The verdict is in, and it is a win for women all across Illinois. For the first time in its history, the state’s highest court is made up of a majority of female judges. Not only that, but it is a super-majority with a five to two margin. The majority was made when Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien were sworn in on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. The two women were both elected to the Supreme Court in November. Justice Joy V. Cunningham, who was appointed to replace retiring Chief Justice Anne M. Burke, also joins the female justices.
The three new female justices join two other women on the Supreme Court, Justice Lisa Holder White and Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis. Lisa Holder White was the first Black woman on the Illinois Supreme Court and Cunningham will become the second. Cunningham’s appointment will bring the Supreme Court to three Black Justices total. This group of historic women are making leaps and bounds at breaking glass ceilings not only for women, but for the Black community as well.
Chief Justice Theis was quoted saying, “To say I was the only woman in the room is absolutely true for a very long time in my career, even when I went on the bench. There were very, very few women. But there were some. And as we moved along, there were many more behind me.”
More women are sure to follow in their footsteps, and Illinois’ history will be all the better for it.
December is winding down, and January and the New Year are fast approaching. However, before you take a break for the holiday season, let’s take a moment to celebrate the month of December and Illinois. Many birthdays of note from those born in Illinois occurred in December. History starts the moment we are born. The famous, historic, or otherwise distinguished figures who can track their birthplaces back to Illinois in December are as follows:
November is drawing to a close. Before turning our heads toward jingle bells, let’s take a moment to look back at this month while our minds are still on turkey and pumpkin pie. Many birthdays of note from those born in Illinois occurred in November. History starts the moment we are born. The famous, historic, or otherwise distinguished figures who can track their birthplaces back to Illinois in November are as follows:
October has drawn to a close, and November is well on its way. However, before you start throwing out your candy corn for candy canes, let’s take a moment to celebrate the month of October and Illinois. Many birthdays of note from those born in Illinois occurred in October. History starts the moment we are born. The famous, historic, or otherwise distinguished figures who can track their birthplaces back to Illinois in October are as follows:
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a witch? It’s a ghost? It’s Superman? No, it’s a bird! Residents in Eureka were convinced they saw the wicked witch flying around on her broomstick in their neighborhood. It made sense, Halloween was a couple weeks away, why wouldn’t the witches come out to play? As it turned out, the so-called witch was actually an owl flying around with a child’s toy it had stolen earlier that day. The image circulating was caught by Eric Lind outside of his parents’ house. Too see the video Lind captured of the owl, visit here.
The toy was a stick horse, and the bird was a great horned owl. Great horned owls are known for their long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyes stare, and deep hooting voice. They are the inspiration for the quintessential owls found in storybooks, so it is only fitting one was mistaken for a storybook witch. The owl thief snuck into someone’s home and stole the toy of their child. Why the owl seemed to make friends with the horse is unclear. Some have suggested its similarity in size to mice drew the owl in, others reference how juvenile red-tailed hawks have been reported to play with inanimate objects, so the owl could be doing the same. Either way it was drawn to the toy and the owl’s silhouette made a convincing witch. Luckily for those in Eureka, this was merely a cute owl playing with its new friend.
Then again, one of the powers of a witch can include turning into an animal, and an owl is a known companion to some storybook villains. So who knows? Maybe witches really do roam among us and this one turned back into an owl just in the knack of time. Either way, they arrived in Eureka just in time for spooky season.