Capitol News

Jury deadlocks, mistrial declared in case of ex-AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan

Jury deadlocks, mistrial declared in case of ex-AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A federal judge on Thursday declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked in their deliberations over whether former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza bribed longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan via a no-work contract for the speaker’s political ally. After nearly 15 hours of deliberation…

High court: Smell of burnt cannabis is not cause for warrantless vehicle search

High court: Smell of burnt cannabis is not cause for warrantless vehicle search

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Law enforcement officers in Illinois cannot rely on the smell of burnt cannabis alone to justify searching a vehicle without a warrant, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The decision was unanimous, though Justice Lisa Holder White did not take part in it. Writing for the court,…

State wraps up case in challenge to assault weapons ban

State wraps up case in challenge to assault weapons ban

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A federal judge invoked images from the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, on Thursday at the end of a trial in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines. Judge Steven McGlynn, who has…

Gun expert says assault weapons ban ‘describes the most popular firearms I’m involved with’

Gun expert says assault weapons ban ‘describes the most popular firearms I’m involved with’

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A firearms expert testified Wednesday that the weapons restricted under Illinois’ assault weapons ban include many of the most common firearms that American consumers use for self-defense. Steven Randall Watt, a combat veteran and retired law enforcement officer who now owns a private firearms…

Case of former AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan heads to jury

Case of former AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan heads to jury

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – On Valentine’s Day in 2017, then-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza got some good news: After years of trying to push for legislation in Springfield that would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars annually, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan had agreed to a…

State Supreme Court hears arguments in Jussie Smollett’s effort to overturn conviction

State Supreme Court hears arguments in Jussie Smollett’s effort to overturn conviction

By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in actor Jussie Smollett’s appeal to overturn his conviction on disorderly conduct charges for falsifying a hate crime. Smollett, who was an actor on the TV show “Empire,” was improperly charged with the same crime twice, his legal team…

Testimony continues in 2nd Amendment challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban

Testimony continues in 2nd Amendment challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – An engineer who spent decades designing weapons for one of the world’s leading gun manufacturers testified Tuesday that the assault-style weapons now banned in Illinois are intended only for civilian use and cannot be easily converted into military-grade firearms. James Ronkainen, a former engineer…

Contractor’s unsecured databases exposed sensitive voter data in over a dozen Illinois counties

Contractor’s unsecured databases exposed sensitive voter data in over a dozen Illinois counties

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Around 4.6 million records associated with Illinoisans in over a dozen counties – including voting records, registrations and death certificates – were temporarily available on the open internet, according to a security researcher who identified the vulnerability in July. The documents were available through an unsecured cloud storage…

Prosecutors rest case against former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan

Prosecutors rest case against former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – After years of pushing in Springfield, AT&T Illinois’ executive team was thrilled when the Illinois General Assembly in 2017 passed legislation that would get the company out from under expensive obligations to maintain its aging copper landline wires in Illinois. “Game over. We win,” AT&T Illinois…

Trial begins in challenge to assault weapons ban

Trial begins in challenge to assault weapons ban

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – The owner of a gun store testified Monday that Illinois’ ban on the sale of assault-style weapons and large capacity magazines has had a significant impact on his business and prevented his customers from buying items they would normally use for self-defense, hunting, target…

In bribery trial, AT&T lobbyists detail contentious meeting with Madigan ally

In bribery trial, AT&T lobbyists detail contentious meeting with Madigan ally

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – On an afternoon in late April 2017, recently retired state Rep. Eddie Acevedo was called to a meeting in the state Capitol in Springfield. The 20-year veteran lawmaker had joined his sons’ lobbying firm and was looking for work. Meeting with a trio of lobbyists for…

A year after end of cash bail, early research shows impact less than many hoped or feared

A year after end of cash bail, early research shows impact less than many hoped or feared

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – One year after Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate the use of cash bail, the impact on the state’s criminal justice system appears to have been far less dramatic than people on either side of the debate had predicted. That, at least,…

ADM carbon sequestration project violated Safe Drinking Water Act, per EPA

ADM carbon sequestration project violated Safe Drinking Water Act, per EPA

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com DECATUR – Agribusiness giant ADM violated federal regulations, a federal permit and the Safe Drinking Water Act earlier this year when a monitoring well at their carbon sequestration site in Decatur leaked liquified carbon dioxide into “unauthorized zones,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In an August…

On witness stand, former AT&T lobbyist describes how Madigan ally got $22,500 contract

On witness stand, former AT&T lobbyist describes how Madigan ally got $22,500 contract

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – The day before Thanksgiving in 2016, then-AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza read some news that frustrated him. It seemed that energy giant Exelon, the parent company of Chicago-based electric utility Commonwealth Edison, was going to get a big assist from Springfield that would prevent it…

Coroner’s affidavit shows as many as 800 human remains could have been misidentified

Coroner’s affidavit shows as many as 800 human remains could have been misidentified

By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com As many as 800 families across the country who patronized a Carlinville funeral home may never know if the remains on their mantles belong to their loved ones, according to an affidavit signed by Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon. The affidavit was filed in a lawsuit pending against…

Calculated bribe or ‘kiss up’ to Madigan? Corruption trial kicks off for former AT&T boss

Calculated bribe or ‘kiss up’ to Madigan? Corruption trial kicks off for former AT&T boss

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – As the federal corruption trial of former AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza formally kicked off on Wednesday, prosecutors and defense attorneys painted two very different pictures of a political hire the telecom giant made in 2017. La Schiazza is accused of bribing former Illinois House…

Supreme Court hears cases pertaining to detention under the SAFE-T Act

Supreme Court hears cases pertaining to detention under the SAFE-T Act

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a pair of cases that test the authority of local courts to hold criminal suspects behind bars while they await trial. The cases come almost one year to the day after the court allowed a new law abolishing…

Supreme Court hears cases pertaining to detention under the SAFE-T Act

Supreme Court hears cases pertaining to detention under the SAFE-T Act

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a pair of cases that test the authority of local courts to hold criminal suspects behind bars while they await trial. The cases come almost one year to the day after the court allowed a new law abolishing…

Jury selection begins in trial of former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan

Jury selection begins in trial of former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan

By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the trial of former AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza, who federal prosecutors allege bribed once-powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for favorable legislation in Springfield. It’s the last in a series of related trials that…

East St. Louis forum to tackle persistent childhood poverty

East St. Louis forum to tackle persistent childhood poverty

By MOLLY PARKER  Capitol News Illinois  mparker@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois has the potential to eradicate childhood poverty, but it will require a concentrated, sustained effort in partnership with families and disadvantaged communities, says Tasha Green Cruzat, president of Children’s Advocates for Change, a Chicago-based nonprofit focused on childhood wellbeing. This hope drives the focus of the policy…

Federal judge rejects Illinois’ bid to end court oversight of disability programs

Federal judge rejects Illinois’ bid to end court oversight of disability programs

By MOLLY PARKER & BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois mparker@capitolnewsillinois.com bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com A federal judge on Friday denied Illinois’ request to end court oversight of its disability services. Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, agreed with legal advocates who argued that the state still hasn’t met its…

Coroner’s affidavit shows as many as 800 human remains could have been misidentified

Coroner’s affidavit shows as many as 800 human remains could have been misidentified

By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com As many as 800 families across the country who patronized a Carlinville funeral home may never know if the remains on their mantles belong to their loved ones, according to an affidavit signed by Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon. The affidavit was filed in a lawsuit pending against…

State law banning concealed carry on public transit ruled unconstitutional

State law banning concealed carry on public transit ruled unconstitutional

By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com A federal judge in Rockford has declared a state law banning concealed firearms on public transit systems unconstitutional – at least as it applies to four individuals who challenged it in court. But the law remains in effect for everyone else as the parties in the case consider…

Capitol Briefs: Secretary of state enlists high schoolers to encourage organ donation

Capitol Briefs: Secretary of state enlists high schoolers to encourage organ donation

By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – The secretary of state’s office is launching a new program to enlist Illinois high schoolers to promote organ donation. The organ and tissue donation registry, a voluntary database administered by the secretary of state, catalogs peoples’ wishes regarding organ donation after death. On Tuesday, Secretary of…

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