Get the latest news from around Illinois.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: A Portrait of Michael Madigan
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is regularly referred to as the most powerful politician in Illinois. He’s also one of the most written-about, most controversial and least understood.
So who is Madigan, and what really motivates the “man behind the fiscal fiasco in Illinois,” as a new Reuters article puts it?
State Journal-Register: AFSCME will announce results of strike-authorization vote Thursday
The largest state employee union will announce the results of its strike-authorization vote Thursday.
A memo sent to AFSCME members Tuesday night said the counting would be completed and the results made public on Thursday.
Wall Street Journal: Illinois Tax Heist
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has been trying to pull the Land of Lincoln out of economic decline amid obstruction by state Democrats, and it’s a losing battle. After two years without a state budget, Mr. Rauner is now bending as Democrats promise to hold the budget hostage if he doesn’t sign a tax increase.
In his State of the State address last week, Mr. Rauner said he was open to “consider revenue increases” in conjunction with “job-creating changes” in pursuit of a budget deal.
WBEZ: Illinois Budget Impasse Jeopardizes Hundreds Of Student Jobs At Northeastern Illinois University
About 260 Northeastern Illinois University students may be forced out of their campus jobs because of a new rule put in place as a result of the Illinois’ ongoing budget impasse.
Since Jan. 1, state universities haven’t been getting any state money because lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner have not approved a budget. Court orders have kept much of the state government operating, except for universities and social services.
Kankakee Daily Journal: Delays won't decrease state budget pain
There might not be a more unpopular, thankless job than Illinois governor.
Gov. Bruce Rauner recently gave his annual budget message. It reinforced the obvious: The state is in a mess. There are $11 billion in unpaid bills. The pension systems are $130 billion short of what is needed to pay out what has been promised. The proposed budget is about $5 billion more in the red.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Rauner pledges to stay course during Normal trip
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said Wednesday he understands the frustration of Illinois residents tired of living without a state budget.
“It’s frustrating we don’t have a budget. … When I started this job, I was 6-8 and had a full head of hair. It’s hard,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not patient, but I am extremely persistent. … I’m going to stay persistent.”
News-Gazette: Oh, no! Surely, not again
They say it’s hard to separate a boy from his dog. It’s even harder to separate a politician from his perks.
Is the Illinois General Assembly really a legislative body? Or just a parody of one?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell, and HB 279 represents Exhibit A for that proposition.
State Journal-Register: State lawmakers fiddling while Illinois burns
State lawmakers need something to do.
Maybe hand them orange vests and garbage bags, and let them collect litter along the roadside. Give them some sort of busy work. Otherwise, they’ll keep proposing silly bills.
Chicago Tribune: As lawmakers target dangerous drug combinations, pharmacy lobby fights new rules
State lawmakers pressed Wednesday for stronger regulation of pharmacists’ hours and workload as a way to protect consumers from harmful errors, but pharmacy lobbyists largely did not budge.
In the first public showdown since a Tribune investigation in December found 52 percent of 255 tested pharmacies failed to warn patients about dangerous drug interactions, top pharmacy representatives said safety improvements already in the works will give Illinois some of the nation’s toughest restrictions.
NPR Illinois: WIU Student Enrollment Dips Below 10K
There are 9,469 students enrolled at Western Illinois University this spring semester. It’s the first time this century Western’s student body has dropped below 10,000.
Dr. Ron Williams, Western’s Interim Vice President of Student Services and the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, said spring 2017 enrollment is down about 6.5% compared to last spring. He said that is less than the 10% drop the university projected.
WBEZ: State Board Of Education To Adjust How It Distributes Money
A nine-year court battle over Illinois’ school funding system ended Wednesday with a unanimous vote by the state Board of Education to approve a settlement agreement.
The tentative agreement requires the board to devise a new way to distribute money when state funding falls short, but does not fundamentally change Illinois’ school funding system.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel administration clears bribe-paying red light camera vendor to bid on contracts
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has reinstated the red light camera vendor it fired after the firm was caught bribing its way into City Hall, making Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. once again eligible to pursue city contracts following a four-year suspension.
The designation of Redflex as a “responsible vendor” comes little more than two weeks after the firm agreed to pay the city $20 million to settle a lawsuit over the company’s bribery scheme.
NBC 5 Chicago: City Council Approves Ordinance to Lower Food Cart License Fees
More lunch time menu options could soon be rolling by your office.
Chicago’s City Council approved an ordinance Wednesday lowering license fees required for vendors to legally operate mobile food carts.
Chicago Tribune: Downtown Chicago street musician restrictions put on hold for now
A plan to virtually silence street performers along two of Chicago’s two prime downtown commercial corridors hit a speed bump Wednesday after musicians who ply their trade along Michigan Avenue and State Street and a prominent civil rights organization pushed back.
Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, whose ward includes most of downtown, said he agreed to put off a final City Council vote on the plan after meeting Tuesday with a group of street musicians. He said he’s talking to Mayor Rahm Emanuel — whose allies officially delayed the vote at Wednesday’s City Council meeting — about finding other places for the musicians to play.
Chicago Tribune: Black aldermen call for contract changes to cull 'racism and violence' from CPD
African-American aldermen on Wednesday called for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to remove clauses in the city’s police contract that they contend foster racist misconduct in the Chicago Police Department, an assertion the police union swiftly rejected.
The City Council Black Caucus’ demands come as the mayor negotiates a new police contract, talks that have been handled by the administration and union representatives, and not aldermen.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel's changed plan for tax rebate money avoids further resistance
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday blunted potentially embarrassing and heavy City Council opposition to his plans for spending millions of dollars in unused tax rebate money by tweaking the proposal that some aldermen had tried to turn into a kind of referendum on his commitment to fighting violent crime.
After many aldermen balked at the mayor’s idea to spend $500,000 of the money to plant 1,000 trees around the city, he agreed to pull that idea and instead put that cash toward anti-violence technology, such as a test program to create crime-fighting intelligence centers in a handful of police districts.
Chicago Sun-Times: New education head in Illinois defends teachers, parents
Money matters when it comes to public education, parents are not an obstacle to student achievement in low-income school districts and a minimum of $3.5 billion more is needed for public education in Illinois.
Those aren’t the thoughts of a liberal Democrat or bleeding-heart newspaper columnist, but the conclusions of Illinois Secretary of Education Beth Purvis, an appointee of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Chicago Tribune: CPS Latino advisory committee members quit over budget cuts
Sixteen members of a Chicago Public Schools advisory committee for Latino students resigned to protest school budget cuts that have landed hard on schools with largely poor and minority populations, the committee’s chairman said Wednesday.
“We see this not just as an assault on Latino students, neighborhoods and families, but we see this as a continuation of cuts in the African-American community and now cuts in the Latino community,” committee member Jose Rico said while backed by three City Council members and former school board member and interim CPS CEO Jesse Ruiz.
Chicago Sun-Times: ASPIRA charter network teachers overwhelmingly vote to strike
The union representing more than 100 teachers, counselors and educational support staff in the four-school ASPIRA charter network voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike Wednesday afternoon.
Of the 93 votes cast, 92 were in favor of striking, according to ChiACTS Local 4343 spokeswoman Chris Geovanis.
Chicago Sun-Times: $75 million Midway Airport concession revamp cleared for takeoff
A 15-year, $75 million makeover of Midway Airport concessions was cleared for takeoff Wednesday on a runway crowded with clout-heavy contractors.
The contract with a group known as Midway Partnership LLC was approved at an action-packed City Council meeting dominated by business legislation.
Chicago Tribune: City to take a swing at adding a batting cage in Humboldt Park
With baseball season just around the corner, the city is taking a swing at adding a batting cage to the West Side.
A five-station automated batting cage is in the works for the south end of Humboldt Park near Division Street and Kedzie Avenue. Baseball programming at the park has continued to be popular there, with more than 1,000 children enrolled in community leagues last season, according to the city.
Chicago Tribune: O'Hare committee votes for new night noise recommendation
A committee of city and suburban officials on Wednesday voted in favor of a new plan to reduce nighttime jet noise in the worst-hit areas around O’Hare International Airport.
The recommendation by the Ad Hoc Fly Quiet Committee sends the plan to the full O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission for approval on March 10. The commission is made up of municipalities and school districts around the airport. If the commission and the Federal Aviation Administration agree, the city hopes to implement the plan this spring, said Aaron Frame, the Chicago Department of Aviation’s deputy commissioner of environment.
Chicago Tribune: Who's responsible for manganese dust on the Southeast Side?
The era of belching steel mills in Chicago’s Southeast Side is long gone. A legacy of pollution, however, isn’t.
In the region’s East Side neighborhood, one toxic problem has been solved — hillocks of petroleum coke, a byproduct of oil refining, have been removed. But environmental officials have discovered another problem: manganese in the air.
Chicago Tribune: Federally indicted Ald. Cochran called me a 'snitch,' pastor's lawsuit says
Add another serving of trouble onto Ald. Willie Cochran’s already overflowing plate of woe.
Under federal indictment for allegedly misusing charity funds to pay for his daughter’s college and for allegedly shaking down a liquor store, the 20th Ward alderman is now also being sued by a political rival who says Cochran publicly threatened to assault him for acting as a “snitch.”
NBC 5 Chicago: State Rep Wants to Rename Stretch of I-55 After Obama
State Rep. La Shawn Ford announced Wednesday that he’s drafting legislation to change Interstate 55 to the Barack Obama Expressway.
Before moving to the White House, Obama called Chicago’s South Side his home, working as a community organizer and later being elected as a state senator in 1997 and a U.S. senator in 2004.