Peter Hancock
Reporter | Capitol News IllinoisPeter Hancock joined the Capitol News Illinois team as a reporter in January 2019.
Before that, Hancock covered Kansas state government for much of the past two decades. For the previous 4 years, Hancock had been the statehouse reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World. He provided year-round daily coverage of the Kansas Statehouse, state government, appellate courts, elections and Kansas’ congressional delegation. He previously worked for 8 years as a statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, and with the Kansas Health Policy Authority and the Kansas Education Policy Report.
“As a longtime veteran of statehouse reporting in Kansas, I know how challenging it is for individual newspapers to make that kind of commitment,” Hancock said. “Capitol News Illinois offers a unique opportunity for newspapers throughout the state to pool their resources and enable a small team of reporters to deliver critical news and information about state government to communities throughout the state.
“ I covered state politics and government in Kansas for the better part of the past 20 years, working in both print and broadcast journalism. I graduated from the University of Kansas with bachelor’s degrees in political science and secondary education. Although I was born and raised in the Kansas City area, I have deep family roots in central and southern Illinois, and so coming to Springfield is a bit like coming back home.”
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The case, on its second day on Tuesday, is being heard in federal district court in East St. Louis. -
Jail populations are down and there's no change in failure to appear rate, an analysis shows. -
A federal judge in Rockford ruled a state law banning concealed carry on public transit is unconstitutional for four plaintiffs. Both sides are considering their next steps. -
The Health Care Protection Act bars the use of a restriction known as “step therapy" requiring a patient to try and fail on one or more treatments preferred by the insurance company before they can access a doctor-recommended treatment. -
Illinois high school students will begin taking the new exams in Spring 2025. -
Illinois' newly-made Department of Early Childhood will administer several programs such as preschool funding, subsidized daycare services and home visits that are currently spread out among three different agencies. -
Advocates on both sides of the gun control debate are waiting on whether the court will hear a broader constitutional challenge to Illinois' 2023 assault weapons ban, which includes the state-level ban on bump stocks. -
A bill to grant the tribe a 1,500-acre state park stalled in the final hours of the Illinois legislature's spring session -
Illinois' Department of Early Childhood will administer programs currently spread across 3 agencies — the State Board of Education, Department of Human Services and the Department of Children and Family Services. -
Advocates for after-school programs say an estimated 40,000 Illinois students could lose access to services starting this summer unless lawmakers act to fill a $50 million funding shortfall. -
The State-level Community Reinvestment Act was finally mired in the rulemaking process. -
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker celebrated a partial legislative victory late last week 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.
