Jerry Costello News

Clair and Madison counties, won approval Wednesday in the Illinois House and now goes to the governor.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, passed 10-4-1 in the Senate Executive Committee and now goes to the Senate floor.

The Kendall County Board came out Tuesday against a bill approved by the Illinois State House last month that would require contractors to have employees complete certified apprenticeship and training programs as well as pay prevailing wages.

Legislation that would raise the speed limit on interstate highways in most sections of downstate Illinois to 70 mph advanced through the House Transportation Committee Wednesday, 8-0. The bill, SB 2356, now moves to the full House for its consideration.

Well, well, what a coincidence. On the same day Ann Callis resigned as a Madison County judge to run for Congress on the Democratic ticket, Gov.

Madison County Chief Circuit Judge Ann Callis - who has been floated as a potential candidate for Congress - has resigned from office and could make an announcement about her future plans as early as Monday.

Callis is rumored to be considering a run for Congress in the 13th District, currently represented by freshman Republican Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville. Callis attended a Champaign County Democratic dinner Sunday that was billed as a chance for voters to meet potential candidates for the 13th Congressional District, although she did not speak at the ... (more)

It would be hard to find anybody against the idea. Missouri U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill and Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin are behind the move in Washington to get the bridge named after the late Cardinal hall of famer [Stan Musial]. Not so fast.

A bill proposing a merger between the Regional Transportation Authority and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning could be stuck in a state Senate committee forever.

"When you look precinct by precinct, you see the impact that John Hartman had," Gill told me last week.

MASCOUTAH – The federal government won't make a decision for years on whether to close Scott Air Force Base, but leaders in southwestern Illinois fear growing budget pressures in Washington could affect the facility's future.

If you worry about Scott Air Force Base's future, then the Pentagon's most recent budget bill contains good news: The next round of Base Realignment and Closure, the process that Congress uses to decide which military bases to close, won't begin until 2015 at the earliest.

VISA AXES FOUR; THREE REPORT NO ACTIVITY: Credit card company Visa 's overhaul of its Washington operation is starting to show.

He was talking very carefully about Ann Callis, the chief judge of the Madison County court system who was scheduled to speak Sunday night at the Champaign County Democrats' spring dinner.