AP: Illinois governor's mansion renovation gets $1M in donations
The organization leading efforts to renovate the Illinois governor’s mansion says it received $1 million in donations last year.
The mansion has fallen into disrepair in recent years with a flooded basement, leaky roof and peeling paint. The Illinois Executive Mansion Association said Friday that it also received $280,000 in free services last year and completed the first phase of work on the mansion roof.
Sun-Times: SIU small business center to close due to no Illinois budget
Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed Thursday to duplicate for the 2017 NHL draft in Chicago the interactive outdoor festival he created for the NFL draft, but insisted it would not cost beleaguered taxpayers a dime.
Emanuel played hide the puck when asked about the incentive package that lured the NHL draft to the United Center.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner, Madigan battle again on labor bill a day after Obama urged compromise
Less than 24 hours after President Barack Obama spoke to Illinois lawmakers about the need to compromise, Democrats and Republicans have reignited a high-stakes fight over contract negotiations with the state’s largest union.
At issue is a labor-backed measure that would prevent a lockout or strike if talks with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and other unions reach an impasse and instead send the matter to binding arbitration. Democrats pushed the bill through a committee Thursday on a 16-7 vote, but it faces a tough road.
A similar bill passed the General Assembly but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in late July. Speaker Michael Madigan attempted an override in September, but that effort fell short when he was unable to keep all 71 of his House Democrats unified.
The Telegraph: Police, fire pensions still a thorn for Alton
To no one’s surprise, two actuarial consultants told city officials this week that Alton’s police and fire pension funds are in poor shape, and offered no definitive solution to the problem.
“We have this conversation every year or two years, but what do we do about it?” asked Alderman Jim Ryan, 1st Ward at Monday’s meeting of the aldermanic Committee of the Whole. “Nobody knows.”
Mayor Brant Walker said city departments have cut their budgets deeply so as to increase pension contributions, but Ryan said the money still is not there to fully pay for the costs.
Chicago Tribune: S&P downgrades College of DuPage credit rating
The College of DuPage‘s credit rating was downgraded two notches Friday in response to recent sanctions against the school and vitriolic infighting among trustees.
In lowering the rating to AA from AAA, rating agency Standard & Poor’s noted the college had recently been placed on a two-year probation by its accreditation agency — a rare reprimand in higher education. It also cited “unstable board governance and management turnover.”
“The negative outlook reflects the at least 1 in 3 chance that we could lower the rating further within the two-year outlook period, given the uncertainty surrounding the college’s probation status and unsettled board turmoil,” Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Blake Yocomsaid in a statement.
Detroit News: Judge wants fresh start for once ‘irredeemable’ girl
More than 20 years ago, I sentenced a teenaged girl to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jennifer Pruitt was just 15 when she was present — but in another room — when a friend 10 years her senior stabbed a 75-year-old man to death during a robbery. A jury found Jennifer guilty of second-degree murder and, under the state’s sentencing guidelines, I was mandated to sentence her to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In the years since, Jennifer has grown into a remarkable woman, and I think she deserves an opportunity to demonstrate that she is prepared to re-enter society.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Montgomery v. Louisiana should provide that opportunity. Montgomery made retroactive the 2012 Miller v. Alabama decision, which found that it is unconstitutional to impose a mandatory life-without-parole sentence for a crime committed by a person younger than 18. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the 6-3 majority, also said that it is appropriate to sentence children to life without parole only when they may be found to be “permanently incorrigible,” ushering in a major change in our criminal jurisprudence.
Chicago Tribune: 'Street files' raise question: Did Chicago police hide evidence?
The homicide files sat untouched for years in the dingy basement at a South Side police station, thousands of aging manila folders locked away in cabinets cataloging seven decades of long-forgotten killings.
Stuffed with manually typed police reports, scribbled detectives’ notes, faded lineup cards and other evidence, the so-called “street files” might never have seen the light of day.
But now about 500 of the files — located in 23 cabinets — have landed at the center of a court fight over whether the Chicago Police Department for years violated its own directives by hiding evidence from criminal defense lawyers.