Tag Archives: Illinois

NBC News reports: The Illinois State Board of Elections unanimously voted Tuesday to keep former President Donald Trump on the ballot ahead of the state’s March 19 primary election, rejecting a challenge that he should be disqualified because of Jan. 6. The board, which is made up of four Democrats and four Republicans, heard the case regarding a petition brought …

The New York Times reports: A former Republican judge appointed to hear arguments on whether to disqualify former President Donald J. Trump from the Illinois primary ballot said on Sunday that he believed Mr. Trump engaged in insurrection by attempting to remain in office after the 2020 election. But the former judge, Clark Erickson, whose nonbinding opinion will be considered …

Axios reports: Vivek Ramaswamy won’t be on the Illinois GOP primary ballot, some of his campaign staffers have begun looking for work elsewhere, and he hasn’t qualified for Wednesday’s final televised debate before Iowa’s caucuses. Ramaswamy jumped to political prominence in recent months with an anti-establishment, Trump-friendly message — but now there are signs that his long-shot campaign could be …

Chicago’s NPR affiliate reports: Five voters formally objected to former President Donald Trump’s newly-filed state nominating petitions Thursday, citing his role fomenting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and now adding Illinois to the national debate about Trump’s legal status as a presidential candidate. The objectors believe Trump is disqualified as a presidential candidate and want the State …

NBC News reports: The man accused of firing an assault rifle into crowds at a July Fourth parade in suburban Chicago last year, killing seven people, said Monday that he plans to represent himself at his trial, which is set to start in February. Robert E. Crimo III, wearing a red shirt and red handcuffs, appeared in a Lake County …

Southern Illinois Now reports: A 39-year-old Centralia minister has been charged in Marion County Court with four counts of child pornography. Ian Maphet of Edgewood Lane was taken into custody by Centralia Police at the Calumet Street Christian Church on Wednesday where he is Worship Minister. In a Facebook post, the church says after hearing the evidence from Illinois State …

Quincy’s NBC affiliate reports: A Quincy man who was a youth leader at Hope Lutheran Church in Quincy was sentenced Friday to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Court records show that 22-year-old Isaiah Mikkelson was sentenced to 6 years each for two counts of criminal sexual abuse of a victim between 13 and 18 years old. Mikkelson …

The Washington Post reports: The father of the man accused of killing seven people and wounding 31 at the 2022 Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., pleaded guilty Monday to seven counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct for his role in allowing his son to obtain firearms. Robert Crimo Jr. had been charged for “recklessly” sponsoring his son’s gun …

Chicago’s ABC affiliate reports: The 6-year-old suburban boy stabbed to death in an apparent hate crime over the weekend will be laid to rest Monday, in Muslim tradition. Joseph Czuba stabbed Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother in unincorporated Plainfield Saturday morning because they are Muslim, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday. Late Sunday, the Chicago FBI Field Office, …

Quincy’s NBC affiliate reports: A Quincy man who was a youth leader at Hope Lutheran Church in Quincy pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of criminal sexual abuse of a victim between 13 and 18 years old. The charges are Class 2 felonies. Court records show that 22-year-old Isaiah Mikkelson pleaded guilty to two of the seven total charges against …

Champaign’s CBS affiliate reports: For throwing a makeshift Molotov cocktail into Peoria’s Planned Parenthood clinic earlier this year, a Chillicothe man will go to federal prison for 10 years. Tyler Massengill, 32, clad in an orange jumpsuit of a Peoria County Jail inmate, showed no emotion as the sentence was read aloud. He stood before the judge and apologized, saying …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Saturday approved a measure that would allow firearm retailers or manufacturers to be sued for marketing guns to people under 18 and promoting other improper marketing ploys geared toward the sale of weapons. The bill was signed a day after Pritzker and his Democratic allies in the Illinois General Assembly scored a …

Ars Technica reports: Illinois became one of the few states to pass an anti-doxxing law, making it possible for victims to sue attackers who “intentionally” publish their personally identifiable information with intent to harm or harass them. The Civil Liability for Doxing Act, which takes effect on January 1, 2024, passed after a unanimous vote. It allows victims to recover …

ABC News reports: The Illinois State Supreme Court found a strict assault weapons ban passed after the Highland Park shooting to be constitutional in a ruling issued Friday. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit that claimed that the ban violated the equal protections clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court reversed a lower court …

The Vermilion County First reports: Former First Baptist Church of Danville School Principal and Church Deacon Robert Lazzell has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to Criminal Sexual Assault against former student Michael Young. The sentence was handed down by Judge Derek J. Girton Tuesday morning, after a sentencing hearing in front of a standing room …

Champaign’s CBS affiliate reports: One woman is reflecting on a painful past. Now she hopes justice will be served for the Henning Pastor she says sexually abused her for years. Gary Arivett was arrested and is facing three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a family member under the age of 18. He has since been released after posting …

Via press release from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker: Governor JB Pritzker signed SB1909 into law, also known as the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act. This law bars so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” from using misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation in order to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception. The law allows the Illinois Attorney General …

Illinois talk radio station WMIX reports: A former youth pastor of a Patoka church pleaded guilty Thursday in Fayette County Court to five of ten felony charges stemming from his involvement in a child pornography ring in Vandalia. Ferrell Kissiar, a former assistant pastor at the Pentecostal Church in Patoka was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison …

Illinois talk radio station WMIX reports: A member of what investigators have called a child pornography ring in Vandalia filed a jury trial waiver Friday morning and is now scheduled to change his plea in the case later this month. Former Patoka pastor Ferrell Kissiar is the third person charged in Fayette County Court as playing a role in the …

The Hill reports: Former Illinois GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is launching a bid to take on Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) for the state’s 12th Congressional District. Bailey was endorsed by former President Trump last year in the GOP gubernatorial primary but later lost to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Bailey officially filed on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and …