ROCKFORD, Ill. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today convened health care leaders to discuss how Trump and Republicans’ Big Beautiful Bill is harming Northern Illinois by ripping health care away from thousands and driving up costs. Duckworth met with leaders from UW Health Swedish American Hospital, UW Health Belvidere Hospital, OSF HealthCare and the Winnebago County Health Department to discuss the impacts in the region since the law was signed last year. “Access
CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today issued the following statement following the passing of former Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie. “Illinois had lost an iconic public servant, and I have lost a mentor and a friend. “For 14 years I shared a legislative district with Barbara Flynn Currie, and I am a better public servant as a result. We were fellow Hyde Parkers and Lab School Alumni. In our district, Barbara and I knocked on doors together
CHICAGO– Attorney General Kwame Raoul today led a coalition of 23 attorneys general in urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to scale back its plans that would severely reduce staffing, undermine the agency’s statutory obligation to supervise financial institutions, weaken enforcement, and result in less relief and protection for consumers. Raoul and the coalition’s letter opposing the CFPB’s proposed strategic plan to CFPB Acting Director Russell
SPRINGFIELD – As part of Illinois’ celebration of Innovation and Technology Month, the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT), in collaboration with Junior Achievement of Central Illinois and the Learning Technology Center, successfully hosted its third annual CareerSpark STEAM Expo on April 14–15 in Springfield. The two-day event welcomed more than 1,800 eighth grade students from 26 schools across Illinois, along with nearly 60 exhibitors representing state
MOZIER - A traffic stop on a rural stretch of Illinois Highway 96 in Calhoun County led to the arrest of a Missouri man on DUI and drug-related allegations, authorities said. On Feb. 20, 2026, at about 9:16 p.m., Corporal Nicholas McCall conducted a traffic stop on Illinois Highway 96 north of Mozier in Calhoun County, according to Calhoun County Sheriff Zachary T. Hardin. Following the stop and a subsequent investigation, Jeffrey R. Lindsay, 52, of Louisiana, Missouri, was arrested. Lindsay
EDWARDSVILLE - The flute students of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) have been invited to perform this summer at the National Flute Association Annual Convention in Portland, Oregon, an opportunity that organizers say comes with high travel-related costs and has prompted a call for donations to help students attend. The SIUE flute choir plans to present “a unique and exciting program featuring music written exclusively for low flutes,” according to information provided
HIGHLAND - Several students from St. Paul Catholic School in Highland were recognized by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for their writing. Suzanne Horan, a middle school English teacher at the school, worked with her fifth and sixth grade students to submit work to the Annual Poster, Poetry, and Prose Contest through the Illinois EPA. Students were encouraged to write about the theme “Together for Healthier Air!” and share poems and prose about how they can reduce
A ten-minute walk past trees and birds can lower stress more reliably than many people expect. It does not fix every problem, but it changes how the body feels—breathing slows, shoulders drop, thoughts get less noisy. That reaction is a clue: humans don’t just like nature. We often need it. Nature matters because it shapes our health, our culture, and our sense of meaning. Even in a world of screens and cities, people keep reaching for parks, gardens, beaches, hiking trails,
A single oil-soaked river helped spark a global holiday. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire—again. The image of flames on water was so shocking that it became a symbol of how badly pollution had been ignored. People were already worried about smog, pesticides, and toxic waste, but this made the problem feel impossible to shrug off. Within a year, that growing frustration would be channeled into something new: Earth Day. Why Earth Day wasn’t “just a holiday”
ST. LOUIS COUNTY - St. Louis County Police detectives are investigating a triple shooting that left an adult man dead and two adult women injured Sunday evening in a parking lot in the 10900 block of New Halls Ferry Road in Ferguson, Mo., authorities said. Officers from the Ferguson Police Department responded at about 6:26 p.m. April 19, 2026, to a call for service reporting a shooting in the parking lot, police said. When officers arrived, they found three victims with apparent gunshot injuries
A red octagon can stop a two-ton car with no physical force at all. The paint doesn’t block the road. The metal doesn’t slow the wheels. Yet most drivers hit the brakes without thinking. That’s the strange power of symbols: they do real work in the world, even though they’re made of nothing more than shared meaning. Symbols are everywhere—logos, flags, emojis, wedding rings, religious objects, even the way you knock on a door. They help us communicate fast, show
The most significant global event linked to April 20 is the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, United States. Two students carried out a planned attack at their school, killing 13 people and then themselves, and injuring many others. At the time, it shocked communities far beyond the U.S. because it showed how quickly violence could spread in a familiar, everyday place. It still matters today because it changed how schools think about safety, how many countries talk about youth
ROXANA/WOOD RIVER - About 440 customers in Wood River and Roxana lost power Friday evening, April 17, 2026, after a vehicle struck a power pole near Illinois Routes 111 and 143, prompting crews to de-energize the lines to make the area safe before repairs began. The outage occurred around 5:05 p.m. Friday, according to Brian Bretsch, a public relations manager. “To make the area safe to begin restoring power, crews had to de-energize the power lines,” Bretsch said in an email. H
JERSEYVILLE – Chris Cagle will headline a concert at the Jersey County Fair this year with tourism funding secured for other county-wide events in 2026. On April 16, 2026, Jersey County Board members approved requests for tourism grant funds from multiple organizations for various events coming up this year, including: A $5,000 grant application from Pere Marquette State Park for the 37th annual Two Rivers Fishing Fair A $5,000 grant application from the Jersey County Fair Board
ALTON - Golden Corral in Alton, Illinois, will close permanently on April 30, 2026, according to a notice posted on the restaurant’s door, ending what some customers described as a long-standing routine. In the sign addressed to customers, the restaurant said it is giving a two-week notice and encouraged guests to visit before the closing date. “It is with heavy hearts that we share the difficult news that the restaurant will be closing permanently on Thursday, April 30, 2026,”
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Senators today approved a sweeping statewide safety initiative spearheaded by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias to address the growing dangers posed by unregulated high-speed e-bikes, e-motos and other powerful electric transportation devices operating on streets, bike lanes and sidewalks across the state. “As these devices become faster, heavier and more powerful, our laws must keep pace to protect riders and the public,” Giannoulias said. “This
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Police (ISP) held its first annual Telecommunicators Graduation and Promotion Ceremony today, administering the ISP Telecommunicators (TC) Oath to 30 graduates and recognizing the recent promotions of an additional nine TCs. “Telecommunicators are the calming voice on the line when people need emergency help the most,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “ISP provides extensive training, from Trooper to telecommunicator, to ensure we provid
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), both Co-Chairs of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with a bipartisan group of Senators, today hosted Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. Her visit comes as Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its fifth year with little sign of resolution. During the meeting, the group discussed the importance
CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 16 attorneys general, today opposed the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) unlawful and baseless attempt to strip Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation. Raoul and the coalition filed an amicus brief inAfrican Communities Together v. Noem in support of a challenge to the Trump administration’s termination of the TPS designation. The brief highlights the humanitarian and economic har
GRANITE CITY – A sex offender from Granite City faces multiple felonies after allegedly failing to register and being in possession of methamphetamine on the same day. Stephen M. Jackson, 33, of the 1700 block of Bremen Avenue in Granite City, was charged on April 16, 2026 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine (a Class 2 felony) and unlawful failure to register as a sex offender (a Class 3 felony). On Feb. 13, 2026, Jackson allegedly failed to register annually with the law enforcement
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