Get the latest news from around Illinois.
State Journal-Register: Big first week for Pritzker
No doubt, any governor likes to come into office and immediately make a mark.
Former Gov. Bruce Rauner did it with a number of executive orders, although the one where he eliminated fair share fees for unionized state workers didn’t come right away.
Chicago Tribune: Patti Blagojevich ‘speechless’ Van Dyke sentence is shorter than her husband's — and sends up flare to Trump on social media
Patti Blagojevich compared on social media Friday the controversial sentencing of former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke with the lengthier prison sentence given to her husband, imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The former governor’s wife included President Donald Trump’s Twitter handle in her message in which she bemoaned Van Dyke’s sentence of fewer than seven years in comparison with her husband’s. Van Dyke received a six-year, nine-month sentence for second-degree murder in the fatal on-duty shooting of Laquan McDonald.
Chicago Tribune: Big thumbs up: Alderman says he backs Lincoln Yards, as proposed megadevelopment heads to Chicago Plan Commission
The Lincoln Yards development has gained the endorsement of the alderman overseeing its zoning, in a key step that likely assures the more than $5 billion project on the North Side will be approved soon by the full City Council.
Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, on Saturday said he supports the project and plans to have it go before the Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Chicago developer Sterling Bay released details of its revised plan for about 55 acres along the Chicago River on the lincolnyards.com website.
Naperville Sun: State Rep. Stava-Murray stands by comment that Naperville has 'white supremacist policies'
State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, a Naperville resident, said Friday she stands by, and does not regret, a Facebook comment she made about Naperville having an ongoing history of white supremacist policies.
Stava-Murray’s social media comment was in response to a message posted on her U.S. Senate campaign page that said, “Naperville is the biggest bullies… horrible people! I worked there for 6 months before they ran me outta there… so you coming from there puts a bad taste in my mouth already… I’ll be listening and watching good luck!”
The Southern: Southern Illinois' chief judge says court's mission of 'equal justice under the law' threatened by lack of funding
If the partial government shutdown continues past early February, justice may be seriously imperiled across Southern Illinois, said Chief Judge Michael J. Reagan of Federal District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
The federal court is quickly running out of money to pay jurors, and to fund expert witnesses to testify on behalf of indigent defendants whose cases are being handled by private court-appointed attorneys, Reagan said. And those private attorneys, though they have continued to fulfill their duties, have been working without pay since December.