Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Judge Judy, meet Mike Noland
If only straight talking reality TV star Judge Judy could rule in the case of former state Sen. Mike Noland and his tacky, tacky, tacky attempt to recoup money from taxpayers.
A favorite Judge Judy quote: “Do you see stupid written on my forehead?”
The Southern: Rural areas share in Illinois’ overall declining population
Illinois is one of three states with declining population. While metropolitan areas are at the forefront of the loss, some rural areas share in the decline.
From 2010 to 2016, Illinois, West Virginia and Vermont lost population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population of Illinois shrank 0.2 percent, representing about 30,000 people.
State Journal-Register: Another nail in the fiscal coffin
Comptroller SUSANA MENDOZA warned the day of reckoning was coming when it came to paying state bills, when all of those court orders, consent decrees and state laws requiring automatic payments would outstrip the cash available to meet them all.
That day effectively came Wednesday when a federal judge said Medicaid providers needed to get paid more and faster than they have been. She didn’t say how it should be done. She left that to Mendoza to work out with attorneys for the Medicaid providers.
Belleville News-Democrat: Truth in tax increment financing arrives with property tax bills
The St. Clair County property tax bills are arriving in local mailboxes, and with them comes a little piece of truth: Tax increment financing districts grabbed $45.7 million of the $343 million collected in the county last year.
That is 13.3 percent.
The Southern: Southern Illinois University Museum to close temporarily, a result of state budget impasse
Due to the ongoing state budget impasse, the museum at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will close temporarily effective July 1.
University officials plan to resume operations once a permanent state budget provides enough support to hire the staff necessary to reopen it, according to Interim Chancellor Brad Colwell.
Chicago Tribune: Police board to mull delaying disciplinary cases in Laquan McDonald shooting
The Chicago Police Board on Monday plans to discuss whether to delay disciplinary proceedings for five police officers facing firing for their roles in the Laquan McDonald shooting investigation, a move that could eventually allow some of the officers to return to the police payroll.
The five cops, including Officer Jason Van Dyke, are accused of trying to cover up the investigation by making and approving statements in police reports that were contradicted by video footage of the shooting.
Rockford Register-Star: State owes Rockford schools $12.5 million (and climbing)
Illinois school districts are weeks away from a new fiscal year and have yet to receive more than $860 million spent on services like transportation and special education in the past school year, the worst backlog in recent years.
That figure, which covers mandated categorical reimbursements from the state, is expected to reach $1.3 billion as the fiscal year comes to an end with just one of four expected quarterly payments reaching local school coffers.
Fox Illinois: Coles County Businesses To Sue County Over "Unfair" Taxes
Businesses in Coles County are suing the county, for what they are calling an “unfair” hike in property taxes.
The businesses claim, in 2015, an “inexperienced” contractor assessed areas around the county and raised property taxes for some places, anywhere between 70% and 750%.
The Southern: 'Nearly bankrupt': What role did the relationship between the ACHA and Laborers' Local 773 play in housing crisis?
In a 2005 memo to employees, then-Alexander County Housing Authority Director James Wilson wrote in bold and all capital letters, “THERE IS NO HOUSING AUTHORITY IN THE STATE THAT CAN MATCH OUR BENEFIT PACKAGE! PERIOD.”
The memo was announcing a temporary freeze in cost-related benefits necessitated by budget concerns that year. But softening the blow for workers, Wilson accurately bragged that, even with the freeze, the ACHA employees represented by the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 773 were well endowed in the benefits category compared to their peers.