Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner, Madigan start annual push to avoid blame for lack of budget
With just two weeks left in the spring session, House Democrats led by Speaker Michael Madigan and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner are back in their default positions for this time of year.
The governor declared he’s ready to work “around the clock to help all sides come together” on a budget. Top Madigan deputies publicly pledged to “seek common ground with the governor on his proposals.”
Chicago Sun-Times: Rauner accuses Madigan, House Dems of trying to ‘derail’ Senate talks
As senators continue behind-the-scenes talks to try to end the budget impasse, Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday accused Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of creating a “distraction” that’s meant to “derail” bipartisan talks in the Illinois Senate.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown in turn urged the Republican governor to look in the mirror to accept responsibility for the failure of the Senate “grand bargain” plan in March: “‘Hey Bruce, why did you screw that up?’”
Associated Press: Illinois Senate Democrats to push forward on 'grand bargain' budget deal
Fed-up Illinois Senate Democrats plan to put the “grand bargain” budget compromise to the test, calling each of the dozen or so measures for votes to let them rise or fall on their own, a top senator said Tuesday.
Assistant Majority Leader Donne Trotter’s comments came as Republicans and Democrats spent Tuesday blaming each other for unwillingness to negotiate as the General Assembly’s scheduled May 31 adjournment looms and time runs short for avoiding the start of a third straight fiscal year without a budget.
Decatur Herald & Review: Competence, bravery in short supply
Using the dysfunction in Springfield as an excuse for funding messes is such an easy target, the complaints can begin to feel like arrows puncturing the broad side of a barn. You can’t miss if you complain, but impact of the complaints can rarely be seen.
Social services, public recreation spots and public schools regularly find themselves on the losing end when it comes to state budget negotiations. Yet as we stumble toward a third year of budgetary ineptitude, incompetence and indifference from the state, it’s legislators inability to accomplish even the most simple of lawmaking that begins to touch more and more of us.
State Journal-Register: Lawmakers want investigation into Springfield warehouse lease
Two state lawmakers have requested a formal investigation into a controversial warehouse in Springfield that is being leased by the state of Illinois.
State Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, and state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, submitted a formal request to Illinois Legislative Audit Commission co-chairs Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, and Rep. Robert Rita, D-Blue Island, to examine the state’s lease of the building at 2410 South Grand Ave. E.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois child welfare head pledges reform after recent deaths of children
State child welfare Director George Sheldon said Tuesday he is considering a major change in the way the agency conducts abuse and neglect investigations, saying investigators could benefit from access to records of past unproven allegations.
Sheldon said his review was prompted by Tribune reporting on a series of recent child deaths, as well as the case of 17-month-old Semaj Crosby, who died last month in her Joliet Township home shortly after the Department of Children and Family Services closed four neglect probes, and was in the midst of two more.
News-Gazette: Illinois Senate panel kills bill to allow nursing degrees at community colleges
Legislation that would have allowed up to 11 Illinois community colleges to offer four-year degrees in nursing collapsed in a Senate committee Tuesday, amid charges that public universities had been dishonest in their testimony about the bill.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, called the bill (SB 888) dead for the current legislative session after the Senate Higher Education Committee voted down, 8-7, an amendment he offered to limit the scope of the measure.
Chicago Tribune: CPS cancels presentation to pension fund
Chicago Public Schools has backed out of the public presentation the district planned to give to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund board later this week, a fund spokeswoman said Tuesday, as city and CPS officials continue to meet over a financial rescue plan for the school system.
CPS did not respond to a question on why it canceled the presentation. Last week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s top finance officials said CPS has the cash it needs to complete the school year but lacks funds to pay the bulk of a more than $700 million contribution owed the pension fund by June 30.
Chicago Tribune: Alderman on CPS: "Take Rauner by his neck and wring it"
The head of the Chicago City Council Budget Committee on Tuesday sought to point the blame at Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner when it comes to finding a way to avoid a looming financial meltdown at Chicago Public Schools, saying in the often-blunt language she’s known for that “somebody needs to take Rauner by his neck and wring it.”
When asked about ways the city might be able to help the school district from going broke around the end of June, Ald. Carrie Austin toed the line of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration by trying to blame the governor, using rougher language in the process.
Chicago Sun-Times: Emanuel’s CPS rescue plan gets cool reception from aldermen
Chicago aldermen reacted coolly Tuesday to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to tax downtown businesses, high net-worth individuals or both to dig the Chicago Public Schools out of a $596 million hole without state help.
Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), powerful chairman of the City Council’s Budget Committee, did not mince her words — as usual.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago's rail hub is a train wreck. Here's the fix.
Chicago, the City that Works … and Conveys. Our metropolis has many distinctions, one of them its status as the country’s pre-eminent rail hub. Every day, 1,300 freight and passenger trains move through Chicago. Coal from Wyoming, oil from North Dakota, families vacationing on Amtrak — Chicago is the national nexus.
Behind that fame, however, there’s infamy. America’s leading nerve center for rail movement is also its leading train traffic choke point. It takes a freight train as much time to get from New York to Chicago as it takes to get through Chicago. The ripple effects slow Amtrak and Metra service almost daily. And no point of congestion in Chicago — in the country, for that matter — is worse than the tangled knot of freight and passenger lines known as the 75th Street Corridor.
Chicago Sun-Times: John Daley defends water commissioner who got the ax in email scandal
County Commissioner John Daley on Tuesday rose to the defense of ousted Water Management Commissioner Barrett Murphy as African-American aldermen urged Murphy’s replacement to rid the department of its “pervasive culture of racism.”
Last week, a housecleaning in the Department of Water Management at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals swept out Murphy, managing deputy William Bresnahan and district superintendent Paul Hansen.
DNA Info: 'Blatant' Racism Shows Need For Water Department Audit, Black Aldermen Say
In the last six months, investigators uncovered evidence that employees of two city agencies — the Department of Water Management and the Police Department — sent and received racist messages without facing any discipline.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel demanded the resignation of the head of the Water Department Friday amid an investigation by the city’s Office of Inspector General that uncovered that water commissioner Barrett Murphy received racist emails that mocked former President Barack Obama and an African-American deputy commissioner.
News-Gazette: Urbana school board OKs hiring 4 new admins, expanding 5th's role
The Urbana school district is getting four new administrators, and a fifth is getting an expanded role.
On Tuesday night, the school board voted 7-0 to appoint an assistant superintendent, three directors and a new principal for Thomas Paine Elementary School.
Belleville News-Democrat: All three Madison County levee board members to be replaced
Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler said he wants his own “team” on the board of the Metro East Sanitary District and will nominate three appointees during Wednesday’s county board meeting, including Democrat Helen Hawkins, a long-time storm water expert.
Prenzler, a Republican, said he nominated Hawkins, who represents County Board District 16 in Granite City, because of her lengthy experience in dealing with storm water and general drainage issues.
Belleville News-Democrat: Praying for the end of Belleville Township’s immoral soul
Belleville Township is my shepherd; I shall not bleat.
It maketh 45 people a month to depart with gift cards: it costeth me $18 a year in property taxes.