PEORIA – When Illinois legalized recreational cannabis, state legislators sought to cut those disproportionately affected by marijuana arrests into the new industry’s profits. The path to entering the industry, though, has not been easy. “If anything, it’s been increased hardships, trying to pursue it legally,” says Lisa Palmgren. There’s a heavy, grassy smell in Palmgren’s…
SPRINGFIELD – In the wake of a July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured, Gov. JB Pritzker is calling for a ban at both the state and national levels on military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. The governor made those calls on national cable television and…
URBANA — The Urbana City Council voted Monday to allow new jail construction within city limits. Champaign County plans to expand its satellite jail on Lierman Avenue. The new jail will have fewer total beds in a more modern facility. “Think about [an isolation cell with] four walls with a door and a small window….
A mass shooting in Highland Park at a Fourth of July parade prompted questions about how the suspect was able to obtain a gun in a state with some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. Law enforcement officials have said that the Highland Park shooting suspect, Robert Crimo III, 21, legally purchased and…
SPRINGFIELD – Lisa Holder White was sworn in Thursday as the first Black woman to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court. Holder White, who previously served on the 4th District Court of Appeals, was chosen to succeed one of her mentors in the legal profession, retiring Justice Rita B. Garman, who broke many barriers herself as…
HIGHLAND PARK – As of Wednesday, we know the names of the seven people who died after a mass shooting at Highland Park’s Independence Day Parade. Their names are: Katherine Goldstein, 64 Irina McCarthy, 35 Kevin McCarthy, 37 Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63 Stephen Straus, 88 Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78 Eduardo Uvaldo, 69 According to CBS Chicago, Uvaldo…
HIGHLAND PARK – A seventh person died Tuesday of injuries sustained during a mass shooting at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade, as prosecutors announced the alleged gunman will face seven counts of first-degree murder with “dozens” more criminal charges soon to follow, authorities said Tuesday. At a news conference Tuesday staged just west of…
HIGHLAND PARK — A mass shooting at a Highland Park Fourth of July parade sparked hours of fear across Chicago’s North Shore as authorities conducted a massive manhunt for the young man who allegedly gunned down dozens of people from a rooftop perch. Police identified the shooting suspect as Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, a 22-year-old…
HIGHLAND PARK – Nicolas Toledo wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park. He used a walker and figured there would be a large crowd gathered to watch the parade’s floats, said Xochil Toledo, his granddaughter. The family didn’t want to leave him alone, so on Monday morning,…
HIGHLAND PARK – Six people were killed and dozens wounded when a gunman used a high-powered rifle to fire from a rooftop on people attending the Highland Park Fourth of July parade Monday. At 6:45 p.m., the Highland Park police said a “person of interest” identified “through investigative leads” as Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, 22,…
HIGHLAND PARK — A gunman opened fire on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago on Monday. He killed at least six people and wounded 24. Police say hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fled in terror. The suspect, who had apparently fired from a concealed spot on a rooftop, remained…
SPRINGFIELD – A federal judge in Chicago handed down a one-year prison sentence Tuesday for a former state senator who once chaired the Senate Labor Committee. Tom Cullerton, a Villa Park Democrat, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of embezzlement for receiving salary and benefits from Teamsters Joint Council 25 as a purported…
URBANA – Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger says he’s received a death threat for his role in investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol. The Republican representative from the 16th congressional district told ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” the threat was mailed to his house from “the local area.” The letter says Kinzinger,…
CHAMPAIGN – Police departments across the U.S., including in Champaign County, are facing staffing shortages. The Champaign police department is using financial incentives to try to fill 20 officer openings. Within the last few months, it filled several vacancies after offering a $20,000 signing bonus. “Recruiting is getting harder,” Joe Lamberson, the Champaign police department’s…
It was a tale told by older generations to the younger generations, of men shot and killed and their bodies tossed into a creek during one of the fiercest race riots in the country. That tale was carried across the Mississippi River by those trying to escape the violence and through the generations of African…