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Chicago Tribune: Vote to repeal Cook County soda tax delayed a month, as ad campaigns continue
The Cook County Board on Wednesday delayed a vote on repealing the controversial soda pop tax, ensuring at least 27 more days of mailers, radio ads and TV commercials that aim to sway public opinion on the issue.
Sending the proposal to the county’s Finance Committee for an Oct. 10 hearing allows time for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s administration to conduct a financial analysis. Without one, a vote to repeal the penny-an-ounce tax on sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages could have faced a legal challenge.
Chicago Tribune: Four weeks to kill the soda tax
With both sides steadfast yet lacking the votes to prevail, Cook County Board members on Wednesday kicked to next month a decision on whether to repeal the unpopular soda tax. The board is expected to take action at its Oct. 11 meeting.
In other words, soda tax opponents: You’ve got four weeks to keep up the pressure. Don’t let up. Kill this arbitrary, unnecessary, expensive tax.
Rockford Register-Star: New tax revenues haven’t helped bill backlog in Illinois
Revenue from the state income tax increase approved by lawmakers in July is coming into the state, but so far it hasn’t made much of a dent in the bill backlog.
The legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability said that base revenue for the state’s checkbook account increased by more than $800 million in August over the same time last year, the result of higher income taxes approved as part of the budget deal.
Chicago Tribune: Citing 'storm' of budget troubles, Metra and Pace propose 2018 fare hikes
Metra and Pace want to raise fares next year, pointing to higher costs, state budget cuts and lower sales tax revenues that have created what one official described as “a perfect storm for public transit.”
This would be Metra’s fourth fare hike in as many years, if approved by its board. The commuter rail service is proposing raising fares by 25 cents on one-way tickets, increasing the costs of 10-ride and monthly fares between 4.1 percent and 12.6 percent, and eliminating the monthly reduced fare pass for seniors and the disabled. Metra also plans yet-to-be-specified service cuts to help cover a projected $45 million deficit.
Chicago Tribune: Former primary challenger's lawsuit against Speaker Madigan can proceed
A lawsuit brought by a former primary challenger to Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan can continue after a federal judge ruled Wednesday he’d previously overlooked allegations that Madigan used his authority and influence to damage and discredit his opponent.
Jason Gonzales alleges that the veteran South Side lawmaker put up “two sham candidates with Hispanic last names to split up the Hispanic vote” in order to defeat him in the March 2016 primary, according to the ruling.
Rockford Register-Star: Lt. Gov. outlines plans to cut opioid deaths, saying ‘Rockford has been hit hard’
A state plan to cut the projected number of opioid deaths by a third in three years calls for more prevention programs and better access to treatment, Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti said today before touring a drug-treatment facility here.
Sanguinetti toured the Rosecrance Harrison Campus, a 97-bed adult treatment center, and outlined for reporters and a few community members how the state will attempt to curtail opioid deaths. Last year, there were 1,889 opioid deaths in Illinois. The state wants to prevent what’s predicted by 2020: 2,700 opioid deaths.
Chicago Sun-Times: CPS principal, accused of wrongdoing, is banned from jail school
A day after she was accused of falsifying student data at the alternative school she runs inside the Cook County Jail, a Chicago Public Schools principal has been banned by Sheriff Tom Dart from entering the jail.
Responding to a report by the schools inspector general, Dart said Wednesday that Sharnette Sims no longer is allowed at the jail.
Chicago Tribune: University of Illinois enrollment rises, defying declines at other state campuses
Fighting off enrollment declines at the state’s public universities, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign posted a modest increase this fall to set a record for its total student enrollment, according to data released Wednesday.
Even more striking was the sharp increase at one of its sister campuses, the University of Illinois at Chicago, which posted the biggest percentage gain in freshman enrollment among the state’s 12 public universities this fall.
State Journal-Register: UIS enrollment drops 8.7 percent compared to last year
Total enrollment at the University of Illinois Springfield decreased 8.7 percent compared to last fall, while the three-campus U of I system as a whole is up nearly 3 percent, university officials announced Wednesday.
UIS enrollment went from 5,428 to 4,956 this year, according to student counts taken on Monday, the 10th day of classes.
Chicago Tribune: Commissioners pass ordinance banning drones from Cook County property
Operators cannot fly drones over Stroger Hospital, Cook County Jail and other county properties under an ordinance approved by the Cook County Board Wednesday amid security concerns.
The ordinance bans drones and other “unmanned aerial systems” on any land or buildings leased or owned by the county, unless authorized.
Daily Herald: Lake Zurich District 95 plans to extend superintendent's contract
Though there was no way for him to have known it at the time, Kaine Osburn was wading into a minefield last summer when he took over as superintendent of Lake Zurich Unit School District 95, just months before a high school hazing scandal erupted in November.
Osburn will receive a $210,226 base salary in 2017-2018. Under the contract, his base salary every subsequent year shall be determined at the discretion of the school board based on his performance.
Peoria Journal-Star: How about a Portillo’s without public help?
You’d think the Cubs had won another World Series for all the excitement and anticipation regarding the pending arrival in Peoria of a Portillo’s, but as has become commonplace, a taxpayer subsidy will likely be involved.
If the Chicago-area restaurant chain is that popular — and it seems to be — why is public assistance of any sort required, even indirectly through the local developer who will own and lease the property? Some $1.3 million worth, for hot dogs and Italian beef?
Peoria Journal-Star: Stark County faces budget crunch in sheriff’s office
Stark County officials are confronting a major financial crunch in this year’s budget even as they get started working on next year’s.
The County Board agreed Tuesday night to schedule a special meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 to try to figure out how to finance the Sheriff’s Office for the next three months.
State Journal-Register: Tax review panel recommends Peoria TIF approval
The proposed tax increment financing district on Peoria Road in Springfield appears on a fast track to approval.
Members of a tax-district review board, including Springfield School District, voted 5-0 on Wednesday to recommend Springfield City Council approval of the economic-development incentive for a Peoria Road corridor from Converse Avenue to Sangamon Avenue. The TIF would be the city’s ninth. The board also recommended a name-change to Peoria Road Route 66 TIF to highlight links to the historic road.