Evidently, Effingham has two negative races, Rep. Bill Grunloh’s and the state’s attorney contest:

Few would argue the race for Effingham County state’s attorney may be one of the nastiest county races in recent history.

Tuesday, incumbent Ed Deters and challenger Paula Phillips got their chance to snipe at each other in public.

And they didn’t disappoint.

It’s not as nasty as the lede implies, but local voters are definitely getting an earful this year.

Here’s an unintentionally funny story from the Southern Illinoisan quoting Republicans whining about negative campaigns. My favorite line:

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, agreed and said negative advertisements don’t always play well in Southern Illinois.

It’s nice to reassure ourselves with the occasional “negative ads are bad” article, but both sides are using them, and experience has shown that they seem to work especially well in southern Illinois.

X-Ray machines are now being installed at the Statehouse:

The installation of metal detectors and X-ray machines has begun at the state Capitol, part of a security makeover in response to last month’s shooting of a security guard just inside one of the building’s entrances.

State officials are spending $291,642 for the security upgrades at the Capitol’s north, west and east entrances, which should be in place and operating when lawmakers return for their fall session Nov. 8. Installation began Tuesday.