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FEBRUARY 18-19, 2026 • VOL. 65 ISSUE 16

BUSINESS & REAL ESTATE

How online reviews help small businesses See Page 6:

Even though marijuana is legal in Illinois, clearing old criminal records still a challenge People report lengthy delays long after judges approve expungement and sealing orders

See ’Marijuana’ on page 2

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FEBRUARY 18-19, 2026 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM | PAGE 2

LOCAL NEWS

from the cover: ‘MARIJUANA’ By: KAITLIN BENDER-THOMAS Medill Illinois News Bureau news@capitolnewsillinois.com Article Summary: • Illinois residents can face long delays in clearing their marijuana-related records even after judges approve expungement and sealing orders.

• Although law enforcement agencies have 60 days to comply with court orders, records can still appear in background checks until the State Police update their database and issue a confirmation letter.

• Legal experts say the newly enacted Clean Slate Act may help reduce gaps in record-clearing, and federal marijuana reclassification could spur broader reforms across the country.

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

CHICAGO — For Illinoisan Roosevelt Myles, a marijuana conviction from the 1980s became part of a criminal record that’s followed him for decades.

Myles spent 28 years in prison for murder before a judge vacated his conviction on appeal and granted him a certificate of innocence, finding that no physical evidence linked him to the killing.

By the time Myles was released from prison in 2020, Illinois’ legal landscape regarding marijuana had shifted dramatically.

The state legalized adult recreational use and possession of small amounts of marijuana under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act and created pathways for people to clear certain cannabis-related offenses from their records.

Myles was among those who benefited from the state’s reforms, which were designed, in part, to address the harm caused to some by the war on drugs.

Last fall, with the help of attorneys at New Leaf Illinois, an online portal that helps people clear their marijuana records, he successfully petitioned to have his marijuana record sealed and his wrongful murder conviction expunged.

Months earlier, Myles had been denied a job working with children because of his criminal record, making the court’s decision feel like a turning point after what he described as hitting “rock bottom.”

“It was a great feeling,” Myles said of the expungement that took five years to happen.

Statewide data, however, suggest that most people don’t follow through. According to the Paper Prisons Initiative, a legal research group, an estimated 2.2 million people in Illinois were eligible for expungement or record sealing in 2021, but only about 10% had filed petitions.

Legal experts refer to this disparity as the “second chance gap,” and they attribute it to a combination of factors, including a lack of awareness, fear of the legal system, filing costs and long wait times.

However, they say this gap may narrow as Illinois prepares to implement the Clean Slate Act, signed into law earlier this year, which will automatically seal nonviolent criminal records for over 1.7 million adults beginning in 2029.

Not all lawmakers supported the measure. Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, raised concerns that automatic sealing would limit access to information for families and employers, particularly in cases involving financial exploitation of the elderly.

“The family member who’s hiring to look after their loved one is shielded from that information,” McClure said.

Barbara Bertini, director of pro bono

Roosevelt Myles recently had his marijuana record expunged. (Photo provided by Roosevelt Myles).

and community partnerships at Legal Aid Chicago, said under the current system, it can take up to a year for a sealing or expungement petition to be granted once it is filed.

database, and everything. So what’s so hard about them taking it off?” Myles said. “It’s sad … you’re still fighting for something, and you have no control over it.”

But as Myles’ experience shows, the process doesn’t end once a judge signs an order.

An emotional toll

Although his sealing was granted in October 2025, Myles said recently he has yet to receive any documents from the Illinois State Police confirming that his record has been updated.

According to Illinois Legal Aid, the State Police and other law enforcement agencies have 60 days from the date they receive a court order to comply.

For many it can take much longer.

The State Police are responsible for updating the central criminal history database and sending a confirmation letter once a record has been expunged or sealed.

Until that happens, the record may still appear in background checks.

“The day you get convicted, it’s on your record. They got it in, they put it in the

Others navigating the expungement and sealing process report similar delays. Vincent Bolton, who grew up on Chicago’s west side, said he has spent years trying to move past a series of marijuana-related arrests that began when he was around 18.

“I can’t even count how many times I’ve been arrested for weed,” Bolton said.

A judge granted orders to expunge and seal Bolton’s cannabis cases early last year. Nearly a year later, Bolton says his record remains in “limbo” as he has yet to receive official confirmation that it has been cleared.

While he said he expected the process to take some time, he didn’t anticipate a delay of this length.

This prolonged uncertainty, Bolton said, has taken an emotional toll.

“At the time of you doing the process,

you feel like you accomplished something,” Bolton said. “But when you don’t start hearing back, it kind of just dims your light a little bit.”

Both Myles’ and Bolton’s experiences come as the federal government moves to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug — a shift that would expand research and formally acknowledge its accepted medical use and lower risk of abuse.

However, legal experts say this change will not affect eligibility or timelines for expungement or sealing processes in Illinois, as record-clearing is governed entirely by state law. Bertini said eligibility depends on what happened in the case, such as whether it resulted in a conviction, not how marijuana is classified federally.

She also said she and her team have not experienced resistance from Cook County judges when it comes to clearing cannabis cases.

(Continued on page 3, see ‘MARIJUANA’)

FEBRUARY 18-19, 2026 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM | PAGE 3

YOUR LOCAL NEWS

However, she has heard from other practitioners that judges in more rural counties tend to take a harsher stance.

“I think we’re quite fortunate in Cook County that the judges don’t see an issue with it,” Bertini said.

Josh Niewoehner, supervising attorney for the New Leaf Cannabis Expungement Project at CARPLS Legal Aid, says the federal reclassification could be cited in contested cases, particularly in those rural counties where the state objects more frequently.

He added that the move could build momentum for broader record-clearing reforms nationwide.

“I think what it’s going to do is create more exposure,” Niewoehner said. “It sounds like most of the country’s on board with it, and it’s going to allow, hopefully, for other states to get on board like Illinois has been on board, with allowing for people to expunge and seal criminal records for something that is heading towards national legalization.”

Capitol News Illinois reached out to the State Police to ask what may be contributing to delays in processing

expungement and record-sealing orders. The agency did not immediately respond.

Legal experts are hopeful the recently enacted Clean Slate Act in Illinois will help streamline the process and help mitigate the record-clearing backlog.

Yet, despite recent legal developments at both the state and federal levels, tangible relief remains elusive for people like Myles and Bolton, who are still awaiting answers.

“Just as efficient and on time they are when taking you to court and getting you locked up and taking you to the bullpen, it should be (that way) on the other side, too,” Bolton said.

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Kaitlin Bender-Thomas is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, and is a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

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FEBRUARY 18-19, 2026 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM | PAGE 6

BUSINESS AND REAL ESTATE

How online reviews help small businesses and how to write them Since the dawn of the twenty-first century, much has changed about the way businesses and consumers interact with one another. The Internet has had a lot to do with that shift, and it continues to inform and affect consumer decisions every day.

Online reviews are particularly influential components of modern buying. According to the online review facilitator Trustpilot, two out of every three consumers rank online reviews as the biggest influence on their buying decisions.

In fact, reviews outrank search engines and social media in terms of their influence on modern buyers.

That’s vital information for business owners, but it’s also important for consumers who want to support the local businesses that call their communities home.

Because online reviews are so influential, business owners can encourage customers to write them, and consumers who choose to do so can consider these tips to

ensure their assessments are as beneficial to local businesses as possible.

• Emphasize being informative. The more informative a review is, the more likely prospective customers are to gain a greater understanding of what separates a given business apart from the competition.

The search engine optimization (SEO) experts at Sterling Sky note that longer reviews tend to stay at the top of Google Business Profiles (GBP) listings for a longer time. Unfortunately, Sterling Sky researchers found that one-star reviews averaged 244 words, while five-star reviews average 74 words.

That suggests even the most positive reviews are unlikely to remain near the top of a firm’s profile if they’re short. An informative review need not be a lengthy screed, but reviewers can try to write as much for a positive review as they would a negative one.

• Be truthful. An authentic rendering of

your experience with a company will be recognized as such by savvy consumers, and thus more likely to compel others to patronize a business. Share details of your experience with the company, and emphasize accuracy over all. If part of the experience was negative but the overall encounter was positive, note both aspects.

Pulling back and offering an overly glowing review might backfire, as other consumers might question its authenticity and wonder if the business is really worthy of a positive review.

• Write well. Writing is not everyone’s forte, but it’s still important for online review writers to try to write as well as possible. Poor grammar can be distracting, and that can affect how people perceive a review. Some may be too distracted by poor grammar to recognize the reviewer had a positive experience with a given company.

Review writers need not sweat over their grammar as if they were writing a term

Online reviews are particularly influential components of modern buying. According to the online review facilitator Trustpilot, two out of every three consumers rank online reviews as the biggest influence on their buying decisions.

paper, but the review could be most beneficial to local businesses if the grammar does not draw attention away from their experiences.

want to help local businesses should refrain from discussing anything other than their experiences with a company and its products in an online review.

• Avoid social or political commentary.

Online reviews are not appropriate forums to foster or engage in political or social commentary. Consumers who

Online reviews play a significant role in modern business. Writing an informative, truthful review can help local business owners in your community.

SENIORS

How nutritional needs change with age The human body undergoes an assortment of changes over the course of a lifetime. Some of those changes are visible to the naked eye, but many more are not.

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The body’s changing needs in regard to nutrition is one alteration that people cannot see.

A nutritious diet can be a building block of a long and healthy life. Nutritional needs change as the body ages, and recognition of those changes can help people rest easy that their diets are working in their favor and not to their detriment.

Calorie needs The body requires fewer calories as individuals reach adulthood. That’s because muscle mass begins to decrease in adulthood while fat increases.

The National Institutes of Health notes that muscles use more calories than fat throughout the day, so it makes sense that a body experiencing a decline in muscle mass will require less calories than one in which muscle mass is on the rise.

No two individuals are the same, and some adults exercise more than others. So it’s best for adults to consult their physician to discuss their own

Nutritional needs change as the body ages.

calorie needs and then adjust their diets based on such discussions.

What to eat The American Heart Association notes aging adults’ calories should come from nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meat, and low-fat dairy. This recommendation aligns with adults’ declining calorie needs, as nutrient-dense foods contain ample amounts of protein, vitamins and/or minerals but do not contain a lot of calories.

Water needs It’s vital for aging adults to make a concerted effort to drink water each day.

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion notes that the sensation of thirst declines with age.

Aging adults who are unaware of that

unique biological reality may be risking dehydration because they are not compelled to drink water throughout the day. The Cleveland Clinic notes that dehydration can contribute to dizziness, weakness and lightheadedness, among other symptoms.

Those symptoms can be particularly menacing for older adults, who are at increased risk for potentially harmful falls even if they are not dehydrated.

The body still needs water as it ages, and seniors taking certain medications may need more than usual due to medication-related fluid loss.

These are just some of the ways nutritional needs change with age. Adults are urged to pay greater attention to diet as they age and make choices that can counter age-related changes in their bodies.

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