Lawmakers advance Pritzker’s cell phone ban, social media regulations

Bill expanding 4-year degrees at community colleges progresses after facing opposition last year

By BEN SZALINSKI,
& BRENDEN MOORE
Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com

Article Summary

• Several prongs of Gov. JB Pritzker’s legislative agenda began to move this week.

• Those include youth social media protections, a ban on cell phones in classrooms and allowing some community colleges to offer four-year degrees. 

• Many of the measures are expected to be amended and negotiated further in the coming weeks. 

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. 

SPRINGFIELD — House committees advanced portions of Gov. JB Pritzker’s legislative agenda on Wednesday, though in many cases lawmakers conceded they’d need to amend their bills to gain broader support. 

The House was working ahead of a Friday deadline for passing bills out of committee, an early test for Pritzker’s and other policy proposals, many of which have stagnated for multiple years.

One such measure would place new regulations on social media companies. But like many other bills advanced by House committees this week, the bill is expected to see more changes before being considered for a full vote. 

House Bill 5511, the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, would require social media companies to confirm a user’s age through the device’s operating system, prohibit companies from sending nighttime notifications to users under 18, establish default privacy settings protecting a minor user’s location data and profile information, and allow more parental controls. 

Supporters say the ultimate goal is to prevent children from consuming an addictive social media feed — and its advancement came the same day a New Mexico jury found that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, knowingly harmed children’s health. The company was fined $375 million. 

In Illinois, the bill passed a House judiciary committee Wednesday on a partisan 13-7 vote. 

“We’ve been a little bit too late to the game to talk seriously about how do we protect children’s mental health and children’s safety online,” said bill sponsor Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview. “These conversations I think have been taking place in every household in America.”

Cell phone ban

A House education committee unanimously approved the latest version of a bill that would require school boards to prohibit public school students from using their cellphones in the classroom.

As amended, Senate Bill 2427 would require Illinois school districts to adopt policies by the 2027-2028 school year banning the use of wireless communication devices like cellphones, tablets, laptops and gaming devices during school time.

The prohibition would be bell-to-bell for elementary and middle school students, but the legislation leaves discretion for school districts to allow high school students to use their devices during lunch and passing periods. 

The bill also includes carve-outs for students with medical needs, who are caregivers for family members and who need their phone for English translation services. School officials can also permit device use if it’s for educational purposes.

“We know, as we've discussed many times, that the use of cell phones is causing a great distraction,” said state Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, the bill’s sponsor. “It's an academic distraction, it adds to student anxiety, it contributes to bullying, and we really believe that all the research is indicating that students are much better off and more well focused and balanced when they have time away from their cellphones.”

School cellphone bans have become a rare area of bipartisan agreement in recent years, with more than 30 states banning or limiting their use. Pritzker called for the policy change in Illinois during his 2025 State of the State address. A version of the legislation passed unanimously out of the Illinois Senate last April but wasn’t called in the House.

Many school districts already have cellphone bans on the books. These districts would be able to keep their existing policy through 2030-2031 school year, after which they would have to adopt a policy conforming with the state’s requirements. 

Four-year degrees

The House Executive Committee unanimously OK’d an amended version of legislation authorizing Illinois community colleges to offer four-year bachelor’s degree programs in high-demand fields — another Pritzker initiative. 

House Bill 5319, sponsored by state Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl, D-Northbrook, would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degree programs in select areas, provided the school’s board of trustees can demonstrate the program would help fill an “unmet workforce need” in the area the school serves, and that the school has sufficient resources, expertise and student interest to sustain the program.

Tuition and fees per credit hour for the third and fourth years would not be allowed to exceed 150% of the tuition and fees of lower-division course work.

The goal of the legislation is to make programs more affordable and accessible while addressing local workforce needs.

The measure, also a top legislative priority of Pritzker’s last session, stalled in May amid opposition from the state’s four-year universities, which feared that the new programs might undercut similar programs they offer.

Under the amended bill, community colleges would have to first collaborate with four-year institutions to determine if a partnership can address the workforce need. It also contains provisions meant to avoid the creation of duplicative programs.

Katz Muhl told the committee that she won’t run the bill until she’s certain everyone’s on the same page. But, she doesn’t anticipate any additional changes.

Abortion fund

The House Human Services Committee voted 8-4 to advance legislation that would create a state grant program to pay for abortions for uninsured and underinsured women.

The Affordable Care Act requires insurers that cover abortions beyond the limited circumstances allowed by the federal government under the Hyde Amendment to collect at least $1 per person per month. These funds can only be used to cover abortions, which has resulted in many insurance companies accumulating large sums they can’t fully use.

Under House Bill 5408, sponsored by state Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, insurance companies offering plans on the state’s exchange would have to annually report to the Illinois Department of Insurance how much money is in these separate accounts, how much they spent during the year and remit 90% of remaining funds to a state-controlled abortion access fund. 

California and Maryland have passed similar legislation. The bill is an initiative of Pritzker’s office.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

 Gov. JB Pritzker takes questions from reporters during Agriculture Day at the Illinois Capitol on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jenna Schweikert)

Junk fees, child torture, tipped wage proposals among bills to clear committee

More than 150 measures have moved thus far as House deadline approaches

By JENNA SCHWEIKERT,
BEN SZALINSKI,
PETER HANCOCK
& JERRY NOWICKI
Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com

Article summary 

• Friday marks a House deadline to advance bills out of committee, so lawmakers were scrambling to advance their initiatives. 

• More than 150 bills cleared House committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.

• They include a ban on junk fees, classification of “child torture” as a Class X felony, a retry at a nonprofit savings bill the governor recently vetoed, and a bill to strip Chicago’s authority to alter the minimum wage for tipped workers.  

• All of the measures need approval from both chambers and the governor to become law, and many will be further amended in the coming weeks. 

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House passed more than 150 bills out of committee from Tuesday to Wednesday as it worked toward a Friday deadline to move legislation to the full House. 

The measures included a ban on junk fees, classification of “child torture” as a Class X felony, a retry at a nonprofit savings bill the governor recently vetoed, and a bill to strip Chicago’s authority to alter the minimum wage for workers who make tips. 

All of the measures passed this week are still a long way from final passage, requiring approval from both chambers and the governor to become law. 

Tipped minimum wage 

Lawmakers considered a bill that would end Chicago’s tipped minimum wage ordinance, ultimately passing it in committee despite opposition from some Democrats. House Bill 4623 would give the state exclusive regulatory power over allowance for tips as part of hourly wages, ending home rule authority on that issue. 

The bill would overturn a 2023 Chicago ordinance that would gradually phase out the city’s “tipped minimum wage,” which allows employers to pay tipped workers an amount lower than the standard minimum wage if the rest is made up in tips. 

The city council, however, recently passed an ordinance pausing this year’s scheduled increase. But on Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed that measure.

When Illinois passed its current minimum wage law in 2019, it maintained a provision that allowed employers to pay tipped workers 60% of the minimum wage, which is currently $15 hourly. The restaurant industry lobbied for limiting home rule authority during the passage of the 2019 law, to no avail. 

Bill sponsor Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, said he brought the bill to keep tipped minimum wage laws uniform statewide. His bill does not prevent municipalities from having higher minimum wages than the state.

“Having 200-plus home rule municipalities, it doesn't make a ton of sense for somebody to get the home rule and have one set of goals and then to cross over to another municipality” with other rules, Tarver said. 

Proponents of the bill limiting home rule authority argued that the tipped minimum wage helps keep costs down. Eliminating it could lead to restaurant closures across Chicago, they said.  Opponents generally argued that the legislature shouldn’t encroach on home rule powers, and tipped workers in Chicago deserve the raise. 

The bill passed 22-4, with four Democrats from the Chicago area voting in opposition.

Junk fees 

The House Consumer Protection Committee passed a bill to ban ‘junk fees,’ or hidden charges that are placed on bills but not otherwise posted or advertised. 

House Bill 228 would make it a violation of the existing Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act for a company to post a price that does not include all mandatory fees and surcharges. It also mandates that prices and fees must be clearly disclosed prior to checkout.

This is the third time the committee has considered a bill to ban junk fees, but none have become law.

“At a time when working people are already struggling with rising costs, hidden fees that appear at checkout make it even harder to budget and compare prices,” Economic Security Illinois Action said in a statement. “Banning hidden junk fees and requiring companies to show the full price upfront is a simple, commonsense reform that will bring fairness to our marketplace and protect working families from corporate greed.”

Child torture offense

Democratic lawmakers could take the rare step of adding a new criminal penalty to state law. A House criminal judiciary committee passed House Bill 5562 unanimously on Tuesday, which would create the offense of child torture in state law. Democrats have typically shied away from bills that create new or tougher criminal penalties. 

Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, who sponsored the bill, said it was inspired by a 2019 American Bar Association resolution calling on states to define child torture in their laws. The bill would apply to cases of physical and emotional abuse that “create, increase or prolong the pain, suffering and agony of a child.” The offense would be charged as a Class X felony — the most serious in Illinois. 

Mussman said the bill is important because torture “may not necessarily manifest as physical abuse that results in great bodily harm but still has a tremendous impact on a child’s physical, mental and emotional health.”

Some Democrats said they were concerned the bill was too broad and encouraged Mussman to craft an amendment outlining more specific cases that would be considered torture. 

“Child torture is wrong and terrible and we have a responsibility I think to be very cautious about when we create new Class X felonies because of the severity of that sentence that the conduct that could be sentenced to a Class X should be the most egregious conduct that there is,” Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, said.

Nonprofit investment fund

A bill that would allow the state treasurer to establish a special investment fund for Illinois nonprofit corporations advanced in both chambers of the General Assembly on Wednesday.

The proposal is a revised version of one state Treasurer Michael Frerichs pushed in 2025. It would operate much like Illinois Funds, the pooled investment fund the treasurer’s office operates for state agencies and municipalities.

“This investment pool will allow our nonprofits to invest their money in a fund that will generate substantial interest and have a meaningful impact on their operations,” Frerichs told a Senate committee.

Gov. JB Pritzker vetoed the bill last year, saying it could have the unintended consequence of benefitting fringe and extremist organizations that organize as nonprofits.

The revised bill would limit the types of organizations that could qualify to participate in the investment pool to include Medicaid-certified health care providers, organizations previously certified to receive state grants, federally registered labor organizations and organizations whose missions fall within specified categories such as neighborhood development, affordable housing or services for military veterans.

It would also exclude organizations that are on certain suspension, debarment or stop payment lists for the state or federal government.

The new language is included in two identical bills, House Bill 5045 and Senate Bill 2968. Both bills await final action by the full chambers.

Unemployment benefits

School employees who get summers off would be eligible for unemployment benefits under a bill approved by the House Labor Committee on Wednesday. House Bill 4416 would allow school district employees like bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers to collect benefits in the summer if they are unemployed and cannot find other work. 

Illinois AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Pat Devaney said the bill is a matter of fairness as private contractors hired by school districts are eligible for benefits. The bill passed 18-10, with Republicans voicing concerns it would be a significant cost to districts. Devaney estimated it would cost less than $200 million annually. 

Jury duty pay

House Bill 4844, which would require employers to pay employees their regular rate of pay when they are selected for jury duty, passed 13-7 out of a judiciary committee.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, said jurors can face financial challenges if they’re selected for a case that lasts several weeks, adding he hopes the legislation would make it more affordable for people to serve on a jury.

But Republicans voiced concerns the bill would be burden for businesses because they have to pay an employee who isn’t showing up to work.

Rate increase hearings

House Bill 4514 would require the Illinois Commerce Commission to offer hearings specifically to collect public feedback whenever it holds utility rate increase hearings. It passed 11-6.

The bill comes after a series of controversial rate increase requests from Illinois’ public utility companies.

Currently, the public is allowed to testify at ICC rate increase hearings but are limited to three minutes of testimony and cannot submit written statements. Residents would be allowed to testify and submit statements to the record during the newly required hearings.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

University funding overhaul bill advances in House despite U of I opposition

Legislation would create a need-based formula for universities similar to one used for K-12 schools

By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com

Story Summary

• The bill calls for annual increases in university funding of $135 million each year over the next several years, with priority for new money given to schools that are currently the most underfunded.

• The model is like the Evidence-Based Funding model that Illinois has used for K-12 public schools since 2018.

• A similar bill failed to pass out of a Senate committee last year due in part to opposition from the University of Illinois System, which continues to oppose the plan.

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. 

SPRINGFIELD — A bill that would overhaul the way Illinois funds its public universities advanced out of a House committee Thursday and could face a vote by the full House soon, despite continued opposition from the University of Illinois System, the state’s flagship institution.

House Bill 1581, titled the “Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Act,” would establish a needs-based formula for distributing new funding for universities similar to the Evidence-Based Funding mechanism that has been sued for K-12 school funding since 2018.

It calls for increasing university funding in Illinois by about $135 million each year over the next 15 years. That new funding would be distributed under a formula that sets an adequacy target for each institution and gives priority for new funding to those institutions furthest away from their target.

Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, the bill’s lead House sponsor, said funding for the plan would be subject to legislative appropriations each year while HB 1581 merely establishes a policy under which the new money would be distributed.

“The purpose of this is to establish a funding formula that gives us a baseline that will allow us to build an adequate system for the future,” she told the committee. “This process looks at real consequences, real students, real institutions, some of which are so far from adequacy at 40% to 43% funded from the state.”

The proposal came from a commission lawmakers established in 2021 to develop a new funding system for state universities, some of which were nearly decimated financially by the two-year budget impasse that ran from 2015 to 2017 during former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration.

Public universities generally have three main sources of revenue for their day-to-day operations: state funding; student tuition and fees, and federal funding. Many also have sizeable endowment funds that receive charitable donations from alumni and other philanthropists, but those funds are usually restricted for specific purposes.

In Illinois, as in most states, state funding used to make up the largest single source of a university’s total funding, followed by tuition and fees. Federal funds, not including student financial aid such as Pell grants, typically account for only about 10% to 12% of a university’s total revenue.

But since around the 1980s, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, as higher education costs have risen, states have not kept pace, forcing universities to rely more heavily on tuition and fees.

Jay Gatrell, president of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, told the committee that trend has had a disproportionate impact on smaller regional universities compared to larger flagship universities.

“The reality is that regional public universities serve a significantly greater proportion of low-income, first-generation and underserved students than our nation's flagship campuses do,” he said. “For that reason, higher education funding like the K 12 model should account for these disparities.”

According to estimates provided to the committee, if the proposed formula were being used today, EIU would be ranked as one of the neediest universities in the state, with funding currently at only 49% of its adequacy target. Only Western Illinois University in Macomb, at 48% of its adequacy target, would rank lower.

U of I is most-adequately funded

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, currently at 89% of its adequacy target, is considered the most adequately funded school under the proposed model and would therefore be last in line for new funding.

Nicholas Jones, executive vice president for the U of I System — which also includes campuses in Chicago and Springfield — said that would be unfair to an institution that serves 53% of all public university students in Illinois.

“Equity and adequacy are shared goals, but the proposed equitable funding legislation does not achieve equity or adequacy,” he said. “Instead, it redistributes resources in ways that under-resource the state's strongest public universities, those that drive Illinois' workforce development, anchor the research enterprise and empower economic competitiveness.”

The bill passed the House committee that deals with higher education appropriations by a vote of 12-4. The vote came as House members were working hard to meet a Friday deadline for House bills to pass out of committees.

As that deadline approached, many bills passed out of various committees with a verbal understanding that they would be brought back for further amendments before being voted on by the full House. But Ammons said she expects no further substantive amendments to the higher education funding bill, adding, “But I'm open to talk to anyone who wants to talk to me.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. 

Nicholas Jones, left, executive vice president of the University of Illinois System, testifies before a House Committee opposing a bill to overhaul the way Illinois funds public universities. Also testifying in favor of the bill are Southern Illinois University System President Daniel Mahoney, center, and Eastern Illinois University President Jay Gatrell. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Peter Hancock)

Police shut down illegal dental office in Granite City operated by immigrants

The cash-only operation came to light after a patient complained about a root canal gone bad

Article Summary 

• Prosecutors charged two Venezuelan dentists with operating an unlicensed dental practice out of a Granite City home. 

• Idania Moreno-Paal worked as a dentist in Venezuela, then came to the United States in 2022, records show. 

• She and Rodolfo J. Figuera, of Rolling Meadows, face felony charges of practicing medicine without a license, a felony. 

• Police said they found money, dental equipment and a cache of extracted human teeth during a search of the home. Moreno-Paal, her husband and four children no longer live there.

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. 

By BETH HUNDSDORFER 
Capitol News Illinois 
bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com  

GRANITE CITY — In a small, two-story brick house on a one-way residential street a couple of blocks from the police station, a bootleg dental practice operated, marketed through an encrypted app to the Hispanic community, authorities said.

Clients seeking dental care were led up the back stairs of a house in the 2500 block of Iowa Street and into a darkened room where there were dental chairs, suction hoses, dental surgical tools, orthodontics equipment and an X-ray machine. Cash was the expected payment for services.

It isn’t clear how long this went on. Residents in the working-class neighborhood didn’t notice anything unusual, they said, except for a few more cars parked on the street. 

“This is a pretty quiet street. We don’t have any problems here,” said a woman who lives nearby and didn’t want to be identified. 

For at least a year and half, the house operated as an underground dental practice upstairs until it was shut down last fall, according to a police report.

After a four-month investigation by Granite City police, prosecutors charged Idania J. Moreno-Paal, 41, and Rodolfo Figuera, 59, with felony practicing medicine without a license.

Moreno-Paal, of Granite City, and Figuera, of Rolling Meadows, near Chicago, both practiced as dentists in Venezuela before emigrating to Mexico, then to the United States.

Moreno-Paal, her husband Salvador Francisco Tabacco-Campos and their four children lived in the house, while upstairs she performed everything from cleanings to extractions and even braces, police said, in exchange for cash.

Figuera, who patients knew as “The doctor” would come to the Metro East to treat patients and paid Moreno-Paal to use her home for his appointments, according to a police report. He did not live in Granite City, and his whereabouts are unknown.

According to police, Moreno-Paal and her husband fled Venezuela into Mexico. In 2022, both had been granted temporary protected status work visas to enter the U.S. Tabacco-Campos “possibly owned and operated a pharmacy in Venezuela, according to the police report.

The illegal dentist office has since been shut down, and the whereabouts of Moreno-Paal and her family are unknown. Neither Moreno-Paal nor Figuera had been booked into the Madison County Jail or made a court appearance.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request seeking information about the family and Figuera immigration status, including whether they’ve been deported.

A root canal gone bad

The operation came to police attention in mid-October after a 33-year-old woman reported that she experienced an infection that spread and caused fluid to leach from her ears after a root canal went awry.

The woman spoke to police through a translator and told them she was suffering from a toothache in her rear molar and didn’t have dental insurance. Several of the woman’s co-workers referred her to Moreno-Paal, who she learned was a dentist in her home country of Venezuela.

The woman told police she contacted Moreno-Paal through the encrypted phone app “What’s App” in Spanish.

When the woman arrived at around 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday night, Moreno-Paal let her up the stairs and put her in a chair. The woman told police that Moreno-Paal gave her a pill and she lost consciousness and awoke after receiving a root canal. She left after Moreno-Paal gave her a pack of pills and told her to take one every eight hours. The woman told police she paid $850 in cash and left. 

Two days later, she returned to the Granite City house suffering from pain and swelling.

Moreno-Paal and a man, later identified as Figuera, proceeded to surgically extract the infected tooth.

The infection did not abate. The woman was treated in two local emergency rooms. Eventually, the infection relented, but then the hospital bills came.  

The woman went to Hoyleton Youth and Family Services seeking financial assistance with the medical bills, according to police reports. 

A Hoyleton worker contacted Granite City police. Two days later, Granite City police executed a search warrant on the house. 

According to a police report documenting the search, they found a container with human teeth inside, dental equipment, narcotics, six cell phones, notes and ledgers, bank statements and $1,254 in cash. 

A violation of the TRUST Act?

In their report, Granite City police noted that they conducted a records check through the Department of Homeland Security regarding Moreno-Paal, Tabacco-Campos and their four children.

The Illinois TRUST Act, signed into law in 2017, regulates local law enforcement interactions with federal immigration agents. It prohibits them from holding individuals solely on immigration detainers, stopping people based on perceived status, or sharing nonpublic information without a judicial warrant.

At the time, the TRUST Act was one of nation’s strongest state-level due-process protections for immigrants, designed to shield them from being deported while interacting with local police.  

Granite City police did not respond to requests for comment about the case or whether they assisted Immigration and Custom Enforcements agents. The Illinois attorney general’s office also did not respond.

In a May 2022 interview with a Mexican newspaper, Excelsior, Moreno-Paal told a reporter she did not want to go to the United States initially because she could not practice dentistry without going back to school.

Something changed after that.  Moreno-Paal and her husband, Tabacco-Campos, both were issued temporary visitor drivers licenses in February 2023 — six months before they filled out paperwork applying for an occupancy permit for the house on the Iowa Street. 

A man who spoke only in Spanish answered the door at the house earlier this month and said he now resided at the home and the dentist’s family no longer lived there. He didn’t know their current whereabouts and pointed to a mailbox stuffed with mail addressed to the couple.

After the search warrants were executed in October, Granite City detectives Noe Marquez and Brandon Shellenberg brought Moreno-Paal in for an interview. She denied the amount of income that she derived from the practice, according to a police report documenting the interview. When detectives confronted her with bank statements and wire transfers, she told them what she was doing with the money.

“She explained the money was for a home she purchased back in Venezuela,” according to the report. 

Moreno-Paal told the detectives she purchased the medications found in the home from local Mexican grocery stores, the report stated. 

The neighbor who lived down the street told a reporter that she didn’t know the couple’s whereabouts either but noted there have been other people living at the house since the search warrant was executed in October.

“It should be noted the above incident was not reported to the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation at the completion of this report in order for further criminal investigation to be completed,” the police report stated.

The department has no reports on file regarding Moreno-Paal and Figuera, according to the agency’s spokesperson.Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.  

The house in the 2500 block of Iowa Street in Granite City where an illegal dental office operated. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Beth Hundsdorfer)

INDOT cuts ribbon on new I-64 welcome center in southwest Indiana

POSEY COUNTY, Ind. – Earlier today, the Indiana Department of Transportation joined public officials and contracting partners for a ceremonial ribbon cutting to mark the opening of the newly constructed Black River Welcome Center on eastbound I-64 near mile marker 7 in Posey County.

The new welcome center is inspired by the boyhood home of President Abraham Lincoln. Interactive exhibits feature historical information about the 16th president. Also featured are former presidents from Indiana, Benjamin Harrison (23rd president) and William Henry Harrison (9th president). Visitors will be able to utilize additional interactive exhibits and design elements that highlight southern Indiana.

“The new Black River Welcome Center showcases the very best of Indiana, our history, our hospitality, and our commitment to serving travelers,” said Gov. Mike Braun. “Opening this facility as our nation approaches its 250th anniversary gives visitors a meaningful opportunity to connect with Indiana’s role in shaping America’s story.”

Other amenities at the welcome center include an adult recreation area, children's playground, and dog park. Increased semi-truck parking will also be available, with 75 spaces in total, an increase of 60 spaces from the previous welcome center. Through INDOT's long-term rest area and welcome center improvement plan, the agency will add more than 1,200 truck parking spaces, nearly doubling capacity statewide.

"INDOT is committed to providing safe, informative environments where travelers can rest and recharge through our Rest Area and Welcome Center Improvement Plan,” said INDOT Commissioner Lyndsay Quist. “Giving motorists a place to take a break is just another way INDOT is working to make our roadways safer.”

The statewide improvement plan includes more than $600 million in federal funding for improvements to 21 rest areas and welcome centers to be completed by the end of Fiscal Year 2034. Improvements include modernizing facilities, constructing new buildings, and improving parking. Learn more about the plan and construction timeline here.

Construction of the Black River welcome center began in 2023 and was led by prime contractor Garmong Construction Services of Terre Haute. The new welcome center opened to the public after the event.

City Taking Action Against Dilapidated Properties

Mount Carmel officials say efforts to address nuisance and abandoned properties are ongoing, but the process can take time.

At last Monday’s City Council meeting, City Attorney Derek McCollough reported that the city has recently completed foreclosure proceedings on two properties where buildings had previously been demolished.

McCollough explained that when the city tears down unsafe structures, it places a lien on the property to recover demolition and legal costs. Those liens have now gone through the court system, and sheriff’s sales are expected within the next six weeks.

He added that several additional properties are currently in the pipeline as the city continues working to clean up blighted areas.

Mayor Joe Judge said the process is often more complex than residents may realize. He noted the city must first determine ownership and provide proper legal notification before taking action.

Judge said in some cases, especially with bank-owned properties, it can take months—or even more than a year—to identify the responsible party and move forward.

He emphasized the importance of following proper procedures, noting that rushing the process could leave the city financially responsible for demolition costs.

Judge thanked residents for their patience and said the city remains committed to addressing nuisance properties as efficiently as possible while following legal requirements.

WGH Board Approves AI Technology

Wabash General Hospital is taking a step forward in technology, as its Board of Directors approved the use of artificial intelligence to improve patient care and efficiency.

During Monday evening’s meeting, hospital officials outlined plans to adopt DAX AI, a Microsoft Copilot-based system that integrates with the hospital’s Epic medical records platform. The technology uses “ambient listening” to automatically document patient visits, allowing physicians to focus more on face-to-face interaction rather than typing notes.

Hospital leaders say the system will reduce after-hours paperwork—often referred to as “pajama time”—by about 24 percent, while also allowing providers to see more patients each month.

Officials emphasized the move is not intended to replace staff, but to shift duties toward more patient-facing roles and improve overall workflow.

The system has been piloted for several months with six providers, who reported positive results.

The board unanimously approved moving forward with the technology, with a cost of about 595 dollars per provider, per month.

Indiana State Police InvestigateDouble Fatality on SR 66 near Reo, Driver Arrested

Spencer County – Tuesday evening, March 24, at approximately 5:50 p.m., Indiana State Police and Spencer County Sheriff’s Office responded to a head-on collision that resulted in a double fatality and two injuries.

According to Trooper Lauer, the driver of a 2019 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck was traveling westbound on SR 66 east of CR 400 West when for unknown reasons drove left of center and collided into a 2014 Toyota Corolla that was traveling eastbound. The driver of the Toyota, Larry Lindsey, 54, of Rockport, and a passenger in the rear seat, Barry Morris, 64, of Whitesville, KY, were pronounced dead at the scene. A second passenger in the Toyota, Jonathan Hurm, 49, of Owensboro, KY, was transported to Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Evansville, but was later transferred to Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis for his injuries.  The driver of the Chevrolet Colorado was identified as Lindsey Baxter, 29, of Evansville, IN.  Baxter was taken to Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Evansville where he was treated and released. 

The Spencer County Prosecutor’s Office issued a felony arrest warrant for Baxter. Wednesday afternoon, March 25, at approximately 1:00 p.m., Indiana State Police Drug Enforcement Section arrested Baxter at his residence in Evansville without incident. He is currently being transported to the Spencer County Jail.

Baxter is charged with the following offenses:

• 2 Counts of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated causing Death, Level 4 Felony

• 1 Count of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated causing Serious Bodily Injury, Level 5 Felony

SR 66 was closed for approximately 2 ½ hours while this crash was being investigated.

Investigating Officer: Trooper Jacob Lauer, Indiana State Police

Assisting Agencies: Spencer County Sheriff’s Office, Spencer County EMS, Warrick County EMS, Ohio Twp. Fire Department, Luce Fire Territory, and INDOT

Wabash District #348 Moves Toward Streamlined Federal Funding Plan Approval

The Wabash District #348 School Board reviewed several key planning documents tied to federal funding during Monday night’s meeting.

District Curriculum Director Michael Brewer told board members the district is preparing its consolidated district plan, which serves as a single application covering multiple federal grants.

Brewer explained the updated process streamlines what used to be separate applications, combining information for up to 12 different federal programs into one comprehensive planning document. He said the plan outlines a wide range of information about each school and the district as a whole, and will be presented for approval in April.

As part of that process, the board reviewed several supporting documents this month, including school-wide plans for each building tied to Title I funding.

Brewer said those plans outline how each school will meet academic standards, provide resources, support at-risk students, and implement instructional strategies. Because all district buildings meet the threshold for school-wide Title I programs, he said the district has more flexibility in how funds are used to support students.

The board also reviewed a new district-wide parent involvement policy, which is now required as part of the consolidated plan.

Brewer said the policy provides a general framework for engaging families, while each individual school outlines its own specific efforts, such as PTO programs, school events, and parent-teacher conferences.

Board members discussed the ongoing challenge of increasing parent involvement, particularly at higher grade levels, though Brewer noted the district continues to explore ways to improve engagement.

The documents reviewed Monday will be incorporated into the final consolidated district plan, which is expected to come before the board for approval next month.

Wabash General Bringing Mobile MRI On-Site Full-Time to Boost Patient Access

Wabash General Hospital is making a change to its mobile MRI services in an effort to improve access and stability for patients.

During Monday evening’s board meeting, President and CEO Karissa Turner announced the hospital will transition away from its current shared MRI service agreement and instead bring the mobile unit to Mount Carmel on a more permanent basis.

Turner said the hospital will continue using the same mobile MRI unit, but it will now be parked at Wabash General Hospital full-time under a new agreement for up to 36 months, with the option to end the contract after 24 months.

She said the move is designed to provide greater consistency in MRI services, especially as the hospital continues to expand orthopedic care.

The change will also significantly increase availability. Turner says the hospital expects to add around 100 additional MRI appointment slots per month, with expanded hours that could eventually include six or even seven days a week.

Hospital officials noted the current setup involves travel time between facilities, which limits availability. Having the unit on site full-time will eliminate those delays and allow for more efficient scheduling.

Turner also said the updated agreement includes a software upgrade to the MRI unit and will slightly increase the monthly lease cost.

The transition is expected to take place in mid-April.

Hospital leaders say the move is a key step in improving patient access while preparing for future plans to bring MRI services permanently in-house.