State News
Former ‘Family Feud’ contestant Timothy Bliefnick guilty in wife’s slaying
QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — A jury Wednesday convicted a former contestant on the television game show “Family Feud” of first-degree murder and home invasion in the slaying of his estranged wife in western Illinois. Timothy Bliefnick, 40, was found guilty in the Feb. 23 shooting death of Rebecca Bliefnick. The Adams County Circuit Court jury…
Read MorePritzker touts new budget’s higher education spending
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Governor JB Pritzker began a tour of the state to tout the new state budget that lawmakers passed last week, stopping at two university campuses Wednesday to highlight the spending plan’s increased funding for higher education. “With this new budget, we’re making it possible for nearly…
Read MoreGrains mostly lower, Livestock higher
Wheat for Jul. was lost 25 cents at $5.91 a bushel; Jul. corn fell 10 cents at $5.94 a bushel, Jul. oats was up 2.50 cents at 3.46 a bushel; while Jul. soybeans declined 40.75 cents at $12.9650 a bushel. Beef and pork were higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Jun. live cattle was up…
Read MoreNorthern Illinois police fatally shoot man while trying to arrest him, injure another person
FOX LAKE, Ill. (AP) — Police in northern Illinois fatally shot a man who lunged toward them with a knife when officers tried to arrest him, law enforcement officials said Monday. A woman was also shot, though the wound was not life-threatening, the Lake County Major Crime Task Force said. Fox Lake police officers were…
Read MoreLegislature approves bill to tighten restrictions on red-light camera industry
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD — Lawmakers in Springfield have unanimously approved a measure that would place new restrictions on the red-light and speed camera industry’s involvement in state and local elections and government. House Bill 3903 would ban automatic traffic enforcement companies or their officers from donating to candidates for public…
Read MoreEditorial: Illinois taking baby steps to eliminate plastic pollution
Arlington Heights Daily Herald. May 26, 2023. Baby steps are to be celebrated. At least they mark some sort of forward momentum. But in the case of efforts to remove polystyrene food containers from the waste stream, this week’s efforts by the General Assembly seem too feeble to warrant much applause. Still, it’s something. The…
Read MoreEditorial: Cupich’s lackluster response to alarming undercount of Catholic clergy sex abuse won’t cut it
Chicago Sun-Times. May 24, 2023. There’s no room for anything other than full acceptance of the hard, brutal truth revealed by a five-year investigation: The Catholic Church in Illinois failed to acknowledge hundreds of allegedly abusive priests and other religious figures. Now is a moment of reckoning for the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses — a…
Read MoreGrains mixed, Livestock mixed
Wheat for Jul. fell 2 cents at $6.0425 a bushel; Jul. corn was up 3.50 cents at $5.9075 a bushel, Jul. oats rose 6.25 cents at 3.36 a bushel; while Jul. soybeans was off .50 cent at $13.24 a bushel. Beef was mixed and pork was lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Jun. live cattle…
Read MoreDinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice Roars Into Kidzeum May 27
Exhibit Utilizes New Research to Create Distinct Dinosaur Environments SPRINGFIELD — Kidzeum of Health and Science in downtown Springfield is hosting a dyno-mite traveling exhibit from the Minnesota Children’s Museum. The exhibit is sponsored by the Tracy Family Foundation and the Don and Wanda Tracy Charity Fund of the Community Foundation for the Land of…
Read MoreLawmakers OK bill to limit constitutional lawsuits to Cook, Sangamon County
Democrats accuse plaintiffs of ‘venue shopping’ in suits challenging COVID-19 orders, weapons ban By PETER HANCOCK & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Democrats who control the General Assembly muscled through a last-minute measure that will require any constitutional challenge to state laws to be filed in either Cook or Sangamon counties. The Illinois…
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