Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois House overwhelmingly passes red-light camera ban in many communities around Chicago, St. Louis
The Illinois House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation banning controversial red-light cameras in many Illinois communities, advancing a measure similar to one blocked in 2015 by a senator who has since resigned and pleaded guilty to taking bribes from a red-light camera company.
The bipartisan approval of a bill sponsored by Republican state Rep. David McSweeney would ban red-light cameras in non-home rule communities in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will counties, as well as in Madison and St. Clair counties east of St. Louis. Non-home rule communities — generally those with 25,000 or fewer residents — have more limited powers under state law. Chicago would not be affected by the ban.
Daily Herald: Supreme Court rules Elk Grove Village term-limits referendum invalid
In a huge victory of long-serving Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson and his supporters, the Illinois Supreme Court today ruled that a referendum asking to impose retroactive term limits on him and other village leaders is “invalid.”
The unanimous decision reverses a Cook County judge’s Jan. 15 ruling that found a state law barring retroactive term-limit measures to be unconstitutional. Instead, the high court sided with Elk Grove’s electoral board — and ultimately Gov. JB Pritzker — which upheld an objection to the referendum question on the basis of the recently enacted state law.
The Center Square: Illinois universities seek funding increases from state lawmakers
Officials from three of the state’s public universities went before a Senate committee on Wednesday to detail their funding requests, including one double-digit increase.
Public universities had a difficult during the two-year state budget impasse brought on by the stalemate between former Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratically-controlled General Assembly. With Democrats firmly in control of all levers of state government, some of the state’s univers
Crain's Chicago Business: City's tow-and-sell program is unconstitutional, lawsuit argues
The suit, filed yesterday in federal court here, seeks class-action status. Similar litigation pending in Cook County Circuit Court deals with vehicles that have been impounded by the city.
The Center Square: Illinois' in-person sports gambling rule could send people to offshore sports books, industry player warns
When Illinois residents begin to place bets on sporting events this year, an online gaming venue official warned that in-person registration restrictions could push people to illegal, offshore gambling outlets.
A number of states already offer legal sports wagering. Illinois officials have said they plan to roll out a sports wagering program before the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament begins in March.
Rockford Register Star: Rockford eliminates almost all student fees
Starting this fall, all Rockford Public Schools students will be able to participate in everything from sports to arts and music without having to pay an additional cost known as student fees.
About one-third of Rockford’s 28,700 students pay them each year, generating about $777,000 annually. Fees are waived for the other two-thirds.
Daily Herald: You don't need a permit to have a garage sale in Schaumburg now
Schaumburg officials Tuesday formally dropped their requirement that most of the more than 1,100 garage sales in the village each year have permits.
One casualty of the dropped regulation, however, will be the monthly garage sale map the village posted on its website based on the permits issued.