Welcome to Progress Illinois, a fresh-out-of-the-oven website providing news and commentary on issues important to Illinois working families and the progressive movement at large.

The site is fairly straightforward in terms of layout, but I wanted to give you -- our first readers -- a quick tour. The original content on the site is divided into three categories:

Blog Posts: Brief pieces that analyze the latest news from a progressive perspective and highlight underreported stories.

Columns: Op-eds from the state's progressive activists and political figures.

Features: Longer articles incorporating original reporting and investigative research.

All three types of content will be published on our home page in real-time, with the columns and features demarcated by a bright orange header. Alternatively, if you're interested in just our columns or just our features, you can make your way to those sections using the navigation bar at the top of the page.

On the right side of the page, you'll see various sidebars. "The Latest" is a compilation of our most recent content. "News Desk" features up-to-the-minute headlines from local and national news outlets. "Upcoming" provides a calendar of progressive-oriented events. And "Illinois Media" highlights news outlets and blogs from across the state.

Finally, I want to emphasize that the site is very much a work-in-progress. There will be numerous improvements and additions in the coming days, weeks, and months. So stay tuned. And if you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know by sending a message to feedback@progressillinois.com.

Thanks and enjoy.

Josh Kalven