Politics
Missouri is slated to receive more than $13 million in emergency relief funds from the federal government to repair roads and bridges damaged by flooding and storms in 2019. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded a nearly $2.4 million grant to address infrastructure damage from severe storms and flooding in March 2019 and almost $11 million for the fallout of…
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SPRINGFIELD – New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau suggest Illinois is continuing to lose population. The latest estimates, released Tuesday, pegged the state’s population at 12,671,469 as of July 1, 2021, down by 113,776, or 0.9 percent, from the official 2020 census. Several factors contributed to the change, but the single largest was domestic outmigration.…
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Gov. JB Pritzker and other health officials from across Illinois on Monday identified unvaccinated people as the cause for healthcare systems stretched to their limits as the state experiences a fifth COVID wave driven by the virus’ extremely contagious Omicron variant. Five-hundred new COVID patients were admitted to Illinois hospitals between Sunday and Monday —…
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SPRINGFIELD – Minimum wage workers in Illinois will see a boost in their hourly pay to $12 per hour starting Jan. 1, while tenants in affordable housing units will be allowed to keep pets. Those are just some of the more than 300 new laws that take effect in the new year. The minimum wage increase is…
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On any political map, Illinois is a reliable blue state that has elected Democratic governors four of the last five elections and last backed a Republican presidential candidate before Michael Jordan was winning championships in Chicago. But as that political streak again gets put to the test in the high-stakes 2022 gubernatorial campaign, Democrats are…
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Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law on Friday that ends parental notification, a requirement that doctors notify the parents of a minor seeking an abortion. “With reproductive rights under attack across the nation, Illinois is once again establishing itself as a leader in ensuring access to health care services,” Pritzker said. “This repeal was essential,…
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SPRINGFIELD – Several Illinois lawmakers said this week they are determined to pass a bill in the spring that would overhaul the way nursing homes are paid through the state’s Medicaid program to address critical staffing shortages, but the state’s largest nursing home industry group is still pushing back against the proposed changes. “We need…
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The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.3 percentage point to 5.7 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +19,500 in November, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The preliminary report for October monthly payrolls was revised from…
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Educators are challenging the effectiveness of Illinois’ public school testing. The Illinois Assessment of Readiness Test that Illinois school districts give every spring is a mandate that takes up valuable classroom time, said Mark Klaisner, president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools. Illinois is obligated to give a standard state-wide test because…
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Washington, DC – Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Congressman Daniel Webster (R-FL) introduced the SAFER Travel Act, H.R. 6257, to bar federal vaccine passports and quarantine requirements for travel. “You shouldn’t need a vaccine passport to get on a train, board a plane, or travel home for the holidays,” said Graves, Ranking Member of the House Transportation…
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First out of the gate for Republicans, state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, has announced his running mate for Illinois’ 2022 gubernatorial elections is Stephanie Trussell. During a campaign stop at Caffe di Moda in Lisle, Bailey announced Trussell is joining his campaign. “She’s a hardworking conservative, a fighter, a mother, a grandmother and Illinois’ next…
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In the wake of Friday night storms that left six dead at an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, a disaster proclamation was issued Monday for 28 counties in southern and central Illinois. The proclamation will bring personnel or equipment from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to assist with storm recovery. “My administration is committed to standing…
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The Missouri Attorney General’s Office has sent nearly three dozen school districts letters instructing them to halt COVID-19 mandates — such as mandatory face coverings, quarantines, or vaccines — this week. The letters, which instruct the districts to “cease and desist” their orders, also say the Attorney General’s Office will begin an investigation into “alleged failure to follow the law.” All…
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After receiving “violent threats,” a state rep from suburban Cook County won’t pursue a proposal requiring unvaccinated Illinoisans to pay their health care expenses — including hospital bills — out of pocket if they contract COVID-19. State Rep. Jonathan Carroll, D-Northbrook, said in a statement Thursday that he decided not to pursue the legislation he…
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An Illinois state representative introduced a new bill this week that would force unvaccinated patients to pay their own medical expenses if they receive hospital treatment for COVID-19. Rep. Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook) sponsored the new legislation, HB 4259, that seeks to encourage Illinois residents to receive a vaccination. The bill proposes “a person who is eligible…
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SPRINGFIELD — To Illinois prisoners, commissary is more than candy bars, shaving cream and socks. It represents normalcy and choice. “It’s everything to them,” said Melly Rios, whose husband is in Stateville Correctional Center serving 45 years for murder. A recent report from the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group, detailed widespread supply shortages…
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Illinois marijuana revenue in 2021 will likely more than double that of 2020, but high taxes keep illegal drug dealers thriving. November 2021 was the ninth consecutive month with over $100 million in marijuana sales in Illinois dispensaries, according to new state data. Illinois surpassed the 2020 sales total of $669 million in June this year. Despite the…
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Should Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) win re-election in 2022, he will represent Illinois’ 15th District, which will include West-Central Illinois. Davis sat down with MRN Publisher/GM J. Robert Gough to discuss redistricting, re-election and the state of politics in Illinois and Washington D.C. Muddy River News This Week is furnished by Harvey’s.
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Two years ago, a company led by an influential businessman faced off with the state’s environmental regulators over whether it needed to do additional testing for a chemical health officials worried could pose a cancer risk to the company’s workers. The Moberly manufacturing facility, Orscheln Products LLC, is owned by the family of businessman Barry Orscheln,…
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker in October teased Illinoisans that they could see indoor mask mandates lifted before the holidays, but a surge in new cases makes it unlikely he will follow through. Six states have mask mandates in effect for residents regardless of their vaccination status, with Illinois the only one east of the Mississippi. Some Illinois politicians are questioning…
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SPRINGFIELD – Quincy Regional Airport is one of nearly 100 airports across Illinois to receive state funding in the coming months for projects ranging from new runways and road relocations to the purchase of mowers and snow removal equipment. The money comes from the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital infrastructure plan which passed the General…
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SPRINGFIELD – A three-judge federal court panel in Chicago will begin hearing oral arguments Tuesday in three cases that could determine the makeup of state legislative maps in the Chicago area and Metro East region for the next 10 years. The panel announced during a status hearing Friday that it will go ahead with in-person…
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Nearly two years ago, a WBEZ open-records request to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office set off alarm bells in Springfield. The governor’s office released a 2012 email exchange between now-indicted former Commonwealth Edison lobbyist Michael McClain and two top aides to then-Gov. Pat Quinn. McClain was seeking leniency for a former state employee, Forrest Ashby,…
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When people are checked into the Clay County Detention Center, they all have to pay an intake fee of $8. But for women on their periods, entering the jail used to cost them extra. Incarcerated women at the facility used to be charged about $6 for two packages of 12 pads. If they didn’t have…
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Taylorville congressman will be representing West-Central Illinois should he win in 2022. U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) on Tuesday announced he’ll run for a sixth term in Congress, ending months of chatter about his possible entrance in the Republican primary to unseat Gov. JB Pritzker in 2022. “Democrats in Washington have put our nation in…
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