Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner tells Democrats to send him school funding plan or face special session
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner turned up the heat Friday on Democrats who control the General Assembly, calling on them to put a school funding bill on his desk by noon on Monday or face being called back to the Capitol for another special session.
Rauner plans to use his amendatory veto powers to rewrite portions of the education plan, which changes how money is doled out to local school districts. He says the current version provides too much money for Chicago Public Schools to the detriment of downstate and suburban districts.
Belleville News-Democrat: End the legislative extortion: Send the school bill to governor now
Our governor is frustrated.
We lost count of how many times Gov. Bruce Rauner used that term when he visited our Editorial Board this week.
He’s frustrated with House Speaker Michael Madigan. He’s frustrated with lawmakers who haven’t voted the way he expected. He’s frustrated that school superintendents aren’t publicly supporting his own school-funding plan, even though it would give most of them more money.
Chicago Sun-Times: CPS budget system snafu hits as principals scramble on spending plans
Chicago Public Schools principals, racing to complete school budgets on a tight deadline with just weeks before school starts, had their hands tied Friday as the budgeting software they use got shut down.
Problems with schools budgets at CPS-run schools, as well as charter schools, emerged Thursday shortly after budget briefings concluded, principals told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Decatur Herald & Review: Illinois gerrymandering an abuse of power
The U.S. Supreme Court is taking up the topic of legislative redistricting, which on the surface might seem interesting only to policy wonks and editorial boards. But hear us out: A decision from the high court could cause waves in Illinois – and after what we’ve seen this session in Springfield, we hope it does.
After all, ours is a state in which gerrymandering is a time-honored partisan tradition, as evidenced by truly bizarre state House and Senate district lines. Many, especially in the Chicago area, resemble abstract artworks, with boundaries turning and twisting to accommodate communities, neighborhoods and blocks.
Chicago Tribune: Some Illinois families struggle to access 529 college savings in wake of change
A change in the administrator running Illinois’ Bright Start 529 college savings plan left some families unable to access their college savings quickly, but the state says there were no technical glitches.
Typically, participants can go online and have money routed automatically from their 529 college savings accounts to colleges awaiting tuition payments.
Associated Press: Illinois steel company hopes to move plant to Indiana
An Illinois steel company has submitted a proposal to Indiana redevelopment officials looking to buy land to move its suburban Chicago plant to a northwest Indiana city.
The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports that the Gary Redevelopment Commission is expected to vote Aug. 2 on Alliance Steel Corp.’s $925,000 bid for 25 acres (10 hectares).
Chicago Tribune: Olive-Harvey College construction remains on hold despite new state funding
The new state budget includes money for a stalled construction project Mayor Rahm Emanuel planned to make a centerpiece of his efforts to reform the city’s community colleges, but it’s not clear when the work will restart or whether the money is enough.
For the past two years, the half-built husk of a building has sat vacant at Olive-Harvey College on the Far South Side.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County pop tax still on hold, but ruling coming next week
Cook County’s sweetened beverage tax will remain on hold at least another week.
Cook County Circuit Judge Daniel Kubasiak said Friday that he would rule July 28 on the county’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the penny-per-ounce charge, which was set to take effect July 1.
Crain's Chicago Business: Alderman calls for hearings in wake of Navy Pier TIF revelations
Third Ward Alderman Pat Dowell has called for public hearings into the diversion of $55 million in city blight fighting-funds to a Navy Pier renovation project, saying she was “furious” and “blindsided” by the action outlined in an investigative report by the Better Government Association and Crain’s Chicago Business.
Dowell, whose ward includes McCormick Place, had led a push in the City Council for approval of funding from so-called Tax Increment Financing accounts that she believed was to be used for construction of a hotel near the convention center.
Chicago Tribune: Teamsters boss pleads not guilty to alleged extortion of Cinespace studios
A politically connected Teamsters union boss pleaded not guilty Friday to a federal indictment accusing him of extorting $100,000 in cash from a well-known Chicago television studio.
John Coli Sr., considered one of the union’s most powerful figures nationally, was charged last week with threatening work stoppages and other labor unrest unless he was given cash payoffs of $25,000 every three months.
Chicago Tribune: Ex-Ald. Singer among 6 fined for illegally lobbying Emanuel via email
Former Chicago Ald. William Singer has been hit with the biggest of six fines leveled this week by the Chicago Board of Ethics against those who lobbied Mayor Rahm Emanuel through his personal email account but failed to register as city lobbyists.
Singer, an attorney who represented the 43rd Ward during the 1970s, contacted the mayor last summer about the expansion of gates at O’Hare International Airport on behalf of United Airlines. He has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine, the ethics panel disclosed Friday. United also was fined $2,000 — the maximum amount the employer of a lobbyist who fails to register can face under city law.
Daily Herald: McHenry County moves to halt Lake in the Hills Sanitary District land purchase
A legal battle is brewing among board members of the Lake in the Hills Sanitary District regarding a potential land purchase and possible consolidation of the district with the local municipality.
At a special meeting earlier this month, two newly appointed trustees voted to reverse the previous board’s action in April to annex the right of way along Square Barn Road in Huntley in Kane County. The new trustees backed away from a plan to purchase 13.88 acres sanctioned by two members of the previous three-member board.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Lengthy budget impasse delays contract for Dietz
The state of Illinois finally has a budget but, because of the budget delays, Illinois State University President Larry Dietz will have to wait a little longer for a contract.
The ISU board of trustees approved a contract extension to Sept. 30 at their meeting Friday.