by Ben Szalinski, Capitol News Illinois July 14, 2025 Article Summary Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order requiring state agencies to come up with plans to respond to tariffs. President Donald Trump is set to implement new tariffs after previously pausing them for three months. The order requires agencies to evaluate impacts on costs, the availability of supplies, and the ability to complete projects within a given timeline. This summary was written by the reporters and editors who wor...

by Hannah Meisel, Capitol News Illinois July 14, 2025 Article Summary Former Commonwealth Edison executive John Hooker has been sentenced to 18 months in prison in addition to a $500,000 fine - the first of the "ComEd Four" to face sentencing after their 2023 convictions. A jury found Hooker and his co-defendants guilty of bribing ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan with jobs and contracts for his political allies at the electric utility while the company was pushing for legis...

Salem Community High School Students can now complete online registration for the coming school year. It is available at salemhigh.com through the Skyward Family Access. Students have until Monday, August 4th to complete registration. Students new to the district, excluding pre-registered freshmen, should call the Student Services Office at 548-0727 starting Monday, August 5th , for an appointment. Students who have withdrawn from school and would like to re-enter should have their parents ca...

Two great grandsons of William Jennings Bryan visited his birthplace museum in Salem on Monday. Both William Forsyth and William Jennings Bryan Forsyth were impressed with what has been to improve the home, noting it looked much better than when they were last here 15 years ago. "Fabulous, what a great job. Like I said, this looks just impressive. I recall it being smaller and kind of musty, but it's a real museum", says Forsyth. The two are on their way to Dayton, Tennessee to watc...

Centralia Police have arrested four 16 and 17-year-old female juveniles from One Hope United following two separate incidents overnight. Three were arrested after entering Five Star Tobacco and Vape on North Elm, going behind the counter, grabbing different vapes, and shoving an employee out of the way. They were taken into custody for robbery and mob action about a block away when police arrived. A 17-year-old One Hope resident was arrested for criminal trespass to property after allegedly t...

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced that $7 million in grant funding has been awarded to four grantees through the Tech Incubator Enhancement Grant (TIEG) Program to support entrepreneurship and innovation in key growth industries around the state. These grant awards will strengthen the resilience of both existing and new startup incubators. The TIEG Program was designed to modernize and revitalize tech incubators across Illin...

An Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team from Illinois is headed to Texas overnight to assist with operations after deadly flooding this week. This group of 39 rescuers from fire departments, deployed as part of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) as USAR Task Force 1, will be on the ground in Texas for up to 14 days. Illinois is one of close to two dozen states offering assistance to flood-ravaged Texas. "Just as many towns, cities, and counties in Illinois have agreements to assist e...

A district judge has sentenced a 47-year-old St. Elmo man to 32 years in federal prison after he shot at law enforcement agents serving an arrest warrant at his residence in Fayette County. Dax Baldrige pleaded guilty in January to seven counts of assault of a federal officer, two counts of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Following imprisonment, he will serve five years of supervised release. U.S. Attorney Stev...