The Illinois Senate could vote next week on implementing a crucial piece of the federal health insurance reforms passed in 2010, but two competing bills could lead the state in opposite directions.The

As Illinois residents file their income tax returns, they’re faced with a choice: admit to buying something online and pay sales tax to the state, or skip the tax and risk paying a penalty later

In the wake of a controversial decision to close a popular and successful middle school in Springfield, the divided school board continues to field questions about the reasoning for the closure and its estimated savings.

In an unassuming beige garage on the edge of town, two muscular, tattooed young men circle around and around, punching, kicking and grappling with one another with all the intensity of a dogfight. A l

In the early morning hours of Dec. 3, 1986, Richard Harshbarger grabbed his .38 caliber revolver and a homemade bat, climbed into his Dodge Rampage truck, and departed from his home in Pana. His young

Illinois is poised to tap into a rich vein of money by allowing an oil and gas drilling method known as “fracking,” but environmental concerns and disagreement over state taxes are keeping

Lately, Dr. Craig Backs’ patients have been asking him if he’s all right. Backs lost more than 50 pounds over the past few months, but he’s not fighting cancer or some other disease.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked a federal court last week to rehear a crucial case dealing with concealed carry of firearms. The court previously struck down Illinois’ ban on concea

The halls of Lanphier High School are strangely quiet. About 1,100 students file through the school’s maze of corridors several times each day, bringing the usual sounds of slamming lockers, cha

For the past 25 years, Springfield’s downtown has become a giant party every New Year’s Eve with First Night Springfield, the first and longest-running event of its kind in Illinois. The p