Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner signs lawmakers' sexual harassment bills but says they should have done more
A week after lawmakers tried to address complaints of sexual harassment in Illinois politics, Gov. Bruce Rauner joined skeptics who don’t think they did enough to ensure that complaints will be investigated and wrongdoers punished.
On Thursday, the Republican governor said the two bills the Democrat-controlled General Assembly sent him last week would start the process of taking on sexual harassment concerns. One requires sexual harassment prevention training for lawmakers and lobbyists.
Daily Herald: Assessors claim Lake County is unfairly taxing thousands
A lawsuit filed Thursday claims policies enacted by Lake County’s appointed assessment supervisor are unfairly inflating property tax bills for thousands of residents.
The suit filed by the Lake County Assessors Association and several residents argues Lake County Chief Assessment Officer Marty Paulson is ignoring annual revaluations by some township assessors and instead applying a blanket increase on all properties in a township. The suit also names the county as a defendant, since the county board hired Paulson.
Daily Southtown: South suburban school chief suspected of looting low-income lunch program to fund lavish lifestyle
Pamela Strain said she’d once dreamed of following in the footsteps of Clarence Darrow, the legendary Chicago attorney known for championing the underdog.
Strain instead went into education, rising to become an elementary school principal in an impoverished neighborhood in Chicago before founding her own charter school in the south suburbs serving underprivileged kids.
Chicago Tribune: U. of I. president, UIC chancellor receive $175K in bonuses for second straight year
After posting solid gains in enrollment this fall, two University of Illinois leaders are set to receive performance bonuses for the second straight year.
University of Illinois board members unanimously approved a $100,000 bonus for system President Timothy Killeen and a $75,000 bonus for UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis at its Thursday meeting.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: 15 Men Cleared in First-Ever Mass Exoneration in Cook County
Leonard Gipson is 36 years old. He stands about 6 feet tall and weighs over 200 pounds. He’s a big man. But ask him how he felt Thursday morning standing alongside his attorney inside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after being exonerated on two separate drug convictions and he’ll tell you this: “I feel like a baby. A brand new baby.”
“I just feel like right now, it’s a brand new beginning for me,” he said. “I can start over and do what I want to do … It’s a new life for me.”
Daily Herald: District 62 board knew of at 5 women who reported inappropriate behavior by Williams
Des Plaines Elementary District 62 confirmed Thursday at least five female employees reported inappropriate interactions with ousted Superintendent Floyd Williams Jr., with some of the allegations coming within months of his starting the job last year.
In a statement, board President Stephanie Duckmann said the school board spoke to Williams with the hope he would correct his behavior.
Daily Herald: Algonquin Twp. road bosses square off on spending, record destruction
Allegations of misused government funds and the potential destruction of public records are at the center of a bitter legal battle between current and former Algonquin Township Highway Department officials.
Disneyland tickets, purses and women’s clothing are among the personal items Highway Commissioner Andrew Gasser claims in a lawsuit were charged to the road district during the tenure of his predecessor, Bob Miller.
Fox Illinois: Public meeting gets heated in Farmersville over 400 percent tax proposal
There was a heated public hearing in Farmersville Thursday as a 400 percent property tax increase proposal was discussed.
The village said they need to increase taxes to cover everyday operations because of loss of funding from the state, increasing costs of insurance and businesses that have closed over the years.
Belleville News-Democrat: State political bickering led to local pain, local officials say at state budget forum
Schools districts, social service agencies and local governments felt the pain of the two-year budget impasse caused by political bickering, panel members said Thursday.
Art Ryan, the superintendent of Cahokia School District 187, said partisan politics led to budget issues and hurt local entities.
Belleville News-Democrat: Worries that sinking middle school will become a money pit
That sinking feeling at Wolf Branch Middle School is far from over.
District leaders have been working to deal with the reality of merging two buildings into one. At the same time they are working with the state to determine the scope of the subsidence problem, how to halt further damage from a collapsing old coal mine and how to fix existing damage to the middle school.