Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Watchdog: Illinois taxpayers owe $68 billion for state retiree healthcare
Every Illinois household would have to pay $11,000 to cover the cost of taxpayer-subsidized healthcare benefits for retired state workers, a figure that is expected to grow, according to a new report from public finance watchdog Wirepoints.
Illinois has more than $137 billion of unfunded pension liabilities for retired state employees. That is up more than $3.5 billion from the year before, according to the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. That doesn’t include healthcare costs. Some employees who work 20 years for state government get healthcare coverage with no copays.
Chicago Sun-Times: State picks managers of Thompson Center sale
State officials said Thursday they have selected a project management team to help them realize maximum revenue from the sale of the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration has called the 17-story building at 100 W. Randolph St. “oversized, outdated and expensive.” The glassy creation of architect Helmut Jahn opened in 1985, but years of deferred maintenance have taken a toll.
WTTW: Illinois attorney general files lawsuit against e-cigarette maker Juul
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed a lawsuit against the largest manufacturer of e-cigarettes in the nation.
Juul Labs, Inc. intentionally marketed its products to minors, misrepresented the potency of nicotine in its products and misrepresented its products as smoking cessation devices, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court.
Chicago Sun-Times: Former high-ranking employee of Dorothy Brown sentenced to 2 years in prison for derailing investigation
First, the judge listened to a plea for mercy Thursday from a woman who lied to a federal grand jury that had been investigating Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, purportedly derailing its work altogether.
Then, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis looked around her courtroom — one sparsely populated by lawyers, reporters and the woman’s husband and friends. And then Ellis said, “there is one person who is not here.”
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Lori Lightfoot defends website shaming budget naysayers: ‘Since when is letting voters and residents know how aldermen voted bullying?’
Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended a website she launched shaming Chicago aldermen who voted against her first budget, casting it as a civic tool for the public despite criticism that it was petty and bullying.
“The fact of the matter is, since when is letting voters and residents know how aldermen voted bullying?” Lightfoot told reporters Thursday. “That’s just silly.”
Associated Press: Chicago suburb OKs $100K separation deal with ex-manager
A Chicago suburb will pay its former village manager nearly $100,000 in separation benefits following his retirement after being charged in a hit-and-run crash that critically injured a pedestrian.
The Oak Lawn Village Board voted to approve a deal with Larry Deetjen that provides him with $53,067 for unused vacation time and a one-time payment of $46,834, or three months severance pay, as his employment contract stipulates if terminated without cause, the Chicago Tribunereported Thursday.
WBEZ: Illinois missing out on federal money to help crime victims
When Lisa Daniels’ son Darren Easterling was murdered, government agencies in Illinois offered only one thing: Police arrested Easterling’s killer and locked him up. But Daniels said what she really needed was money to bury her son and a way to get his children, her grandchildren, into therapy and grief counseling.
“I was unemployed at that time, so I was completely unprepared for something as serious as that,” Daniels said.
Chicago Tribune: Should the city of Chicago have to pay $44 million for a shooting involving an off-duty police officer? Federal judges set to rule
A federal appeals court appears poised to overturn a historic jury verdict against the city of Chicago for a shooting involving an off-duty officer’s gun, even though the city now acknowledges the patrolman shot his friend in the head after a night of heavy drinking and that the Police Department failed to properly investigate the incident.
A three-judge appellate panel this week cast doubts about the constitutionality of the jury’s finding, repeatedly suggesting the Police Department could not be held responsible for its employees’ actions outside of work. The panel’s pointed comments came as city attorneys publicly stated for the first time that Officer Patrick Kelly shot his close friend Michael LaPorta and accepted the jury verdict that faulted the city for failing to investigate its officers and lacking an “early warning” system to identify troubled officers.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago police merit promotions process has become ‘illegitimate’
Mayor Lori Lightfoot backed interim Chicago police Superintendent Charlie Beck’s suspension of the department’s practice of promoting officers regardless of their exam scores, saying the so-called merit selection process has become “illegitimate.”
“Survey after survey of police officers of all stripes have felt like people are getting their jobs … because of who they know,” Lightfoot said. “And that’s a significant problem.”
Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago Firefighters Union asks judge to halt promotions
The union representing Chicago firefighters wants a Cook County judge to halt the promotion of more than a dozen department members to battalion chief.
The Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 filed a motion for an injunction in Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday that seeks to stop the promotions — set to take effect Dec. 16 — because 17 department members slated for advancement scored below 70% on the promotional exam.
Chicago Sun-Times: CPD sergeant who shot unarmed autistic man suspended for 6 months
The Chicago Police sergeant who shot an unarmed, developmentally disabled man on the Far South Side has been suspended from work for six months.
The Chicago Police Board voted 7-2 to suspend Sgt. Khalil Muhammad for 180 days at Thursday evening’s meeting.
Belleville News-Democrat: Fed-up East St. Louis citizens say corrupt public officials deserve maximum punishment
A group of longtime East St. Louis residents, most of them senior citizens, have united in their message to city and county leaders: They’re tired of the corruption.
Some 75 to 125 citizens strong, they network through local churches and other community groups and communicate in an unofficial capacity.