State News

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…