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On the brink of failing to extend a payroll tax cut into the New Year, Congress sends the average worker an early Christmas present. Just days before Christmas, House Speaker John Boehner announced a Republican decision to accept a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut, preventing roughly 160 million working Americans from having to...
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Illinois’s General Assembly takes swift action to mitigate the state’s loss of insurance to the unemployed. Illinois’ unemployment insurance fund has been on hiatus. Although the state added 30,000 jobs last month, officials say as more of Illinois’ jobless re-entered the workforce to apply for seasonal jobs, the influx of new searchers caused the jobless...
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Peoria may change the way it elects City Council members provided city residents are unhappy with the outcome. Bradley University’s Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service (IPL) is leading an initiative to give Peoria citizens a chance to weigh in on whether the city’s equal-and-even cumulative voting system is proving to be a help—or...
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Next spring could see Central Illinois voters having a voice in which company supplies electricity to their homes. Should voters allow their city councils to act on their behalf when it comes to choosing their home electrical suppliers? Some Central Illinois residents say “yes.” Across the Heart of Illinois and...
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D.C. Democrats visit Central Illinois while Governor Quinn reveals a new use for shingles. Home State Tour Campaign 2012 is revving up across the country and Illinoisans are seeing some early signs—most notably President Barack Obama’s bus tour across the Midwest. The tour came in the middle of August but had lasting...
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Council works toward continued improvements on Heart of Peoria Plan.Since 2002, the City of Peoria has collaborated with numerous stakeholders and outside consultants to create the Heart of Peoria Plan designed to effectively transform over 8,000 acres of the City – targeting areas including the Renaissance Park, the Warehouse...
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After months of deliberation among state lawmakers, Governor Quinn signs into law new districts that he says meet with his desire for ‘openness and fairness.’ Democrats have more than one reason for fireworks this month after their leader in Springfield okayed a new district map in late June designed to...
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Growing public concern over rising gas prices has prompted some action from the White House, but Peorians aren’t likely to see relief anytime soon. Uprisings in Libya have given city residents a new reason to care about government, both abroad and at home. Libya exports crude oil to Italy, Germany, ...
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The campaign is over; now the real work begins. Chuck Weaver and Beth Akeson take on the challenging task of finding innovative solutions to tax hikes, economic development snafus and Peoria’s  $11 million deficit. Long-standing structural problems and fiscal irresponsibility looming over the city may cut the celebrations short for city council-at large newcomers, Chuck...
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Peoria voters are coming out to support their candidates for city council and school board elections. When I asked stay-at-home-mom Maria Graves, 42, why she felt it was important to cast her vote on the Peoria School Board ballot this spring, she said it was a matter of conscience. “It’s my responsibility as a citizen...
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