Get the latest news from around Illinois.
State Journal-Register: Sorry, no amendments this year
Just to make things official, there will be no constitutional amendments on the fall ballot for voters to consider.
The legislature has to vote to put those on the ballot six months before the election. That deadline has now passed.
Associated Press: For Illinois $245M Legionnaires' fix, rhetoric meets reality
A deadly Legionnaires’ disease crisis at a state-run veterans’ home, persisting for years, has so flummoxed Illinois officials that they have concluded the best remedy is to start over.
Now, rhetoric meets reality.
State Journal-Register: Illinois’ dilemma: Billions in capital needs, but prospects dim for funding plan
Most legislators say capital plan won’t happen this year
A group of business and labor representatives said last week that the state would need to spend $21 billion a year to bring the state’s roads and public buildings “into a state of good repair.”
Chicago Tribune: Two years after Chicago passed a home-sharing law, only Airbnb has a license, and hosts say rules are too complicated
Rosalind and Eric Bowden received a surprising letter from the city right around Christmas, notifying them that because they didn’t delete an unauthorized listing on Airbnb, they were believed to be in violation of a Chicago law regulating short-term rentals.
But the Bowdens had disabled bookings for a first-floor room in their South Side home to comply with an earlier notice from the city asking them to “remove” the listing. It no longer showed up in search results, the couple said, and only could be accessed with a direct link.
Chicago Tribune: Dockless bike companies protest Chicago's lock rule: 'No other city has required this'
The city’s new dockless bike share program mandates that rental bikes be capable of being locked to some physical object — like a bike rack or signpost — by July 1.
But China-based Ofo and California-based LimeBike, which use wheel locks rather than cables or U-locks to secure bikes between rentals, say they hope to change the city’s mind on the “lock-to” requirement in the next two months.
Northwest Herald: County Board members of Algonquin Township trust voters' choice when it comes to consolidation
A cadre of Republican McHenry County Board members are standing in support of Chairman Jack Franks and the pressure he’s putting on Algonquin Township officials to put a referendum to voters in the November election asking whether the highway department should be eliminated.
Those County Board members all live in Algonquin Township and include Chris Christensen, R-Cary; Tom Wilbeck, R-Barrington Hills; John Reinert, R-Crystal Lake; and Christopher Spoerl, R-Cary.
Northwest Herald: Former Rutland Township assessor accused of omitting property from tax rolls
Rutland Township’s former assessor has been accused of omitting property from the tax rolls and costing 17 taxing bodies, including Algonquin-based School District 300 funding.
Gary Fritz overtook former assessor Jan Siers in the 2017 election with 55 percent of the vote – 1,221 to Siers’ 826 votes – and began Jan 1. Siers had been assessor of Rutland Township, located south of Huntley in Kane County, for more than two decades with the township. Fritz also has years of assessment experience and is a deputy assessor in Batavia Township.