News

Although Illinois added 800 private-sector jobs in July, a sharp decline in local school jobs brought the net tally to 7,100 fewer positions in July than June. That helped the unemployment rate inch upward 0.2 points to 8.9 percent.

Seasonally adjusted preliminary data was released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).

Members of the Illinois GOP are rallying their supporters for Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair one day after demonstrators booed Gov. Pat Quinn at Democratic events. But Republicans are not talking much about the presidential election just a few months away.

Democrats filled a banquet hall yesterday in a raucus event -- frequently evoking the name Barack Obama and getting the crowd riled up.

Republicans organized a much smaller event today with about 100 attendees, mostly county party chairmen.

A new federal wildlife refuge has been authorized along the border between Illinois and Wisconsin. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the establishment of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois during a visit Wednesday to Milwaukee.

The La Salle-Peru Township High School board is considering a $10 million athletic campus on 39 acres on the north side of La Salle.

The initial proposal includes facilities for track and field, 10 tennis courts, a baseball field, two softball fields and two soccer fields, among other amenities.

All counties in Illinois have now been designated as "primary disaster areas" due to drought. That's after the U.S. Department of Agriculture added counties in northern Illinois to the list.