Updated: Urbana to host two 'NO KINGS' protests on June 14

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Urbana will host a "NO KINGS" on June 14, part of a national day of protest against authoritarianism. Organizers say the protests aim to defend democratic values on Flag Day.

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Editor's Note: We just learned there will be only one rally on June 14 in Urbana, starting at 4pm. Originally, this story, as left intact below, noted there would be two separate protests.

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URBANA - Two “NO KINGS” rallies are planned in Urbana on June 14, Flag Day, as part of a nationwide protest timed to coincide with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday and the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.

Photo: Vivien/Pixabay

The first rally will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Meadowbrook Park, 2808 S. Race St., and is one of more than a dozen events scheduled in downstate Illinois to denounce what organizers describe as a growing threat of authoritarianism in American politics.

“In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings,” reads the event description. “NO KINGS is a national day of action in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption from Trump and his allies.”

The day of action continues from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Champaign County Courthouse in downtown Urbana. That protest is organized by Champaign County Indivisible, 50501 Illinois, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation - Central Illinois. Organizers are encouraging participants to bring signs, water, and a shared commitment to democratic values.

“Bring a desire to maintain our democracy,” reads the event post. “We already fought one war to oust a king. The United States does NOT HAVE A KING!!”

After the courthouse protest, a free community dinner will be served at 6 p.m. at the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center in Lincoln Square Mall, sponsored by the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

June 14 holds multiple historical ties. It is officially recognized as Flag Day in the United States, commemorating the adoption of the national flag in 1777. The date also marks the death of Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold, 224 years ago. Despite President Trump’s participation in Army birthday celebrations in Washington, which will include a parade and fireworks, the Army told Reuters it has no official plans to recognize the president’s birthday during the observance.

Organizers of the NO KINGS events say they are responding to what they view as attacks on free speech, judicial independence, and democratic institutions. The coordinated rallies seek to affirm public opposition to executive overreach and political repression.

Here is a list of additional NO KINGS protest in downstate:

• NO KINGS Quad Cities IL/IA
  Schwiebert Riverfront Park, 101 17th St, Rock Island, IL
  June 14, 1 PM - 3 PM CDT
  Hosted by Indivisible QC https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/790829/


• NO KINGS Macomb, Illinois
  Macomb, IL
  June 14
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/786088/


• NO KINGS Ottawa, IL
  Ottawa, IL
  June 14
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/790175/


• NO KINGS Yorkville
  North Bridge Street N Bridge St, Yorkville, IL
  June 14 11AM – 3PM
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/792577/


• NO KINGS Springfield, IL
  401 S 2nd St, Springfield, IL
  June 14 11AM – 3PM
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/792965/


• NO KINGS Bloomington, IL
  600 N East St, Bloomington, IL
  June 14 12PM – 1PM
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/793601/


• NO KINGS Ogle County
  Ogle County Circuit Clerk, 106 S 5th St, Oregon, IL
  June 14, 3 PM - 5 PM CDT
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/791484/


• NO KINGS MASS PROTEST: ST LOUIS MARCH for DEMOCRACY
  Kiener Plaza, Downtown St. Louis, MO
  June 14, 2 PM - 5 PM CDT
  Hosted by 50501 and Show Me Action https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/793460/


• NO KINGS - South County St. Louis
  Intersection of S. Lindbergh and Baptist Church, 5330 S Lindbergh Blvd, Sappington, MO
  June 14, 11 AM - 1 PM CDT
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/784867/


• NO KINGS : Southern Illinois
  Carbondale Civic Center, 200 N Illinois Ave, Carbondale, IL
  June 14, 1 PM - 3 PM CDT
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/787389/


• NO KINGS Cape Girardeau
  Cape Girardeau, MO
  June 14
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/786583/


• NO KINGS Macoupin County Courthouse - Carlinville, IL
  Macoupin County Courthouse, 201 E Main St, Carlinville, IL 62626
  June 14 2PM – 4PM
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/793360/


• NO KINGS Belleville, IL
  Downtown Belleville around the Square Fountain, 10 Public Square,
  Belleville, IL 62220
  June 14 2PM – 4PM
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/789609/


• Alton People's United Lovejoy Monument, 1205 E 5th St, Alton, IL 62002
  June 14 10AM – 12PM
  Volunteer organized https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/791555/

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Judge blocks Trump administration order cutting off access to pandemic relief money

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U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, of the Southern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of an order that Education Secretary Linda McMahon issued on Friday, March 28.

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by Peter Hancock
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD — A federal judge in New York issued a preliminary order Tuesday blocking the Trump administration from cutting off states’ access to hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic relief funds for public schools, including more than $77 million for Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois file photo

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is pictured in a file photo. He was part of a lawsuit securing a temporary injunction to stop the Trump administration from cutting off more than $77 million in education funds to the state.

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U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, of the Southern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of an order that Education Secretary Linda McMahon issued on Friday, March 28. That order reversed earlier decisions to grant the states additional time to spend funds they had been allocated.

The effect of McMahon’s order was to immediately cut off access to funds that states said they had already committed to spend but not yet made the actual expenditures.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a coalition of 17 states in suing the federal government to block McMahon’s order.

“The Trump administration’s shortsighted and illegal decision to attempt to rescind already-appropriated education funding would hurt vulnerable students the most and could wreak havoc on the budgets of school districts throughout Illinois and the nation,” Raoul said in a statement Tuesday.

The lawsuit over pandemic-related education money is one of more than a dozen multistate suits Raoul has joined, in combination with other Democratic state attorneys general, challenging actions Trump has taken since being sworn in for a second term Jan. 20.

In 2020 and 2021, Congress passed several relief and economic stimulus packages totaling trillions of dollars to help individuals, businesses and state and local governments deal with the financial consequences of the pandemic. For schools, that included costs associated with preparing for the safe return to in-person learning, addressing the learning loss students suffered during the extended period of school closures, and addressing some of the unique needs of homeless children that were exacerbated by the pandemic.

According to the complaint, Illinois was awarded just over $5 billion in “education stabilization” funds under the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, which was enacted in March 2021. Of that, $77.2 million remained obligated but not yet spent as of the end of March 2025.

Those funds had been earmarked for such things as teacher mentoring, statewide instructional coaching, new principal mentoring, trauma response initiatives, the creation of social-emotional learning hubs and contracts for technology infrastructure upgrades, according to the complaint.

Under ARPA, those funds were intended to cover expenses incurred through Sept. 30, 2023. Subsequent legislation gave states an additional year, to Sept. 30, 2024, to “obligate” their funds. And under agency regulations, they had another 120 days beyond that to draw down the funds, although they were also given the option of requesting further extensions.

In January 2025, Illinois requested, and later received, permission to extend its deadline for drawing down the remainder of its funds to March 28, 2026. Other states involved in the lawsuit also received extensions.

But on Friday, March 28, 2025, the Department of Education issued a memo rescinding those extensions, effectively cutting off the states’ access to any unspent funds.

“Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion,” McMahon said in a memo to state education agency heads.

The injunction means the Department of Education cannot enforce the order, at least while the case is still being litigated or until the court issues a different order.

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.

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Champaign-Urbana comes together for Hands-Off! rally

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

CHAMPAIGN - Over a thousand people gathered at West Park for the Hands-Off! Mobilization rally on Saturday at noon. Across the nation, hundreds of thousands of Americans participated in a national day of action to protest policies implemented since Donald Trump began his second term as President. Critics highlight Trump's frequent use of executive orders, bypassing legislative process, which they argue has harmed the country's reputation, economy, and exacerbated societal divisions. The two-hour rally featured several guest speakers who shared their thoughts on the state of the country since Trump has taken office. Conservative estimates put the attendance significantly above last Saturday's rain-soaked Rally for Democracy organized by Champaign-Urbana Resistance Effort (CURE) in Urbana. See more photos here ...

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Commentary |Project 2025's plan to do away with Medicad and Medicare

Fernando Zhiminaicela/Pixabay

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While admitting that Medicare and Medicaid “help many,” the authors of Project 2025 nonetheless declare that the programs “operate as runaway entitlements that stifle medical innovation,

by Sonali Kolhatkar

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Conservatives have done the United States a huge favor by explaining in detail what they’ll try to do if Donald Trump is reelected.

Project 2025, a “presidential transition project” of the Heritage Foundation, helpfully lays out how a group of former Trump officials would like to transform the country into a right-wing dystopia where the rich thrive and the rest of us die aspiring to be rich. 

Declaring in its Mandate for Leadership that “unaccountable federal spending is the secret lifeblood of the Great Awokening” (really!), the plan focuses heavily on reversing social progress on the rights of racial and sexual minorities. 

It also promises to decimate the most popular benefits programs in the U.S.: Medicare and Medicaid. 

In a section dedicated to the Department of Health and Human Services, Project 2025 declares that “HHS is home to Medicare and Medicaid, the principal drivers of our $31 trillion national debt.” 

This is a popular conservative framing used to justify ending social programs. In fact, per person Medicare spending has plateaued for more than a decade and represents one of the greatest reductions to the federal debt.

While admitting that Medicare and Medicaid “help many,” the authors of Project 2025 nonetheless declare that the programs “operate as runaway entitlements that stifle medical innovation, encourage fraud, and impede cost containment, in addition to which their fiscal future is in peril.” 

To solve these imaginary problems, they suggest making “Medicare Advantage the default enrollment option” rather than traditional Medicare.

But Medicare Advantage (MA) is not a government-run healthcare program. It’s merely a way to turn tax dollars into profits for private health insurers. The more that MA providers deny coverage, the more money their shareholders make. There is no incentive for them to cover the health care needs of seniors.

There is plenty of evidence that MA programs not only fleece taxpayers by submitting inflated reimbursement bills to the government but also routinely deny necessary medical coverage. 

In other words, they’re drinking out of both sides of the government trough.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research pointed out in a March 2024 paper that the “insurance companies that run these MA plans spend significant sums of money to blanket seniors with marketing” while relying on “heavily restricted networks that damage one’s choice of provider along with dangerous delays and denials of necessary care.”

But Project 2025 claims, without evidence, that “the MA program has been registering consistently high marks for superior performance in delivering high-quality care.” 

Medicaid, the government program that covers health care for the lowest-income Americans, including millions of children, is also a major target of the conservative authors.

They want to add work requirements to the benefit, adopting the familiar conservative trope of low-income Americans living off tax dollars because they’re too lazy to work. And like the MA programs, they want to allow private insurers to get in on the game.

Calling Medicaid a “cumbersome, complicated, and unaffordable burden on nearly every state,” Project 2025 complains about the program’s increased eligibility while at the same time claiming to care about how it impacts “those who are most in need.”

But a June 2024 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concludes that Medicaid’s expanded eligibility rules have helped insure millions of Americans who would otherwise be uninsured and saved money in state budgets. 

Most encouragingly, “the people who gained coverage have grown healthier and more financially secure, while long-standing racial inequities in health outcomes, coverage, and access to care have shrunk.” 

Project 2025 claims to have the underlying ideology to “incentivize personal responsibility,” as if its authors simply want Americans to begin acting like responsible grownups. But they mysteriously don’t apply this same standard to wealthy elites — perhaps because that’s precisely who they are.

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Sonali Kolhatkar is the host of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. This commentary was produced by the Economy for All project at the Independent Media Institute and adapted for syndication by OtherWords.org.

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When it comes to gerrymandering, Illinois flunks big time

by Mark Richardson
Illinois News Connection

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CHICAGO - A national watchdog group studied how all 50 states handle the biennial process of redrawing their congressional district lines - and has given Illinois a failing grade.

Common Cause issued its report this week, analyzing how effective each state has been in drawing fair, independent and balanced district maps. Only two states - California and Massachusetts - earned an "A" while 17 states were in the "D" or "F" category.

Dan Vicuña, national redistricting director for Common Cause, said there was a consistent thread among the states that rated poorly.

"The states that rank near the bottom shared some things in common," he said, "which include a lack of transparency and an unwillingness to give the public much, or any, notice about when meetings would take place; having redistricting hearings for the public during traditional working hours."

The report said Illinois was a "nearly perfect model" for everything that can go wrong with redistricting. The state Legislature scheduled hearings in places and at times when many people could not attend. The report said the result was heavily gerrymandered in favor of Democrats, which drew lawsuits from a half-dozen civil-rights groups.

To improve the process, Vicuña said, Illinois needs to develop a nonpartisan system or commission with broad representation to draw up districts, hold well-advertised hearings in public places after work hours, increase language assistance and improve access for people with disabilities.

"States that find a different path and take that power away and create citizen commissions, create bipartisan, multi-partisan processes for drawing districts - keeping political insiders boxed out of the process, and making redistricting community-centered - has resulted in great success," he said.

Vicuña said Illinois lawmakers drew congressional and state legislative districts through the legislative process, using it in this cycle to protect a Democratic supermajority. Reformers have twice put ballot initiatives in front of voters to create independent, citizen redistricting commissions in the last decade, winning both times. However, both laws were subsequently struck down by the IllWhinois Supreme Court.

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Letter to the Editor: Jesus would have been a socialist

Dear Editor,

The Republican party boasts it holds the market on Christianity. It should own up and embrace - “What would Jesus do?” On almost any political issue whether its immigration, gun violence, crime, or social issues, including care for the – destitute, homeless, sick, mentally ill or climate change…etc., republicans hate the question and pivot to “What about abortion?”

Noteworthy, there is no mention of abortion in the Bible, but love for and how we should treat our neighbors, including immigrants and needy is mentioned many times throughout. I don’t know of anybody “for” abortion. Yet, republicans demonize pro-choicers that believe what a woman does with her body, reproductive organs or abortion a personal decision between her and God as “baby killers.” Pro-choicers support counseling and adoption as alternatives and more accessible.

When asked, “What would Jesus do at our border?” conservatives counter with extreme responses like “Would you let them into your home?” That’s literally a “devil’s advocate” response, but Jesus would.

With respect to the immigration problem and the needy, there is no better parable than Mathew 25: 35-40 - “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; …”

Republicans fear compassion and letting immigrants into our country will make it weaker and is naïve. There’s no evidence, but that’s where Christian faith comes in. Throughout the Bible God rewarded kingdoms and individuals that practiced his teachings, guidance and instructions with faith and punished those that didn’t.

Had the word socialist existed during Jesus’s ministry, Pharisees no doubt would have called him and followers socialists for administering and advocating for the out-casted, oppressed and needy.

According to Gallup 47% of Americans attend church. In the last two decades I’ve witnessed a large drop in attendance. I can’t help contribute people being less accountable for their actions and how they treat people, especially immigrants, to the decline.

My church service opens: “Here we love God, love our neighbor…” In respect to the problem at our border, “love our neighbor” as Jesus taught should resonate within the heart and souls of all Christians. Churches conduct ministries overseas, but where’s their presence at the border? How can we turn our back on those trying to survive, escape violence and persecution, when our country is the wealthiest in the world?

Because of all the Internet hate filled chatter, threats of violence, dog whistling, the coup attempt on January 6th seemed possible. When Obama was elected, moderate republican think tanks stated that to win an election their party had to garnish the vote of people of color. After Obama was re-elected republicans consisting of a growing number of white supremacists and violent militia recognized that their party couldn’t win fairly and were willing to win at any cost even if it meant storming the capitol, stopping the electoral vote count and overturning the election. Bullied by extremists, moderate republicans have cowardly stood back and allowed the hijack of their party and assault on our democracy.

Republicans fear whites becoming the minority, as trend indicates, and immigrants gaining citizenship and right to vote will reduce chances of winning elections. By demonizing and stereotyping immigrants as gang members, drug traffickers, rapists, stoking fear and greed saying they are going to take jobs and material resources, believe they can stop or delay the inevitable.

The federal government administers over 80 programs that address specific needs of the poor, destitute, homeless, sick, physically and mentally disabled, under un-and-under educated and disadvantaged. In the past decade practically all of these programs and bills below passed by democrats were opposed by republicans along partisan lines.

The Covid pandemic reaped havoc in hundreds of millions of deaths and on the world economy, resulting in worldwide inflation. In response congress passed: American Rescue Plan providing economic relief and saving millions from eviction; and Inflation Reduction Act that makes urgent investments to lower - prescription drug, health care, and energy costs, takes most aggressive action to confront the climate crisis and shifts the tax burden from lower and middle income to the super wealthy. By executive order the President made hearing aids available over the counter and much more affordable.

Nowhere greater is the opportunity to show compassion than in this election. Which candidate and platform best mirrors in answer to “What would Jesus do?” I invite and encourage you to attend church, pray for our country and right decision as to how you vote.

Bill Young
Pensacola, Florida

Letter to the Editor | It is imperative to recognize an existential threat to our society

Dear Editor,

A keen observer of political results and a lifelong Republican until an individual face to face discussion with my congressman clearly revealed the party had become merely a shill for the Fourth Reich to only promote talking points for the 1%’s benefit. Reading The Rise and Fall of Adolph Hitler by William L. Shirer in jr. high school enabled recognition of the Fourth Reich checking off every subversive step of Joseph Goebbels propaganda playbook refined to a high art for over 40 years. Witness we ignored history and are repeating it as our condemnation.

Throughout history hundreds of thousands of the greatest Americans ever have been willing to fight and die to secure and preserve the freedoms, rights, and privileges they bestowed upon our succeeding generations in this country. Now, we are witnessing thousands of Fourth Reich disciples who are willing to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans to destroy that inheritance and our country in the worship of someone who emulates Adolph Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Jim Jones.

It has always been and will always be harder and take longer to create and build a civilized unified society though a shared belief in mankind’s highest ideals and potential, than to internally subvert those goals through destruction and death through division, merely to usurp power from the good citizens who have failed to defeat those who employ propaganda, misinformation, and lies, the foundations of the traitors in their treason to destroy any power great enough to oppose the subjugation of everyone to their evil plot.

Through the masterful use of the power of projection, the Fourth Reich misleads their followers by accusing their opponents of what they themselves are actually doing to magically distract their followers from realizing the truth. ABTT! (Anything But The Truth!) is the gospel to which they must adhere religiously to prevent the end of their masquerade and reign of terror.

Failure to recognize the Fourth Reich masquerading behind the once proud and honorable Republican Party name will soon lead to our country’s inevitable end as is their ultimate goal.

WE MUST DECIDE, IF THE FOURTH REICH ALLOWS IT!

The above article was previously published as a cautionary warning “Letter to the editor”. But, due to the current state of our union it seems imperative that it be reinforced now as an observation of historical facts lest the union be lost by the lack of recognition and the immediately necessary response to our existential threat.

Our nation was founded on the premise “Consent of the governed”. But, as observed by the Fourth Reich’s response to the “governed’s vote” in the last election they have no intent to allow that consent to be voiced in future election voting by denying that constitutional right to as many citizens as they can imagine might object to imposition of their fascist dictatorship. The culmination of actively subverting our country for the last 40 years, of which we were warned by Hollywood in 1960, has been tragically witnessed by all of us and disingenuously denied by the members of the Fourth Reich as was the case with the Third Reich in Hitler’s 1930’s Nazi Germany. They had to wait until the “Greatest Generation” who had sacrificed and died to save the world and preserve freedom were no longer here, because our fathers would have easily recognized their familiar enemy and would have slapped that treason down not tolerating it for a second.

“All in good time. We’ve got to learn patience in this country. The Americans don’t like to be pushed. That’s what the others were never able to understand. That’s why they failed. And, that’s why we’ll succeed’” Fade Out on Nazi Pamphlet titled “America’s Golden Future”. Frederick Marion St. John (Karl Swenson) Stowaways plan to enter the United States on board the Fortuna and once there spread pro-Nazi literature.

Actions have consequences, inaction forfeits your rights and freedoms to the decisions of others. If it is not already too late, do not fail our last chance to save our country and preserve our democracy. VOTE!, like our lives and any future depend on it, BECAUSE THEY DO!

John Kenneth Young
St. Joseph