Politics
Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday he is “all in” for President Joe Biden after visiting the White House last week with other Democratic governors. He headed to Washington, D.C., to meet with the president and members of the Democratic Governors Association last Wednesday on the heels of Biden’s performance during the first of two scheduled…
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SPRINGFIELD – Former Republican State Sen. Sam McCann on Tuesday was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for stealing nearly $700,000 in campaign funds and attempting to conceal his theft with false reports to state election authorities. In February, McCann pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud and one count each of money…
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CHICAGO – Federal prosecutors told a judge Tuesday that they oppose plans by defense attorneys to seek a new trial for four convicted former executives and lobbyists for the state’s largest utility after the U.S. Supreme Court blunted part of a federal bribery law last month. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said a new trial…
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The cost of holding someone in a Missouri county jail for those days and months before and after a conviction ultimately falls to the state. In 2024, the state spent about $50 million to reimburse counties for the cost. But it’s had trouble keeping up with that tab. That’s left counties stuck with most of the…
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Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has nearly completed work on a backlog of requests for records submitted to his office by the public last year. That means work can finally begin processing requests submitted this year. The 2023 requests were initially supposed to be completed by May. But a spokeswoman for the attorney general said staff…
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All of Missouri’s votes at the Republican National Convention are pledged to the nomination of former President Donald Trump, but the fight over who will cast those votes is putting new rips in the fabric of the state GOP. On Wednesday, the executive committee of the Missouri Republican Party chose 27 at-large delegates and 26…
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SPRINGFIELD – When Illinois high school students sit down to take their annual state assessments next year, they will take a different exam than in recent years. The Illinois State Board of Education recently announced that starting next spring, it will use the ACT exam rather than the SAT. Both are standardized tests that measure…
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Gov. JB Pritzker traveled to the White House to meet with President Joe Biden and his fellow Democratic governors on Wednesday amid rising worry within the party about the president’s ability to continue running for a second term. Pritzker – whose name had been floated by the pundit class as a possible 2024 candidate for…
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An “honorary KKK member” will lead the list of Republicans on the ballot for Missouri governor in the Aug. 6 primary, in part because it is too late for an appeal court to hear a case seeking to remove his name. And eight candidates for county office in Vernon County will also be on the ballot despite efforts by…
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SPRINGFIELD – The U.S. Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will not immediately review Illinois’ assault weapons ban, leaving the law in place at least until challenges to the law have been fully heard in lower courts. The announcement came just two days before the two-year anniversary of a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland…
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The Missouri Republican Party must replace 54 national convention delegates and alternates selected at its chaotic state convention because of “alarming irregularities” in the process, the Republican National Convention Committee on Contests ruled Friday. The list of rejected delegates includes two of the major GOP candidates for governor, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill…
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Nine months after cash bail ended in Illinois, the state is taking its first steps in publishing the data that crafters of the bail reform law saw as essential to judging its effectiveness. The data shows that judges in the 75 counties served by the Illinois Supreme Court’s Office of Statewide Pretrial Services had collectively issued failure-to-appear…
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Abortion remains legal as an emergency medical procedure in Idaho, for now, after a Thursday U.S. Supreme Court ruling, while a bill that would cement those protections in Illinois law awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature. The 6-3 decision saw the three liberal justices concur with the order. Three of the court’s conservatives – Chief Justice John Roberts…
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During the last couple weeks of the spring state legislative session, Senate President Don Harmon got whacked twice by allies, including Gov. JB Pritzker, but still managed to keep his cool. On May 14th, the pro-choice powerhouse group Personal PAC issued a blistering press release blasting the Senate super-majority for an “unacceptable decision” to strip…
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MRN’s J. Robert Gough talks to Missouri State Representative Louis Riggs about disfunction at the State Capitol (well, at least in the chamber opposite of the House), progress on the Hannibal Bypass and supporting education to fit into today’s workforce needs.
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The right-wing conspiracy website Gateway Pundit is accused of abusing the bankruptcy process to escape accountability in defamation lawsuits stemming from its false claims about the 2020 election. Gateway Pundit, founded in St. Louis by brothers Jim and Joe Hoft, filed for bankruptcy in April as it was facing defamation lawsuits in Missouri and Colorado. In 2021, Georgia…
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More than 170 items were struck from the Missouri state budget Friday as Gov. Mike Parson cut $1 billion from the spending plan passed this year by lawmakers. In a statement explaining his cuts, Parson said he vetoed earmarked items that he believes were loaded into the budget for special projects and organizations without considering the future…
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the scope of a federal bribery law prosecutors have relied on in their cases against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and several of his allies convicted of bribing him. A jury last spring found those allies – former lobbyists and executives for electric utility Commonwealth Edison –…
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Chicago — Governor JB Pritzker has signed a package of bills to incentivize corporate development and attract new businesses and capital investments to Illinois. The bill also expands River’s Edge Redevelopment Zones to seven new downstate communities, which will enable them to leverage new incentives to attract investments, create jobs and invest in their communities.…
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When Missouri outlawed abortion two years ago, Nicole was far more worried for her grown children than for herself. It had been two decades since she last gave birth, when she suffered a serious stroke during labor followed by severe postpartum depression. She was outraged that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to…
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It’s time for the turn card in the poker hand that is the Missouri governor’s race. Quick review for poker neophytes: in Texas Hold ‘Em, two cards are dealt face down to each player, while five “community cards” are dealt face up in three rounds – first, a group of three cards (“the flop”), then…
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CHICAGO – Ed Burke, who served on the Chicago City Council longer than anyone in history, was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion of businesses who did business with the city. He must also pay a $2 million fine. Federal prosecutors had asked for eight years. Burke, 80,…
Read Full Article As you’ve probably heard by now, Illinois Republican Party Chair Don Tracy announced his resignation last week, apparently effective the day after the Republican National Convention concludes on July 18. The announcement came after far-right activists forced out the state party’s vice chair, Mark Shaw, and the resignation of the party’s finance chair, Vince Kolber.…
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QUINCY — With 250 days to go until the Feb. 25, 2025, Illinois consolidated primary, the two Republicans who have announced their intentions to run for Quincy mayor have some money in the bank to run their campaigns. But probably not enough yet. According to documentation filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections, Mayor…
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SPRINGFIELD – Don Tracy, who presided as the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, resigned from the position Wednesday after three-and-a-half years. Tracy, a Springfield attorney, was unable to rally a party that sits in super minorities in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly and hasn’t held a single statewide elected position since Democrat…
Read Full Article November 14, 2024
FRANKIE SAY: ASHLEY BURNETT
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