Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: In four letters, why people leave Cook County: J-O-B-S
Why did metropolitan Dallas gain 146,238 residents last year while the Chicago area lost 13,286 people? Don’t say, “the weather.” It’s jobs. The promise of a solid paycheck would cover the cost of hats and mittens — or a U-Haul rental to the Texas.
Jobs are everything.
Peoria Journal-Star: Benefits of Illinois transportation lockbox amendment hard to assess
In 2016, Illinois voters reached a rare, overwhelming agreement on a public policy issue.
They said they were tired of having gasoline tax money and related fees and taxes used to pay for other state expenses. They said it very loudly. A constitutional amendment — the Safe Roads Amendment — to provide a sort of lockbox for transportation funds got nearly 80 percent approval from voters. It needed only 60 percent to be added to the state Constitution.
Chicago Tribune: Study blames 'ACLU effect' for spike in Chicago's violence in 2016, but experts differ
A new study blames Chicago’s sudden spike in gun violence in 2016 on the dramatic drop in street stops by Chicago police that year, but several crime experts quickly discounted its findings, particularly its conclusion that the Laquan McDonald scandal wasn’t a factor.
Chicago’s 58 percent jump in homicides in 2016 has fueled fierce debate about its cause among law enforcement officials, politicians and academics.
Associated Press: Obama Library infrastructure could total $175M
Private dollars will pay for building former President Barack Obama’s library, but road and other work near the Chicago site could cost taxpayers.
The city’s transportation department estimates that the cost of widening streets and building at least four new underpasses near the site in Jackson Park may total $175 million. The city says it is pursuing “all potential funding options” for the work, including state dollars.
Daily Herald: Does new name give Route 53 extension new life?
After months in neutral, an Illinois tollway plan to extend Route 53 north has regained its mojo with a twist. There’s a new name, the Tri-County Access project, and it’s grown by four counties and one state — Wisconsin.
But will the tollway’s rebranding and expanding be enough to shift entrenched opposition?
Bloomington Pantagraph: Council eyes business fees, overdue parking fines to balance budget
Looking for about $525,000 in new revenue to balance the budget, the city is looking at fees for building plans and inspections and business registration and at more aggressive collection of unpaid parking tickets.
Interim City Manager Steve Rasmussen wants aldermen to vote Monday on the three previously discussed proposals to help close the last part of a $2.9 million deficit for the $208 million budget that will take effect May 1.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Priorities, not wants vs. needs, for local governments
Even in a budget crunch, Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner thinks it can be “dangerous” to think of city spending as wants versus needs.
“City budget is not like sitting down at the kitchen table as a family. There are certain things if we don’t do, it will harm us in fundamental ways in the long run,” he said. “The decision-making process is more complicated than that.”
Belleville News-Democrat: St. Clair County hit twice as hard by Illinois exodus
The news isn’t good from new population estimates just released by the U.S. Census Bureau: We’re even bigger losers than Illinois as a whole.
St. Clair County lost population at more than double the rate of Illinois during the past five years. In terms of actual bodies, St. Clair County waved “goodbye” to 4,277 folks for a loss of 1.6 percent of its population. The state lost a total of 88,380 by 2017 compared to five years earlier, or a 0.7 percent loss.