Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Velvet Hammer’ Mike Madigan getting nailed — by more and more fellow Democrats
He’s been called “the Velvet Hammer” for his quiet, forceful style of leadership, but on Tuesday, Mike Madigan was the one taking a pounding.
All three leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates joined a growing group of Democrats calling for an independent investigation into what one state legislator dubbed the “endless cycle of lather, rinse, repeat” of harassment allegations and “culture that appears to pervade the organizations led by Speaker Madigan.”
NBC 5 Chicago: Questions Surface About Madigan's 'Independent' Investigation Into Sexual Harassment Allegations
Questions continued to surface Tuesday on the sexual harassment and misconduct allegations within the office of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Madigan announced Friday that his political organization had retained an “independent counsel” in Kelly Smith-Haley, of Fox Swibel Levin & Carroll, LLP.
Champaign News-Gazette: Problems, problems
The rough edges of House Speaker Mike Madigan’s men are causing him more problems.
Madigan’s problems with women keep getting worse.
A week after he was forced to dump one of his main campaign workers in connection with sexual-harassment charges comes news that Madigan has had to fire a second one in connection with a similar complaint.
Chicago Tribune: Thousands of students improperly won seats in CPS schools, a 'pervasive problem,' inspector general says
Finding fault with a notoriously frustrating school selection process, the Chicago Public Schools watchdog said in a new report that thousands of students were improperly enrolled in hundreds of elementary schools last year because of loopholes, confusion over policies or intentional disregard of rules.
Some schools used “cherry-picking” to favor certain students, according to a district audit analyzed by Inspector General Nicholas Schuler’s office. Nonselective schools improperly used academic benchmarks such as test scores and grades to evaluate prospective students, Schuler’s office said, and some schools “specifically weeded out kids with histories of poor attendance.”
Chicago Sun-Times: Four clout-heavy firms share $106.3M in multi-year deals to clean city buildings
Four clout-heavy companies will clean city buildings, thanks to $106.3 million in multi-year city contracts awarded nearly 20 years after janitorial work triggered one of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s biggest scandals.
The largest of the four contracts — $68.3 million — goes to ABM Janitorial to maintain government buildings on the Northwest and Southeast Sides.
The Southern: In Murphysboro, Illinois treasurer announces $500 million investment for new loan program
Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs made a stop in Murphysboro on Tuesday to announce an investment of $500 million for a new loan program he says will help boost the rural community.
At the Murphysboro Farm Bureau Office, Frerichs said the comprehensive loan program will flow through local banks to help individuals obtain loans at below-market rates.
Chicago Tribune: SIU chancellor, facing probes for hiring family and qualms about his leadership, repays school for daughter's move
When Chancellor Carlo Montemagno took the helm at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in July, he set to work on a plan to dismantle and rebuild academics at the struggling campus, which has hemorrhaged enrollment over the past several years. His idea was a bold one, rarely if ever attempted at a large public university: eliminate academic departments.
The plan drew ire as well as praise, opening some bitter fissures among faculty, students and staff. That discord seems to have grown in recent weeks, particularly as the chancellor has become embroiled in controversies that have intensified scrutiny of his leadership.
Associated Press: Illinois Senate plan requires rear-facing car seats until age 2
The Illinois Senate is endorsing a plan to require children to ride in rear-facing car seats until age 2.
The Senate Public Health Committee voted 7-0 Tuesday on Sen. Michael Hastings’ plan.
WBEZ: Expert: Illinois Experienced Biggest Drop In Prison Population Since 1970s
Illinois’ prison population dropped a whopping 16 percent in the last five years, a dramatic decrease caused by criminal justice reforms, says a noted professor of criminology.
The current population stands at 41,000, down from nearly 49,000 in 2013, according to David Olson, co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy, and Practice at Loyola University. He says the state’s prison population saw its biggest decrease after 2015, when it fell a dramatic 13 percent.
Chicago Tribune: State Farm cutting IT workers at Bloomington headquarters
State Farm is offering voluntary buyouts and laying off some employees at its corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Ill., as it undergoes an information technology restructuring, the insurer said Tuesday.
The company declined to say how many of its roughly 15,000 Bloomington-based employees will be affected.
Rockford Register-Star: Rockford leaders reject proposed cut to bus service
City Council on Monday rejected a financial task force recommendation to cut the city’s $1.5 million subsidy for Rockford Mass Transit District bus services by more than $300,000.
The proposed cut was one cost-saving measure among dozens generated by the resident-run task force that Rockford is considering to close what had been a projected $10.5 million general fund budget shortfall.
Peoria Journal-Star: Morton board OKs property tax abatement agreement extension
School Board members Tuesday agreed that an intergovernmental agreement regarding property tax abatements for businesses that wish to move to Morton or expand a facility in the village be extended for three years.
The original agreement between the Morton School District, village of Morton, Morton Public Library, Morton Township and Tazewell County was approved in 2014.
Decatur Herald & Review: Final step for Decatur budget faces holdup amid council concerns
The final step of authorizing the city’s 2018 budget will have to wait after Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe on Tuesday pulled the item from the council’s agenda.
A majority of the council members told the Herald & Review that they were not ready to approve the measure and had concerns about how it could affect future decisions as they work to resolve a $3.2 million budget deficit.
State Journal-Register: Springfield City Council reverses course, approves sales tax hike
Two weeks after they shot down a sales tax increase, Springfield aldermen on Tuesday approved a 0.25-percentage-point sales tax increase to help fill a hole in the city budget for the year that begins March 1.
The Springfield City Council also passed the city’s budget, 10-1, after making an additional $365,000 in cuts to the mayor’s proposed spending plan.