News Progress

•May 20, 2020•
By Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois

State Republican leadership is pushing for a vote in the upcoming legislative session to remove a graduated income tax amendment question from the November general election ballot.
“Times have changed dramatically since this initiative was first put forward,” Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said Monday in a video news conference. “But never more has our state’s economy been challenged than it will be, and is today.”
But Gov. JB Pritzker has said the revenues anticipated from the graduated income tax – estimated at more than $3.5 billion in its first full fiscal year before the COVID-19 pandemic – are now more important than ever amid uncertainty created by the spread of the virus.
The economic fallout from the pandemic and associated shutdowns has led to projected state revenues for next fiscal year plummeting by billions of dollars. Pritzker said at his news conference Monday that the tax, which would be in effect for only half of the next fiscal year, could bring in more than $1 billion in state revenues.
The ballot question Read More

•May 20, 2020•
Aaron Fleming, son of Steve and Jayme Fleming of Lovington, is one of 13 eastern Illinois residents among the 70 new physicians at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine who achieved degrees Saturday, May 16, in the school’s virtual celebration of commencement. The event was doubly historic: The Class of 2020 included the medical school’s 3,000th graduate during its 50th anniversary year. Read More

•May 20, 2020•
Memorial Day and Veterans Day each honor the military, though the two holidays are not the same. Memorial Day, which is celebrated annually on the last Monday in May, honors the brave men and women who lost their lives while serving in the American military. Many communities host memorial ceremonies honoring their fallen soldiers on Memorial Day, ensuring such soldiers’ bravery and sacrifices are never forgotten. While many people now view Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer, the weekend should not be celebrated without also pausing to reflect on and recognize the military personnel who lost their lives in defense of freedom and the American way of life. Read More

•May 20, 2020•
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced today that beginning Tuesday, May 19, seven facilities will be offering drive-through services for vehicle registration sticker transactions ONLY. This is the first step in a comprehensive reopening plan that will be announced shortly and will include the proper protections for customers and employees, such as PPE and social distancing. Read More

Letter to the Editor,

Right now we are concerned about COVID 19, but May is also LYME Awareness Month. Lyme is spread by the bite of a tick, which can be as small as the period at the end of this sentence. It is estimated there are now over 400,000 new cases in the US each year. Read More