Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Consultant settles sexual harassment lawsuit involving ex-Madigan aide
A political consultant whose allegations of sexual harassment against a top aide to powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan highlighted the treatment of women in Illinois politics has reached a settlement with four of the speaker’s political committees.
Alaina Hampton settled her 2018 federal lawsuit for $275,000 with the Democratic Party of Illinois, the Democratic Majority, the 13th Ward Democratic Organization, and Friends of Michael J. Madigan.
Associated Press: Michigan, Illinois set to usher in recreational pot sales
James Daly is eager to make marijuana history on Sunday, when he plans to open the doors to Arbors Wellness, beckon the lengthy line outside and legally start selling recreational pot for the first time in the Midwest.
“We’ve worked very hard to be prepared,” said Daly, who owns the medical dispensary that, for now, is among just six shops in Michigan — mostly in Ann Arbor — also approved to start selling for adult use in December. The business is doubling staff and has fielded calls from potential customers across the state along with neighboring Ohio and Indiana.
Daily Herald: Griffin: A drop in people, a $1 billion rise in property taxes
Property tax collections by local governments in Illinois increased nearly $1 billion between 2017 and 2018 even as the state lost thousands of residents over that year.
Combined, 6,042 local governments received $31.8 billion in property taxes last year, according to Illinois Department of Revenue reports. That was $944 million more than what was collected in 2017 by those agencies.
Chicago Sun-Times: FBI files reveal powerful New York mob figure’s Chicago ties
Meyer Lansky was a powerful New York underworld figure involved in the mob’s efforts to create a nationwide network of gangsters and control casino gambling in Las Vegas and, in the pre-Castro era, Cuba.
Sometimes called the “mob’s accountant,” he was associated with big-name hoods like Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and Charles “Lucky” Luciano.
Northwest Herald: Algonquin board to vote on prohibiting recreational marijuana shops in village
The Algonquin Village Board is expected to vote Tuesday to prohibit recreational marijuana businesses from opening in the village.
Village President John Schmitt said at Algonquin’s Committee of the Whole meeting Nov. 19 that board members went through the process of what would be required to have a cannabis business in the village, as well as the “positive and negatives” associated with shops selling the substance.