If corporations paid their fair share of taxes in Illinois, the state’s budget crisis would disappear, according to an advocacy group calling for higher taxes on big businesses. Make Wall Street Pay Illinois says large banks and corporations in Illinois “continue to hoard their wealth” while slipping through tax loopholes and sending jobs to other […]
Illinois
Posted inNews
State taps charity funds to pay its bills
Over the last two years, the state of Illinois in order to pay its basic bills has seized more than $1.6 million from at least 15 different “charity” funds, to which Illinoisans voluntarily donate for causes like feeding the hungry and helping the homeless. Each year, the Illinois Department of Revenue invites taxpayers to donate […]
Posted inNews
Sex offender board can’t manage sex offenders
An audit of the Illinois Sex Offender Management Board shows failures in tracking sex offenders, even as the state legislature considers ramping up monitoring requirements. The audit, released May 26 by Illinois Auditor General William Holland, says SOMB failed to develop a system for monitoring sex offenders seven years after those requirements took effect. Created […]
Posted inNews
New election district may benefit Springfield’s east side
A new election map approved by the Illinois General Assembly could result in better representation for Springfield’s east side. Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner testified at a May 24 hearing of the Illinois House and Senate redistricting committees, telling lawmakers that a new election district joining Springfield’s east side with much of Decatur could aid […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tapped into technology
On this First Friday downtown, June 3, visit Gallery II for its opening of a new exhibit based on the Internet and hypercontemporary art. The name of the exhibit is an Internet term derived from missing the caps lock key when typing “omg” and instead hitting the “z” key. Four artists: Melanie Edmonson, Chris Martin, […]
Posted inNews
Court blasts VA for mental health failings
Every day, 18 veterans in the United States commit suicide, while another 1,000 attempt suicide each month. That’s according to a federal district court which recently ordered the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address long delays experienced by veterans seeking mental health services. The decision, issued in the United States Court of Appeals […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Square roots
Jacksonville has a new square! Citizens and guests join together May 21-22 in a huge celebration to mark the restoration of the new downtown area. A parade begins at 10 a.m. and an opening ceremony starts at 1:30 p.m. There’s so much to do you need to check out the website at www.jacksonvilleil.org/celebration. Highlights are […]
Posted inNews
Hunted in the Heartland
Bonney Hogue Patterson saw her neighbor’s killer twice in the days surrounding a brutal sexual assault and murder that in 1978 shook the town of Marion, where Mt. Vernon native Patterson had moved just months before the homicide. The first time, the stay-at-home mother of two watched the serial killer – at that point just […]
Posted inOpinion
Give and take
Our lives and our politics are dominated by money, yet our thinking about the most basic number of them all – how much we earn – doesn’t add up. You’d think that people would at least know how much they are paid on the job, but most people underestimate how much they are compensated by […]
Posted inArts & Culture
What’s up in El Capitol?
For most people who don’t follow state politics, May is just another month. But inside the Illinois Statehouse, this month is a whirlwind of activity in which legislators try to hammer out deals and ram legislation through so they can go on summer vacation. (There’s also the minor fact that any bills passed after May […]
Posted inArts & Culture
PETA: Is there anything they won’t say?
As Illinois does the annual legislative dance this time of year, all sorts of ideas get tossed around, ranging from the austere to the ridiculous. Sen. Shane Cultra, a Republican from Onarga, tossed out an idea in the latter category this week when he said that parents of obese children should lose their tax deductions […]
