Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Countdown begins to Jan. 1 after Pritzker signs bill making marijuana legal in Illinois
A landmark battle in the war on drugs ended Tuesday, and a new approach to address racial inequities began, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker acted to legalize marijuana in Illinois effective Jan. 1, 2020.
Sponsors called the change “historic” as Pritzker signed into law a bill that will allow Illinois residents 21 and over to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 5 grams of concentrate and 500 milligrams of THC infused in edibles and other products. Out-of-state visitors may have up to half those amounts.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: Even with a Budget, Illinois Still Owes Billions in Unpaid Bills
After experiencing a two-year budget standoff under Gov. Bruce Rauner, lawmakers earlier this month cheered the passage of a $40.1 billion budget.
During that unprecedented impasse, the amount the state owed in unpaid bills climbed to more than $16 billion. Today, the backlog is down to $6.6 billion.
Chicago Sun-Times: Consent decree’s independent monitor vows to build trust during ‘marathon’ police reform process
The team tasked with overseeing Chicago’s historic consent decree that’s meant to bring widespread reforms to the city’s Police Department held its first public meeting Tuesday to draw community input on the process.
But with low turnout — only about 40 people showed up at Kennedy-King College in Englewood — the former federal prosecutor monitoring the reform plan said her biggest takeaway was that she’ll have to do a better job seeking people out to learn how they want Chicago police to change.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot names two more $165K-a-year deputy mayors for public safety, infrastructure
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday named two more top deputies, bringing the total number of $165,000-a-year deputy mayors to four.
The latest hires are Susan Lee for public safety and Anne Sheahan for infrastructure.
Chicago Tribune: Park District employees sold scrap metal for $64,000 in cash, set up Sam’s Club accounts to get tax breaks, watchdog finds
Some Chicago Park District employees sold scrap metal for more than $60,000 in cash that never made its way back to the district, while others set up Sam’s Club accounts using the district’s tax-exempt status to buy personal items totaling thousands of dollars, the district’s top watchdog found in its latest report.
A report released Tuesday by Inspector General Will Fletcher included the two investigations, as well as updates on previous reports and action taken by the Park District in response.
Chicago Tribune: Takeda’s 1,000-employee headquarters in Deerfield to close by end of the year
Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will close its massive Deerfield headquarters, where about 1,000 people work, by the end of the year, the company said Tuesday.
Takeda announced last fall that it would close its U.S. headquarters in Deerfield and move the work to Boston following its acquisition of Irish drugmaker Shire. At the time, the company didn’t specify when the shutdown of the gleaming, three-building complex off Interstate 294 would be, saying only that employees would be notified within six months of the Shire acquisition about whether they’d still have jobs with Takeda.
Crain's Chicago Business: New TIF war breaks out—in Kenilworth
A political brawl of sorts—North Shore-style—has broken out in, of all places, ultra-tony Kenilworth, where a proposal now before the village board to create a $23 million TIF district to pep up the Green Bay Road commercial district is creating quite a stir.
WBEZ: Cook County Commissioners: What’s Behind The County Health System’s Big IOU?
Cook County leaders this week are trying to sort out a big surprise: why the county health system’s Medicaid health insurance plan owes $701 million to doctors, hospitals and other vendors.
County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard made that revelation on June 21 in his latest report on the health system’s finances. Now, he’s raising questions about how health system officials manage money and how transparent they are to county leaders.