The chairman of the Special Investigating Committee probing Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s alleged role in a bribery scheme said Tuesday, Oct. 6, that he will delay any further meetings of that panel until after the Nov. 3 general election.

“The committee will meet again in person on Nov. 5 in Springfield – without the backdrop of a political campaign,” Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said in a statement.

The Illinois Board of Education wants to lower the compulsory school attendance age in Illinois from six to five.

The board said children from lower income families who don’t have the opportunity to go to preschool and kindergarten arrive at first grade at a disadvantage that they may never overcome.

With business clobbered by COVID-19, hotels and shopping malls lead the list of those who haven’t paid their Cook County property taxes, even though the extended deadline for penalty-fee payment passed on Oct. 1.

According to data released by County Treasurer Maria Pappas, hotels operating under the Hilton and Marriott brands, as well as the tony Drake Hotel on North Michigan Avenue, have the biggest unpaid bills in the city. One of the Hiltons, the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, is owned by the city of Chicago and is operated by Hilton—meaning that a hotel owned by the city is late in paying taxes that go in part to the city treasury.