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Belleville News-Democrat: Wave goodbye to your Illinois neighbors, unless you plan to follow them
New year. New start. New state?
The latest Internal Revenue Service figures show Illinois residents are more likely to make that move, taking their wealth and tax dollars with them. Since Illinois in 2011 hiked its state income tax rate to almost 5 percent, a steadily increasing amount of wealth has vanished.
Illinois lost $4.75 billion in adjusted gross income in 2015, nearly double what was lost in 2011. This summer Illinois state leaders gave residents even more reason to skedaddle by making the “temporary” hike from 2011 “permanent,” costing a family of four earning $100,000 a year an additional $1,100.
Chicago Tribune: Some customers report still being charged for soda tax after its repeal
Cook County eliminated its controversial soda tax effective on Nov. 30, but officials say some retailers apparently continued to charge customers for it after that.
The county has received a couple dozen complaints about businesses continuing to charge the short-lived, penny-per-ounce pop tax, said Frank Shuftan, spokesman for County Board Chairwoman Toni Preckwinkle.
Champaign News-Gazette: Home sales: Up or sideways?
Overall, the U.S. housing market is strong. But locally, sales are trailing last year’s. And prices stymie first-time buyers.
Home sales nationally are healthy. Very healthy.
Last week, the National Association of Realtors reported that Americans purchased existing homes at the fastest pace in nearly 11 years. Sales rose 5.6 percent in November, to a seasonally adjusted 5.81 million units. The last time sales exceeded that total was in December 2006, a year before the housing bubble triggered the recession.
Crain's Chicago Business: Rauner's Medicaid revamp just became a little less secret
NextLevel Health is no longer keeping secret how much the Rauner administration plans to pay the private insurer in the governor’s revamped Medicaid managed care program that begins Jan. 1.
Chicago-based NextLevel, led by Dr. Cheryl Whitaker, has released reimbursement rates that detail how much the state plans to pay the carrier for administering medical benefits to a portion of Illinois’ 3.1 million Medicaid recipients.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago police watchdog rules 2015 shooting of Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones was unjustified
Chicago police disciplinary officials have ruled that an officer was unjustified in the fatal 2015 shooting of a baseball-bat clutching 19-year-old and an innocent bystander.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability determined that Officer Robert Rialmo unjustifiably shot Quintonio LeGrier and 55-year-old Bettie Jones while responding to a domestic disturbance on the West Side on the day after Christmas two years ago, according to documents obtained by the Tribune through an open records request. After LeGrier approached officers with an aluminum baseball bat, Rialmo shot the teen and accidentally hit Jones, a neighbor standing nearby.
Lake County News-Sun: Environmental group, homeowners sue Illinois Tollway over proposed Route 53 extension into Lake County
Lake County environmental group on Thursday sued the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to stop it from spending any more money to study an extension of Route 53.
The lawsuit, filed in Lake County Circuit Court in Waukegan by Livable Lake County and six area homeowners, alleges the Tollway failed to abide by state law in pursuing the controversial project. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that the Tollway violated the Illinois Toll Highway Act by failing to get proper authorization for the corridor from the Illinois legislature and not holding required public hearings.
Decatur Herald & Review: Richland prepares to open 2 new student facilities totaling nearly $10 million
As Richland Community College students enjoy their winter break, work is being completed on two new centers that represent nearly $10 million in improvements and aim to create a more modern, streamlined experienced for students.
Both the Carroll Center for Innovative Learning, focused on 21st-century labs and community space, and Student Success Center, meant to create more efficient enrollment efforts, are set to open in January. Together, they take up more than 30,000 square feet of new space at the campus on the city’s northeast side.
State Journal-Register: Local unemployment at 11-year low in November
Springfield-area unemployment fell to a 11-year low for the month of November, though the size of the labor force also continued to decline.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security numbers released Thursday reflect long-term changes in the larger job market, including more self-employed workers and a shrinking labor force, said Ron Payne, a department labor market economist in Springfield. Local unemployment dropped to 4 percent last month from 4.4 percent in November 2016.