Illinois AG Raoul stands with transgender military members, challenging presidential executive order
On Feb. 14, 2025, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with a coalition of 20 state attorneys general, announced he was standing with transgender military members targeted by the Trump administration’s executive order banning transgender Americans from serving in the military. Raoul and the coalition today filed an amicus brief to support a lawsuit aiming to block the…
Read MoreNew state transportation chief hopes for ‘a good kind of disruption’
IDOT Secretary Gia Biagi comes in as feds pause some program funding By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO — Gia Biagi made her name building parks. Now, she’s leading the department that oversees more than 145,000 miles of roads, 7,000 miles of railways, 1,000 miles of waterways and 26,000 bridges. In December, Gov. JB…
Read MoreIllinois health officials taking bird flu precautions despite assessing no ‘active risk’ to humans
But mutations, changes to federal policies could rapidly alter landscape By JADE AUBREY and UIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR), Capitol News Illinois Editor’s note: The description of IDPH’s new bird flu testing capabilities has been corrected to more accurately describe how the new advanced testing process works. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention…
Read MoreL&C continues Black History Month programming through Feb. 25
More free, public programming for Black History Month continues through the end of February at Lewis and Clark Community College. “We encourage community members on campus and off to come out and be engaged in these offerings,” said Student Activities Coordinator Jared Hennings. “Having a good cross section of the community involved enhances the…
Read MorePrenzler, former Madison County Board chair, named Phyllis Schlafly Eagles ED
By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE IBJ Managing Editor [email protected] Phyllis Schlafly Eagles recently announced that its president, Edward R. Martin, Jr., had resigned on Jan. 19, 2025, to accept an appointment by President Donald Trump as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. The organization further announced the addition of Kurt Prenzler, former Madison County…
Read MoreSouthern Illinois University Carbondale officially among top U.S. research schools
On Feb. 13, 2025, Southern Illinois University Carbondale officially entered the ranks of the top research universities in the nation: It has been designated Research 1, or R1, in the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education. The prestigious designation by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching confirms SIU…
Read MoreIDNR, ICF award 26 youth habitat enhancement projects through the Schoolyard Habitat Grant Program
More than $40,000 in grants for 26 Illinois schoolyard habitat action projects have been awarded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Illinois Conservation Foundation (ICF) for the 2025 application period. The Illinois Schoolyard Habitat Action Grant program supports the development or enhancement of wildlife habitat on school grounds or other public…
Read More‘Love in the air’: New clock, globe installed at The Wedge
By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE IBJ Managing Editor [email protected] Starting at 1 p.m. on a cold Valentine’s Day for 2025, community members gathered at 620 E. Broadway in Alton to watch a new clock installation at the historic, iconic building known simply as “The Wedge.” The architectural wonder, now known as The Wedge Innovation Center…
Read MoreSecond annual Builders Spring Home Show Fenton to be held March 15, 16
The second annual Builders Spring Home Show Fenton will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 15 and 16, with free admission and parking. The new home show, located in a Southwest St. Louis County location near the intersection of I-44 and I-270 in Fenton, Mo., gives area residents the opportunity to shop the latest home…
Read MoreTurnpike Troubadours, ‘Red Dirt’ music pioneers, to perform Aug. 17 at state fair
Tahlequah, Okla. kings of Red Dirt music Turnpike Troubadours will perform at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand on Sunday, Aug. 17. After releasing five genre-defining albums and building a fiercely loyal fanbase, Turnpike Troubadours took a three-year hiatus beginning in 2019 to find clarity amidst the noise of a red-hot career. After the break, the…
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