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Chicago Tribune: Relentless visits, repeated voicemails and yelling: Inside Madigan ward’s push to keep a college student from running for alderman
The 13th Ward campaign workers hit the streets aggressively, asking people to sign sworn affidavits revoking their support for a little-known college student challenging Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s handpicked alderman.
Some Southwest Side residents said they were bombarded with repeated visits followed by repeated voicemails. Others told the Tribune they were yelled at when they refused to sign the piece of paper put before them.
Chicago Sun-Times: State Senate’s top two Dems oppose booting Sandoval from committee post — but others say it’s time
The two top Democrats in the state Senate see no reason to remove Sen. Martin Sandoval from his leadership position on a key committee despite a federal raid of his home and offices, putting them at odds with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and others in the Illinois Senate.
Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, on Wednesday joined Senate President John Cullerton in taking a wait-and-see attitude on Sandoval, whose Chicago home and Senate offices in Cicero and Springfield have been searched by federal agents.
WBEZ: WBEZ, Sun-Times Sue Southwest Suburb For Details Of Federal Raid
WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking details from the federal raid last month at the village hall of southwest suburban McCook.
Immediately after the FBI raid on Sept. 26, the news organizations filed requests for copies of the search warrant that agents served in McCook. Such documents routinely are made public by government agencies in response to requests made under the state’s open-records law.
Northwest Herald: Taxpayers tired of deluxe government
When household budgets are stretched to the breaking point, a common way to cut down on expenses is looking for services to cancel in hopes of saving a few dollars.
That is the opportunity presented by an upcoming March referendum in McHenry Township, where voters will consider whether to abolish township government.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposes department mergers as she works to close $838 million city budget deficit
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to merge two city departments to save $1 million as she works to close an $838 million budget shortfall.
Lightfoot announced plans Wednesday to consolidate the Chicago Department of Innovation and Technology with Fleet and Facility Management. Any merger would need to be approved by the City Council and would take effect in 2020, the administration said.
Chicago Sun-Times: No layoffs or tax hikes in Preckwinkle’s $6.1B county budget — but also no pot revenue or gambling jackpot
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is planning to unveil a $6.18 billion budget for 2020 on Thursday, a spending blueprint that promises no new taxes or layoffs but does eliminate hundreds of vacant healthcare positions.
The proposed budget also ratchets down earlier expectations of revenue infusions from newly legalized gambling and recreational marijuana, but does find funding for new county employees to work on taxpayer appeals of property assessments and expunging past cannabis convictions.
Chicago Tribune: Here’s Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s five-year plan to revitalize Illinois’ economy
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday released a five-year plan for the Illinois economy that includes an emphasis on providing better “customer service” to businesses, improving workforce development and strengthening key industries.
This is the second five-year plan developed under a measure then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law in August 2013.
Crain's Chicago Business: The struggle at the heart of the CPS standoff
Asked what it will take to avoid a threatened strike next week, leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union have repeatedly used the same phrase of late: “Put it in writing.” That language is a tell: It signals what’s really at issue as the city heads toward what could be a brutal war of attrition that makes or breaks the start of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s tenure.
What’s at stake really isn’t money, at least in the form of pay hikes. The outcome of the standoff will determine who will have the power over Chicago Public Schools—who will control and set priorities for a system that educates more than 361,000 students and employs 37,375 people. This confrontation, whether it leads to a strike or not, pivots on both sides’ willingness to change the nature of the relationship between City Hall and one of its major labor unions.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Teachers Union pushes for class size as a contract issue as strike date nears, claims some classrooms top 40 students
At Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy on the South Side, math teacher Maria Aguirre’s largest class has 37 students, taught in a room designed for a maximum of 29.
Too many students in such close proximity leads to distractions, disciplinary problems and safety hazards, she said.
Chicago Sun-Times: Support building for statewide ban on red-light cameras
Bipartisan support appears to be building in the Illinois General Assembly for a statewide ban on red-light cameras.
Those are devices that some municipalities install at intersections to detect drivers running through red lights or turning without coming to a full stop.
The Southern: Murphysboro teacher's union reaches tentative agreement with school district
The Murphysboro teachers’ strike ended late Wednesday night, according to a post on the Murphysboro Teachers and Murphysboro CUSD 186 Facebook pages. Email messages sent shortly after the posts to parents confirmed that news.
Both posts say that school will be back in session Thursday.