Local News
College Notebook | Sandburg grad Jake Ostema earns back-to-back awards
By Mike Walsh Correspondent The month of March has been very good to Olivet Nazarene men’s volleyball player Jake Ostema. The 6-foot-8 senior middle hitter earned consecutive Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference player of the week honors. For the time period ending March 5, Ostema was named the CCAC Defender of the Week. The Sandburg graduate…
Finish line in sight
. With mayoral race close, turnout is everything By Tim Hadac With polls predicting an extremely close mayoral runoff on Tuesday, April 4, both Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson had their campaigns in high gear this week, rolling out final endorsements and exhorting voters to cast ballots. For the first time in his campaign, Johnson…
Frank Schuch, you’re the b-e-s-t
. . By Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com So many signs of life as we pull out of this pandemic, like early-blooming daffodils after a long, harsh winter. One of those signs is the return of the annual spelling bee at Byrne Elementary School, after a two-year absence.…
Sweet surprise for police
Everyone likes cookies, especially when they’re Girl Scout cookies delivered by a sweet, smiling Scout–as illustrated by police at the Eighth District station last week. Officers, detectives and sergeants were delighted to grab one of 20 boxes of Thin Mints, S’mores, Do-si-dos, Samoas and other varieties from Charlotte Caughey of Brownie Troop 125. The young…
Egg prices drive chicken interest
Some becoming backyard farmers By Kelly White Complaints about the price of eggs have been so common in recent months, some folks who have never considered backyard farming are now thinking of buying a hen or two. To help educate people about the matter, The Feed Store, 5408 S. Harlem, is also hosting “Intro to…
Pro Sports Report | Alex Morgan converts PK and Wave tops Red Stars in opener
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Two of the best scorers in the NWSL made great first impressions to begin the 2023 season. The Chicago Red Stars’ Mallory Swanson, coming off a scoring explosion in the SheBelieves Cup earlier in the year, scored a tying goal on a penalty kick in extra time in the first…
Area Sports Roundup | Morton College takes 5th in nation
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer For three quarters, Janiah Jones’ stats were bland. The Richard Bland College guard had just two points. But she lit things up in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 of her team’s 18 points to help Bland stun Morton College, 69-63, in the quarterfinals of the National Junior College Athletic Association…
Track and Field | Oak Lawn’s Robert Wagner gets jump on season with highest leap at Top Times
By Tim Cronin Correspondent BLOOMINGTON — Robert Wagner, with a name straight out of Hollywood, starred in the high jump at the Illinois Top Times meet, held March 25 at Illinois Wesleyan University. The only thing missing for the Oak Lawn senior was a spotlight — and, from Wagner’s viewpoint — breaking his indoor personal…
College Notebook | Richards grad Abby Mallo swinging a hot stick for Billikens
By Mike Walsh Correspondent Welcome to Division I softball, Abby Mallo. Mallo, a Richards graduate playing at Saint Louis University, was chosen the Rookie of the Week by the Atlantic 10 Conference for the week ending March 19. Mallo, a freshman, hit safely in all four games that week, recording a .429 batting average, a…
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Illinois News
Illinoisans can now get documents notarized online
By ALEX ABBEDUTO Capitol News Illinois abbeduto@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinoisans who need a notary public can now access those services online through a new “E-Notary” portal launched by the secretary of state’s office. This process is one of the latest initiatives of Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ ongoing effort to modernize the office and its services. Notaries…
Prairie Band Potawatomi becomes 1st federally recognized tribe in Illinois
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Nearly 200 years after Native Americans were forced out of Illinois, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has become the first federally recognized tribal nation in the state after a decision from the U.S. Department of the Interior last week. The move represents the first victory in the tribe’s…
Remembering Lee Milner
NEWS TEAM Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com On Wednesday, April 17, the Springfield, Illinois Capitol and journalism communities lost a devoted friend and advocate when Lee Milner passed away. As Dean Olsen wrote in his piece in the Illinois Times earlier this month, “Readers of Illinois Times often have seen Milner’s work as a freelance photojournalist. But…
Capitol Briefs: Expansion of postpartum coverage, ban on kangaroos among hundreds of measures to pass House
By ALEX ABBEDUTO & COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois kangaroo owners are one step closer to being forced to surrender their marsupials this week after the House passed a bill criminalizing their possession. That was one of more than 300 bills to pass the House ahead of a Friday procedural deadline.…
Pritzker says state ‘obviously’ needs to change 2010 law that shrunk pension benefits
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com With a month-and-a-half left in the General Assembly’s spring session, Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is readying its proposal to address Illinois’ chronically underfunded pension system. But the governor this week also acknowledged in the strongest terms yet that any plans to finally get the state on track toward…
Pritzker’s health insurance reforms targeting ‘utilization management’ clear House
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated a partial legislative victory Thursday night when the House passed his initiative to end some practices health insurance companies use to control the amount and cost of health care services individual patients receive. The “Healthcare Protection Act,” House Bill 5395, cleared the…
Lawmakers, cannabis industry calls for ban on ‘delta-8’ and other psychoactive hemp products
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ largest cannabis business association is pushing to ban the sale of delta-8 THC, an increasingly popular psychoactive substance that’s popped up in corner stores across the country in recent years. New legislation filed in Springfield this week revives an ongoing debate over delta-8 and other…
As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com Lead pipes in public water systems and drinking fixtures have been banned in new construction since 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, but they are still in use across the U.S. and in Illinois. The presence of lead pipes has persisted due in part to…
Capitol Briefs: Bill creating new early childhood agency among 244 to advance
By ALEX ABBEDUTO HANNAH MEISEL & COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to create a new state agency to oversee Illinois’ various early childhood programs moved forward on Friday after the state Senate’s unanimous approval. It was one of 244 bills that cleared the Senate this week. Early childhood…
INVESTIGATE MIDWEST: Farmers have clamored for the Right to Repair for years. It’s getting little traction in John Deere’s home state
By Jennifer Bamberg, Investigate Midwest Originally published April 10, 2024 During the 2023 harvest season, one of Jake Lieb’s tractors quit working. A week later, his combine stopped working, too. Both were new — and he was locked out from making any repairs himself because of software restrictions embedded in the machines. Instead, a technician…