Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Legislator frustrated with lack of ethics reforms steps down from committee
A leading Republican at the Illinois Statehouse says he stepped down from the House ethics committee because of a lack of action.
Earlier this month, state Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, stood with former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn to push for various ethics reforms. The push comes in the wake of the ComEd corruption scandal that’s resulted in convictions of four former utility officials and lobbyists.
Chicago Sun-Times: Mayor Johnson’s plan to borrow $1.25 billion for development projects gets a mixed reception
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to borrow $1.25 billion for economic development and affordable housing was met with both cautious optimism and “grave concern” as some Chicago alderpersons pushed for more transparency on how the administration will spend the money at the first public hearing on the proposal.
A slew of housing industry organizations endorsed the plan during a public comment period before Johnson administration officials were grilled by alderpeople, many of whom expressed preliminary support as well.
The Chicago Tribune: State’s attorney’s race tightens to just 2,000 votes as city elections board acknowledges mail-in ballot miscalculation
Already the Chicago area’s most closely watched primary campaign this year, the race for Cook County state’s attorney devolved into some confusion and much frustration this weekend as city election officials acknowledged a mistake in communicating how many vote-by-mail ballots were being counted and results between the two Democratic candidates continued to tighten.
On Sunday evening, after the latest round of city mail-in ballots were tabulated, retired Appellate Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke still held a slight but dwindling lead over university lecturer and government official Clayton Harris III. O’Neill Burke was beating Harris 50.2% to 49.8%, with just 2,015 votes separating them, according to unofficial results from the Chicago Board of Elections and Cook County Clerk’s office.
CBS Chicago: Chicago Board of Elections adds over 10,000 votes "mistakenly left out" to unofficial count in State's Attorney race
The gap in the race for Cook County State’s Attorney has narrowed even more. The Chicago Board of Elections added more than 10,000 votes to its total count on Saturday after its director of public information said he mistakenly left out some vote-by-mail ballots.
The unofficial count now stands at 368,990 ballots cast after the 10,659 additional votes were added, bringing the citywide turnout to 24.44%. There are 1,509,554 active registered voters.
NBC Chicago: ‘Bring Chicago Home' real estate transfer tax referendum rejected by voters
“Bring Chicago Home,” the controversial real estate transfer tax referendum supported by Mayor Brandon Johnson, officially failed Friday night, according to the Associated Press.
The AP called the race at 6 p.m., explaining the proposal was rejected by a margin of 53.2% compared to 46.8%, with 100% of precincts reporting. While a number of vote-by-mail ballots processed on Friday were taken into account, the results were similar to preliminary numbers on Election Night.
WBBM: Undocumented workers, long in the U.S., demand same work permits granted to new arrivals
Dozens of undocumented workers rallied Saturday afternoon at Chicago’s Federal Plaza, where they called on city and federal leaders to provide them with the same work permits that have been granted to many newly arrived migrants and asylum workers.
“Work permits now,” they chanted.