State Senator Chris Balkema (R-53) polled his newsletter readers on various subsidies that have been proposed to induce the Chicago Bears to stay in Illinois. The Chicago Bears Survey Results State Senator Chris Balkema’s district. Last week, I asked for your thoughts […]
When I read this part of State Senator Don Dewitte’s and Craig Wilson’ newsletters, the phrase “Back to the Future” popped into my head. The section below asks for what was standard practice when I entered the legislature: Legislation Targets Greater Transparency […]
From the Lake in the Hills Police: It was a hundred dollar bill. When I was County Treasurer in the late 1960’s, over the four years we were only out of balance by $10. That was a ten dollar bill seized by […]
That’s what I learned.
From the U.S. Attorney: CHICAGO MAN CHARGED WITH THREATENING TO “SHOOT UP” A JEWISH SYNAGOGUE CHICAGO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago has charged a man with making a threat to shoot up a Jewish synagogue. On March 3, 2026, TIMOTHY […]
From the Illinois Commerce Commission: ICC 2025 Supplier Diversity Report shows robust investment from Illinois’ largest utilities Springfield, IL – The Illinois Commerce Commission’s (ICC) Office of Diversity and Community Affairs’ (ODCA) 2025 Annual Report shows the state’s largest investor-owned utilities’ diverse spending remains robust […]
From State Senators Craig Wilcox, Don DeWitte Survey Finds Illinois Among Least Affordable States A new survey found that most Americans believe the country is facing a cost-of-living crisis, and Illinois ranks among the states viewed as less affordable. According to 2026 […]
From the U.S. Attorney: FEDERAL JUDGE SENTENCES SUBURBAN CHICAGO MAN TO SIX AND A HALF YEARS IN PRISON FOR $3.3 MILLION COVID-RELIEF FRAUD CHICAGO – A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison for […]
From the Woodstock Fire/Rescue District: Woodstock Fire News Release: Single-Vehicle Rollover Crash on Hartland Road On Thursday, March 19, 2025, at 4:07 p.m., the Woodstock Fire/Rescue District responded to the 2400 block of Hartland Road in unincorporated Woodstock for a reported vehicle […]
From State Rep. Marty McLaughlin: State Rep. Martin McLaughlin Advances HB2190 to Help Protect Children in Daycare Centers SPRINGFIELD, IL – On Friday, State Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) and Chairwoman, State Rep. Joyce Mason (D-Gurnee) worked in bipartisan fashion to unanimously pass HB2190 through the […]
I’ve been looking at Coefficients of Dispersion for pretty much sixty years. This is a measure of the uniformity of assessments in a given jurisdiction a member of the Illinois Department of Revenue pointed me to in the late 1960’s when I […]
From the State’s Attorne: STATE’S ATTORNEY SECURES 20-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR ANTIOCH MAN FOLLOWING ARMED VIOLENCE, DRUG-RELATED CONVICTIONS McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi L. Freese announced that on March 20, 2025, John T. Boland, 41, of Antioch, Illinois, was sentenced to 20 […]
From the Illinois :Policy cartoonist Eric Allie:
From The Center Square: Pritzker highlights film growth while studies question tax credit’s value (The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker visited a major film studio Thursday in Chicago to discuss the growth of Illinois’ film industry, joined by leaders and lawmakers. […]
Previously, McHenry County Blog reported on local referendum results: Now comes Illinois Policy with results from all referendums on the subject: Lilly Rossi, Policy Analyst, & Hannah Schmid, Manager of Education Policy Illinois voters who were asked strongly support public and private […]
From State Rep. Jeff Keicher: Rep. Keicher’s Summer Internship Now Accepting Resumes SYCAMORE – State Representative Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) is seeking hard-working and passionate summer interns. If you are outgoing, organized, engaged and want to experience working in a state legislative office, this may […]
Remember what Nick Shirley did in Minnesota? Well, he’s now in California covering hospice fraud. If you would like to read summaries with links to h is videos, they are here. The full report is forty minutes, but summary only takes a […]
From The Center Square: Lawmakers push bills to close loopholes, increase penalties for child sex offenders (The Center Square) – A state senator and former prosecutor says it is time to change Illinois law that allows people who record or transmit video […]
From Chicago’s WBEZ: GOAL UPDATE: $188,026 left to raise before March 31, 2026 Over 4,000 WBEZ listeners have stepped up, but we haven’t heard from you this drive. Can you help us close the gap? Our station is 100% community-supported — which means your gift […]
This was the first internet headline after Jeff Schwartz and Marty Mohr were victorious over the inclubents they ran against: Here is the second day version: The votes did not change significantly between incumbents trailing and incumbents losing. My headline election night:
From McHenry County: August 2025 Storm Damage Now Eligible for SBA Loan Assistance WOODSTOCK, Ill. – McHenry County residents and business owners whose properties sustained damage during last August’s severe weather can now apply for US Small Business Administration disaster loans. The […]
Spending from sources other than candidate Political Action Committees exceeded $10 million. Kat Abughazaleh received only ads attacking her candidacy. $4.3 million was spent by super pop-up committee Elect Chicago Women in support of State Senator Laura Fine. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss […]
During the epidemic, I had one shot of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine (traditional definition). I was quite skeptical about the efficacy of vaccinating young people with mRNA Now comes this from Salem’s WIND morning email: Peer-Reviewed Study: COVID Vaccine in Kids Provided […]
Here are the 9th District Democratic Party Primary Election results: From the map below, you can see McHenry County was the only election jurisdiction where Kat Abughazaleh ran first, getting 30.8%, ahead of victor Daniel Biss’ 26.3:% Although Kat won McHenry County, […]
Tying all Republicans to President Trump will be a strong feature of the fall campaign. Here is the first salvo: And, it looks as if Pritzker has lost weight.
From John Lopez: Potential for a Campaign Based on the Issues and Policy Awaits IL 8th Congressional District General Electorate It’ll be an all-woman general election in the 8th Congressional District of Illinois as Republicans nominated Jennifer Davis (R, unincorporated Huntley) over […]
When last we dipped into this intellectual contest, McHenry County Board member provided a point by point rebuttal to Steve Willson’s previous post. Here is the link that John Collins critique (the post contains links to all past pieces on this story): […]
Here’s a new one. Illinois requires tailpipe tests to see if one’s vehicle’s motor is operating properly. Up to now, one had to drive to the Crystal Lake facility. When the legislature was pretty much forced by the Federal EPA to create […]
From the Huntley Police: The 5th Annual “Don’t Be Fooled…By A Disability” 5K On Saturday, April 11, 2026, the Huntley Police Department will be hosting the 5th Annual “Don’t Be Fooled…By A Disability” 5K to benefit the Law Enforcement Torch Run for […]
Both the Northwest Herald and the Daily Herald, which picked up the story, wrote misleading headlines on the story about the victories of Jeff Schwartz and Marty Mohr. Now, take a look at the results as of Election Day: Anything above 55% […]