Get the latest news headlines from around Illinois.
Sun-Times: Rauner signs justice reforms: ‘People deserve redemption’
“We’re all human. We’re God’s children. We’re not perfect. We make mistakes,” Rauner said Monday at a bill signing ceremony held at a West Side facility that helps ex-offenders get back on their feet. “People deserve redemption. People deserve an opportunity for a second chance.”
BND: Electrician awarded $9.4 million after worker steps on his head
An electrician won a $9.4 million verdict from a St. Clair County jury last week after a construction worker stepped on the man’s head while climbing down a ladder during construction of the Prairie State Energy campus in 2010.
“The jury is the conscience of the community, and we are very grateful for their judgment,” said Tom Keefe, a Belleville lawyer who represented the injured electrician, Craig Spencer.
Spencer was injured in October 2010 when he was studying plans at the power plant in Lively Grove. Two employees of API Construction, who were hired to provide insulation, descended a ladder and stepped on Spencer’s head, knocking his hard hat off and injuring his neck. Neither of the two men reported the incident to their employer, Keefe said.
Quad City Times: Deere to lay off 30 in Quad-Cities, 115 in Waterloo
Deere informed employees today at two locations of plans to place approximately 145 production workers on indefinite layoff. The actions include Davenport Works and Waterloo Works.
At the Davenport Works, Deere informed employees that an indefinite layoff will affect approximately 30 employees with an effective date of September 30. At the Waterloo Works, Deere informed employees that an indefinite layoff will affect approximately 115 employees with an effective date of September 23.
In both cases, layoffs are determined by seniority. Deere continues to adjust the size of the company’s production workforce to meet market demand for products manufactured at each of its factories. Today’s actions are consistent with projections that were communicated when Deere announced its third quarter results on Friday. At that time company officials told analysts Waterloo production would be cut back 20 percent in the coming fourth quarter of the company fiscal year.
WSIL: Rauner adds police stops to driver's ed curriculum
Illinois teens, enrolled in driver’s education courses, will be learning how to respond if they are pulled over by police, thanks to a new bill signed by Governor Rauner.
From the classroom to the road.
“We start by going over the rules of the road book,” said Daryl Murphy, Murphysboro High School Driver’s Ed Instructor.
Murphysboro High School Sophomore Laycee Presutti is ready to get her license.
Presutti said, “It’s kind of a bit breath taking and scary.”
AP: Rauner signs bill requiring legal aid for juveniles
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed legislation that requires an attorney to be present when police question juveniles younger than 15 in murder or sex offense investigations.
Illinois already mandates legal representation for children younger than 13 in those cases, even if they’re not the targets of the criminal probe. But lawmakers who sponsored the legislation argued 14- and 15-year-olds should receive legal protection, too.
The Southern: Gov. Rauner signs package of criminal justice legislation
Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed a slew of bills aimed at overhauling parts of the state’s criminal justice system, including new rules for juvenile offenders.
Among the bills the Republican governor signed into law on Monday are proposals to change the minimum probation period for convicted juveniles, allow juveniles to immediately petition for expungement, and require an attorney be present when police question juveniles younger than 15.
Rauner says the criminal justice system should be approached “with more compassion.”
Kankakee Journal: Illinois exodus becoming a youth movement
Illinoisans, it seems, are on the move, too, although they are moving out. The Illinois Policy Institute recently ran an analysis of migration trends in the state, using information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau from 2005-15.
Sun-Times: 10 charged with government benefits fraud totaling more than $6M
A northwest suburban man is the tenth person to be charged this week with defrauding government agencies out of more than $6 million by falsely obtaining benefits to which they were not entitled.
Zuhger Mohammud, 39, of Wood Dale, is accused of defrauding the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which is designed to provide food assistance to indigent pregnant and post-partum women and children under the age of 5, according to a statement from the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.