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Chicago Tribune: Millennials are largest age group in Cook County, census shows, but will they stay?
You can mock them for their love of avocado toast but there are more millennials than any other age group in Chicago and the Cook County suburbs, newly released population figures show.
U.S. Census Bureau data released this week indicates those aged 25 to 34 years old represent the largest chunk of Cook County’s population. That age range covers most, but not all of the generation commonly known as millennials, defined by Pew Research Center as those born from 1981 to 1996, who would now be 22 to 37 years old.
Chicago Tribune: Average Chicago homeowner to pay $110 more in property taxes this year
Chicago homeowners will be hit with higher property taxes again this year, but the increases won’t be nearly as steep as last year, according to calculations the Cook County clerk’s office released Wednesday.
The owner of a home in the city determined to be worth $224,500 will pay a bit more than $4,100 in total taxes this year — an increase of about $110, or 2.75 percent more than last year.
Daily Herald: Average property tax bills jump $213 in northwest Cook County
When Cook County property tax bills start arriving in the mail next month, the average homeowner in northwest Cook County can expect to see a bump of about $213 over what they paid last year.
That’s according to tax rate data released Wednesday by County Clerk David Orr that shows local governments combining countywide to collect $700 million more than last year.
Champaign News-Gazette: Redistricting rulings put Madigan in catbird seat
Any Illinoisans who thought — or hoped — the U.S. Supreme Court was going to rescue them from Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has to be disappointed today.
That’s because the high court on Monday decided that — for now at least — it will not intervene in gerrymandering issues despite arguments that powerful politicians unconstitutionally draw federal and state legislative districts lines to suit their own narrow interests rather than the broad public interest.
Belleville News-Democrat: Embezzler's debt doesn't stop her from collecting state job perks
Candace Wanzo was trusted when she worked in the financial office at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and repaid that trust by stealing $233,500 by writing phony checks to herself from the state university.
A federal judge trusted her to repay the money. She didn’t go to the federal pen.
Chicago Sun-Times: CPS vows ‘definitive action’ to combat sexual abuse, but victims are skeptical
Chicago Public Schools employees will undergo additional background checks, adults will be restricted from having any access to students if sexual abuse is alleged and employees will undergo retraining on reporting abuse and inappropriate boundaries between staff and students.
Those were among some of the major changes CPS officials told state legislators they’ll undergo in light of an alarming Chicago Tribune investigation that uncovered a decade of mishandling cases of sexual abuse.
Daily Herald: New census data: Minorities' share of area counties' population continues to rise
While overall county populations were little changed since July 2010, new census data show minorities’ share of the total population continues to rise. Here’s the latest change in county population by race, from July 2010 to July 2017.
Peoria Journal-Star: Tazewell state’s attorney says auditor’s suit may face long road
Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stewart Umholtz is reviewing the suit he was served with Wednesday filed by County Auditor Shelly Hranka against county officials, so he has little to say about its contents at this point.
Umholtz said there is a better solution to disagreements than lawsuits.
Champaign News-Gazette: Raises for teachers capped at 3 percent in last four years on the job
Call it a perk, call it a pension spike — either way, it’s been capped.
The $38.5 billion spending plan signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner on June 4 contains a provision meant to limit school districts’ ability to increase teachers’ pay in their final four years of employment — cutting allowable raises from 6 percent to 3 percent.