Alvin Cooper is struggling to recover after his home was flooded from torrential rains in late July of this year. He lives in a floodplain area that is especially vulnerable to climate change because it lacks government attention. He is trying to recover but can’t do it alone.

July’s floods affected about 700 homes to some extent region wide — and residents filed more than 14,000 requests in the first four weeks after the flood.

The newly drawn 13th Congressional District includes parts of St. Clair, Madison, Champaign, Macon, Piatt and Sangamon counties and all of Macoupin County. Voters will decide between Democrat Nikki Budzinski and Republican Regan Deering in the Nov. 8 election.

District 11 serves Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties.

There isn’t a specific path for the state’s vision of zeroing out carbon emissions by 2050 and ensuring areas overburdened by past pollution fully benefit from the growing green economy.

The clinic is adding 10 extra hours a week to meet the increase in patients from Kentucky, Louisiana and other states that banned abortions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

“I can’t do anything,” a resident said. “My hands are tied.”

In the wake of the storm, warehouse employees and supporters of labor said the building should have included a protective shelter, even though building codes do not require them.

A six-week enforcement action over the summer led to 300 southern Illinois residents who were ineligible to own a gun to surrender their Firearm Owner Identification card and get rid of their gun.

The Illinois Democrat toured homes in the area to see the damage from chronic flooding during heavy rains, which often contains raw sewage.