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Chicago Tribune: Leaderless Chicago street gangs vex police efforts to quell violence
When Lanarris Webster went to prison in 2010, the name of the reputed Gangster Disciples hit man still meant something in the blocks around Homan Avenue and Huron Street on the West Side. By the time he was paroled in February, that world had changed.
Webster, known on the street as “Baby Folks,” returned to the corner he had once controlled to reassert his authority. But the 34-year-old did not last long. Last month, in the middle of the afternoon, Webster happened upon a friend who was having his minivan fixed by a curbside mechanic. As the men chatted and shared a marijuana blunt, a gunman emerged from a vacant lot and began firing, police sources said. In a hail of gunfire, the friend scrambled away as Webster spun and dropped to the pavement.
When Chicago police arrived, they found Webster sprawled on the sidewalk, dying of a gunshot wound to the chest. Gunned down on the turf he once controlled, Webster was another casualty of the gang violence spinning out of control in the city this year.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago budget shortfall smallest in decade, but more tax pain likely
The city of Chicago’s budget shortfall next year is expected to be the smallest in a decade, but the estimate doesn’t account for billions of dollars owed to the city’s largest pension fund — a debt expected to trigger another significant tax increase.
City financial officials conceded Friday that a new money stream of hundreds of millions of dollars each year will be needed for stepped-up contributions to the retirement fund for municipal workers. That signals additional pain for taxpayers hit this year with the largest property tax increase in modern Chicago history.
A shortfall of $137.6 million is expected in next year’s estimated $3.7 billion corporate budget, which is used to cover day-to-day expenses, according to the city’s Annual Financial Analysis released Friday. That would be the lowest shortfall since 2007, before the Great Recession started taking its toll on city finances.
NBC Chicago: Amazon Facility in Romeoville Will Create 'Hundreds' of Jobs
An Amazon packing and shipping facility is in the planning stages and will be located in Romeoville and will employ more than 600 people, the village announced in a press release Wednesday.
“We are excited to add this new fulfillment center in Romeoville,” Akash Chauhan, vice president of Amazon’s North America operations said in the release. “Expanding our footprint in Illinois brings hundreds and hundreds of full-time jobs with competitive pay and great benefits starting on day one to the state.”
Sun-Times: Group warns of more property tax hikes for teacher pensions
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has agreed to impose a $250 million property tax increase for teacher pensions on the heels of the largest property tax hike in Chicago history.
But that could be only the beginning of the hits Chicago homeowners and businesses will have to take.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Teachers Union, district set to begin fresh round of talks
The Chicago Teachers Union and the school board are set to begin a fresh round of contract talks that will take place as the school district readies a budget that officials say will be balanced despite a lingering $300 million deficit.
Officials for both sides said they have been discussing a bargaining schedule and plan to exchange contract proposals next week.
The union has been without a contract for more than a year, and limited progress was made amid financial uncertainty for the district during negotiations over an education funding plan from the state. After legislators passed measures to help fund the system at the end of June, city officials declared Chicago Public Schools would begin classes on time in the fall.
Politico: Obama Foundation names Jackson Park home to presidential library
The Obama Presidential Library will be built in Chicago’s Jackson Park, the Obama Foundation announced Friday.
“Jackson Park will be the site of the Obama Presidential Center,” the Obama Foundation said in a statement. “The center will be located in the heart of the South Side, which has been the home to the First Family for many years.”