The Marion Chamber of Commerce recently launched a gift certificate program that allows putchasers to redeem vouchers at a wide range of local stores and provides local businesses with a unique marketing opportunity, the chamber said in a release.

The Marion Chamber of Commerce said it will honor members and significant figures in the Marion community who passed away this year at the annual Marion Chamber of Commerce Auction & Awards Banquet on Jan. 19 at the Pavilion.

Anyone with a dream who needs a little push is being invited to "The BIG Dream Gathering" on Thursday at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC), according to a press release from the school.

Richard “Dick” Gregory was remembered recently at his alma mater, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC), as a prominent civil rights activist and comedian.

A Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) professor is breaking new ground in research on sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soybeans, a disease that can threaten entire harvests of the widespread crop, according to a press release.

A glowing report from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) has affirmed John A. Logan College’s (JALC) accreditation status, an important achievement for the Carterville community college, according to a release from the school.

Illinois’ economy will take decades to recover from the state’s current pension and workers’ compensation obligations, to say nothing of the debts continually being added because of a significant lack of reform, according to a blistering analysis from Chicago attorney Eugene Keefe.

While every state around it continues to grow in population and prosperity, Illinois keeps shrinking under the strain of higher taxes and more regulations, Michael Lucci, vice president of policy for the Illinois Policy Institute, said in an article on the institute's website.

Illinois’ average personal income growth since the Great Recession is tied with Nevada for the worst in the country, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trusts recently published on the Illinois Policy Institute website.

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale’s (SIUC) staff salaries and pensioner benefits perfectly exemplify the factors contributing to the state’s higher education crisis and rising tuition costs, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.

Lawmakers have spent very little time in their seats, but at least they got to have play time, Austin Berg wrote on the Illinois Policy Institute website recently.

The General Assembly will meet in a continuous session through June to try to put a budget in place for the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

All of the Democrats hoping to unseat Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018 are backing Speaker of the House Michael Madigan's budget goal of raising taxes rather than enacting reforms, a Madigan spokesman told the Chicago Tribune recently.

The buckling stops here, Gov. Bruce Rauner said during a call-in radio show recently.

As a state lawmaker, Frank Mautino paid nearly $12,500 in campaign fund cash to a man named Joe without keeping any supporting receipts, according to a government oversight group.

Illinoisans pay more in total taxes than anyone else in the nation, so any thoughts about adding to that burden need to be forgotten, a tax analyst argued recently.

Illinois can't grow unless its small businesses grow, Gov. Bruce Rauner told owners and employees of several of the state's 1 million such businesses on a brief tour recently.

It's hard to tell the difference between a seated Illinois General Assembly and one that's on a break, WCIA Capitol Bureau Chief Mark Maxwell said in a recent segment focused on a lack of new bills, characterizing the legislative accomplishments of the 100th General Assembly as “hardly anything at all."

Ret. Gen. David Petraeus, perhaps best known for leading the American military efforts in Iraq under Presdent George W. Bush, will provide the keynote address at the 6th Annual Navy Seal Foundation's "Chicago Evening of Tribute," a fundraising event that supports Naval Special Warfare (NSW) families.

Anyone interested in a look back at life in Carbondale from six decades ago should drop in to the Carbondale Civic Center by May 19.