Fox Chicago: State fails to send out license plate expiration warnings due to budget impasse
You might want to double-check the status of your vehicle’s Illinois license plates. They are expiring on hundreds of thousands of vehicles Tuesday starting at midnight.
But many Illinois drivers have not gotten the usual warning mailed by the State. As Political Editor Mike Flannery explains, it’s one more consequence of Springfield’s failure to approve a budget.
Chicago Tribune: All together now: Rauner, Madigan and the chance for real change
Gov. Bruce Rauner is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning with the state’s four legislative leaders, including House Speaker Michael Madigan, to discuss the state budget impasse.
Will the public portion of the meeting among political adversaries be civilized? Of course. Safe, routine talking points fully expected.
RRStar: Shrinking number of governments is good, but will Illinois do it?
I took vacation last week, but I kept up with the news because I’ve been a news junkie since the Italian liner Andrea Doria sank after colliding with the Swedish liner Stockholm off the coast ofNantucket.
So here’s my take on stories I’ve been reading in local and Chicagoland media about Gov. Bruce Rauner’s task force on government consolidation. It’s a great idea; we have 7,000 units of local government in Illinois, more than any other state by far. In second place, with 1,800 fewer, is Texas, which has 27 million people spread over 268,820 square miles. Illinois has 13 million people spread over 57,915 square miles.
The task force, chaired by Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, is a great idea. She said taxpayers can save billions of dollars by government consolidation. Members have been working for a year and are about to present a final report.
The Southern: Primary voters to see contested races throughout Illinois
A Republican state lawmaker who threatened to move to Florida earlier this year because of Illinois’ ongoing political turmoil has picked up a challenger in the March primary.
Businessman Jonathan Kaye of Toledo filed Monday to run against state Rep. Reggie Phillips of Charleston, who has represented the 110th House district since 2014.
Chicago Tribune: Survey shows further slowdown of Midwest economy
Figures have plunged in a fourth straight monthly survey of supply managers in nine Midwest and Plains states, providing more evidence of a slowdown in the region’s economy.
A report issued Tuesday says the overall Mid-American Business Conditions Index dropped to 40.7 last month from 41.9 in October, 47.7 in September and 49.6 in August.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he again cites the strong U.S. dollar among the reasons for the region’s economic slide.
KWQC: Deere announces more layoffs for Moline’s Seeding and Cylinder
More layoffs are coming for workers at John Deere Seeding and Cylinder in Moline. Company officials informed around 220 employees on Monday morning, November 30, 2015, that they will be placed on indefinite layoff, effective February 15, 2016.
Deere says the layoffs reflect last week’s forecast by Deere that agricultural machinery sales will decrease in fiscal year 2016. They say the actions were taken to align the size of the manufacturing workforce at individual factories with market demand for products made at each specific location.
Deere says historically manufacturing employees at John Deere Seeding and Cylinder have experienced seasonal layoffs in the spring and returned to work in the fall. Monday’s announcement is an indefinite layoff with no specific call-back date.
Sun-Times: How Midway clout king got out of property taxes
For years, multimillionaire businessman Timothy Rand held exclusive rights to operate restaurants at Midway Airport under a contract supposedly meant to give a leg up to “disadvantaged” minority business owners.
After the Chicago Sun-Times revealed the clout-heavy African-American businessman’s $20 million personal net worth put his lucrative concession deal at Midway in jeopardy, City Hall decided to let him keep it, saying it had been awarded under earlier rules.
Chicago Tribune: State sues prisoners to pay for their room, board
The $31,690 Johnny Melton received to settle a lawsuit over his mother’s death was going to help him start life anew after prison.
But before he was released, after 15 months in prison for a drug conviction, the Illinois Department of Corrections sued Melton and won nearly $20,000 to cover the cost of his incarceration. When Melton was paroled earlier this year, he was forced to go to a homeless shelter, then was taken in by a cousin. He got food stamps. When he died in June, according to his family, he was destitute.
“He didn’t have a dime,” said one of Melton’s sisters, Denise Melton, of Chicago. “We had to scuffle up money to cremate him.”
Crain's: State's job woes start on the factory floor
Anyone who’s wondered why Illinois’ job market is so weak received a big clue a few days ago when the Illinois Department of Employment Security released the latest data.
Think factories.
The data indicated that in October, nonfarm employment in the state grew by 14,100. That sounds pretty good for one month. But over the past year, the total number of jobs is up a tepid 40,300—all of 0.8 percent at a time when the nation is hitting 2-plus percent. And throughout that period of modest overall gains, the state has continued to lose manufacturing jobs, off 1,900 in October and 10,000 year over year, for a 2 percent drop.
SJR: Relying on one another, not the government
Earlier this month I started an online fundraising campaign to pay for the lights that adorn the Illinois Statehouse every year. Within a few days, the $7,300 electric bill for the lights was paid, thanks to a generous donation from Basic Crafts Council of Mid-Central Illinois.
That same week, my organization highlighted the plight of Ashley and Tony Goodwin of Watseka. The Goodwins were on the verge of homelessness and had started their own online fundraising campaign. Folks from all across the state gave generously, and the Goodwins raised more than $5,000 to pay for groceries and keeping the utilities on in their mobile home. One generous Illinoisan even donated his car so the Goodwins would no longer have to walk the three miles to the closest grocery store.
What do these two fundraisers have to do with one another? They offer up two lessons: 1. Illinoisans are caring, benevolent people. Whether it’s a little holiday cheer or helping a family keep their home, Illinoisans have soft and open hearts. 2. Just because government can no longer afford to pay for something, doesn’t mean that activity must come to an end.
Chicago Sun Times: McCarthy must go
Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy has lost the trust and support of much of Chicago, without which he cannot do his job.
Supt. McCarthy should resign. If he does not, Mayor Rahm Emanuel should fire him.