Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Crain's Chicago Business: Illinois' existential problem: Shrinking number of young people
My 67-year-old father had a flip phone until last fall. My 65-year-old mother just learned how to hit “reply all” after years of both of her daughters explaining the many merits of this tool. Sometimes older generations seem scared of change. But in Illinois, they’re part of the reason everyone should be worried.
The state—like the rest of the country—is getting older as birth rates decline and people live longer. The fastest-growing age group in Illinois, in fact, is people 60 to 79. Meanwhile, the number of youngsters under 5 has fallen 7 percent since 2010, meaning fewer babies are being born in Illinois.
Fox Illinois: School districts nervous about possible $40,000 teacher minimum
Senate Bill 2892 is heading to Governor Bruce Rauner’s desk, and is causing some controversy with small school districts.
It would require teacher salaries to start at $40,000.
Belleville News-Democrat: SCOTUS dodges gerrymandering question, so it's up to Illinois voters
Democrats were upset with Republican legislative district maps in Wisconsin. Republicans were upset with Democrats’ maps in Maryland.
The U.S. Supreme Court had a perfect chance to slay the gerrymander, but they must have left their swords and armor at home on Monday. They sidestepped any big decisions with opinions that created no change.
Chicago Tribune: CTU President Karen Lewis says she's stepping down from her post
Karen Lewis, the firebrand president of the Chicago Teachers Union, says she’s stepping down from her post atop one of the region’s most formidable labor unions.
The union president said Friday that she had submitted her retirement papers as an educator to the Chicago Board of Education, weeks after undergoing brain surgery as part of ongoing treatment for a 2014 cancer diagnosis that forced her to abandon a mayoral bid.
Chicago Tribune: Company could call it quits on Chicago's dockless bike-sharing pilot over city's lock rules
At least one company could pack up its bicycles and walk away from Chicago’s test run of dockless bike-sharing over the city’s looming lock requirements.
By July 1, dockless cycles must have locking equipment so they can be tethered to a bike rack, signpost or other fixed object — possibly a cable or some type of U-lock system that private cyclists use. The city’s Department of Transportation is reviewing the requests to change the deadline, department spokesman Mike Claffey said in an email.
Chicago Tribune: Aldermen to consider paying $6 million to settle lawsuits alleging Chicago police misconduct
Aldermen will consider another $6 million in payments Monday to settle lawsuits alleging Chicago police misconduct.
The City Council’s Finance Committee will be asked by the city Law Department to approve a $3.5 million settlement with Patrick Hampton, who spent about 20 years in prison on a 60-year sentence for his alleged participation in the 1981 gang rape of two women, as well as the robbery of the women and a man during a concert at the International Amphitheatre.
Chicago Tribune: As officials spar, Kane County morgue using candles against 'unbelievable' smell of decomposing bodies
With summer now officially here, headlines about decomposing bodies piling up in the local morgue is not exactly what officials want to be dealing with.
Alas, it’s Kane County we’re talking about, where the coroner’s office has often doubled as a hotbed of controversy over the last six years. And things started heating up again when the morgue ran out of freezer space, producing a smell so “disgusting,” according to one administrator, even people outside the building were starting to complain.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Council looking at altering mayor's agenda-setting power
A prior rift between some aldermen and Mayor Tari Renner over efforts to limit his ability to shape City Council agendas could resurface Monday with an expected vote on a new meeting management ordinance.
The proposed changes were drafted by city legal staff after six aldermen sought clarification last fall about the process for elected officials to place items on council agendas.