Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Roadwork already slowing down over state budget impasse
From Bensenville to Carterville, from Lake Shore Drive to the Mississippi River, Illinois pavers and bridge builders are preparing for the worst — a June 30 shutdown if Illinois can’t resolve its budget impasse and pay its contractors.
Already, contractors have been told to hold off on needed “destructive” work, like tearing up old asphalt or taking down a bridge, because they may not be able to fix it up again before the end of the month, said Randy Blankenhorn, the state’s transportation secretary.
Associated Press: Online health portal, 'done quickly,' gives Illinois headaches
A $94 million online health insurance system has some Illinois state employees and agencies flummoxed and Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration scampering to rid the system of bugs, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
State workers have complained of a gummed-up system that has rejected coverage without notice and inexplicably stopped payroll deductions. The head of the Teachers Retirement System, where 106,000 retirees count on the program for insurance, points out that neither the specifications nor the system accounted for Medicare coverage.
State Journal-Register: Will this week’s special session accomplish anything?
Illinois lawmakers are about to find out if a 10-day special session will accomplish what three years of regular session days have failed to do — produce a full budget for the state that is balanced with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
For Springfield-area lawmakers, the prospects of that happening predictably fall along party lines and also hinge on the plans of House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.
Chicago Tribune: Preckwinkle, Garcia push Emanuel on federal court oversight of police reform
Two of Chicago’s most well-known African-American and Latino politicians have called on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to agree to federal court oversight of police reform if he wants to clean up the embattled Chicago Police Department.
In separate interviews with the Chicago Tribune, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia said the only way for the city to ensure a real and lasting overhaul of a broken Police Department is for Emanuel to allow a federal judge to be in charge of the process.
Northwest Herald: McHenry County school districts ponder cutoff of state funding without Illinois budget deal
Some of McHenry County’s school districts say that school will open as scheduled in the fall, even if they lose funding because state lawmakers can’t agree on a budget.
But the picture won’t be pretty for their budgets, which would get uglier the longer the impasse lasts.
Peoria Journal-Star: Stark County Board Chairwoman Coleen Magnussen resigns
Embattled Stark County Board Chairwoman Coleen Magnussen has resigned.
In a letter to “Stark County Citizens and County Board,” and emailed to area media Sunday morning, Magnussen said she was giving up her seat on the eight-member board as well as her approximately 4 ½ -year position as its chair.
Belleville News-Democrat: Your Belleville trash bill may increase. How much is yet to be decided.
Belleville residents can expect to see an increase in trash fees but just how much of an increase has not yet been decided.
The last increase was in 2010 for most residents and in 2009 for residents 65 and older.