Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Tricky, unpopular budget at crux of Senate ‘grand bargain’
The Illinois Senate’s “grand bargain” budget compromise is made up of 11 pieces of legislation, three of which are critical to the effort to keep Illinois from entering a third consecutive year without an annual budget plan.
The three bills would provide a semblance of financial security after years of wrangling between the Democratic-controlled Legislature and GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner left the state without a budget. Lawmakers have until their scheduled May 31 adjournment to approve the plan. Regardless of the outcome, it promises to play a prominent part in the 2018 race for governor.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Clock ticking on finding a state budget solution
For the third year in a row, the three men at the center of Illinois politics are circling inside the Capitol, and nobody is pulling any punches.
In one corner is Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, in the other are Democratic leaders Michael Madigan and John Cullerton. The goal: Pass a budget before the end of session on May 31.
Crain's Chicago Business: The doctor is out
New graduates of the state’s two publicly funded medical schools are hightailing it to other locales for their post-university training. Though school leaders offer differing opinions on whether these grads are spooked by the state’s interminable standoff or leaving for other reasons, the underlying fact is clear: The number of medical graduates from SIU and the University of Illinois College of Medicine who will remain in Illinois for their residencies has hit a combined all-time low.
Belleville News-Democrat: Election math in Illinois statehouse equals multiple casualties
The calculus appears to be that Illinois voters have short memories and have trouble picking out the weak members from the running herd. Chances of being held accountable for Illinois’ financial meltdown and the decades it could take to recover are slim. Much easier to put up a scapegoat and just keep chanting his name to assign blame.
Rau-ner. Raun-NER. RAU-NER.
DNA Info: Tax Break for Vacant Storefronts Elimination Stalls Amid Political Brawl
An effort to reduce the number of vacant storefronts in Chicago neighborhoods stalled in Springfield last week amid a political brawl sparked by the race for Illinois governor.
A measure proposed by state Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Jefferson Park) — designed to crack down on those who take advantage of that law and commit “vacancy fraud” — won’t move forward before the legislative session ends May 31, Martwick said, even though it gained the support of a powerful Republican last week.
Chicago Tribune: Blagojevich files another appeal on corruption conviction
In what likely is his last legal option short of the U.S. Supreme Court, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has asked the entire 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to again rehear arguments to overturn his corruption conviction and 14-year prison sentence.
The petition for a rare en banc hearing before the appellate court’s full slate of justices was filed at the deadline Friday, a month after a three-judge panel quickly rejected Blagojevich’s case.
60 Minutes: Half of the inmates shouldn’t be here, says Cook County sheriff
Chicago — with the largest number of murders last year of any major city in the country — has one of the largest jails in the country.
An average of 70,000 men and women pass thru Cook County Jail each year, many more than once and, as with other big city jails, most of the inmates who cycle through are either poor, mentally ill or members of a gang.
WBEZ: Rubber Stamp Aldermen: Why Does Chicago City Council Always Vote For What The Mayor Wants?
When I arrived at Ald. Joe Moore’s office to interview him for this story, he was already prepared with a joke.
As soon as I turned on my recorder, he loudly called out to his staffer in the next room:
“Hey Bob, you got my rubber stamp?”
Chicago Tribune: Seven North Side aldermen vow to add affordable housing to end 'legacy of exclusion'
A group of North and Northwest Side aldermen on Wednesday said they will seek to decrease housing segregation in Chicago by adding affordable housing units in their wards.
They made the announcement at a City Hall news conference in solidarity with 45th Ward Ald. John Arena, who has faced stiff community opposition, some of it racially charged, to a proposed apartment complex with subsidized units in the Jefferson Park neighborhood.
ABC 7 Chicago: What has become of 50 vacant CPS schools closed in 2014?
It has been nearly four years since the controversial closing of 50 Chicago Public Schools. Seventeen of those buildings have since been sold or re-purposed, but the status of the others – many of them in impoverished neighborhoods – remains unclear.
A full year after Yale Elementary in Englewood was closed, no one had bothered to lower the tattered remains of an American flag atop the school. Now, the flag is gone. The building remains locked up.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Council sets vote on transportation advisory committee
A new commission designed to give residents a greater voice in changing stop signs, speed limits and other traffic issues could get the go-ahead signal from the City Council on Monday.
At a May 8 special meeting, the council discussed Ward 4 Alderman Amelia Buragas’ proposed to create a transportation advisory commission to assist, inform and make recommendations to city staff and the council on traffic matters.
Belleville News-Democrat: Until schools merge, learning to share is next best thing
First Belleville High School District 201 figures out that it can save as much as $500,000 by running its own school bus system and offer service to the grade schools, saving them money.
Then the high school district figures out it can save as much as $250,000 by buying meals from the Belleville Elementary District 118’s food program, which makes the elementary district’s food operation more efficient.