With an ugly budget situation facing him, Gov. Pat Quinn will propose a new spending plan for next year heavy on borrowing and pushing off old debts to break even.

Springfield lawmakers said Tuesday they will take steps to try and block the Department on Aging from renting new office space at a cost of more than $530,000 a year.

Gov. Pat Quinn gives his long-awaited speech to lawmakers today at noon in the House chamber outlining how he wants to deal with major budget problems next year. The situation, obviously, isn't pretty. But it's how Quinn handles the speech itself that could provide good insight to the future. This week's State Capitol Q&A takes a closer look at what Quinn faces with this speech and what's next.

The House voted 111-1 today for House Bill 5818, which would strip state pension benefits from any statewide constitutional officer impeached and removed from office.

The Illinois Department on Aging plans to move from two state-owned locations in Springfield where it pays no rent into a private office building where it will lease space for more than $530,000 a year. The department said the move was in the works before the state's financial problems hit and that it will enable all department employees to be in one location.

The Murphysboro American published a special section recently called "Outstanding Men of Jackson County."
After that special section was published, the newspaper decided to let readers vote on who is the "Man of the Year?"
Those readers chose Mike Cripps.