Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Broadway in Chicago performers break into song in bid to keep state tax credit
It’s not every day that Broadway comes to state government.
But Wednesday, a group of Broadway in Chicago performers brought the old razzle dazzle to a House committee hearing on state tax credits that are set to expire soon.
Peoria Journal-Star: Another Illinois school funding plan proposed
Another school funding reform plan is being introduced in the General Assembly that the sponsor says will help narrow the spending gap between wealthier and poorer school districts.
“This legislation in the Senate brings us a lot closer to parity, which has been an issue that has been discussed at length,” said Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, who has been one of the leading proponents of school funding reform in the Senate.
News-Gazette: Failure across the board
Is Illinois really one of 50 states in the United States? Or is it some kind of alternative universe of government dysfunction?
Members of the Illinois Senate aren’t scheduled to reconvene until April 25. Their counterparts in the Illinois House are holding a few committee meetings this week, but doing little else.
As for Gov. Bruce Rauner, he’s been on a two-day, campaign-style swing of eight cities, including Peoria on Tuesday and Champaign on Wednesday. His staff stated Rauner is “traveling the state to talk about the need for a balanced budget with reforms.” But his tour bears a remarkable resemblance to hustling for votes while pressing his budget and legislative agenda.
The Southern: Nearly a decade old, state contract for foster care leaves funding gaps
On paper, Illinois looks as though it is holding up its end of the bargain in terms of funding childcare.
However, local foster care agencies say their level of funding leaves big gaps when it comes to caring for the state’s most vulnerable — abused and neglected children.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County shells out $1.6 million to cover mistakes in federal grant applications
Cook County taxpayers will be out an extra $1.6 million after mistakes were made in seeking federal grant funding for the county Department of Homeland Security.
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Wednesday that the errors were discovered after she fired Ernest Brown from his post as the agency’s executive director of homeland security and an internal investigation of the department was conducted.
Chicago Sun-Times: No retirement bonus for CPS teachers; too few applied
Officials with the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools had hoped to save money by enticing longer-tenured, higher paid teachers to bite at a retirement bonus, but too few applied.
CPS officials had offered the extra $1,500 for each year on the job as part of their contract with the Chicago Teachers Union.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: Judge to Rule on CPS, Rauner Motions Next Week
An answer to the lingering question of when this school year will end for Chicago Public Schools could become more clear next week, when a Cook County judge will rule on a pair of motions in the district’s ongoing suit against Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Attorneys for both sides met briefly for a status call Tuesday morning inside the courtroom of Cook County Chancery Court Judge Franklin Valderrama to hatch out the details of next Wednesday’s motion hearing.
Chicago Sun-Times: Legislators seek feedback on legalizing recreational marijuana
Two Illinois legislators want the state to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
But they’re determined to “do this in a very public way,” as one of put it, so they are planning a series of public forums to before moving forward with their bill.
Chicago Tribune: Critic of cop reform in Chicago upsets incumbent president in police union election
A challenger unseated the incumbent president of Chicago’s largest police union Wednesday, ushering in leadership that staunchly opposes federal oversight and stricter discipline for a police force plagued by allegations of misconduct and excessive force.
Kevin Graham beat Dean Angelo Sr. in a runoff election for a three-year term at the helm of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, according to results posted to the union’s website.
Chicago Sun-Times: Police reform and a new superintendent — one year later
One year ago Thursday, the earth moved for the Chicago Police Department.
The Task Force on Police Accountability appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the day he fired Police Supt. Garry McCarthy issued a blistering, 190-page indictment of the Police Department that would lay the groundwork for a similar report by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Chicago Sun-Times: Man who sued city over wrongful conviction gets more than $13M
A federal jury on Wednesday awarded a man more than $13 million after he sued the city, seven Chicago police officers and two Cook County prosecutors over his conviction for the 1992 slayings of Jeffrey Lassiter and Sharon Haugabook.
Tears streamed down Deon Patrick’s face, and he clutched a photograph of his late mother that he wears around his neck, as Judge Ronald Guzman announced the award. Patrick wore a bright-green sweater vest to the courtroom and hugged his attorneys after the verdict was read.
A federal jury on Wednesday awarded a man more than $13 million after he sued the city, seven Chicago police officers and two Cook County prosecutors over his conviction for the 1992 slayings of Jeffrey Lassiter and Sharon Haugabook.
Tears streamed down Deon Patrick’s face, and he clutched a photograph of his late mother that he wears around his neck, as Judge Ronald Guzman announced the award. Patrick wore a bright-green sweater vest to the courtroom and hugged his attorneys after the verdict was read.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: Chicago Housing Authority CEO on Overdue Plan for Transformation
The Chicago Housing Authority is playing catch-up on a goal it planned to meet eight years ago.
In 2000, the CHA set a commitment to build, replace or restore 25,000 public housing units by 2009 as part of its Plan for Transformation.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County judge indicted on mortgage fraud charges
A civic-minded judge whose inspiring rags-to-riches story helped her become the first Filipina elected to the Cook County bench was indicted Wednesday on mortgage fraud charges.
Judge Jessica A. O’Brien, who presided over a small-claims courtroom and had served in prominent roles on numerous bar association boards, allegedly lied and concealed relevant facts from lenders to obtain more than $1.4 million in mortgages on two South Side investment properties that she purchased and sold between 2004 and 2007.
Chicago Tribune: In D.C. appearance, Emanuel backs federal gas tax hike of up to 10 cents a gallon
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that the federal gas tax should be raised by up to 10 cents per gallon during a discussion of the $1 trillion infrastructure plan being touted by President Donald Trump.
The mayor was speaking at a Wall Street Journal-sponsored breakfast in Washington when an audience questioner proposed a 5-cent gasoline tax hike.
Chicago Sun-Times: ACLU: Revised street music ban ‘less draconian’ but still illegal
A softer version of a downtown alderman’s controversial plan to silence street musicians on Michigan Ave. and State Street isn’t soft enough to pass legal muster, the American Civil Liberties Union warned Wednesday.
“The new proposed ordinance is slightly less draconian, but it suffers the same basic constitutional infirmity as the prior version…Such an ordinance cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny,” senior staff counsel Rebecca Glenberg wrote in a letter emailed to the City Council’s License Committee.
Quincy Herald-Whig: Adams County Board might take out $800K loan for ambulance building project
The Adams County Board decided Wednesday night to seek a request for proposal to obtain a loan to help finance its new ambulance building.
At last month’s board meeting, County Board member Duane Venvertloh, R-7, told the board that because the revolving loan fund would no longer be an option, the county was almost $800,000 short of the project’s $1.448 million cost.
State Journal-Register: Panel recommends TIF money for MJ’s relocation to Enos Park
The former Susie Q’s in Enos Park could soon be home to a locally run fast-food restaurant with the help of public funds.
Jerome Taylor, owner of MJ’s Fish and Chicken Express, is looking to relocate and expand his food stand at 230 South Grand Ave. E. to the restaurant space north of downtown using $55,000 in tax increment financing money.