Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Bombshell filing details FBI's two-year probe of alleged corruption by Ald. Daniel Solis
A bombshell court filing made public Wednesday shows the FBI spent more than two years investigating alleged corruption schemes by longtime Ald. Daniel Solis, secretly listening in on thousands of phone calls as the alderman solicited everything from campaign donations to sexual services at a massage parlor.
The 120-page search warrant affidavit was filed under seal in May 2016 and made public after the Chicago Tribune successfully argued in court for its release. It was first obtained in January by the Chicago Sun-Times after it was inadvertently left on the public docket because of a mix-up by the clerk’s office.
Chicago Tribune: With Rauner gone, House Democrats revive bill to block employers from asking applicants about salary history
With a new governor in office, the Democratic-controlled Illinois House is charging ahead on legislation blocked by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner as he pursued his pro-business, union-weakening agenda.
The House voted by wide margins this week to approve a bill that would prohibit employers from asking job applicants about their salary histories and another bill that would raise the legal smoking age to 21. Those votes come after new Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill last month that will raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025.
Peoria Journal-Star: New bills target pharmacy middlemen for state regulation
As part of an effort to rein in the rising cost of prescription drugs in Illinois, Democratic state lawmakers introduced bills Wednesday to impose state regulations on a little-known industry, pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, who negotiate drug prices and benefits on behalf of insurance plans.
Speaking at a Statehouse rally with scores of pharmacists from around the state, House Majority Leader Gregory Harris, of Chicago, and Democratic Sen. Andy Manar, of Bunker Hill, blamed that industry not only for manipulating drug prices, but also for pushing independent community pharmacies out of business — charges the PBM industry denies.
State Journal-Register: Manar wants to make Lincoln foundation director a governor appointment
The head of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation would be appointed by the governor and approved by the Illinois Senate under a bill approved Wednesday by the Senate Executive Committee.
The legislation takes aim at the private foundation that has come under fire for spending millions of dollars on a collection of Lincoln artifacts, including a hat that purportedly belonged to Lincoln but whose authenticity has never been proven.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: CPS Watchdog: Pre-K Billing Mismanagement Cost District $2 Million
Chicago Public Schools missed out on as much as $2 million in pre-K payments over the past four school years due to a combination of errors, uncollected tuition and employee fraud, according to the district’s internal watchdog.
CPS Inspector General Nicholas Schuler on Wednesday published a new report highlighting widespread mismanagement within the school district’s pre-K billing system.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s controversial plan for $95 million police academy sails through City Council
Plans for a controversial $95 million West Side police academy sailed through the City Council on Wednesday despite protesters and mayoral candidates calling for a halt to the project.
Aldermen voted to approve zoning changes and a construction contract for the police and fire training complex in West Garfield Park, which Mayor Rahm Emanuel has championed as a way to provide police officers the training they need under a federal consent decree while helping revitalize a long-struggling part of the city.
Chicago Tribune: Lincoln Yards development gets City Council zoning approval, tax subsidy still to come
Despite protests over public financing of the deal, developer Sterling Bay got the zoning approval from aldermen it needed Wednesday to build the neighborhood-altering Lincoln Yards mixed-use development along the North Branch of the Chicago River.
With Mayor Rahm Emanuel looking on, the City Council approved the land-use plan for the $6 billion project by a 33-14 vote, a key step in the march toward the final OK for the company to commence construction on 54.5 acres between North and Webster avenues.
Chicago Sun-Times: Rahm vows to salvage stalled ethics reforms; council OKs Uptown, Congress rehabs
Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed Wednesday to salvage his stalled ethics plan before leaving office.
Earlier this week, aldermen from across the city took issue with the watered-down requirement that the City Council’s Zoning Committee hold a hearing on “zoning map amendments” no more than six months after they’re introduced.
Chicago Sun-Times: Cook County treasurer trying to shrink tax sale list
Nearly 57,000 properties could be auctioned in the annual Cook County tax sale on May 3 if owners don’t catch up on their property taxes.
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas on Wednesday made an appeal to shrink the tax sale list.
Northwest Herald: Lake in the Hills board to consider raising tobacco purchasing age to 21
A series of ordinance amendments that would raise the minimum purchasing age of tobacco products from 18 to 21 in Lake in the Hills will be up for board approval during Thursday’s trustee meeting.
The ordinance also would expand definitions of “tobacco products” to include electronic cigarettes, alternative nicotine products and liquid nicotine.
Northwest Herald: Prairie Grove District 46 board approves contract for superintendent
The Prairie Grove District 46 school board approved a new five-year contract for Superintendent John Bute at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The contract, which was posted on the district’s website Wednesday, runs July 1 through June 30, 2024. Bute must work 260 days each year.