Remember all that stuff about shared sacrifice? Forget it.

It seems pretty clear that former Democratic state Sen. Michael Noland of Elgin never intends to run for public office again. Either that or he has the worst political judgment of any would-be politician since the dawn of time.

Noland was a state lawmaker from 2007 until he was tossed off the public payroll earlier this year.

“Our hope is that a year from now, the Supreme Court will end this injustice and free every public school teacher, safety officer and other government worker to decide for themselves whether or not to financially support a union with their hard-earned money,” said a joint statement from the two organizations backing the case – the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and Liberty Justice Center.

The Supreme Court won’t consider taking up the case until September at the earliest.

A federal appeals court Monday rejected former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s request for a rehearing, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court his only option to try to overturn his corruption conviction and 14-year prison sentence.

The petition for a rare en banc hearing before the entire 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was filed May 19, a month after a three-judge panel quickly rejected Blagojevich’s case. Requests for an en banc hearing are seldom granted, particularly in cases such as Blagojevich’s where the original panel was unanimous.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool vowed recently that CPS will open on time in the fall despite the district’s perpetual cash crunch. “We will do whatever is necessary …” Claypool said in a City Club of Chicago speech.

That’s a refreshing departure from Claypool’s transparently empty threat several months ago to close schools three weeks early because of the Springfield budget impasse.

A union representing hundreds of taxi drivers wants the city of Chicago to ease vehicle restrictions, waive a tax and eliminate a fee to help an industry that they say is struggling to survive in the era of Uber and other ride-hailing services.

City officials are open to talks, said Lilia Chacon, a spokeswoman for the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

Days after backing off his commitment to have a federal judge enforce reforms meant to fix the scandal-plagued Chicago Police Department, Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday suggested his tentative deal with President Donald Trump’s administration to keep the issue out of court would yield the same results.

The mayor’s about-face, which trickled out of City Hall late Friday, comes after he signed an agreement in January stating he would seek federal court oversight of the police reform process. That came after a 13-month Obama Justice Department investigation, spurred by the Laquan McDonald police shooting, found a broken Police Department with a pattern of excessive force and misconduct.

The McHenry County Conservation District has cut its budget by about $1 million from last year as it continues to be in “maintenance mode,” Executive Director Elizabeth Kessler said.

This year’s budget of about $26.1 million compares with about $27.1 million for fiscal 2017, which ended in March, MCCD documents show.

Des Plaines city council members Monday narrowly voted to follow a Cook County law to increase the minimum wage and require paid sick days, bringing cheers from supporters and warnings of dire consequences from business leaders.

The decision comes as a shock after many suburban communities have opted out of the law, which raises the minimum wage to $13 per hour by 2020 and requires five days of sick leave for full-time workers. After impassioned pleas by residents and community activists and arguments from business owners, the council voted 4-3 on both measures.

Saying he’s done waiting for Springfield to provide another option, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin is prepared to seek voter approval to dissolve the county election commission.

Cronin had been counting on state lawmakers to adopt legislation that would merge the election commission with the county clerk’s office and create a five-member panel to provide bipartisan oversight of elections.

Aldermen tonight delayed a vote on Mercyhealth’s request to waive construction-related city fees for its estimated $505 million Women and Children’s Hospital and Medical Center under construction on Riverside Boulevard.

Mercyhealth is seeking an amendment to its annexation agreement with the city over an estimated $200,000 in fees that would in part pay for inspections of any public amenities that are part of the construction project, including roads, sidewalks and infrastructure.