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Champaign News-Gazette: A billion here, a billion there
Illinois has spent $1 billion in interest payments on its unpaid bills. That’s one of many outrages.
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza released her first monthly financial-transparency report this week, a move that precipitated another round of hand-wringing about Illinois’ debased financial state.
Mendoza reported, among other things, that the state spent more than $1 billion in interest payments on more than $16 billion in unpaid bills.
Chicago Tribune: Watchdog: Silverstein's conduct 'unbecoming of a legislator,' but not sexual harassment
The General Assembly’s watchdog has determined that Democratic state Sen. Ira Silverstein did not engage in sexual harassment while working with a victims rights advocate to pass a bill, but “did behave in a manner unbecoming of a legislator.”
In a detailed report released Thursday, Special Legislative Inspector General Julie Porter said her investigation found that Silverstein and Denise Rotheimer “regarded each other as friends, sought each other’s approval and continued attention, and developed a more-than-just professional relationship.”
Chicago Tribune: Illinois Tollway board continues talks over payment for technology upgrade
Illinois Tollway officials are trying to figure out the best way to proceed with a multimillion dollar technology upgrade after the contract was seemingly dragged into election-year politics.
The Tollway had already agreed to spend $7.9 million for a deal with Deloitte Consulting to implement the State’s Enterprise Resource Program, a technology project to upgrade equipment to manage state finances in state agencies, including the Tollway. Earlier this month, the Tollway asked its board to consider approving an an additional $9 million to finish the job, calling it a “tollway emergency.”
WTTW Chicago Tonight: Commercial Property Tax Assessments Spark City Council Fight
Ald. Ed Burke, chairman of the Finance Committee, has amassed considerable power during his nearly 50 years in the City Council.
Over that time the 14th Ward alderman has also come under fire for some ethically questionable practices.
Chicago Tribune: CTA determines path for proposed Red Line south extension to 130th Street
The CTA has decided on a path for its proposed extension of the Red Line’s south branch, bringing the long-discussed project one step closer to getting done.
The proposed route, which will be announced Friday, starts at 95th Street and would run along the west side of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks from I-57 south to about 109th Street. There it would cross the UP tracks and continue along the east side of the tracks until crossing Metra Electric tracks near 119th Street, and then continue south to 130th Street, the CTA said.
Chicago Sun-Times: County commissioner, constituent trade barbs on Facebook over attendance record
Cook County Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski, D-McCook, and a constituent got into a Facebook argument this week over Tobolski’s low attendance at county board meetings over the last five years.
Following a Sun-Times and ABC-7 I-Team analysis that revealed Tobolski was among the four commissioners who missed over 25 percent of meetings in the last five years, Earl Johnson of Lyons posted criticism on the closed Facebook group “Lyons Uncensored.”
Northwest Herald: New tax law could cause McHenry County home values to plummet
Here’s a good way to describe the McHenry County real estate market: out of balance.
It wouldn’t take buyers and sellers researching the region’s listings very long to discover why that description is apt. Put another way: There are not enough cheap homes and too many expensive homes.
Rockford Register-Star: Winnebago County Board approves pay raises for sheriff’s deputies
The Winnebago County Board voted 17-3 Thursday in approval of a three-year labor contract with Sheriff’s Department deputies and detectives who are represented by the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police.
The new pact is backdated to Oct. 1, 2016 through Sept. 30, 2019, and calls for raises each year starting with a 2.5 percent increase the first year and 2 percent raises each of the next two years.
Decatur Herald & Review: State: Decatur closes out year with drop in unemployment, jobs
Last year ended much as the rest of 2016 did for the Decatur job market: The unemployment rate and the number of nonfarm jobs both decreased.
Decatur lost 700 nonfarm jobs year over the year in December, dropping to 51,100, according to data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
State Journal-Register: Oak Ridge Cemetery asks city for $75,000 to cover payroll
Along with figuring out Oak Ridge Cemetery’s budget for the next fiscal year, aldermen were informed Wednesday that the cemetery will need an additional $75,000 to make payroll for the next month and a half.
During Wednesday’s budget workshop, Mike Lelys, the cemetery’s director, said there was a drop in the sales of interments. A worker, who wasn’t paid a salary but received a 10 percent commission, resigned last year. He had been pulling in over $410,000 in sales, Lelys said.