Senator says no new taxes on sales or income but full revenue plan is not yet public By BEN SZALINSKI & JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD - Illinois Democrats introduced what a leading budgeteer described as a $55 billion budget Friday evening ahead of a Saturday deadline to pass the fiscal year 2026 spending plan. The 3,363-page spending proposal was unveiled after 6 p.m. At the time the Senate's lead budget negotiator, Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chica...

A 29-year-old Centralia man has been sentenced to three years in prison after his drug court participation was earlier revoked. Anthony Hernandez of North Hickory received three sentences all to be served concurrently for domestic battery with a prior conviction, possession of methamphetamine, and a petition to revoke his probation on an earlier domestic battery conviction. As part of the agreement, three new charges filed against Hernandez in January for residential burglary, criminal tres...

A 49-year-old Salem man has been arrested by Marion County Sheriff's Deputies for domestic battery. John Treese remains in the Marion County Jail until a final decision on formal charges and a first appearance in court. Wamac Police arrested 59-year-old Allen Wilson of Dover Street in Centralia on a no-bond Marion County felony failure to appear warrant. 24-year-old Charie Brewer of East Broadway in Centralia was arrested by Centralia Police on a no-bond Marion County felony warrant. The Sal...

Madigan asks for 5 years' probation, 1 year of home detention ahead of June sentencing By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO - Federal prosecutors are asking for a lengthy 12 ½-year prison sentence for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, calling the longtime Democratic power broker "steeped in corruption" and alleging he lied on the witness stand when he testified in his own defense earlier this year. In their 72-page fili...

The Illinois Legislature has until midnight Saturday to pass a budget without the need for a supermajority. House Republican lawmakers discussed a lack of budget transparency, advocated for reform measures and no tax increases at a news conference on Thursday. State Representative Blaine Wilhour says at some point, state leaders need to be honest with the taxpayers and that there is "no reason under the sun" that government spending in the state increased by 45 percent since 2019 wh...

The theme has been selected for this year's Little Egypt Festival Parade. General Chair Jay Henke made the announcement. "The theme this year is 'Are You Board? Let's play a game,'" Henke said. "We're throwing that out for people building floats who want to theme their float after their favorite game, whether it be a board game, a video game or anything like that. We think that opens up the spectrum for a lot of different ideas, whether it be current video games, old board game...

A 48-year-old Godfrey man faces multiple charges following a traffic stop on Sunday in Centralia. Christopher Smith was charged in Marion County Court with armed violence, unlawful possession with intent to deliver cannabis, unlawful possession of cannabis, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and unlawful use of weapons. Centralia Police say they conducted a traffic stop on Smith at Gragg and Elm Streets. Initially, they reported seeing open alcohol and a small baggie of cannabis in ...

Ameren Illinois reports an early Friday morning electric outage that impacted parts of Centralia was the result of damage to a pole on the main 69 kilovolt power line just outside the South Centralia substation. The damage was found by a lineman investigating the outage. About 2,300 customers were impacted with power restored to all customers by 2:30 am as Ameren was able to switch the load to another source. It was raining at the time, but there was no thunderstorm activity. The Salem Wat...