Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Day of reckoning comes for ex-Chicago cop Jason Van Dyke in Laquan McDonald killing
Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke is scheduled to be sentenced Friday for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, closing one of the most racially fraught and socially significant chapters in recent Chicago history.
The highly anticipated sentencing comes with added tension one day after Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson acquitted three Chicago police officers of all charges alleging they conspired to shield Van Dyke from scrutiny in McDonald’s killing.
Chicago Tribune: 3 Chicago cops acquitted of covering up Laquan McDonald's killing in unprecedented code-of-silence trial
In a stunning decision, a Cook County judge on Thursday acquitted three Chicago police officers of all charges alleging they lied in police reports and conspired to cover up the controversial 2014 police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
The case has been seen as a referendum on a so-called code of silence within the Chicago Police Department designed to protect fellow officers from accountability for wrongdoing.
Champaign News-Gazette: Will businesses buy what J.B. Pritzker sells?
The new governor will have his hands full trying to turn Illinois into an economic powerhouse.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker showed up at work Tuesday — his first full day on the job — ready to begin putting his stamp on Illinois.
He ran for office with a monstrously long list of policy proposals that he wants to put into effect.
State Journal-Register: Taxpayers covered millions in gym costs Jesse White promised to pay
When Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White unveiled plans nine years ago for a Chicago fieldhouse that would bear his name, he promised his private charitable foundation and its donors would pick up the bulk of the multi-million-dollar tab. Instead, records show, taxpayers paid all but a small fraction.
White, who was sworn in for a record sixth consecutive term this week, initially pledged $10 million to build the athletic facility in partnership with the Chicago Park District on a portion of the former Cabrini-Green public housing project in White’s 27th Ward political powerbase. But a Better Government Association investigation found the foundation’s final cost was slashed to about $650,000 following quiet interventions from an array of political leaders.
State Journal-Register: State board asking for 86 percent hike in state funds
The Illinois State Board of Education is seeking a nearly 60 percent increase in spending for preschool through high school education next year.
That request includes an increase of more than 86 percent from the state’s general funds, made up mainly of income and sales taxes.
Chicago Tribune: O’Hare design process smells of backroom deals. The public deserves to know who’s evaluating the plans.
The five competing designs for the massive expansion of O’Hare International Airport are an impressive group and I will be assessing their merits shortly. But this much can be said now: These plans promise to give us buildings that will be more transparent than how Chicago intends to select the winner.
The process, as currently organized, smells of backroom deals and smoke-filled rooms.
Chicago Tribune: Teachers at four charter schools in Chicago set Feb. 5 strike date if no contract reached
Teachers affiliated with the Chicago International Charter School network say they will go on strike Feb. 5 unless there is a breakthrough in contract negotiations, a move that would affect about 2,200 students at four of the organization’s campuses.
That leaves a little more than two weeks for teachers and school managers to reach a deal. While talks have made progress, educators said some key contract demands on compensation, class sizes and staffing have not been met.
WBEZ: Chicago Aldermen Reconsidering 2012 Mental Health Clinic Closures
In what could be an attempt to reverse the 2012 closures of city-run mental health clinics, a Chicago City Council committee passed a resolution Wednesday to create a Public Mental Health Clinic Service Expansion Task Force. The task force would oversee a study on which areas of the city need to have mental health clinics re-opened. The proposal cites WBEZ reporting that found some of the police districts with the most calls to 911 for mental health help are also the districts with the fewest mental health services.
“What we are arguing for is there needs to be a transparent, data-informed process to collect information about where the needs are and how the needs can best be served,” said Meg Lewis, with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council (AFSCME) Council 31, which represents therapists at the city clinics.
Northwest Herald: Marengo focused on infrastructure, development in 2019
Marengo City Administrator Joshua Blakemore said municipal governments don’t have the luxury of taking steps to reduce their property taxes, partly because of overbearing pension costs.
Marengo’s general fund budget is about $4 million, $450,000 of which had to go to police pension contributions this fiscal year, Blakemore said. These obligations were partly responsible for the city’s request for a levy increase.
Rockford Register-Star: Hush-hush ‘Project Alpha’ could mean hundreds of jobs in Winnebago County
A tier-one automotive supplier is eyeing the Rockford region for a $160 million manufacturing facility that would mean more than 200 primary jobs paying more than $20 per hour if it comes to fruition.
Company executives and site selectors have kept their identity secret, asking public officials who know the company they represent not to discuss details and even giving it the code name “Project Alpha.” Other officials, even if briefed on the project, have been kept in the dark about the company’s identity.