Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Rock Island Dispatch-Argus: Now, expand public pension spike reforms
Tucked into the Illinois budget for the fiscal year that began on Sunday is a rule change that will benefit Illinois taxpayers grown tired of skyrocketing pension costs for educators.
The target is pension spiking, and it works like this: School districts that want to reward teachers and administrators at the end of their careers often will hike their pay for several years before retirement to ensure they get a richer state-funded pension over the rest of their lifetimes.
Chicago Sun-Times: Bill that would offer medical pot as opioid replacement sent to Rauner’s desk
Legislation that would give people who have been prescribed prescription painkillers the option to use medical marijuana to treat their pain has been sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk, but it’s unclear whether the Republican will sign it.
Senate Bill 336, dubbed the Alternatives to Opioids Act, was fully approved last month by the state legislature. The measure, which was sent to Rauner’s desk for signage on June 29, would expand the state’s medical cannabis pilot program to give people who have been prescribed opioids the opportunity to obtain a medical marijuana card.
Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois State Board of Investment appoints new exec director
Illinois State Board of Investment’s board tapped Johara Farhadieh last week to become its executive director after long-time leader Bill Atwood resigned.
Farhadieh, 36, has been the pension fund’s chief investment officer for just over two years and will retain that role even when she takes the top post effective immediately, according to a statement from ISBI today. She has been with the fund since 2007, when she came on board as a portfolio officer overseeing investments with minority and emerging investment managers. She was appointed CIO in March 2016.
Chicago Tribune: Lincoln Towing should keep its license, ICC judge says
An Illinois Commerce Commission judge has recommended Lincoln Towing Service keep its state license despite hundreds of alleged violations.
Evidence presented during a contentious hearing process supported a finding that Lincoln “is fit, willing and able to provide relocation towing service,” according to a proposed order filed Monday by ICC Administrative Law Judge Latrice Kirkland-Montaque.
Chicago Tribune: After months of delay, Cook County begins electronic filing for civil cases
Long lines and confusion marked the opening hours of electronic filing for civil cases at the Daley Center on Monday as Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown rolled out the new system in time to meet an Illinois Supreme Court deadline.
Shawanda Spraggs, 45, was among the first wave of people to encounter the new system at the downtown courthouse. She was with her 23-year-old son, who needed to file a motion in a debt case with a credit card company. The pair wandered between floors until they were directed to the proper room to register with eFileIL — a step that must be completed before a case can proceed.
Chicago Sun-Times: City Hall sources: Pound director fired for ‘warehousing’ dogs
The $130,008-a-year executive director of Chicago’s chronically troubled Animal Care and Control shelter was fired for “warehousing” dogs in conditions that made dangerous dogs more dangerous, City Hall sources said Monday.
Sources said Susan Russell’s fate was sealed by her underlying philosophy that every dog, even those deemed dangerous, could be rehabilitated.
Daily Herald: Mundelein likely adding fee, liquor tax to fund flood relief
A $10 million flood-control project in Mundelein likely will be funded by a 3 percent tax on packaged liquor sales and a fee added to water bills, village leaders have decided.
Trustees informally settled on those two options last week, nearly a year after a July 2017 rainstorm backed up stormwater sewers and caused a catastrophic flood that damaged many homes in town, particularly in the Western Slope neighborhood near Route 45 and Division Street.
Rockford Register-Star: Belvidere could use its home rule authority for the first time to raise taxes
Belvidere City Council may use its home rule authority for the first time to raise taxes if it approves a 2-cent-per-gallon gas tax this month, Belvidere Mayor Mike Chamberlain said.
Created by the Illinois Constitution in 1970, home rule is a series of powers that give cities with more than 25,000 people greater local authority to govern and tax. Belvidere has been a home-rule community since its population tipped 25,000 for the 2010 Census.
Peoria Journal-Star: Bonus, not a raise, this year for Peoria school superintendent
Peoria Public Schools got a new board president and vice president, and its superintendent got a bonus Monday during the district’s annual reorganization meeting.
Dan Adler was elected president of the board for the 2018-19 school year, and second-year board member Doug Shaw was elected vice president on a 7-0 vote. Martha Ross stepped down as president after three years, and retains her board seat.
Bloomington Pantagraph: County ballot questions advance despite dissent
One way or the other, a question about the Bloomington Election Commission’s future appears likely to be on the ballot Nov. 6.
Days after the McLean County Republican Party joined the push toward a ballot question for Bloomington voters on dissolving the commission, a similar advisory question advanced through a McLean County Board committee on Monday.
The Southern: Southern Illinois lawmakers call for Dunn's removal
Local legislators are calling for the removal of Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn after documents revealed the extent of his involvement in a reallocation proposal and a bill to separate the Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses.
State Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, was the first state legislator to call for Dunn’s removal after The Southern Illinoisan’s publication of an analysis of nearly 1,900 pages of internal documents on Friday.