Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Belleville News-Democrat: Illinois lawmakers keep leash on their sexual harassment watchdog
The Republican woman who wants to be the next Illinois Attorney General was campaigning in the area recently, and she had some interesting things to say about government corruption, sexual harassment and the office’s potential for helping change the statehouse culture.
It was an interesting juxtaposition, as news emerged that our state lawmakers allow themselves veto power on sexual harassment investigations of their peers.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel breaks silence on Berrios, calls for review of property tax assessments
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been mostly quiet as Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios has been under fire following a Chicago Tribune-ProPublica Illinois investigation.
In June, the investigation showed how Berrios’ office had produced inaccurate residential property tax assessment that burdened poorer homeowners. Last week, the investigation revealed Berrios’ office failed to properly value commercial and industrial properties, forcing homeowners to pay more in property taxes than they would have otherwise.
Chicago Tribune: CTA OKs 25-cent fare hikes as watchdog group gives thumbs down to budget
The CTA board on Wednesday unanimously approved raising bus and train fares by 25 cents next year, following the region’s two other transit agencies, which also hiked their prices in response to state budget cuts.
The 2018 fare increase — the first across-the-board increase in nine years — is intended to help fill a more than $33 million hole caused, in part, by a drop in state funding for the transit service, which provides about 1.6 million rides every weekday.
Chicago Tribune: CTU delegates send proposed merger with organized charter teachers to full vote
Chicago Teachers Union delegates endorsed a merger with organized charter school teachers on Wednesday, setting up a vote by the CTU’s full membership late next month.
A merger between the CTU and the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff would consolidate the political power of the city’s teachers in time for next year’s governor’s race and the 2019 mayoral election. CTU members will vote on the plan on Jan. 25, a union spokesman said.
Chicago Sun-Times: Aldermen move to ban horse-drawn carriages from city streets
Horse-drawn carriages are popular with tourists, but they’re cruel to horses and dangerous to motorists, a downtown aldermen said Wednesday, proposing that existing carriage licenses be allowed to expire and not renewed.
“They present a picture-postcard type of charm. But their time has past…They no longer seem justified,” said Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd).
Northwest Herald: Terminated Algonquin Township Highway Department employee calls for lowering Gasser's salary
Nick Chirikos, a former road district employee fired on Highway Commissioner Andrew Gasser’s first day in office, showed up to Algonquin Township’s monthly meeting Wednesday and called for trustees to lower the salary of his former boss.
“My concerns are many regarding our local township government and, in particular, its road district,” said Chirikos, a former McHenry County Board member. “Once a vibrant and well-functioning organization, which almost had unanimous support of its residents, it has devolved into a chaotic, factious and deeply conflated state.”
Daily Herald: Vernon Twp. board: Assessor shouldn't be investigating harassment claims
Vernon Township board members expressed their frustration Wednesday night that Township Assessor Gary Raupp, whose son has been accused of sexual harassment by two fellow township assessor employees, has decided to have his own attorneys investigate the claims.
Raupp declined to comment on the allegations but did read a statement at the beginning of the meeting that he was investigating the allegations and would defer to his counsel’s advice on how to address them. He said the female employees never came to him directly and instead brought their concerns up with outsiders.
Daily Herald: Custodians, mechanics have new deal in District 15
Custodians, mechanics and other employees have secured a new four-year contract at Palatine Township Elementary District 15.
District 15 school board members Wednesday night voted 7-0 in favor of their end of the deal with the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 100 workers. Union members ratified the contract Monday.
Peoria Journal-Star: Ground and bread broken, taxes spoken, at Peoria Portillo’s
By the time Portillo’s opens in Peoria — early May, most likely — the weather probably will be warmer. Snow probably will have melted.
And it’s possible the problems that surrounded establishment of the Chicago-style restaurant chain’s local outlet will be forgotten. Or at least mitigated, one Italian-sausage sandwich at a time.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Unit 5 property tax bill stays level, may increase with future bonds
McLean County Unit 5 taxpayers can expect their school property tax bill to stay the same or decrease marginally for now, but approval of future bond sales could tack on a few extra dollars next year.
On Wednesday, the school board approved an estimated 2017 property tax levy of nearly $113 million, for taxes payable in 2018, which is up 2.97 percent from the 2016 levy of about $109 million.
Belleville News-Democrat: Looming pension crisis puts East St. Louis operations in peril, Kelly warns
East St. Louis officials could soon see the entire city’s budget confiscated by the Illinois comptroller — leaving agencies like the police and fire departments without money for daily operation — if they do not begin to properly finance the city’s police and fire pension funds.
The issue stems back several years, according to attorney Dennis J. Orsey. He represents both the fire and police pension funds, which filed a lawsuit against the city in November 2015 when funding became an issue. At this point, Orsey said, the funds could potentially begin to intercept 100 percent of the city’s revenue sometime next year if nothing is done to remedy the situation.
The Southern: SIU board mulls restructuring plan, tuition hike
At a standing-room-only work session Wednesday, Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s new chancellor presented his controversial academic reorganization plan to the SIU Board of Trustees, eliciting an apparent mix of skepticism and support.
In the Student Center’s jam-packed Mississippi Room, SIUC Chancellor Carlo Montemagno argued that his plan to eliminate the university’s 42 departments will allow for more interdisciplinary work and elevate the status of the university.