Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County Board votes in favor of $4 million settlement in Stroger medical malpractice case
Cook County commissioners have voted to approve a nearly $4 million settlement for a medical malpractice lawsuit related to an allegedly botched heart surgery at Stroger Hospital.
The lawsuit stems from treatment Jaime Flores received at Stroger Hospital in 2013. The law firm representing Flores, Romanucci and Blandin, released a statement saying Stroger physicians made a “very unfortunate and grossly improper decision” to perform a bedside pericardiocentesis on Flores.
Crain's Chicago Business: No tax hikes, two big holes in Emanuel's final budget
With his own City Hall retirement drawing near, Mayor Rahm Emanuel today proposed a $10.7 billion city budget that includes a few new initiatives in security, social spending and other items that should prove popular with voters but basically holds the line, with no new tax or fee hikes beyond those that already have been approved, at least for now.
However, Emanuel is leaving behind a pair of huge uncertainties: how to pay for new police and fire department contracts that are being negotiated and could require tens of millions of dollars for raises, and how to come up with an extra $1 billion or so needed to pay pensions, something the mayor may have more to say about before the end of the year.
Chicago Sun-Times: Emanuel applauds aldermen who ‘took the tough votes’ in final budget address
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday took the wraps off a $10.66 billion 2019 budget that holds the line on taxes, fines and fees and still invests heavily in police reform, crime fighting, housekeeping services and mentoring and summer jobs for at-risk youth.
In his final budget address to the City Council, Emanuel asked his allies to take a bow for making the tough decisions that have begun to solve the city’s $28 billion pension crisis and put Chicago in a position to keep spending on what’s important. Never mind that a $1 billion spike in pension payments will confront the next mayor and City Council.
Daily Herald: McMahon bills Cook County almost $50K for Van Dyke prosecution
Kane County State’s Attorney Joseph McMahon has billed Cook County for nearly $50,000 for expenses from his more than two years spent as the special prosecutor in Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke’s murder case.
McMahon has submitted invoices for expert witnesses who testified at pretrial hearings and during the trial, a few meals, snacks and the prosecution team’s stay at a hotel hear Midway Airport.
State Journal-Register: Illinois sports gambling bill probably won’t come until next year
Illinois lawmakers will move ahead with the idea of bringing legal sports gambling to the state, but it apparently will not be soon.
Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, told a pair of House subcommittees Wednesday that he is working on a bill to bring sports betting to Illinois.