Illinois Policy recently released a new study detailing how pension costs are negatively impacting budgets throughout the state’s school districts.

The Illinois Office of Tourism announced that Macon County’s economy collected a total of $158 million from tourism activity within the past year.

Former Illinois Sens. Michael Noland (D-Elgin) and James Clayborne (D-East St. Louis) filed a lawsuit against the state which, if successful, will increase state lawmakers’ salaries to more than $81,000 by 2020 to rank Illinois' legislative salaries as the nation’s fourth-highest.