Get the latest news headlines from around Illinois.
BND: Belleville Township rejects plan to hire intern
The Belleville Township Board on Tuesday rejected a proposal to pay half the salary of an intern who would help research ways the city could take over the township, develop policy and assist with community development.
The township’s board and the city aldermen have agreed to dissolve the township as of May when the city will assume the township’s duties.
Township Board members Michael Hagberg, Joy Schreiber and Joe Swierczek voted to deny paying $5,500 for the intern while Trustee Joe Hubbard and Supervisor Dennis Korte voted “present.”
Chicago Tribune: Candidates claim Madigan trying 'to buy control' of next Aurora mayor
Three candidates for mayor of Aurora have criticized a fundraising dinner for one of their fellow candidates, state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, on Friday night by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.
Ald. Richard Irvin, at large; Ald. Michael Saville, 6th; and Rick Guzman, assistant chief of staff in the mayor’s office, issued a joint statement calling the dinner a “blatant attempt by Speaker Madigan to buy control of the next Aurora mayor.”
“We have no doubt that the politicians in Springfield and its special interest groups will pour money into any candidate they believe can do their bidding — as state Rep. Chapa LaVia has done for Madigan for the past 14 years,” the statement said.
Crain's: How important is criminal justice reform in Illinois elections?
You might think that months of bipartisan cooperation on numerous criminal justice reform bills would make that particular topic off-limits for partisan campaigns this year.
You’d be wrong.
Gov. Bruce Rauner announced early last year that he wants the state to reduce its prison population by 25 percent over 10 years. He has since signed numerous pieces of legislation during the past year or so to help achieve that goal, including recently when he signed the marijuana decriminalization bill into law.
Chicago Tribune: Appeals court: Suburban firm unfairly retaliated against strike by sending jobs south
A federal appellate court has upheld a ruling that Illinois manufacturer Amglo Kemlite Laboratories unlawfully retaliated against workers protesting low wages by transferring some work to Mexico.
In a decision issued Wednesday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an order by the National Labor Relations Board against Bensenville-based Amglo, which makes specialty lights such as those found on airplane wings.
The NLRB had found Amglo engaged in unfair labor practices when it responded to a strike by threatening to fire employees and transferring work from Illinois to its facility in Juarez, Mexico.
Chicago Tribune: Why food stamp fraud is 'fairly rampant' at corner stores in some Chicago neighborhoods
Food stamp trafficking often begins with an innocuous question.
“Can I talk to you?”
Sami Deffala, who’s managed a corner store in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood for 13 years, said he hears that every day from customers vying for a private moment in hopes of using their Link cards to exchange SNAP benefits, the modern-day version of food stamps, for cash — an illegal practice called trafficking by federal regulators. And every day, Deffala said, he hears them out but refuses to take part in the scheme.
Sun-Times: Johnson touts gang roundup, then announces 7 new CPD commanders
The shakeup of the Chicago Police Department’s top brass continued Friday, with Supt. Eddie Johnson announcing new commanders for nearly a third of the city’s 25 police districts, just days after replacing several other top deputies.
Johnson announced the promotions in a news release emailed to reporters about 20 minutes after he left a press conference at police headquarters touting the arrest of 100 gang members in two-day sweep.
WBEZ: Big Tax Hike Coming For Schools
Chicago Public Schools is looking to get 14 percent more from taxpayers this year. The district’s entire property tax levy would increase to $2.7 billion this year, up from $2.3 billion.
At a hearing Thursday, held during the day and sparsely attended, CPS Budget Manager Cameron Mock seemed to blame mostly teachers for the increase. The biggest chunk of the property tax increase is for $250 million and would go directly to the pension fund.
For decades, CPS failed to pay its contributions to the teacher pension fund, but Mock said that the biggest reasons for the district owing so much are underperforming teacher pension fund investments underperforming, and increased benefits for teachers. He also said a big problem was that the school district has been picking up 7 percent of the employee contribution to the pension fund. That’s more than other taxing bodies pick up, he said.
Bloomberg: Chicago Schools Step Back From Brink Ahead of Bond-Market Return
A year after being cut to junk by all three major bond-rating companies, Chicago’s school system has won an influx of state aid, secured extra tax money for its pensions and quieted speculation that the crisis is so severe that bankruptcy is inevitable. Its bonds have rallied.
But as the Chicago Board of Education seeks permission to borrow as much $945 million, the nation’s third-largest district is far from in the clear. This year’s budget will only balance if teachers agree to pay more into their retirement plan and the gridlocked Illinois legislature passes an overhaul of the state pension system. School officials are still trying to secure needed credit lines to help pay bills and borrowing costs have ballooned after repeated downgrades, adding to the financial squeeze.
“They’ve put together a credible budget, although there’s some significant risk factors,” said Paul Mansour, head of municipal research at Conning, which oversees $11 billion of state and local debt, including some Chicago Board of Education securities. “They enter fiscal year 2017 with few, if any, reserves. They don’t have a line of credit in place, and they have uncertain market access.”