In the News

One day, during a debate on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives approximately five years ago, U.S. Rep Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, found a spot to sit near U.S. Rep John Lewis, D-Ga.

“I just want to breathe the same air as you,” Schneider said.

From the time Schneider was first elected to Congress in 2012 until Lewis’ death in 2020, Lewis became a colleague, then a mentor and eventually a friend to Schneider as they served together on the House Committee on Ways and Means.

The city of Aurora paid homage to the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King with a huge celebration Monday at Calvary Church on Route 59 on the border of Aurora and Naperville.

Officials sought a new venue to host the 39th annual Martin Luther King Day event this year after securing two high-profile guest speakers including 17-year-old Dorothy Tillman, who just completed her doctorate from Arizona State University, and award-winning actor Tyler Lepley.

As part of its ongoing commitment to protecting children and improving air quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the selection of three applicants to receive more than $42 million through the agency’s first Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition. The awards, which are made possible through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, will help selectees purchase clean school buses in six school districts across Illinois.

Between barely avoiding a government shutdown twice, taking 15 ballots to elect a speaker and then removing him from office, the U.S. House of Representatives had an unprecedented year, but not one of the four members representing Lake County consider it a good one.

“It was a historic year, but it was not great for the work of Congress,” said U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park. “The House and Senate passed 27 bills that became law. This is one of the most ineffective Congresses in history.”

The Aurora City Council is considering acceptance of two federal grants designed to improve the city’s public safety.

Aldermen Tuesday will vote on accepting two items from the U.S. Department of Justice – one a $79,550 grant from the De-Escalation Grant Program, and the other $2.28 million previously awarded to the city with the help of U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville.

Tom Skilling, a longtime Chicagoland meteorologist who recently announced his plans to retire, was honored by Illinois congressmen last week.

U.S. Reps. Bill Foster, D-Ill., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill., submitted a statement to the Congressional Record that honors Skilling’s four-and-a-half decades as a meteorologist in the Chicago area.

I’ve known Diane Renner long enough to understand why Tuesday was such a red letter day for her.

From the first time I interviewed her as executive director of Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry in Aurora – and that was over 13 years ago – it was obvious what a passion she had for serving those in the community who were struggling with food insecurity.

Illinois is a big winner in the new contract between the United Auto Workers and Stellantis, which will reopen its Belvidere plant to make trucks and build a new battery factory.

The tentative deal reached Saturday could result in more than 3,000 jobs, more than doubling the company's recent headcount, with an investment of billions of dollars, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says.