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Champaign News-Gazette: Promises, promises from Pritzker — but of what, exactly?
New Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivered a warm, buoyant inaugural address Monday, general enough not to ruffle too many feathers but specific enough to thrill his supporters.
He embraced personal “kindness,” promised a “fair tax system,” pledged to bring “real efficiencies to state government,” expressed support for “better roads, better schools and better wages,” invoked “leadership that abandons single-minded, arrogant notions,” and announced opposition to “an economy that gives too little and takes too much.”
Chicago Sun-Times: The bad bet: How Illinois bet on video gambling and lost
With the last streaks of daylight fading on a mild October evening, the cars pulled up in waves at Piero’s Italian Cuisine, an old-school Las Vegas hotspot known for its osso buco.
Cadillacs with tinted windows. Taxis and rideshares. A black Bentley limousine and a white minivan. Men and women emerged, most casually dressed, there for the first of a series of posh, private events hosted by the video gambling industry during the 2018 Global Gaming Expo, North America’s largest gambling trade show. They included gambling executives, lobbyists — and about a dozen Illinois lawmakers.
Chicago Sun-Times: Legal fight over building the Obama Center in Jackson Park heats up
The battle over locating the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park heated up on Tuesday as opponents argued in federal court briefs that City Hall rigged the deal for what would be the first-ever complex of its kind allowed in a public park in Chicago.
A “friend of the court” brief by Preservation Chicago and Jackson Park Watch — which has taken a lead on watchdogging the development — provided the most detailed research yet to demonstrate that museums in Chicago on parkland were not originally carved out of existing parks.
Northwest Herald: Woodstock City Council unanimously approves controversial TIF district
The Woodstock City Council voted Tuesday to establish a controversial tax increment financing district in the city.
The downtown TIF No. 2 will cover parts of the downtown and Route 47 areas. Woodstock has an existing TIF district that is set to expire next year. TIF districts are economic development tools that allow a municipality to offer financial incentives to potential developers.
Northwest Herald: Rep. McSweeney refiles township consolidation bill
Less than a week after former Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed and offered recommendations for proposed legislation that could put McHenry County townships up for elimination, state Rep. David McSweeney refiled an almost identical version of the bill with the hopes of getting the approval of Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
“It’s 99.9 percent of the same bill. There were no substantial changes,” said McSweeney, a Barrington Hills Republican. “I don’t care what Bruce Rauner says. Nobody does. He was voted out of office by a landslide. He’s a phony, and nobody cares what he has to say.”
Rockford Register-Star: Rockford Park District to sell former headquarters
The Rockford Park District plans to sell its former administration building at 1401 N. Second St. to William Charles Ltd., which has been leasing the property since 2006.
The negotiated sale price for the nearly 50-year-old building, adjacent parking lot and green space is $975,000.
Champaign News-Gazette: Champaign County Board OKs another $6M in nursing home expenses
The Champaign County Board has decided to once again open its checkbook to help out the soon-to-be-sold Champaign County Nursing Home.
At a special meeting Tuesday night, the board voted 16-4 to appropriate $1,980,400 to pay off bills to nursing home vendors dating back to the 2015 fiscal year.
State Journal-Register: New ordinance puts TIF project risk on developers
With the passage of an ordinance Tuesday, Springfield City Council members sent a message to developers who ask for large amounts of tax-increment financing money: the risk is on you, not the city.
That’s according to the ordinance’s sponsor, Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan. The ordinance, which passed 9-1, says developers who ask for more than $750,000 in TIF funds cannot access the money until the project is complete or a certificate of occupancy is granted. Aldermen can waive the ordinance on a case-by-case basis, which provides the council with flexibility, Donelan said.