Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Associated Press: Illinois gambling proposal would add casinos in 6 places
A proposal to expand casino gambling in Illinois would put new casinos in six locations, raising revenue for a cash-strapped state that’s been without a spending plan for two years.
The massive gambling expansion is part of the wide-ranging “grand bargain” to end Illinois’ two-year deadlock over an annual spending plan. Although the grand bargain was derailed this past week, the casinos plan did get the endorsement of the Senate.
News-Gazette: 'Fair share' case poses threat to public-employee unions
If unionized state employees are feeling beleaguered these days, it’s easy to understand why.
In an effort to stave off an unpalatable contract proposal, members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees recently voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
NPR Illinois: With Appellate Order, AFSCME Strike Decision Likely Delayed For Months
A court order revealed late last week makes it much less likely state employees will go on strike anytime soon.
With Gov. Bruce Rauner insisting his administration is at impasse with the AFSCME union, he wants to impose a contract on state employees. Among other things, that would mean a wage freeze and higher health insurance premiums.
Crain's Chicago Business: Chicago's tech image is on the rise
Chicago’s reputation as a tech center is on the rise.
It ranked sixth among cities around the world among executives asked by KPMG to name three locations outside San Francisco/Silicon Valley that will be seen as leading technology innovation hubs in the next four years.
DNA Info: Soon-To-Be-Empty CPS School To Get $535,000 In Air Conditioners
CPS is planning to spend $535,000 to install air conditioners in a school that will be empty before the summer.
On Feb. 23, CPS got building permits to do $535,000 in work to install air conditioners at the University of Chicago’s Woodlawn Charter School, 6420 S. University Ave., which will empty out after school ends on June 16 as the students move to a new building.
Chicago Tribune: Willie Wilson pushes bail reform with new TV ad
Former Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson is following up on his personal efforts to bond nonviolent offenders out of Cook County Jail, launching a cable TV ad buy backing legislation in Springfield aimed at abolishing cash bond for those charged with low-level offenses.
Based on cable ad data, the ads are supposed to begin Monday and run for about a month on cable systems primarily on Chicago’s South Side. Wilson’s foundation is paying $8,235 to run more than 1,300 spots on the BET Network, CNN and OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, the cable data show.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago's bridges are falling down: 'I don't drive or walk under them'
Under Lake Shore Drive at Lawrence and Wilson avenues, the sky is falling.
Chunks of concrete have broken off the two 1933-vintage bridges, posing a threat to drivers, pedestrians and the dozens of homeless people who camp underneath. Pieces more than 6 inches wide litter the sidewalks. Lattices of rusty rebar are exposed where parts of the wall have broken away.
Crain's Chicago Business: Trust or bust? Emanuel's 'breakout' infrastructure plan delivers little
As it prepares to embark on a sweeping overhaul of city streetlights, the infrastructure trust that Mayor Rahm Emanuel once hailed as a model of out-of-the-box thinking to jumpstart public works has proved anything but.
Launched five years ago this month, the Chicago Infrastructure Trust has accomplished little and done so at a snail’s pace. None of the $800 million in financing that Emanuel claimed he had lined up from institutional investors to bankroll city projects ever materialized, with resources so tight that the trust on several occasions has been late by more than a month in paying staff and once by several months.
Chicago Tribune: How 'Da Icehouse' got a late-night liquor license in high-crime Austin
As Mayor Rahm Emanuel faced a 2012 spike in homicides a year after he took office, he called problem liquor stores magnets for crime and a “cancer on the community,” vowing to find new ways to shut them down.
A few months later, however, his administration approved a special late-night liquor license for a dilapidated liquor store in Austin known as “Da Icehouse,” allowing it to extend its closing time from 2 a.m. to as late as 5 a.m. in one of the city’s poorest, most violence-plagued neighborhoods.
Quad Cities Dispatch-Argus: Time to hold faux education reformers accountable
Here we go again.
The most studied worst-in-the-nation school funding system soon will be the subject of yet another study.
Chicago Tribune: Despite borrowing limit, tiny Skokie school district seeks to get around state law for new school
A few months after voters approved a $47.3 million bond issue to build a new school, the tiny East Prairie School District 73 in Skokie faces a roadblock: It can’t access the money it needs for the project.
The one-school district has nearly maxed out its borrowing limit for major projects, so by law it can’t issue all the bonds needed for construction, finance records show.
Rockford Register-Star: Developer to respond to concerns over Amerock hotel proposal in Rockford
Gary Gorman held meetings with city staff and at least nine aldermen last week to assuage concerns over his proposal to redevelop the 13-story dilapidated former Amerock factory into a four-star hotel and conference center.
Gorman said the meetings allowed aldermen to ask questions and make comments about the proposal that asks the city for a series of financial incentives.
Fox Illinois: Equestrian Industry Feeling Impact of Coliseum Closure
The equestrian industry said not having access to the coliseum at the Illinois State Fair is having a major impact on how they operate.
The chairperson of the Illinois Horse Fair said it’s not just the local horse industry either.
Belleville News-Democrat: It’s bobblehead night at the St. Clair County Board
For decades we’ve seen local government, especially county boards, appoint the widow when the board member died. For too long that was one of the few ways these boards saw anyone besides head-nodding, or nodding off, old men join them.
St. Clair County Board member Dixie Seibert died Feb. 7 after serving since 1994. She was proud of helping make the county more professional and open than it had been: “The most important thing is for us to remember that we are public servants, accountable to our neighbors who have placed their trust in us to represent them in county government.”