Illinois

Rancid, unsafe water at Illinois prisons threatens health, violates human rights, groups allege

Published

2 years ago

April 15, 2024

Press Room

Rancid, unsafe water at Illinois prisons threatens health, violates human rights, groups allege

Brian Harrington remembers the water in prison.

Sometimes it was brown or maybe it had black particles. Sometimes it smelled bad, he said.

“You would wake up and it smelled like a sewer,” he said.

Harrington was 14 when he was sentenced to 25 years for murder. He served just over half that time before Gov. J.B. Pritzker granted him a rare clemency in 2020.

Now Harrington advocates for more humane treatment and better conditions for those incarcerated in the state prisons.

He’s part of a coalition of groups that Monday petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking that officials there step in and require the Pritzker administration to provide clean water to prisoners.

The petition alleges “chronic and systemic shortcomings” within the state’s departments of corrections, public health and environmental protection.

“A prison sentence is not a license for the state to deprive people of basic necessities,” the groups said in their petition.

Brian Harrington recalls foul-smelling, dirty water when he served time in Illinois prisons. Now he advocates for inmates.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

The allegedly rancid water at Illinois prisons violates the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and the U.S. EPA should step in, the groups led by the Coalition to Decarcerate Illinois said.

The issues have been going on for decades at some prisons, the groups said, adding that there were examples of problems reported even in recent weeks and months.

In January, Legionella bacteria was found at the Joliet Treatment Center, leading to “health conditions like diarrhea and throat irritation,” the groups said.

In March, prisoners complained that the Centralia Correctional Center reported that water service was cut off and that sewage was flowing out of drains and flooding floors.

At one downstate institution, Pontiac Correctional Center, prisoners “report a black oily substance in their water so significant that they use mattress stuffing, sheets and T-shirts to filter the water,” the document to EPA claims. Complaints from incarcerated people date back at least six years at Pontiac, the petitioners said.

At Pontiac and elsewhere, inmates have complained about high blood pressure, headaches and other health issues, the groups said.

Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said in a statement that the EPA receives water-quality data for prisons from the state, and Illinois environmental officials separately inspect the institutions.

“The most recent drinking water quality data did not reflect any violations of applicable state or federal law,” Gough said.

Problems with water were discovered last year, however, and are being dealt with, he added.

Following inspections in 2022 and 2023, state corrections officials “developed plans to enhance its drinking water infrastructure” and entered into agreements with Illinois environmental regulators.

After complaints, state officials look into the matter, he said, adding that “recent complaints have included concerns regarding cloudy water, discolored water or odor.”

A state consultant’s report last year noted that the Illinois Department of Corrections had $2.5 billion in deferred maintenance, the advocacy groups said.

Last month, the governor announced a plan to rebuild the Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum-security facility near Joliet, and Logan Correctional Center, a women’s prison just north of Springfield.

Harrington, an artist who calls himself King Moosa, is thankful to Pritzker for freeing him from prison.

Now, he hopes the governor will act to help others who are incarcerated.

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Illinois

Voters had no choice in nearly 9-in-10 primary elections

Published

9 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Voters had no choice in nearly 9-in-10 primary elections

Illinois voting data shows voters had no choice of candidate in nearly 9-in-10 Democratic and Republican primaries for state and federal office in 2024.

Voters had no choice of candidate in nearly nine out of every 10 Republican and Democratic primary elections for state and federal office in 2024.

Analysis of Illinois voting data shows Democrats ran one or no candidate in 135 of the 155 primary elections for the U.S. House, Illinois Senate and Illinois House. That left voters with a choice between candidates in just 20 races.

Meanwhile, Republicans only ran one or no candidate in 137 of the 155 primary elections last year for non-judicial state and federal positions, giving voters of a choice in just 18 races.

In total, there were 155 primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois Senate and Illinois House in 2024. Democrats did not run a candidate in 28 of these races while Republicans failed to run a candidate in 50.

And in the 107 Democratic primaries and 87 Republican primaries were only one candidate ran for the position, those candidates secured their spot on the general election ballot with a single primary vote.

To get on the primary ballot for Illinois Senate, the Illinois General Assembly mandates established party candidates to get 1,000 petition signatures from district party members. Illinois House candidates need 500 signatures. For U.S. House, either party’s candidates need signatures from 0.5% of all primary voters from their party in the district.

This lack of choice between candidates for Democratic and Republican party primaries also left general election voters with fewer choices on the ballot.

In the 2024 election cycle, 65 of the 155 non-judicial state and federal general elections had only one candidate on the ballot. That means in 65 districts, it only took one vote for a candidate to win a seat representing the entire district.

Illinoisans already suffer from a lack of choice in candidates. Research shows an average of 4.7 million Illinois voters had no choice in their state representative between the 2012 and 2020 election cycles.

Research shows more choice drives voter participation and makes legislators less susceptible to the influence of lobbyists and special interests. Lightly contested elections also tend to skew policies in favor of powerful special interests.

Illinois should consider reforms that will give voters more choices at the ballot box, such as making it easier for independents to enter the general election like they do in Iowa, Wisconsin and Tennessee.

Until that happens, Illinoisans will continue to see elections with too few choices and too much influence handed to those already in power.

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Illinois

2 men shot, 1 fatally, outside bar in Morris, police say

Published

21 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

2 men shot, 1 fatally, outside bar in Morris, police say

MORRIS, Ill. (WLS) — A man was killed and another was injured in a shooting outside of a bar in Grundy County.

The shooting happened early Saturday outside of Clayton’s Tap in the 100 block of West Washington Street in Morris, Illinois, officials said.

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The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, where they found two men with gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The victim who died was identified by the Grundy County Coroner’s Office as 35-year-old Julian Rosario of Channahon.

A suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Marshall Szpara of Seneca, was arrested and “initially charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, pending further review from the Grundy County States Attorney’s office,” Morris police said.

No further information was available.

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Illinois

Firefighter faces arson charges after Illinois wildfire burns hundreds of acres

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Firefighter faces arson charges after Illinois wildfire burns hundreds of acres

A volunteer firefighter is facing arson charges after he allegedly set a fire in a Lee County wildlife preserve, scorching hundreds of acres.

According to authorities, 21-year-old Trent Schaefer, a volunteer firefighter in Ohio, Illinois, was charged with one count of arson in connection to a fire that occurred in the Green River State Wildlife Management Area Friday.

On that date, temperatures had soared into the 60s, winds were whipping at more than 30 miles per hour, and humidity plunged below 30%, leading the National Weather Service to issue warnings on the danger of wildfires in Illinois.

It is alleged that Schaefer was seen by witnesses getting out of a vehicle and igniting multiple small fires within the nature preserve, which then coalesced into a larger blaze.

Those witnesses were able to restrain the suspect until Lee County sheriff’s deputies arrested him.

Image taken by Lee County Sheriff’s Office

By the time firefighters arrived on scene the blaze had already spread, and multiple departments were called in to assist with the fire, including the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control by the late afternoon, but not before it burned more than 700 acres, according to authorities.

Schaefer is also a suspect in several other arsons around Lee County, but he has not been charged in any other fires at this time.

Illinois State Police are assisting with the investigation, and no further information was immediately available.

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