Illinois Capital News
Education services extended for special needs students
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Students with special needs will be able to finish their last year of high school regardless of when their birthday falls on the calendar, while those who lost a year or more of in-person schooling due to the pandemic and have since aged out of special…
Read MorePritzker ‘looking at all possible mitigations;’ masks mandated at driver facilities
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Masks will be required at driver’s license facilities in Illinois starting Monday, August 2, Secretary of State Jesse White announced Wednesday, July 28, and Gov. JB Pritzker said he is “looking at all the possible mitigations” amid another surge of COVID-19 infections. The secretary of state’s…
Read MoreFROM AFGHAN INTERPRETER TO LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES
Fahim Masoud Realizes Dream of Military Service in Illinois Army National Guard By Barbara Wilson Illinois National Guard Public Affairs Office SPRINGFIELD, Illinois – When Fahim Masoud was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1988, the country was at war with the Soviet Union. Fast forward 17 years, Masoud graduated from high school and faced one…
Read MoreState courts prepare to resume normal operations
Supreme Court issues orders on speedy trials, social distancing requirements By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – State courts in Illinois are preparing to return to normal operations after nearly 16 months of operating under special rules brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 7, issued two…
Read MoreWoman freed on plea deal after serving 19 years for McHenry murder
Her murder charge was vacated with help from Illinois Innocence Project By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News Illinois smansur@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — A woman found guilty of a McHenry County murder had her conviction vacated last week after serving 19 years of her 27-year sentence and maintaining her innocence throughout her imprisonment. With the help of the…
Read MoreProposed Illinois legislative maps fail compactness test
By JIM NOWLAN Democratic mapmakers in Springfield have crafted new legislative district lines that are so laughably offensive to the Illinois Constitution that the state Supreme Court will either have to reject them outright, or confirm the court’s reputation for partisan political corruptness. You decide this one for yourselves, readers. The state charter is crystal…
Read MoreCover crops deliver big bang for the buck
By KRIS REYNOLDS Midwest regional director, American Farmland Trust Illinois is blessed with the black gold that feeds America: rich, deep soils that make it one of the highest producing regions in the world. Agriculture is the largest economic sector in the state, and Illinois is among the top producers of corn and soybeans in…
Read MoreState lawmakers consider lifting ban on betting on in-state colleges, universities
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – State lawmakers are considering a number of changes to Illinois gambling laws, including a measure that would lift the prohibition on gambling on in-state colleges and universities. Other measures discussed by the House Executive Committee Wednesday, April 28, would legalize and regulate certain internet gambling programs,…
Read MoreHigh court: Petition circulators confined to gathering signatures for one party
Cannot serve one party in primary then an independent in general election By SARAH MANSUR Capitol News Illinois smansur@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — An Illinois Supreme Court decision Wednesday clarified that the state election code prohibits a person from collecting signatures for both a party candidate in a consolidated primary and an independent candidate in the consolidated…
Read MoreState drops most child support interest charges
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The state is no longer charging interest on late child support payments that are made through the Department of Healthcare and Family Services unless it’s ordered by a court, and all of the outstanding interest charges that those parents owed have been zeroed out. A spokesman…
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