Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD — Two Democratic leaders in the Illinois Senate openly expressed their disagreement this week about Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposal to allow community colleges to offer four-year bachelor’s degree programs in certain high-demand employment fields. The exchange between Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, of Westchester, and Sen. Cristina Castro, of Elgin, who…

Capitol News Illinois Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan died Friday morning at 91, more than two decades after leaving office for the last time and 12 years after his release from federal prison. He died just one day after being put into hospice care in his native Kankakee. Ryan, a Republican, served one term as…

Capitol News Illinois The man who pleaded guilty to a mass shooting in 2022 in Highland Park that left seven people dead and prompted the passage of a ban on assault-style weapons in Illinois, has been sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences. Robert Crimo III pleaded guilty on March 3, the day his trial was…

Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Standing on his backyard deck Thursday – the same place where he declared his 1996 candidacy for U.S. Senate – Illinois’ senior Sen. Dick Durbin reflected on his decision to retire after four decades in Congress. “I’ve done this my way, making decisions based on family needs and personal needs,…

Capitol News Illinois A federal judge on Thursday declared a mistrial in the case of state Sen. Emil Jones III, D-Chicago, after a jury deadlocked in their deliberations over whether Jones agreed to take bribes from red-light camera entrepreneur-turned-government cooperator Omar Maani in 2019, then lied to the FBI about it. The senator, who’s served…

Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD — Insurance companies are reducing the scope of coverage for some community foster agencies in Illinois, leading to higher costs, diminished coverage and fewer options for agencies who say a continuance of the trend could lead to closures. If the situation worsens, some foster agencies warn they will have to shut…

Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO — Just one day into her campaign to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin in the U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton on Friday received a key endorsement from Gov. JB Pritzker, nearly eight years after he first tapped her to be his running mate. Standing outside the Bright Star Church amid…