Alexi Giannoulias

Each of the state’s 28 prisons will receive $15,000 for books, magazines and other supplies, the first time they’ve received public funding of any kind in six years.

Facilities will operate Monday through Friday across Illinois; 16 locations to have Saturday hours

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a measure that will withhold state funds from libraries that ban books. The move sparked a lot of questions.

Citing a “vitriolic strain of white nationalism,” Gov. JB Pritzker signed the measure withholding state grant money from libraries if they ban books.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias paid a visit to the McLean County Museum of History to see the impact of a nearly $100,000 state technology grant. The museum allocated the money toward digitizing its Pantagraph negatives collection—millions of images from 1930-2000, many of which were never printed.

A bill that would block libraries from receiving state grants if they ban books cleared the Illinois Senate Wednesday and will soon be sent to Gov. JB Pritzker, who is expected to sign it.

A spokesperson said the stop at the driver services facility on Market Street is one of several Alexi Giannoulias is making in his first days in office.

It's not unusual for members of a minority party to serve on transition teams for newly-elected statewide officeholders in Illinois. It's far less common to have a defeated opponent in a particular race on the team. But that's what has happened.

Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, Republican State Rep. Dan Brady and Libertarian Jon Stewart are competing to be the next Illinois Secretary of State to replace Jesse White, who has served six terms in the office.

State Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington is the only Republican seeking statewide office to get the endorsement of the Illinois Education Association (IEA), the largest union in the state.