Get the latest news from around Illinois.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: The Battle for Union Members Begins
If it hasn’t already, a flier will soon be arriving in the mailboxes of many of Illinois’ approximately 400,000 Illinois public school teachers, state employees and municipal workers (including police officers and firefighters) informing them that their “legal rights as a government employee have changed.”
It’s an early salvo in will surely be protracted battle for the allegiances of union-eligible public workers.
Bloomington Pantagraph: IDOC director: Many mentally ill inmates not getting proper care
Two years after the Illinois Department of Corrections agreed to sweeping changes in mental health services, many inmates are still going without adequate care, the agency’s director told a federal judge on Monday.
Acting IDOC Director John Baldwin was the first witness called by the state at a civil trial in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner set to sign medical marijuana expansion bill allowing drug as painkiller alternative
A measure that could dramatically expand access to medical marijuana in Illinois — making it available as an opioid painkiller replacement and easing the application process for all who qualify — is expected to become law on Tuesday.
The measure is a response to the epidemic of overdose deaths from narcotics, which killed almost 2,000 people in the state in 2016 and an estimated 72,000 people nationwide last year. It would allow doctors to authorize medical marijuana for any patient who has or would qualify for a prescription for opioids like OxyContin, Percocet or Vicodin.
Crain's Chicago Business: Senators want answers on Rauner's proposed South Loop tech campus
A few state senators are hoping to get some details today about the $500 million that was allocated to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s planned Discovery Partners Institute, a University of Illinois research facility planned for the South Loop.
Since it was announced in October, the private-public project has been long on promise but short on specifics. Rauner got $500 million for DPI in the deal that gave the state its first on-time budget during his tenure as governor.
Daily Herald: Want Cook County soda tax back? Questions on some ballots will ask, whether it's planned or not
Several suburban Cook County townships are putting advisory referendums on the Nov. 6 ballot to gauge public opinion on any possible reinstatement of last year’s unpopular sweetened beverage tax, despite assertions by county board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office that the tax won’t return.
Elk Grove Township Supervisor Mike Sweeney said his board’s July 23 vote, which apparently got the ball rolling for others that followed, was inspired by rumblings the tax could be reinstated after the November election.
Rockford Register-Star: Rockford library board seeks city’s blessing on $25M project
The city’s library board wants to know what City Hall and aldermen think about a $25 million mixed-used development proposal for the land next to the future library.
Having heard a second presentation from the Quad Cities-based Bush Construction company Monday night, the board was expected to vote on whether it wanted to pursue a formal agreement with the company and its team of architects and consultants.