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Plan to overhaul higher education funding meets U of I opposition
Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD — A plan to overhaul the way Illinois funds public universities is running into stiff opposition from the state’s largest higher education institution, the University of Illinois System. The plan, which has been in development for the last four years, calls for adding roughly $1.7 billion in new university funding over…
Read MoreDriver of Chatham fatal crash had clean toxicology, Illinois State Police confirm
Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD — Illinois State Police released preliminary toxicology results that showed no drugs or alcohol in the system of a driver who crashed into a central Illinois after-school program, killing four young girls. Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said Thursday police are still investigating the cause of the crash but found…
Read More‘Never asked to be a part of this somber club’: Illinois honors fallen police officers
Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Nine Illinois police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2024 were honored at a ceremony in Springfield Thursday. The Illinois Peace Officers Memorial takes place every year on the first Thursday of May to honor officers who died on the job in the prior year.…
Read MoreWC Legislative Committee – Agenda – May 6, 2025 12:00 PM
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Read MoreFour children still hospitalized while Chatham mourns four who died in crash
Capitol News Illinois CHATHAM — As a central Illinois community mourns the deaths of three children and a teen counselor killed Monday when a vehicle crashed into the building that housed their after-school program, it has rallied around survivors. Ainsley Johnson, 8; Kathryn Corley, 7; Alma Buhnerkempe, 7, all of Chatham, and counselor Rylee Britton,…
Read MoreStratton’s top priority in Senate campaign: Fighting back against Trump
Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has one priority if she is elected to the U.S. Senate in 2026: fighting back against President Donald Trump’s policies. “What I’m just seeing is that the old playbook in Washington, D.C., isn’t working,” Stratton said Wednesday in an interview with Capitol News Illinois. “People…
Read MoreWith 1 month left in session, lawmakers near deal on public transit reform
Capitol News Illinois Lawmakers apparently are close to a deal to resolve one of Springfield’s most hotly contested issues this session: transit reform. Public transit agencies in Chicagoland — a region with roughly two-thirds of Illinois’ population — face a collective $770 million budget gap in the upcoming fiscal year. Heads of the agencies have…
Read MoreTrump’s 100 days: Pritzker calls for mass mobilization as he grows his national profile
Capitol News Illinois President Donald Trump marked the 100th day of his second term on Tuesday as Gov. JB Pritzker has spent the week calling on Americans to pressure congressional Republicans to oppose Trump’s agenda and highlighting how Trump’s policies affect Illinois. “I’m deeply concerned about what the next 100 days, and frankly, the next…
Read MoreDriver of deadly crash at after-school camp is a former State Police employee
Capitol News Illinois CHATHAM — The driver of a vehicle involved in a deadly crash Monday at an after-school program formerly worked for the Illinois State Police, the agency investigating the crash. The ISP identified the driver as Marianne Akers, 44, of Chatham. She worked at the ISP from June 2006 to August 2018, an…
Read MoreAfter-school programs continue push for state aid
Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD – Advocates for after-school programs that provide tutoring, recreation and other services made their case again Tuesday for a $50 million state appropriation to restore programs in some schools where funding has run out and to expand them into more schools. “There are decades of research that supports that after-school programs…
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