Articles filed under Illinois
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Why hundreds of communities are scrambling to find road saltAug 15, 2026 9:31 am - Winter is still months away. But communities already are scrambling to store up road salt for the snowy season ahead. That lately has been a challenge for municipalities that count on buying salt through the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, only to be left out in the cold.
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Phony gas and grocery discount offers are hitting mailboxesAug 11, 2026 1:57 pm - With the cost of groceries and fuel continuing to strain many household budgets, it's no surprise that consumers are eager to take advantage of legitimate savings opportunities. Unfortunately, scammers know this too, and they're increasingly using the U.S. Mail to lure people with promises of free gas and grocery gift cards.
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Illinois becomes first state in Great Lakes region to designate industrial plastic pellets as pollutionAug 11, 2026 9:20 am - Illinois is requiring polluters to begin reporting spills of industrial plastic pellets known as nurdles, a growing source of contamination in the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds. Companies that manufacture, use or transport nurdles also must develop plans to limit them in storm runoff, making the state the first in either watershed to officially designate bits of wasted plastic as pollution.
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School funding stretched thin as costs rise, corporate revenue source shrinksAug 08, 2026 9:42 am - The Illinois State Board of Education released details Friday of how it will distribute $9.3 billion in Evidence-Based Funding to public schools for the upcoming academic year. That’s a $350 million increase above last year’s funding. But it is not enough to keep pace with rising costs and declining revenue from certain corporate and business taxes.
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Illinois joins lawsuit over Trump’s new tariffs, calling them ‘pretext’ to replace his old onesAug 04, 2026 1:13 pm - Twenty-five states, including Illinois, sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February.
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Forever toll increases? Some question rationale of tollway’s plan to raise rates every two yearsAug 02, 2026 12:00 pm - Hidden amid the sticker shock of the Illinois tollway’s proposed 57% hike on passenger vehicle rates beginning next year is a biannual cost-of-living increase that would follow. Here’s what that would look like.
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Illinois Prisoner Review Board denies early release for deputy convicted of killing unarmed Black womanJul 31, 2026 1:38 pm - The Illinois Prisoner Review Board voted unanimously Friday to deny former Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson’s application for compassionate release. He is serving a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder for the 2024 killing of Sonya Massey.
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Deer-ly departed: Illinois allows residents to claim roadkill bucks and does — and thousands doJul 25, 2026 12:30 pm - Roughly 2,500 roadkill deer are claimed each year by Illinois residents looking to process the meat for food or have the animal taxidermied, according to figures from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
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Illinois policymakers need to embrace small business communityJul 18, 2026 6:30 am - Chicago is an awe-inspiring, world class city with suburbs that offer everything a business needs to thrive. And the heart and soul of local communities are the small and local businesses that drive our economy. Illinois politicians should be rushing to embrace the small business community.
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Republican Darren Bailey treads water in governor’s race as GOP candidates struggle to raise campaign cashJul 17, 2026 10:10 am - Republican nominee for governor Darren Bailey treaded water in the opening stretch of his rematch against Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker in the Nov. 3 general election, raising about $1.33 million for his campaign fund while spending more than $1.28 million in the three full months since winning the March 17 GOP primary, state campaign finance records show.