Peoria

7 of 10 Illinois metro areas are not recovering at all

By Michael Lucci
11/03/2014
Unemployment rates fell for most of Illinois’ metropolitan statistical areas in September, according to a press release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, seven out of 10 Illinois metro areas are not showing any signs of an economic recovery when it comes to putting people back to work. Champaign, Chicago and Springfield are showing...

TAGS: Chicago, jobs

Illinois Corruption Watch, October 2014

By Brian Costin
11/01/2014
In October, we found 52 different stories of potential public corruption in Illinois, including a trio of stories related to the election. An Illinois Policy investigation into emails from a group of Kankakee County superintendents revealed potentially illegal activities to pass a countywide sales-tax hike for school facilities. Documents obtained suggest illegal actions by superintendents...

TAGS: good government, waste

Judge OKs Peoria SWAT raid over parody Twitter account

By Bryant Jackson-Green
10/03/2014
If someone made fun of you on Twitter, how would you respond? If you’re Peoria, Illinois, Mayor Jim Ardis, you just pressure the police to raid the prankster’s home; and apparently the courts will back you up. Back in March, Jon Daniel of Peoria created the Twitter account “@peoriamayor” from which he sent out a...

Workforce shrinks in 9 of 10 metro areas

By Michael Lucci
10/02/2014
Though unemployment rates fell in August for Illinois’ major metropolitan areas, 19,000 workers dropped out of the workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because of these dropouts, the workforce shrank in every metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, except Champaign-Urbana. Workforce dropouts drive down the unemployment rate because unemployed workers who leave the workforce...

TAGS: employment

Illinois corruption watch, June 2014

By Brian Costin, Anthony Trania
07/09/2014
Unfortunately for taxpayers, June was a groundbreaking month for corruption in Illinois. In June alone, there were reports of 85 corruption-related stories in the state. Some of the record-breaking highlights include the following: For the first time in 33 years, the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission exercised its subpoena powers in the issuance of a subpoena...

House budget full of pork

By illinoispolicy
05/15/2014
State politicians are in Springfield right now voting on budget bills that call for spending $3 billion more than the state will take in from income tax revenues. These budget bills are fraught with wasteful spending. Here are some examples: House Bill 6149 would appropriate a total of $1.8 billion from the General Revenue Fund...