Illinois Politics

With the passage of Illinois' Climate and Equitable Jobs Act back in 2021, coal mines and plants will slowly close across the state. The state grant program will provide $3.28 million to various Metro East communities whose coal facilities will close.

Buses full of migrants from Texas have accelerated, as Illinois counts 15,000 new arrivals in 13 months.

Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson said the numbers may drop in the next eight weeks but he doesn’t expect that to continue. A jail spokesman said the jail population could even increase in the long term.

State lawmakers passed and the governor signed the criminal justice reform back in 2021. Originally scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023, lawsuits slowed the SAFE-T Act's enactment. The legislation includes the elimination of cash bail.

A top Illinois election board official said the courts — not the election board — would determine if Trump’s ties to the insurrection disqualify him from being on the ballot.

Originally scheduled to be ready this year, the $105 million project was pushed back to 2025 after the pandemic slowed its progress, according to SIU System President Dan Mahoney.

Belleville joins Collinsville and other Metro East school districts who have embraced the Community Eligibility Provision since it was first implemented in Illinois during the 2011-12 academic year.

Tim Mapes, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's chief of staff, was convicted of lying to a grand jury investigating Madigan and his inner circle.

Six interagency law enforcement task forces, including the St. Clair County-based Metro East Auto Theft Task Force, received grant funding this spring to combat car thefts through an initiative of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office.

The $20 million will support existing grocers and encourage new stores in underserved rural and urban areas — including Venice, the small Metro East town where the bill was signed and which sits entirely in a food desert.