It’s usually associated with making movies, recording music or creating a new product, but the Internet phenomenon known as “crowdfunding” could soon apply to small business investments in Illinois. State lawmakers are considering a bill to allow small companies to informally issue stocks, following a bipartisan federal law that lifted a decades-old ban on such […]
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Illinois may end ‘planned abandonment’
Toni Hoy speaks to lawmakers during a legislative hearing on a bill to end “planned abandonment” of adopted children who need intensive care for emotional disturbances. Photo BY PATRICK YEAGLE When Dan Hoy was just six months old, he was taken from his biological parents by the state. He was lethargic and starving to death, […]
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Springfield small business owner lobbies in Washington, D.C.
If there’s a stereotype of a men’s clothing salesperson, Brandi Tolley of Springfield isn’t it. A work-from-home single mother and a military veteran, Tolley started her online eBay-based business about 10 years ago, and she quickly found her niche: buying and selling “big and tall” men’s clothes, sometimes even acting as a personal shopper for […]
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Tenaska drops clean coal plan for Taylorville
A proposed state-of-the-art “clean coal” power plant in Taylorville has been sidelined, but the project could still continue as a natural gas power plant. Nebraska-based Tenaska, Inc. says its proposed Taylorville Energy Center is necessary to prevent power shortages as old coal plants go offline, but opponents question whether it’s really needed and why taxpayers […]
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Smart grid or smart grab?
The state’s largest electric utility is asking lawmakers for a series of automatic rate increases to upgrade infrastructure, but consumer advocates say it’s an unfair deal. Commonwealth Edison, which delivers electricity to about 70 percent of the state’s population, is pushing legislation that would allow them to skip the ICC’s approval for automatic yearly rate […]
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Shakeup in juvenile justice
Three weeks after the director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice announced his resignation, two different studies are calling for major changes in the troubled agency’s operations. Kurt Friedenauer announced his resignation as IDJJ director on July 14, having served in that position since the department’s creation in 2006. Friedenauer oversaw IDJJ’s slow separation […]
