By now, almost everyone in Illinois has heard that Jan. 1 will mark the beginning of a significant change in the state’s criminal justice system – the elimination of cash bail. It’s an issue that dominated the 2022 campaigns and has been both praised and criticized on editorial pages in newspapers across the state. It essentially means that starting Jan. 1, the decision as to whether a criminal suspect should be held in jail while awaiting trial will be based on public safety and the likelihood the suspect will flee rather than their financial ability to post bond. And while that criminal justice reform has received widespread attention, it is by no means the only new law that will take effect when the calendar turns over to 2023. For most people who work a minimum wage job, the new year will bring a pay raise to $13 per hour, a $1 increase over the current wage. That’s the result of a law Gov. JB Pritzker signed in 2019, his first major legislative victory after being sworn into office a month earlier. The law will eventually raise the wage to $15 an hour on Jan. 1, 2025.
A couple from Cisne is taking the lead on raising funds to replace the roof at the historic
Nostalgia Theater in Flora (formerly the Town Theater). They have issued a challenge to
others like themselves, who are so excited for the future of the Theater. This anonymous
couple recently attended the North Pole’s Got Talent Christmas Play at Nostalgia over the weekend and fell in love with the building and...
Police have launched an investigation into alleged false accusation by Park Cheol-min, a former member of the Seongnam International Mafia. Park, ahead of the 2022 presidential election, raised al...