Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Northwest Herald: No sure bets just yet on sports gambling plans for Illinois
With five plans being considered, it’s anyone guess what legalized sports gambling will look like in Illinois if the Legislature approves a bill this spring.
One element of several of those plans might not yet be a safe bet. The wisdom of having a $10 million one-time licensing fee was questioned during a second hearing on sports gambling by the House Revenue and Finance subcommittee Thursday in Chicago.
Chicago Tribune: CTU demands Lori Lightfoot settle teachers' contract quickly; meanwhile charter school, City Colleges staff plan strikes
Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey fired a warning to Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot on Thursday: Settle a contract for 25,000 rank-and-file union members by the start of the coming school year. Or else.
Lightfoot’s inauguration is three weeks away. State lawmakers, city aldermen and Chicago Public Schools still have budgets to settle. But Sharkey, during remarks to the City Club of Chicago, called on the incoming mayor and CPS to accelerate talks to replace a contract that expires at the end of June.
Chicago Sun-Times: Teachers at 5 charter schools set strike date
The latest batch of unionized Chicago charter school teachers could go on strike next week barring a breakthrough in contract negotiations.
Chicago Teachers Union leaders on Thursday announced they’ll picket May 1 if deals aren’t reached for the educators at five privately managed, publicly funded schools on the South and West Sides: Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy, Instituto Justice Leadership Academy, Chicago High School for the Arts, Latino Youth High School and Youth Connection Leadership Academy.
Chicago Sun-Times: Ald. Edward Burke cashed in on projects he boasted of landing for his ward
Embattled Ald. Edward M. Burke, who won re-election in February despite facing federal corruption charges, boasted during his campaign about how he brought home the bacon — literally — to his Southwest Side ward.
Even as Burke stood accused of leveraging his clout as Chicago’s most powerful alderman to shake down a businessman for legal business, his campaign played up his effectiveness at landing big economic development projects for his 14th Ward.
Chicago Sun-Times: Feds ask for more time to indict Ald. Edward Burke in corruption case
Federal prosecutors want more time to seek an indictment against Ald. Ed Burke (14th) in the corruption case that earlier this year rocked City Hall in the middle of campaign season.
Facing a May 3 deadline to seek what is generally expected to be a wider indictment from a grand jury against Burke, prosecutors asked a judge Thursday for 35 additional days. If the judge grants their request, their new deadline would be June 7.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County makes it illegal to refuse to show or rent property to people with certain criminal records
Cook County commissioners on Thursday approved an ordinance aimed at ending housing discrimination against people with arrest records.
Dubbed the “Just Housing” ordinance, the measure makes it illegal to refuse to show property or rent housing to people with certain criminal records.
Chicago Tribune: Judicial board clears Justice Anne Burke in Preckwinkle fundraising complaint
A state oversight board concluded that Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke did not violate judicial conduct rules when a political fundraiser was held at her home for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
The Judicial Inquiry Board completed its review into Burke’s conduct related to the January 2018 fundraiser and “determined to close the matter,” according to a letter it sent this week to political consultant Jeffrey Orr, who had called on the board to investigate.
Daily Herald: 1,000 DuPage County seniors will receive incorrect tax bills
Roughly 1,000 DuPage taxpayers who qualify for a senior freeze exemption won’t see it applied on their tax bills next week because of an error by the county.
More homeowners 65 or older are eligible for the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption because state lawmakers last year increased the annual income cap for qualifying residents to $65,000 from $55,000. The program “freezes” the equalized assessed value, generally at a level the year before someone applies and qualifies.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Gas prices on the rise; Bloomington tax hike goes into effect next week
Gas prices are inching closer to $3 a gallon, which is not a surprise to industry analysts or to some Twin City customers.
“Remember that time it was around $1.80 per gallon?” asked Nicole Mullins of Bloomington, as she filled her tank Thursday morning with gas priced at $2.85 per gallon at Huck’s, 2401 S. Main St., Bloomington. “I was willing to drive around a little bit more in those days. Now, not so much.”
Champaign News-Gazette: Champaign County tax bills coming 3 weeks late
Champaign County property tax bills will be hitting the mail nearly three weeks late this year.
County officials said they had been missing a piece of information from the state Department of Revenue that’s necessary to complete their work on 2018 tax bills payable this year.
Decatur Herald & Review: Decatur drivers getting less mileage from their gas money as summer nears
Gas prices are inching closer to $3 a gallon, which is not a surprise to industry analysts or to some Decatur customers.
Riley James, 19, has felt the effect of rising gas prices. The amount she was able to spend gave her only three gallons in her 2007 Chevy Cobalt.