Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Southern: State lawmakers gearing up for final week of veto session
Illinois lawmakers will return to the Statehouse on Tuesday, with all eyes waiting to see what, if any, action will be taken on ethics reform in the General Assembly.
But a host of other issues are on the table as well, including action that would enable the city of Chicago to attract casino developers, follow-up on the landmark adult-use marijuana legalization bill passed during the regular session, regulations on vaping and flavored tobacco products and labor relations issues flowing from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in the Illinois case Janus v. AFSCME.
Chicago Tribune: Firms owned by Hazel Crest woman with criminal past collected $1.8 million consulting for suburbs, even while she faced federal indictment
Companies owned by a Hazel Crest woman with three fraud-related convictions collected more than $1.8 million consulting two south suburbs on financial and economic development matters even as she faced federal criminal charges, a Daily Southtown investigation has found.
Irma Holloway, a 53-year-old real estate investor with a checkered financial past and a rap sheet that includes arrests for theft, forgery and bank fraud, resigned as economic development director for Hazel Crest Friday following inquiries from the Daily Southtown.
Northwest Herald: Algonquin Township trustees to discuss placing township elimination question on March ballot
Algonquin Township’s Board of Trustees will consider voting to place a referendum to dissolve the township and its road district in 2037 on an upcoming ballot at an upcoming meeting.
If approved, the question would be put to voters during the March 17 primary election. The referendum that would appear on the ballot asks whether the township and road district should be dissolved on May 18, 2037 with its property, assets, personnel, obligations and liabilities transferred to McHenry County.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago’s public defender plans to ask Illinois Supreme Court to reverse decision that permits holding preteens in custody despite county ordinance
Calling “backward” the United States treatment of juveniles, Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli said she plans to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to reverse an Illinois Appellate Court decision last week that permits holding preteenagers in custody.
Campanelli’s office represented a 12-year-old boy who was ordered confined in September 2018 by a Cook County judge, despite an ordinance passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners that barred the custodial detention of preteenagers. The appellate court, in a 2-1 decision handed down last week, upheld the circuit court ruling that the county board ordinance conflicted with state law and was not enforceable.