Jerry Nowicki
Jerry Nowicki is bureau chief of Capitol News Illinois and has been with the organization since its inception in 2019.
Before joining CNI, Nowicki spent two years on Illinois Senate staff as a legislative aide to state Sen. Steve Landek. Prior to that, he was editor of the LeRoy Farmer City Press, which won the 2015 David B. Kramer Memorial Trophy for Illinois’ best small weekly newspaper.
He said Capitol News Illinois offers a new view of Statehouse happenings in partnership with local newspapers.
“Capitol News Illinois provides an exhilarating opportunity to reconnect local newspapers with Statehouse coverage,” Nowicki said. “We know there are many outstanding reporters doing great work at the Capitol, but we also understand that a greater variety of voices is better for our democracy and for our industry. Our team could not be more excited to offer another unique, civic-minded and nonpartisan voice to the Capitol press corps.”
Complementing his Statehouse and reporting experience, Nowicki has lived in a variety of Illinois communities. He grew up in Evergreen Park, a southwest suburb of Chicago, and has lived for a time in each of New Lenox, Bloomington, Champaign and LeRoy. He currently resides in Springfield.
“We have a dynamic reporting team with varying points of view and life experiences,” Nowicki said. “I think my Statehouse and small-town weekly experience meshes well with the talented reporters that make up our team.”
He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Illinois State University and obtained his master’s degree in communication from Purdue University in May 2019.
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Lawmakers gathered Tuesday at the University of Illinois Springfield to designate a new state microbe and add agriculture sciences to the list of courses that fulfill admissions requirements at state universities.
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Gov. JB Pritzker didn’t directly say Monday whether he would extend the state’s eviction moratorium for those facing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic as cases, deaths and hospitalizations for the virus continue to rise.
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Masks will be required at all Illinois long-term care facilities, day cares and Pre-K-12 schools, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Wednesday amid a nationwide surge of COVID-19.
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Masks will be required at driver’s license facilities in Illinois starting Monday, Secretary of State Jesse White announced Wednesday, and Gov. JB Pritzker said he is “looking at all the possible mitigations” amid another surge of COVID-19 infections.
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The state will have new COVID-19 guidance on face coverings after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance Tuesday to reflect that even individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 should wear masks while indoors in areas of the country where the virus is surging.
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The state’s higher education agencies released updated COVID-19 guidance Monday encouraging all public and private higher education institutions in Illinois to issue mandatory vaccine policies.
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Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker announced Monday he will seek a second term, joined once again by Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton as a running mate.
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More than a year after new marijuana dispensary licenses were scheduled to be distributed per the state’s 2019 adult-use legalization law, the governor’s office announced the initial lottery and two new ones will happen by the end of August.
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Lawmakers, collegiate athletes and athletic directors from some of the state’s most prominent universities on Tuesday hailed the governor’s signing of a bill allowing college athletes to be paid for the use of their name and likeness as innovative and equity centric.
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The Illinois house on Wednesday passed a Firearm Owner Identification card law change that would strengthen law enforcement’s ability to retrieve guns from those with suspended or revoked FOID cards and allow for voluntary fingerprinting to expedite renewals.