Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois might start charging $1,000 per year to own an electric vehicle: 'It's outrageous'
A proposed hike in Illinois’ annual registration fee for electric vehicles, from $17.50 to $1,000, is being called unfair by current EV owners, and a sales disincentive by manufacturers — just as the new technology is beginning to gain broader traction.
“It’s outrageous,” said Nicoletta Skarlatos, 56, of Chicago, who bought a Tesla Model S five years ago. “I thought Illinois was progressive and would want to encourage EV ownership.”
Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois’ Medicaid backlog leaves more than 100,000 without health coverage
Marlon Millner had been waiting three months for his children’s Medicaid applications to be processed when his 11-year-old son EJ busted his lip at basketball practice.
Like any worried father, he rushed his son to the emergency room. But when he got to the hospital, he wasn’t sure how he would pay the bill. The doctors recommended that EJ see a dentist. But Millner didn’t know how he would afford that either.
Belleville News-Democrat: Illinois keeping an eye on neighboring states as they move to expand gambling
Illinois has watched as several neighboring states have passed legislation to expand gambling. Now, as the end of the legislative session approaches on May 31, municipal officials keen to bring gambling to their cities and towns worry Illinois could lose business to its neighbors if a gambling package doesn’t pass soon.
There are several bills pending in the General Assembly to allow sports betting in the state and increase video gaming. Others have advocated for years to allow video slot machines at horse racing tracks, and to increase the number of casino licenses in the state. Without some kind of gaming expansion, It could leave a nearly $300 million gap in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget proposal.
WBEZ: Report: Cook County Bail Reform Reduced Jail Population Without More Crime
Major bail reforms in Cook County led to a decrease in the number of people held in jail, but the reforms did not increase violent crime, according to a report released Thursday by the office of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans.
According to the report, in the 15 months following the reform, from October 2017 to December 2018, the average daily jail population dropped by 16%, from 6,940 to 5,799. Meanwhile, the percentage of felony defendants committing crimes while out on bond remained stable between the 15-month period before the reform and the 15 months after the changes.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Lightfoot and the machine ... Part 1: Why this is the moment to reform Chicago
Blame the aged but still creaking political machine for griming and grinding up Chicago. About a century ago, Democratic power brokers established their ward-by-ward, block-by-block dominion by handing out favors to the people of this city. What’s the difference between providing constituent services and illegally buying votes? The question was rarely asked when ward heelers publicly delivered turkeys at Christmas, flunkies brazenly distributed cash on Election Day and committeemen lavishly doled out jobs.
Corruption begat more corruption. Pinstripe patronage, insider deals, clouted City Council decisions: Decade by decade, Chicagoans lost — cynics would say surrendered — control of their city.
Northwest Herald: McHenry County Conservation District calls special meeting to discuss budget
The McHenry County Conservation District’s board of trustees will be holding a special meeting on Monday to discuss its contentious $28 million spending plan for the 2020 fiscal year.
The meeting – which will be held at 2 p.m. at the Brookdale administrative offices, 18410 US Highway 14 – comes days after the county’s Finance and Audit Committee rejected the proposal. The committee cited a number of concerns, including questionable expenses and the need for $206,000 in additional tax dollars.
The Southern: Criminal charges unlikely for former ACHA directors as months-long investigation nears an end
There are unlikely to be any criminal charges brought against James Wilson, the former longtime director of the Alexander County Housing Authority and mayor of Cairo.
In September, then-Acting Deputy Housing and Urban Development Inspector General Jeremy Kirkland told a U.S. House oversight panel that his office had forwarded the investigation to the U.S. attorney’s office for its review.