 2023, Osage County Clerk Nicci Kammerich agreed to an experiment — she would tally municipal election results by hand, a move urged by residents who argued it would be cheaper, quicker and more secure. The results, Kammerich wrote after the election, were the opposite. The vote count finished three hours later than the previous…
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SPRINGFIELD – Attorneys in the offices of Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx made similar arguments in recent court filings as both defend bans on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines against constitutional challenges. In separate cases at different levels of the federal court system, both offices are trying to make…
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‘My client is the speaker’: Jury hears three dozen wiretapped calls of McClain between 2018 and 2019
CHICAGO – By early 2019, Mike McClain had been a fixture around the Statehouse in Springfield for the better part of 50 years, first as a Democratic lawmaker in the 1970s and then for decades as a high-profile contract lobbyist. And though he officially retired in late 2016, McClain could still be spotted around the…
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CHICAGO – In 2006, electric utility Commonwealth Edison was riding out the last year of a decadelong state-mandated rate freeze, which had put the company in “dire” financial straits. In a period when corporate profits climbed at record rates, ComEd was an outlier. And as the utility stared down the possibility of state lawmakers extending…
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HANNIBAL, Mo. — “Vote no” and “Amen” were yelled from the crowd as Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe condemned Amendment 3, also known as the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, during his visit to Republican headquarters in Hannibal on Thursday, Oct. 24, less than two weeks before election day on Nov. 5. “Amendment 3 is…
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HANNIBAL — As the saying goes, first impressions are everything. U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) knows how to make a good one. The Hawley campaign hosted a rally Tuesday afternoon at Becky’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor and Emporium in Hannibal — the same spot Ronald Pashia, a pastor and Army veteran, met Hawley in…
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QUINCY — The Great River Economic Development Foundation announced Tuesday that MadisonBadgley Peters has been promoted to the position of Vice President of the organization. This is a newly-created post as GREDF and its president, Kyle Moore, prepare for the likelihood that Moore will be elected to the Illinois House of Representatives next month. Moore…
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CHICAGO — Opening arguments began Monday in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, who faces 23 bribery, fraud, racketeering and conspiracy charges related to five “episodes” over the last 14 years. The former speaker wore a charcoal suit with a red tie, watching dispassionately and taking notes as federal prosecutor Sarah…
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QUINCY — Mike Rein’s dalliance with the idea of running for mayor lasted about a week. Rein, an alderman in Quincy’s 5th Ward, recently pulled petitions to run for re-election as alderman, but he also pulled petitions to run for mayor. He had to choose between which office he wanted to run for by Oct. 28.…
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Ranked-choice voting is on the rise in the U.S., with two U.S. states and 45 U.S. cities now using some version of it. This November, Missourians will have the opportunity to ban it. Advocates of ranked-choice voting argue that it solves the problems of other voting methods, while detractors counter that it makes elections unnecessarily complicated. Here in the U.S., plurality…
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QUINCY — Two GOP mayoral candidates turned in petitions at the beginning of the filing period Monday morning at Quincy City Hall. Brink was first in line with 740 signatures on his petitions. Troup was third in line behind former City Clerk Janet Hutmacher, who was turning in the petitions for City Clerk Laura Oakman.…
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The Pritzker administration continues to deny the state is losing population. During a panel discussion about pensions with the Better Government Association this week, Deputy Gov. Andy Manar was asked about the state’s economic trends, including population decline. “There has never been more people living in the state of Illinois than there is today,” Manar…
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Chariton County cannot block construction of the Grain Belt Express electric transmission line by refusing permission to cross county roads, the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The county can establish rules for how the transmission line crosses its roads, the court ruled as it modified a trial court decision that said the county could…
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Illinois Senate President Don Harmon continues piling up campaign money. His latest quarterly report for his personal campaign committee showed Harmon had $13.4 million in the bank, up almost $2 million from the previous quarter. His caucus committee ended with $2.6 million in the bank, up about $800K from the previous quarter. And his two…
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Chariton County cannot block construction of the Grain Belt Express electric transmission line by refusing permission to cross county roads, the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals ruled this week. The county can establish rules for how the transmission line crosses its roads, the court ruled as it modified a trial court decision that said the county…
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CHICAGO — Two of Gov. JB Pritzker’s top staffers have opened their own communications strategies firm. Jordan Abudayyeh and Jason Rubin have announced the launch of Abudayyeh Rubin Communications Strategies (ARC Strategies) to help companies and organizations raise their profiles, message targeted audiences and perform crisis navigation and management. ARC Strategies offers services including crisis communications, public…
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Have you ever noticed the bike path along Columbus Road and Cannonball Road, running each side of Wismann Lane? Did you know it has a name? It is the Erin East Memorial Bike Path. Erin was a 13-year-old, seventh-grade student at Quincy Junior High School. The weather in November 1988 reached the high 60s. …
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Abortion has become one of the most significant issues to this election cycle following the reversal of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in the summer of 2022, especially among women and undecided voters. As a traditionally conservative and religious region, many residents in our area have been outspoken about their support for President Trump…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — The jury that will determine the fate of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is nearly complete after three slow days of jury selection this week. But in addition to the 11 jurors who have already been chosen, one final jury member must survive challenges, plus six alternates — a larger number than…
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Illinois surpassed $2 billion in tax revenue last year from all types of gambling and the state lottery – a record bolstered by continued growth in video gambling, sports betting and the opening of several new casinos. But that growth comes at the expense of Illinois’ traditional riverboat casinos and the horse racing industry, which…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) has been named a Champion of Free Enterprise by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to the defense of free enterprise and job opportunities for all Illinoisans. Tracy also received the chamber’s inaugural Bridge Builder award, which recognizes two lawmakers from each legislative chamber who…
Read Full Article Last year, the Democratic Party of Illinois and Gov. JB Pritzker targeted local school board races to defeat candidates who wanted to ban books and/or were receiving support from right-wing political organizations. The governor ended up claiming victory in more than 70 percent of those campaigns. The push was unusual because the state’s Democratic Party,…
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SPRINGFIELD – Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) and Senate Republican Caucus Whip Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) filed an official resolution calling for an independent audit by the Illinois Auditor General into serious accusations of violence against children under the state’s care at Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center in Chicago, as well as what appears to…
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