NW Illinois News

Senator Andrew Chesney recently visited Scales Mound High School to present a $500 scholarship to the school's Trap Team. The funding, provided by the Illinois Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, is intended to support the school’s trap shooting program. The caucus is recognized as one of the largest and oldest in the General Assembly, with members from both legislative chambers. Illinois has about 500,000 recreational shooters, and trap shooting is accessible to people of all ages.

Coach Jeremy Williams of the Scales Mound Trap Team expressed appreciation for the donation: “We participate in the Illinois State High School Clay Target League through USA High School Clay Target League. The support we receive from Senator Chesney does not go unnoticed nor does the support from our community. All these athletes work hard to accomplish goals during every spring and fall trap shooting season. Thank you very much to Senator Andrew Chesney and the Illinois Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus for this $500.00 grant.”

In other news from Stephenson County, authorities are investigating a fatal single-vehicle crash that occurred on September 23 near U.S. Route 20 East and Rock City Road. According to a release from the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded at around 3:07 p.m., finding a vehicle with significant front-end damage in a ditch. The driver, a 76-year-old woman from Galena, was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Preliminary findings suggest that her vehicle veered off westbound U.S. Route 20 East for unknown reasons before striking an embankment and coming to rest near a residential driveway; all airbags deployed during the incident. Authorities have withheld her name pending notification of family members and scheduled an autopsy for later that day. The German Valley Fire Department and Stephenson County Coroner’s Office assisted at the scene.

State government spending has increased by nearly 40 percent over seven years under Governor JB Pritzker's administration, despite record tax collections in Illinois. Last week, Governor Pritzker signed an executive order directing agencies to reduce budgets by up to four percent while attributing fiscal challenges to federal policies rather than state spending practices.

Senator Chesney commented on these developments: “While Pritzker seeks to blame Washington, I believe the problem lies with state spending. Earlier this year, Governor Pritzker signed a budget totaling more than $55 billion and added over $1 billion in new taxes and revenue gimmicks on the backs of Illinois taxpayers and businesses.” He also criticized proposals such as delivery taxes on packages and service taxes affecting everyday expenses.

Chesney noted that private-sector job growth continues to lag behind neighboring states while families face rising living costs amid expanding government payrolls and programs.

Additionally, Cameron Jones—a native of Savanna—has been selected as one of ten astronaut candidates in NASA’s 2025 class out of more than 8,000 applicants nationwide. Jones is a major in the U.S. Air Force with extensive flight experience across more than thirty aircraft types including combat missions.

Jones holds degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has completed advanced training at both Edwards Air Force Base Test Pilot School and Nellis Air Force Base Weapons School. At his selection time he was serving as an Academic Fellow at DARPA.

The new astronaut class began training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston this September; their two-year curriculum includes survival skills, robotics training, geology studies, medical instruction, language courses, simulated spacewalks, and high-performance jet flights. Upon completion they will be eligible for missions involving destinations such as the International Space Station or future lunar or Mars expeditions.

Chesney was elected as Republican State Senator representing Illinois’ 45th District in 2023 after succeeding Brian Stewart.