The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January, up +0.2 percentage point from December, and up +0.2 percentage point from the same month, one year ago, based on data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The revised December unemployment rate was 4.7 percent. Total nonfarm payrolls increased over-the-month in January, up +18,000 (+0.3%) to 6,166,800, and the largest monthly increase since June 2023. ...

The Salem Township Hospital Board has passed a $54-million budget for the fiscal year that begins April first. Hospital CEO Jim Timpe says they should finish the year in the black, but it a much tighter budget than the last fiscal year. "We are seeing the impact of the changes with the Big Beautiful Bill that are coming up," Timpe said. "Some of those are the expiration of the additional help on ACA plans. Coming next January are the changes to Medicaid and eligibility requirem...

Kaskaskia College will celebrate the opening of its new competition gym and honor longtime Board of Trustees Chair John W. "Bill" Hawley with a special ribbon-cutting and court dedication ceremony on Saturday, April 25th. The event will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the new gym at Kaskaskia College's main campus in Centralia. The basketball court will officially be named Bill Hawley Court in recognition of Hawley's decades of service and dedication to the college and the...

The final vote totals for judge in the 4th Judicial Circuit show Fayette County State's Attorney Brenda Mathis a winner by 16 votes over appointed judge Wes Gozia of Salem. Gozia cut Mathis' lead by nine votes compared to the final numbers on election night. Gozia is currently reviewing his options which include the possibility of doing a discovery recount. The final unofficial tally was Mathis 8,132 votes, Gozia 8,116 votes, Effingham County State's Attorney Aaron Jones 6,975 votes, and Clay...

A 51-year-old Centralia man has been ordered held in the Marion County Jail without bond until his next court appearance on three counts of unlawful delivery of methamphetamine. Jeffrey Foutch of South Walnut was arrested on the outstanding warrant on Tuesday by State Police. At the time of his arrest, Foutch allegedly had approximately 20 grams of suspected methamphetamine in five individual baggies concealed in his underwear. One of the new charges is a Class X felony for delivery of betw...

The Marion County Sheriff's Department has arrested a 63-year-old rural Odin woman in connection with a March 25th hit and run bicycle-minivan collision on the Selmaville Road near Lowery Lane southwest of Salem. Sheriff Kevin Cripps says a tip from the public provided information that Lauren Lusch of Lazy Acre Road allegedly struck the bicycle driven by 27-year-old Jenna Phillips of East McCord in Centralia. Phillips was traveling on the white line along the shoulder of the road when she was...

by Ben Szalinski, Capitol News Illinois April 1, 2026 Article Summary Republicans are blaming Democratic policies, such as unfunded mandates on local governments and school districts, for raising property taxes while failing to provide other financial assistance. A report by the Cook County Treasurer's Office found property taxes have increased in the past 30 years well above the rate of inflation and wage growth. JB Pritzker said earlier this week school boards are to blame for increasing th...

The Iuka Community Development Corporation Consignment Auction planned for this Saturday has been postponed due to the forecast for rainy weather. As a result, you are asked NOT to bring consignment items to the staging area near the railroad tracks downtown on Thursday and Friday, as originally scheduled. The Iuka Consignment Auction has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 18th, beginning at ten am. Items for the sale should now be dropped off on Thursday and Friday, April 16th and 17th. W...