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By RAYMON TRONCOSOCapitol News Illinoisrtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate passed a criminal justice omnibus bill early Wednesday morning after a grueling 20 hours of politicking during Tuesday’s lame duck session. The legislation is made up of several provisions that touch all facets of the criminal justice system. The Pretrial Fairness Act, a longtime passion…

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By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A bill aimed at improving racial equity throughout the state’s K-12 and higher education system passed both houses of the General Assembly on Monday, while another bill addressing economic inequities was up for House approval Tuesday night. Both bills were part of an agenda being pushed by the…

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By SARAH MANSURCapitol News Illinoissmansur@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — The House Executive Committee advanced an election bill that would make permanent some of the expansions to mail-in voting that were passed for the 2020 general election. The bill would require election authorities to accept mail-in ballots that were submitted without sufficient postage and allow election authorities to…

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There were two things Zakk Tompkins knew growing up in Mahomet: the first was that he loved watching the Cornbelt Fire Department trucks in town; the second was that his parents were setting a great example of being members of their community. The first led Tompkins to become a Cornbelt firefighter four years ago. The…

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By Zainab Susi The entire world witnessed what happened on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 at the Capitol of the United States of America. I moved to the States more than thirty years ago, but this horrible event took me back to my childhood growing up in Karachi, Pakistan. Not in a million years did I…

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By RAYMON TRONCOSOCapitol News Illinoisrtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker took questions on a massive criminal justice omnibus bill backed by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus on Monday, noting he was generally “in favor of the process and the work that the Black Caucus has done overall.” When pressed on specific provisions in the bill…

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Published on Capitol News Jan. 9 By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A bill aimed at making college education and teacher preparation programs more accessible and affordable for people of color began working its way through the General Assembly on Saturday with the formal introduction of language that lawmakers have been negotiating for months.…

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Published Jan. 10 on Capitol News By RAYMON TRONCOSOCapitol News Illinoisrtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House of Representatives continued to debate a massive criminal justice omnibus bill Sunday that would transform policing practices in the state. A 611-page amendment to House Bill 163 would heavily revamp use-of-force guidelines, mandate body cameras for every law enforcement agency, end…

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By JERRY NOWICKICapitol News Illinoisjnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – House Speaker Michael Madigan announced he would suspend his campaign for House Speaker of the 102nd General Assembly on Monday, but his statement made clear he was not withdrawing from the race. “This is not a withdrawal. I have suspended my campaign for speaker,” Madigan said in a statement…

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The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is working to raise awareness about the threat of radon during National Radon Action Month. CUPHD has radon test kits available for $6.00. Test kits may be picked up at the Environmental Health Division of CUPHD located at 201 West Kenyon Road in Champaign; kits are available Monday through Friday…

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