CHICAGO (AP) _ Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed official notice that the state will appeal a ruling that Illinois’ landmark pension overhaul is unconstitutional. Madigan filed the notice with the Illinois Supreme Court Wednesday. Illinois has the nation’s worst-funded state pension systems, with an unfunded liability of about $100 billion. Lawmakers and Gov. Pat…

SPRINGFIELD – Secretary of State Jesse White says the Secretary of State Police will conduct statewide parking stings targeting people illegally parking in spaces reserved forpersons with disabilities at shopping malls beginning Black Friday, Nov. 28. Secretary of State Police will be enforcing the provisions of the Parking Program for Persons with Disabilities at downtown…

SPRINGFIELD – Governor Pat Quinn on Wednesday announced investments of more than $48.9 million for construction projects in the Metro East area. The road projects are in Bond, Clinton, Madison, Randolph and St. Clair counties. The projects will be managed by the Illinois Department of Transportation except where noted. Bond County Illinois Route 127/140 will…

BRUSSELS – Gov. Pat Quinn has announced investments of more than $1.9 million for construction projects in western Illinois, including in Jersey County. The road, state facility and airport projects, which are also to be done in Brown, Fulton and Pike counties, are part of his $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program, and…

Kourtney Klette, of Edwardsville, has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship by the Royal Neighbors Foundation. A one-time payment will be made to her college of choice and will be used to help fund tuition, room and board, and books. Since its creation in 1961, the Royal Neighbors of America Scholarship Program has awarded more than…

EDWARDSVILLE – A Madison County judge has denied a bid by a landowners group to suspend the state’s new rules for high-volume oil and gas drilling, ruling that the plaintiffs failed to show they would suffer immediate harm if the practice commonly known as “fracking” was to go forward. Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder rejected the…

A Springfield judge on Friday struck down a state law aimed at fixing Illinois’ $100 billion government worker pension system. The decision puts a union legal challenge on track for a likely showdown in the Illinois Supreme Court. Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John Belz agreed with public employee unions and retirees who challenged the…

EDWARDSVILLE – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe and Associate Chancellor Venessa Brown dedicated the new Multicultural Center in the Morris University Center with a ribbon cutting Thursday. “Today, we celebrate a key component of our University Diversity Plan and the opening of a Center that speaks to our values of citizenship and inclusion,”…

MOUNT OLIVE – Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday announced a $250,000 investment for the construction of a new city hall and police station in Mount Olive. The new building will replace the old city hall, which was damaged by a tornado in 2013. “We are doing everything we can to support communities that are recovering…

BELLEVILLE – The worth of Scott Air Force Base and other Illinois military installations is supported in a report released today and touted by public officials as reason to continue the investment. The military bases directly or indirectly pump $13.3 billion into the state’s economy and support nearly 150,000 jobs. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce,…