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Chicago Tribune: Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs law creating parole review for young offenders with lengthy sentences
Young adults sentenced to lengthy prison terms for most crimes will be eligible for a parole review after serving 10 years, under a measure Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Monday.
“This historic legislation will create a long-awaited and vital new parole system for youth facing long sentences,” Pritzker said during a bill-signing event at BBF Family Services in the Lawndale neighborhood on the city’s West Side.
Decatur Herald & Review: Illinois Supreme Court dissent says balanced budget mandate should be considered
Is a line in Illinois’ Constitution instructing the General Assembly to pass a balanced budget a requirement, or a suggestion?
That question was recently posed to the Supreme Court, weaved into a case that challenged the constitutionality of taxpayer-funded abortions through Medicaid. Although the state’s highest court declined to hear the case, the leading expert on Illinois’ governing document said the language is indeed a mandate.
Chicago Tribune: Family of slain cabbie accuses Cook County state's attorney's office of dodging FOIA request
Family members of a cabdriver killed last year when another driver kicked him in the head during a road dispute are accusing the Cook County state’s attorney’s office of a “refusal to criminally charge” a suspect despite video evidence, allowing him to escape prosecution by leaving for China, according to a lawsuit filed last week.
Thara Tungekar, the wife of Anis Tungekar, filed the lawsuit in Cook County on Thursday in an effort to compel the office to produce records about the case after an unsuccessful Freedom of Information Act request.
Chicago Sun-Times: Payton College Prep again tops list of most competitive CPS high schools
Once again, five selective enrollment high schools adjacent to downtown and on the North Side are the most competitive schools in the city, according to newly released data from Chicago Public Schools — with Walter Payton College Prep taking the title of the city’s hardest school to get into.
Payton was followed by Northside College Prep, Jones College Prep, Whitney Young Magnet High School and Lane Tech College Prep. Accepted applicants to those schools scored the highest of any students seeking admission to any of CPS’ 11 selective enrollment high schools.
Crain's Chicago Business: CTU bill to undo Emanuel's school changes steams ahead
Quietly approved by the House late last week was a bill that would repeal 1995 reforms passed early in the tenure of former Mayor Richard M. Daley that took certain topics, including class size and the school calendar, off the collective bargaining table, making them discretionary to management rather than mandatory subjects for bargaining.
Decatur Herald & Review: Decatur council OKs purchase of Macon County lots, new transit buses and library lot fixes
City council members said figuring out how to use 750 parcels of Macon County trustee land approved for purchase Monday will be an important step in Decatur’s neighborhood ongoing revitalization efforts.
Council members voted 7-0 to purchase the land from the county for $75 per lot. City Manager Scot Wrighton told the council that this was the city’s last step in the lengthy process of buying the parcels from the county — a process which both governmental bodies began last year. He said the city and county will have to close the deal to make the transfer official, and due to the amount of land involved, that could take months.