SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois House Democrats have relented and sent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner a federal spending plan that doesn’t include state dollars. After nearly an hour’s debate Wednesday on a measure that frees up federal money despite Illinois not having a state budget, the plan failed. It needed 71 votes to pass and…
ST. LOUIS (AP) – An Illinois appeals court has upheld the state’s rules for the high-volume oil and gas drilling technique known as fracking. The appellate court sided with a Madison County judge who rejected an environmental group’s legal challenge. The 5th District Appellate Court on Friday issued an opinion agreeing with a November ruling…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois lawmakers have approved legislation that would grant amnesty to underage drinkers who call 911 to get help. The plan would provide legal protection to the person in need of medical help and the person who called on their behalf. The legislation would also grant police officers discretion to determine whether…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly are returning to Springfield to continue wrestling over a state budget deficit. The Senate will meet Tuesday to hear testimony on the impact of a state-imposed freeze on local property taxes. That’s one of the issues Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is pushing. The Legislature…
Belleville, IL ( KTRS ) – Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner received a mixed reception during a southern Illinois stop meant to build public support for his legislative agenda. Union protesters jeered the first-term Republican at a Belleville farm market. It was the second of two Rauner rallies Monday afternoon before the Illinois General Assembly returns…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan says the Illinois House will consider changes to the state’s workers’ compensation insurance system when it reconvenes Thursday. Madigan put out a release Wednesday noting overhauling workers’ compensation is one of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top priorities. Madigan says considering the legislation shows lawmakers are “willing to…
(KTRS) Former U.S. Rep Aaron Schock’s executive assistant testified before a federal grand jury investigating allegations of improper spending by the onetime rising Republican star. Sarah Rogers was in Springfield’s federal building for a total of five hours Wednesday. But her attorney, Bill Coffield, says she did not testify the entire time. Prosecutors began reviewing…
SWANSEA, Ill. (AP) – A national animal rights group is honoring the southern Illinois animal rescue volunteer who was struck and killed by a regional commuter train while responding to a call about an opossum on the tracks. Fifty-eight-year-old Sandie Konopelski of Shiloh died last month after being hit by a MetroLink train east of…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Little support seems to exist for reopening a super-maximum prison in southern Illinois that has been closed for more than two years. The Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises reports (http://bit.ly/1KedlNW) the notorious Tamms prison remains shut down despite an effort from at least one Illinois lawmaker to push Illinois Gov. Bruce…
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) – A U.S. Marine Corps combat photographer from Illinois is among the eight dead who were aboard a Marine helicopter that crashed during a relief mission in earthquake-hit Nepal. Officials identified the victims Sunday. Cpl. Sara A. Medina, a combat photographer with Marine Corps Installations Pacific, Okinawa, Japan, and a native of…