Free Republic

For decades, the federal government has funneled big-ticket grants to local communities to help them take on ambitious construction projects to expand public transit. The grants, sometimes in the billions of dollars, have funded new railroad tracks, train stations and roads rebuilt for modern bus service. Today, they’re funding extensions of the Second Avenue Subway in New York and the Red Line in Chicago, as well as the Gateway Tunnel under the Hudson River and bus infrastructure in Indianapolis and San Antonio.But since President Trump returned to office, the Federal Transit Administration has not signed a single new agreement under...

The Arlington Heights couple charged with vandalizing the Republicans of Wheeling Township headquarters in January pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges Thursday. Brock McNerney, a 72-year-old retired financial planner, and Moisette McNerney, a 69-year-old retired special education teacher, admitted to criminal damage to property and criminal defacement of property charges as part of a plea agreement. Cook County Judge Thomas Newinski sentenced the couple to 18 months court supervision, 100 hours of community service, a $100 fine and court costs. Newinski also ordered the couple to pen an apology letter to the Wheeling Township organization. Following the hearing at the Rolling...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was dealt a major legal blow Friday after a federal judge gutted key state laws providing in-state tuition, financial aid and scholarships to illegal immigrants, marking another win for the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration agenda. US District Judge Stephen McGlynn, a Trump appointee serving in the Southern District of Illinois, sided with the Justice Department, ruling that Illinois’ in-state tuition policies, the RISE Act and the Illinois DREAM Act are “unconstitutional and invalid” as they apply to illegal immigrants. The ruling permanently prevents Illinois from enforcing the laws, although McGlynn delayed the order from taking effect...

Republicans will make even moderate opponents answer for the radical views of DSA candidates. I have no objection to the Democrats’ nominating an oysterman for a Senate seat. When I led our party’s effort to recapture the House in 2006, we made a point of recruiting candidates with “authentic” broad-based appeal. But that strategy, which flipped 31 seats during my tenure, and claimed 21 more in 2008, was predicated on a substantive premise: We needed to allay voters’ worries that Democrats were weak on national defense and culturally out of touch, vulnerabilities born from previous elections. If we could do...

Oklahoma Republican lieutenant governor nominee T.W. Shannon criticized the opening of the Obama Center in Chicago, arguing that the project highlights concerns about voter identification, and reports of unpaid contractors.

Weeks after the Obama Presidential Center’s star-studded opening in Chicago, a subcontractor who previously claimed his company was stiffed for nearly $4 million has shut down operations and laid off 25 union workers. Mike Owen, the owner of Chicago-based Adamson Plumbing Contractors, told Fox News Digital that the financial fallout forced the company to abandon about half a dozen other construction jobs and left it on the verge of collapse. Owen described the shutdown as a painful decision he believed was necessary to save the company from bankruptcy. "Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in...

Barack Obama’s presidential library opened a few weeks ago with a star-studded celebration, and ongoing criticisms about its Star Wars-prison appearance and failure to pay contractors who worked on the monolith project. Now one subcontractor has shut down operations because the project manager has refused to pay for work that was done on the project. A report at Fox News outlines how Mike Owen, owner of Adamson Plumbing Contractors, confirmed his company was on the verge of collapse because of payments that were due, but never were made. “Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in...

Weeks after the Obama Presidential Center’s star-studded opening in Chicago, a subcontractor who previously claimed his company was stiffed for nearly $4 million has shut down operations and laid off 25 union workers. Mike Owen, the owner of Chicago-based Adamson Plumbing Contractors, told Fox News Digital that the financial fallout forced the company to abandon about half a dozen other construction jobs and left it on the verge of collapse. Owen described the shutdown as a painful decision he believed was necessary to save the company from bankruptcy. "Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in...

The city of Chicago is billions of dollars in debt, including $36 billion in pension debt. The Chicago Public School district also has a budget deficit of more than $700 million. Despite these very dire fiscal parameters, Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to spend more taxpayer money to give reparations to areas where ICE conducted immigration enforcement raids. "I believe the most relevant ballot referendum question around receiving reparations for communities that experienced that hardship, and whether that was on the west side of Chicago or the black man being placed in an illegal chokehold or long guns being stuck into...

he New Jersey bleedout continues. ExxonMobil and Samsung are running for the exits. Joining them this week is candy and confectionery giant Mars Wrigley, which just announced that it is shifting its corporate headquarters from Newark to Chicago. Since the 1940s, Mars Wrigley has been headquartered in Ironbound (AKA Downneck), a rather odd urban offshoot paralleling the Passaic River. It is one of the last livable areas of Newark. Mars Wrigley represents its largest industrial resident. Mars Wrigley is the producer of M&Ms, a legendary candy among one of the most popular in the world, along with Snickers, Milky Way,...

A 15-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy are facing charges after their desire to be in a relationship led them to execute five members of the girl's family and wound two others over the weekend, a relative and authorities said. The 15-year-old girl, who authorities have not named, and 16-year-old Ja'ymier Davis were both arrested and are facing charges, including first-degree murder, in connection to the shootings that took place around the East St. Louis area on Sunday, state police announced on Tuesday. Authorities said human remains of three people were found by Illinois State Police on Sunday at the Samuel...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has consistently said he’s focused on winning a third-term for governor this November — and despite the speculation, those close to him insist he hasn’t made a decision on whether he’ll run for president in 2028. But the governor is showing up in presidential polls, and he’s building coalitions with state parties while also strengthening his national name recognition. He has also explored future fundraising paths that don’t include self-funding — if a presidential run is truly in the cards. Pritzker is on the list of names popping up on presidential polls, which the New York...

A man on pretrial release in a felony retail theft case that he picked up while already on pretrial release for another shoplifting charge disappeared from the Cook County chief judge’s electronic monitoring program for 11 days before authorities found him again — in the back yard of Gov. JB Pritzker’s Gold Coast mansion, court records show. Those records also indicate that, despite Chief Judge Charles Beach’s public pledge that “major violations” of the court’s electronic monitoring program would be brought before a judge within 24 hours, 10-time convicted felon Dwayne Milton began violating the terms of his release almost...

"The diversity, the unity. This is for everybody. This is a safe space for everybody. So beautiful. ...Now, this library cost about $850 million to make. Now, that is still less than the $1.7 billion that Obama gave to Iran in cash on wooden pallets. Iran provided all of that footage, the tape of taking that money off that airplane..."I Visited Obama's $1B Library

With Lindsey Graham's death, and John Cornyn's defeat, Mike Lee is second in seniority, next to 92 year old Chuck Grassley (elected in 1980). Grassley has been maintaining the old blue slip tradition, preventing the confirmation of US Attorneys that Democrats don't like. If Grassley dies, or chooses to be chair of another committee come January, Mike Lee will be chair (assuming the Republicans hold the Senate). Thom Tillis (who also blocked nominees) will also be gone, and Ken Paxton will likely be added. On the Democrat side, Dick Durbin is retiring (moving Whitehouse to ranking member) and Amy Klobuchar...

During the heated exchange, Behar insisted she was simply focused on “winning” in what she called an “emergency” situation under President Donald Trump. There is something hilarious about women who spent years demonizing white men suddenly treating them as saviors and their only path to victory. Behar began by floating a list of white male candidates she believes could actually win, naming Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. She framed the suggestion as cold political reality, telling her co-hosts they needed to face facts after watching the country...

Under provisions of HB 4948, which Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law on Friday, the state will introduce the “Intelligent Speed Assistance Program,” designed to replace license suspension with a different alternative for drivers. According to the text of the law, the program will require drivers who have committed two qualifying speeding or reckless driving offenses within a 12-month period to install a speed-limiting device on their vehicles, which will prevent them from exceeding the speed limit. Persons enrolled in the program will pay all costs associated with enrollment and participation, with exceptions for low-income Virginia and Washington have...

The Phoenix location is now the second-largest Catholic diocese in the country, trailing only the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, according to the 2025 Official Catholic Directory. 'Something holy is taking place, something historical, something that goes way back, and they're intrigued by that,' said Joyce Coronel, the Diocese of Phoenix manager told the outlet. She called the current wave of interest in the church 'enormous.' Data obtained by the outlet showed the Diocese had 512 adult baptisms in 2025, up 46.7 percent from 2022, 84.8 percent from 2023, and 24 percent from 2024. 'Adult baptisms have increased significantly over the...

Downstate Illinois Democratic state representative Carol Ammons is facing allegations she steered state grants to a family member and lied to the FBI, among other misdeeds. Paris Schutz reports.

A migrant driver of a semi-truck was arrested and charged with running down and killing a Chicago man who was trying to change his tire alongside a suburban highway late in June. The accident occurred early in the morning of June 24 when 24-year-old Sebastian Stone pulled off to the side of I-80 near Torrence Ave. to change a flat tire. While in the process of changing the tire, Stone was struck and killed by a semi-truck, which did not stop after running him down, CWBChicago reported. Police were called to the scene by witnesses, and officers found Stone dead...