News

Nearly 2.2 million people in Illinois might see eligible criminal records sealed following passage of the ‘Clean Slate’ Act during last week’s veto session. The bill would require law enforcement agencies to automatically seal eligible criminal records every six months. Excluded from the measure are convictions for sexual violence against minors, DUIs, reckless driving, cruelty […]

A second-degree murder conviction for former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson on Oct. 29 in the death of Sonya Massey was a “serious miscarriage of justice,” Massey’s father said after the jury verdict. Grayson, 31, who was charged with first-degree murder in the July 2024 shooting death of Massey, 36, in her Woodside Township […]

On good days, Shay McGhiey eats one meal a day. On bad days, the 57-year-old Springfield man eats nothing. Like thousands of others in the capital city, hunger is no stranger to McGhiey, who works a minimum-wage job in a smoke shop.  “I make too much money – according to the public aid people – […]

Fatal overdoses have increased locally despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reporting the largest decline of annual overdose deaths the country has ever seen, and the city of Springfield plans to roll out a special 911 response team to aid those experiencing an overdose. Unlike much of the country, Sangamon County has […]

The Sangamon County Board’s timeline for considering and potentially approving the county’s first data center – a $500 million complex in rural Talkington Township – has been lengthened by at least a month. And County Board Chair Andy Van Meter said additional public meetings, or a website, or both, will be used to increase opportunities […]

Illinois lawmakers are sending a bill to Gov. JB Pritzker that makes a pair of changes to Illinois’ tax code in response to new federal tax provisions that could reduce state revenue. The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget projected last month that Illinois is on track to run a $267 million deficit in fiscal […]

The Trump administration said Monday it would use emergency funds to partially fund SNAP benefits for November but would not tap into other funds to provide full coverage. The means the more than one in six Illinoisans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits, to buy groceries each month will get a smaller-than-normal […]

When Jose Jeronimo Guardian showed up at a Spanish language traffic court last week, he didn’t expect to be detained and face expulsion from a country he’d lived in for more than two decades. Guardian, 48, was scheduled to appear Oct. 27 in a courtroom where a county-provided translator would aid communication with about a […]

The roof was nearly entirely removed from the former Pillsbury Mills plant while piles of wreckage and broken equipment littered what was once a workplace for hundreds of Springfield residents when Gov. JB Pritzker stopped by the site on Oct. 30. Environmental cleanup efforts have been underway at the 18-acre site for the past several […]

After weeks of verbally condemning the aggressive federal immigration crackdown in the Chicago region, Illinois lawmakers approved legislation banning civil immigration arrests in and around state courthouses early Friday morning. House Bill 1312, among other provisions, would also allow Illinois residents to sue immigration agents who violate their constitutional right to due process and protection […]

Illinoisans could see a new line item on their electric bills under a bill passed Wednesday night by the Illinois House. Under the proposal, contained in an amendment to Senate Bill 25, ratepayers will subsidize energy storage projects like large battery installations. Environmental groups and the renewable energy industry often tout batteries as a way to […]

A second-degree murder conviction for former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson on Oct. 29 in the death of Sonya Massey was a “serious miscarriage of justice,” Massey’s father said after the verdict. Grayson, 31, who was charged with first-degree murder in the July 2024 shooting death of Massey, 36, in her Woodside Township home, […]