Jim Dey: “Irony abounds because (Frank) Mautino, a former House member from the Bureau County community of Spring Valley, is Illinois’ auditor general, the watchdog who investigates how the state spends tax dollars. The situation is just so Illinois, the import of which is clear. Abandon hope, all ye non-insiders who enter the Land of Lincoln.”

The usual holiday menu of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray and pumpkin pie, along with coffee and milk, will cost an average of $53.31, or just over $5 a person, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual survey. That is up 14%, or $6.41 from the 2020 average of $46.90. The only item that dropped in price was the stuffing mix, down 19% from last year.

Without any Republican support, statehouse Democrats passed new congressional districts. They sent the bill to the governor earlier this month. He has yet to act on it.

Hutsonville Community Unit School District 1 in Crawford County is the only public school on probation. Hutsonville School Board President Chad Weaver told Illinois Radio Network they’ve had their mask-recommended policy in place all school year with few students wearing masks. He said COVID-19 cases have been on par with other districts.

Illinois has now experienced 10 consecutive months of employment growth, but at a slower pace than the rest of the country. Of the net increase in employment during the past year, 96% was because of jobs filled by women and 75% of those women were minorities.

“The tensions in our community still exist, and are starting to rise again,” said Curt Nettles, superintendent of Clinton Community Unit School District 15. “We want to move forward and not feel helpless and hopeless … We need local control on more issues in the future.”

The Illinois Association of School Boards is among 15 state boards to terminate their National School Boards Association membership after the national group sent a letter to President Biden asking that upset parent be monitored as domestic terrorists.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced on Thursday that unemployment fell 0.2 percent to 6 percent which is 1.4 percent higher than the national average, but down 2.1 percent from this time 1 year ago.

“To get open carry passed here, I’ll be eating tapioca pudding in a nursing home before that happens,” said John Boch, executive director of the Champaign-based Guns Save Life firearms ownership advocacy group.

“No wonder the Oct. 7, 2021, Gallup organization’s “Americans’ Trust in Media” poll recorded the second lowest point on record (36%) since it began doing media-specific tracking in 1997. But in the end, Kass laughs last. While the inmates were giddy with their taking the asylum, he formed www.johnkass news.com.”

An Illinois Democrat has been blasted for describing the deadly Christmas parade rampage in Wisconsin as “Karma” for the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse. Mary Lemanski, who is listed as the social media director for the Democratic Party in DuPage County, began her heartless online tirade by snarkily dismissing the tragedy as “just self-defense.”

“There’s a growing divide in our communities,” Mount Pulaski CUSD 23 Superintendent Fred Lamkey said. “Most superintendents have done nothing but try to hold their community together.”