Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Rauner grants 30 clemency requests before leaving office
Gov. Bruce Rauner granted 30 clemency requests and four commutations on Friday, his final full business day in office.
Two of the commutations were for murder cases, but even with the shorter sentences, both men still face decades behind bars.
Chicago Sun-Times: State Rep. Christian Mitchell resigns to join Pritzker administration
Calling his work in the Illinois House “one of the honors” of his life, state Rep. Christian Mitchell on Friday tendered his resignation — days before he becomes one of three deputy governors in Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker’s administration.
The South Side Democrat was recently named the interim executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois, becoming the first African-American to lead the party. He’s served as a state representative of the 26th District and was the youngest member of the Illinois House when he was elected in 2013.
Northwest Herald: Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoes McHenry County township consolidation bill
On one of his last days in office, Gov. Bruce Rauner killed a consolidation bill that would have given McHenry County voters the power to eliminate townships at the polls.
Rauner, set to relinquish his seat to Gov.-elect J.B. Prtizker on Monday, signed an amendatory veto of House Bill 4637 about 3:30 p.m. Friday. The governor took issue with the bill’s focus on McHenry and Lake counties and recommended a statewide expansion of the legislation’s terms.
Chicago Tribune: Toni Preckwinkle and county watchdog at odds over political travel reimbursements
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the inspector general are at odds over whether she should reimburse the county for security costs associated with her political travel.
In his office’s most recent quarterly report, Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard wrote that the county should be logging when government vehicles are used to transport Preckwinkle to political events and she should reimburse the county for related expenses.
Crain's Chicago Business: Is Chicago finally ready for reform? Let's start with aldermanic privilege.
Troutman’s audacious self-dealing hardly stands out against the backdrop of generations of local political flimflammery. The Chicago Tribune, in fact, has helpfully assembled an aldermanic Hall of Shame that stretches back to 1972, chronicling the petty payoffs, small-scale extortions and palm greasings made possible by one of Chicago’s most hallowed political traditions: aldermanic privilege. It’s not a law. It’s a custom. And it’s one that would have been pointless to challenge—that is, until we learned this month how the city’s most powerful alderman, Ed Burke, had elevated the craft to an apparent art form.
Chicago Sun-Times: O’Connor promises quick action on structure for $10B pension borrowing
Calling it a “no-brainer” the City Council’s new Finance Committee chairman on Friday promised quick action to set up the structure for issuing up to $10 billion in pension obligation bonds.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged the City Council last month to sign off on a $10 billion pension borrowing to save beleaguered Chicago taxpayers “as much as $200 million” in his successor’s first budget.
Northwest Herald: Algonquin Township road district sues supervisor in alleged fraud case
Another lawsuit has been launched by the Algonquin Township Highway Department – and it’s asking for more than $1 million dollars in alleged damages from Supervisor Charles Lutzow.
Filed in McHenry County court Thursday, the lawsuit alleges Lutzow committed constructive fraud when he opened road district accounts at American Community Bank and named the accounts something other than “Algonquin Township Road District.”
Daily Herald: Rolling Meadows ends vehicle stickers in lieu of new tax
Rolling Meadows aldermen have officially eliminated the city’s vehicle stickers as promised now that a new natural gas tax has been implemented.
The city council this week unanimously agreed to end the sticker requirement, which cost $30 for a regular passenger vehicle, after last April narrowly approving the new natural gas tax of five cents per therm. That tax took effect Dec. 1 and is expected to generate more funds for local roads than vehicle stickers, city officials said.
Daily Herald: DuPage board member seeking to end health insurance perk
Taxpayer-subsidized health insurance for DuPage County Board members could be eliminated next year if one Republican member can convince enough of his colleagues to end the perk.
Tim Elliott said he raised the issue of health benefits to board Chairman Dan Cronin months ago, but decided to do it again after the Daily Herald printed an editorial on the topic this week.