NBC Chicago: Illinois Dems Move to Make Obama’s Birthday a State Holiday
Illinois State Rep. Andre Thapedi introduced a new bill this week that could make President Barack Obama’s birthday a state holiday.
The proposed legislation, House Bill 4654, would close schools and state offices on Aug. 4, Obama’s birthday. If the date falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will be observed instead.
The bill is co-sponsored by representatives Thaddeus Jones, Rita Mayfield and Arthur Turner.
Sun-Times: Toll lanes could be used to expand Stevenson Expressway
Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to add toll lanes to a congested 25-mile stretch of Interstate 55, and he’s considering a rideshare-like model that would boost tolls depending on the amount of traffic.
The plan, which calls for a public-private partnership that would require legislative approval, would add at least one lane in each direction along the Stevenson between the Dan Ryan Expressway and Interstate 355, Rauner said. About 170,000 cars use this stretch of highway daily.
The current lanes would be used free of charge, but Rauner said his office wants “dynamic pricing” for the new proposed express lanes.
Chicago Reader: How Chicago's 'Fraternal Order of Propaganda' shapes the story of fatal police shootings
December 15, 2012 was bleak, rainy Saturday with a chill in the air. Chicago police officer Ruth Castelli, an eight-year veteran of the force, was patrolling the city’s southwest side with fellow officer Christopher Hackett. The two didn’t usually ride together, but Castelli’s regular partner was on leave. The day started innocuously enough—earlier that morning Castelli had participated in “Shop With a Cop,” a seasonal initiative that sends officers on a shopping trip to Target with underprivileged children on their beat. The rest of the day proved to be far more consequential.
Castelli and Hackett were in their Chevy Tahoe when word came in: according to testimony that Castelli later gave, around 11:15 AM a dispatcher called over the radio that four black men in a silver SUV had just robbed someone at gunpoint at a gas station at 38th and Kedzie. Castelli and Hackett sped off to find the vehicle, their sirens silent.
The story of what happened next would gradually take shape based on bits of information, coming first from Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden, and then eventually from a Chicago Police Department statement attributed to then-superintendent Garry McCarthy.
WSJ: The Man Stopping Illinois From Digging a Deeper Fiscal Hole
When Gov. Bruce Rauner stood in front of the General Assembly on Jan. 27 to deliver his State of the State address, it marked nearly seven months since Illinois had a budget.
The fiscal year began July 1, but the Republican governor and the state’s Democratic lawmakers have remained deadlocked. Mr. Rauner, elected in 2014 as a reformer by voters fed up with seeing their state underwater, wants to balance the budget and reform the disastrous public-pension system. No way, say Democrats, who have a stranglehold on the state legislature, and who insist on tax increases.
Meanwhile, residents are feeling the pinch. Illinois is paying for services on a case-by-case basis, often by court order or federal consent decree, supervised by the state comptroller. Lottery winners cannot collect more than $600 each. The Department of Motor Vehicles will not mail license-plate renewal notices. The legislature is passing piecemeal bills to fund 911 call centers and putting off payments for public transit, health care and education. At the end of last year, according to the Illinois comptroller, the state’s unpaid bills totaled $8.5 billion. Nothing has shut down, but the longer the stalemate goes on the more those of us who live here worry about losing the services we rely on.
ABC Chicago: Chicago Public Schools considers civil rights lawsuit against state of Illinois
Authorities in Chicago refuse to rule out the possibility of filing a lawsuit to force the state to help the Chicago Public Schools budget crisis.
At his news conference, Emanuel repeated his talking points when asked about a possible federal civil rights lawsuit to force the State of Illinois to change the way it funds public education.
Chicago Tribune: BP shifts 200 jobs to Chicago from suburbs
BP is moving about 200 employees from its Naperville campus to its offices downtown, spokesman Mike Abendhoff said Friday.
After the shift, which will begin in late March or early April, there will be about 900 employees at the oil company’s 30 S. Wacker Drive location, he said.
BP is moving the employees — including the entire U.S. pipeline logistics team and workers in finance and human resources positions — in an effort to be more efficient, Abendhoff said.
About 1,400 employees will remain at the Naperville campus, home to a BP research facility, Abendhoff said.
“It’s still going to be a large hub for us,” he said.