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The incident took place at 2:10 a.m. Wednesday on Route MM at Miller Road.

BRIGHTON - Rail enthusiasts gathered at Bachman Road in Brighton, Illinois, as Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 passed through during a coast-to-coast tour tied to the America 250 celebration. Among those watching was Anthony Ventimiglia, who said he and his father have been following trains for years and that this was their third time seeing No. 4014. “My name is Anthony Ventimiglia. I started getting into trains at age five and have been into it ever since,” Ventimiglia

A St. Louis County woman appeared in federal court Tuesday to be sentenced for defrauding Missouri Medicaid as part of a home healthcare fraud scheme.

A Honduran national will be deported after serving a federal sentencing for trespassing in an abandoned St. Louis hospital with illegal weapons and false identification.

CHICAGO – Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced today that Zero Point Cryogenics ( ZPC ), a leading North American manufacturer of ultra-low-temperature cryogenic systems to support quantum technologies, will establish its first U.S. location at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park ( IQMP ) on Chicago’s South Side. “Illinois is building the world’s leading quantum ecosystem by bringing

WOOD RIVER - Ellie Beachum emerged as one of the top girls softball pitchers in the St. Louis region this past season, recording 225 strikeouts while also batting .390, according to East Alton-Wood River Athletic Director Mark Beatty. Beachum, who plays at EAWR, is on track to become one of Illinois’ top girls softball pitchers in spring 2027, Beatty said. He said she stood out this past season for her focus on the field and her production in key outings, including multiple games with 10

ST. LOUIS - Police are investigating after a man was injured in a shooting Tuesday night in north St. Louis. According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD), the crash occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of Union Boulevard in the Academy neighborhood. When officers arrived on the scene, they found [...]

GLEN CARBON - Oberweis has opened a new scoop and dairy shop in Glen Carbon. Located in the Orchard Town Center, the new Oberweis Scoop Shop offers their signature super premium ice cream, “exceptional” chocolate milk and milk products, and “amazing” milkshakes, said CEO Renato DePaolis. The store celebrated its grand opening on July 21, 2026, and leaders look forward to investing in the community and sharing their products. “It’s about family, really,

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) has recovered more than $67,000 in unpaid wages for eight employees after an investigation found prevailing wage violations by Absolute Home Improvements & Cleaning Service on a public works project in Lake County. The investigation found the employer failed to pay required fringe benefit rates to employees and did not comply with certified payroll reporting requirements under the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act . As a result of th

Grateful Dead fans will once again have the chance to head to the theaters to see their favorite band on the big screen.Details have been announced for The Dead's latest Meet-Up…

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New York, July 21, 2026 — Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is proud to announce the launch of the Penlight Prize for excellence in paywall-free public records reporting.

The prize awards $25,000 to an outstanding piece of journalism that was made free to the public, and is substantially based on government records received via state and local public records laws or the Freedom of Information Act. Submissions will be reviewed by an all-star panel of judges with extensive experience both in public records reporting and advocacy for transparency laws.

The award was inspired by FPF’s partnership with Wired to make all articles substantially based on FOIA or public-records-based reporting paywall-free.

This year, our judges will be:

• Kate Doyle, senior analyst at the National Security Archive
• Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
• Jason Leopold, senior investigative writer at Bloomberg

The following can be attributed to Trevor Timm, FPF’s executive director:

“Journalism plays a vital role in our democracy. It informs the public and serves as a check on abuses of government and corporate power. At the same time, reporting that relies on government records generated at taxpayers’ expense should be available free for all. So we hope this award will honor the journalists who do the hard work of unearthing government documents, and will encourage news outlets to make all their public records reporting free.

“Last year, Freedom of the Press Foundation called on news organizations to remove paywalls from reporting based on FOIA records. Award-winning outlets like Wired and 404 Media joined the effort — and saw their subscriptions increase as a result. Now it’s time for others to follow their lead.”

This award is nonpartisan and does not preference a political or ideological viewpoint. It is being funded wholly by a generous FPF donor. The first-place winner will receive a $25,000 prize, a physical award, and a paid trip to New York City for a dinner and celebration later in 2026.

Submitted articles must have been available free of charge at publishing, with no paywall or obligation to subscribe. The award can be divided equally among up to four co-authors.

Find more information and apply at penlightprize.org/ by Sept. 1, 2026.

Please contact us if you would like further comment.

CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today recognized Disability Pride Month and the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) by highlighting his office’s continued work to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities against unlawful attacks by the federal government. “People with disabilities deserve to be active participants in their communities. As the Trump administration attempts to roll back the rights of people with disabilities, my office

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today participated in an Appropriations Committee hearing to review President Trump’s June 24, 2026, Supplemental funding request of $87.6 billion—including $67 billion for Department of Defense (DoD) funding. In addition to an unprecedented defense spending request while cutting non-defense spending, DoD has $75 billion in unobligated funding from Republicans’

PIASA - Josie Hagen closed her senior softball season at Southwestern High School with a .467 batting average, 31 RBIs and a college commitment to Southwestern Illinois College, helping lead the Piasa Birds to 18 wins and a deep regional run in late May 2026. Hagen, a multi-sport athlete and infielder for Southwestern, was a key contributor in the cleanup spot during her final high school season. She also hit one home run. Josie is an Altonized Community Federal Credit Union Female Athlete Of

CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today, as part of a coalition of 19 attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), challenging its rule that would weaken regulations designed to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in commercial equipment. HFCs are chemicals used for refrigeration and cooling that are potent drivers of climate change, trapping up to 10,000 times more heat in the atmosphere than the equivalent amount of

Democrat David Bryant is one of two candidates seeking the party’s nomination for St. Louis County prosecuting attorney. The winner will face a Libertarian candidate in November.