Get the latest news from around Illinois.
State Journal-Register: Taxes the key issue, Rauner says
In case any of you were wondering what the big issues are going to be in the upcoming campaign for governor, the current head man had an answer last week.
“Taxes are going to be the essential issue,” Gov. BRUCE RAUNER said during an appearance near Chicago.
NBC 5 Chicago: Illinois' 199th Birthday Kicks Off Bicentennial Celebration
Happy birthday, Illinois — warts and all.
It’s the home of the U.S. president credited with ending black slavery and the nation’s first black president, as well as a litany of imprisoned governors and other politicians. And until just months ago, it had the nation’s longest state budget impasse since at least the Great Depression.
Northwest Herald: Raue Center to request more funding from Crystal Lake officials
The Raue Center for the Arts was preparing to ask the city for more money to keep its doors open before an anonymous donor stepped in at the last minute.
Raue Center officials called off plans to approach the City Council on Tuesday for additional funding amid talks with the unnamed donor.
Northwest Herald: Lawyer for Algonquin Township highway commissioner threatens lawsuit over Facebook comment
Stephanie Scala usually doesn’t get Facebook messages after midnight.
That’s why the 45-year-old mother of three was shocked to see a late-night message pop into her inbox from a man she had read about in the newspaper: Robert Hanlon, the $375-an-hour lawyer representing Algonquin Township Highway Commissioner Andrew Gasser in multiple legal battles.
Rockford Register-Star: Rockford home rule vote sparks debate
Debate is heating up over whether voters should restore Rockford’s home rule authority, a set of broad powers to tax and regulate stripped from the city decades ago.
Winnebago County Board member Ted Biondo argues that without a provision in Illinois to recall elected officials, home rule would concentrate too much power in the hands of the City Council. It would give Rockford the ability to raise property taxes beyond tax caps without voter approval, to institute new taxes and fees, to tap “unlimited” borrowing power and to approve rules that limit property rights of homeowners.
Decatur Herald & Review: State not planning any highway work for Decatur area
An analysis of spending proposals shows the Illinois Department of Transportation has no plans to upgrade any of its roads in the Decatur area — another side effect of the political and financial chaos in Springfield.
“IDOT is looking to do the best job they can with the dollars that have been allocated to them, but this is really a situation that’s coming from the political gridlock,” said David Tyrolt, president of Decatur-based Dunn Company, a contractor for public road work in the area.