Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Daily Herald: Why some county board members are already collecting public pensions
Most people have to wait until they’re out of a job to begin collecting retirement benefits they accrued while working there.
That’s not the case for at least 13 part-time suburban county board members who are receiving as much as $82,124 in annual pension payouts from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund for jobs in which they’re still getting salaries of $21,000 to $43,018.
Chicago Sun-Times: Curbing aldermanic prerogative should be a team effort for Lightfoot, Council
Before Chicago started picking up garbage on a grid system seven years ago, any alderman could order that a certain corner of his ward — or even the home of a favored brother-in-law — be taken care of first.
Aldermen don’t order around the garbage trucks anymore. But for an array of other routine city services — such as granting a shopkeeper permission to put up an awning — they still can call the shots, thanks to an unwritten rule called “aldermanic prerogative.”
Chicago Tribune: Megadevelopment proposed near Soldier Field wins Chamber of Commerce's support; alderman wants major changes
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is throwing its support behind the massive transit center and megadevelopment proposed over train tracks near Soldier Field, which it says could create $120 billion worth of new jobs, taxes and other economic benefits over the next four decades.
The nonprofit business organization, which represents more than 1,000 companies in the Chicago area, on Wednesday unveiled a report outlining the potential impact of the proposed One Central project on the local economy, tourism and regional transportation.
Chicago Sun-Times: Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce study touts massive project near Soldier Field
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is beating the drum for a $19 billion project with the potential to produce six times that much tax revenue over 40 years, create 210,000 jobs and turn a shrinking city into a growing metropolis.
Wisconsin developer Bob Dunn, better known for his stadium projects, wants to deck over railroad tracks west of Soldier Field, parallel to Lake Shore Drive and build “One Central,” a city-within-a city that includes up to 10 high-rises.
Chicago Tribune: City launches mural registry to protect street art from being erased; some artists worry about bureaucracy
Chicago street artists now have the option of taking an extra step to protect their work: stamping a city seal on their creation.
After several incidents last year in which street art was mistaken for vandalism and removed, the city this week launched its public mural registry. But some question adding another layer of bureaucracy to what they say should be a purely creative process.
WBEZ: Chicago’s Public Housing Residents Work But Don’t See Income Growth
Public housing residents in Chicago are largely compliant with a requirement that they hold jobs, but a study of the policy shows residents aren’t moving out of poverty or seeing significant increases in their paychecks.
The nonprofit Urban Institute released a research report on Tuesday that analyzes CHA’s 10-year-old work requirement, which mandates any non-disabled adult between the ages of 18 to 54 must participate. School and training programs count toward the requirement.
Northwest Herald: $15M Valley Hi rebate approved
On the verge of a vote to issue a $15 million rebate of surplus funds from Valley Hi Nursing Home on Tuesday, several McHenry County Board members stressed that their votes did not come from a place of apathy to the nursing home or its patients.
Board Chairman Jack Franks said before the vote that the rebate could be a shining moment that could repeat the message the board gave to residents when it lowered its levy in 2017.
Northwest Herald: McHenry OKs $1M Thorntons incentive deal, new restaurant at McHenry Country Club
McHenry City Council members agreed to give the developer for a Thorntons gas station and retail complex a $1 million incentive deal.
Bluestone Single Tenant Properties, LLC plans to construct the $15 million development on the northwest corner of Chapel Hill Road and Route 120.
Daily Herald: $10 million redevelopment of Des Plaines property clears hurdle
A $10 million plan to redevelop an office building to include a “business incubator space” and construct a separate 6,000-square-foot restaurant along Higgins Road won early approval this week from the Des Plaines city council.
Alderman voted unanimously to back preliminary plans by Mariner Higgins Centre LLC, which owns the 7-acre property at 1700 W. Higgins Road, just south of Interstate 90. The western part of the property is owned by the village of Rosemont, and the developers have an active purchase agreement to buy that vacant land.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Judge orders state to give Butler access to financial records in Coliseum case
A judge set a May 31 deadline for the state to provide copies of documents seized by Illinois State Police to John Y. Butler, who is accused of mishandling money during the decade he managed the city-owned arena.
On Tuesday, McLean County Judge William Yoder set the deadline nearly a year after state police refused to allow Butler to review volumes of business documents being stored in a state police facility in Pontiac.
State Journal-Register: City Council overhauls yard waste collections, increases recycling fee
After a lengthy discussion, the Springfield City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an overhaul to the city’s yard-waste collection program, along with a 50 percent increase in the city’s waste and recycling fee to help pay for it.
The new yard-waste pickup arrangement will replace the city’s longstanding program that provided free curbside pickups for a few weeks in the spring and fall and required residents to attach $2 stickers to yard-waste bags to have them collected during other times of the year.