Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Here are the 10 sites Chicago and Illinois sent to Amazon for HQ2
Chicago and Illinois on Friday revealed 10 Chicago-area sites — eight in the city and two in the suburbs — pitched for Amazon’s planned second headquarters, but disclosed no financial incentives included in the bid to woo the e-commerce behemoth and up to 50,000 jobs.
The quest to land the company, which seeks a home for a $5 billion headquarters of up to 8 million-plus square feet, has captivated cities large and small since the Seattle-based company asked for proposals six weeks ago.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner looks to Washington for the power to change pension benefits
Stymied by a Democrat-controlled General Assembly and still in a contract dispute with the largest state employee union, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is looking to Washington for help advancing his agenda to weaken the influence of organized labor in Illinois.
He’s lobbying Congress to give states like Illinois the power to change public employee pension benefits, which he argues are overly generous because of a “corrupt bargain” between politicians and union negotiators. And the governor is hoping to get legal victories over unions at the U.S. Supreme Court, where the recent appointment of a new conservative justice could tilt decisions in his favor.
Chicago Tribune: Inside Illinois' $16 billion backlog: What does the state owe your town?
Gov. Bruce Rauner began borrowing what will end up being a total of about $6 billion to pay off the state’s massive backlog of bills.
The more-than-$16 billion in bills will hopefully be cut in half in about a month, said Abdon Pallasch, communications director for Comptroller Susana Mendoza.
News-Gazette: Balanced budget deep in the red
Gov. Bruce Rauner has been cast by legislators in the villain’s role on the budget issue.
A couple months ago — after the big budget battle between the state’s Republican governor and the Democratic Legislature — House Speaker Michael Madigan claimed victory.
He forced a state income tax increase down Gov. Bruce Rauner’s throat by leading an override of Rauner’s veto of the budget and tax plan. Rauner foes said it was tough but necessary medicine to put Illinois on firmer financial ground and balance the state’s 2017-18 budget.
Crain's Chicago Business: This time, a white-collar firm is jumping the border to Indiana
This major Chicago financial services firm is more than doubling its workforce—in Indiana, not Illinois. Cortland Capital Market Services, which has a headcount of 400, expects eventually to employ as many people in suburban Indianapolis, even though it has no intention of moving its headquarters from Chicago.
Indiana is “a real option for companies,” says CEO Doug Hart, explaining that the Indianapolis metropolitan area has about 2.4 million people, including a lot of university talent. Hiring graduates is one possibility, but luring them back after stints elsewhere is another, he says. “Many who grew up there and moved away like to come back and raise families.”
Chicago Tribune: Illinois Lottery deal gives new firm higher base fee, extra 'incentive' payments and no penalties
Hoping for better luck the second time around, state officials unveiled a deal Friday to put the fate of the Illinois Lottery in the hands of a British firm that pledges bigger returns than those generated under the manager the state fired.
In a do-over of the nation’s first, controversial attempt at state lottery privatization six years ago, Illinois agreed to a contract with the only firm to bid for the potentially lucrative job: the Camelot Group. It comes as the state and Camelot pledge transparency while critics call the process too secretive, particularly when it involves the state’s biggest moneymaker.
Chicago Sun-Times: CPS enrollment drops over 20K in two years; schools get their ratings
Chicago Public Schools on Friday announced another five-figure enrollment drop, counting 371,000 students in the country’s third largest school district.
District officials also released school ratings, blaming the Cubs in part for a dip of schools with the top rating, and named four privately-managed schools that aren’t performing well enough to stay open past June.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: CPS to Consider Closing 4 Charter Schools
Four Level 2 charter schools serving predominantly low-income black students are eligible for closure under Chicago Public Schools’ accountability policy, the district announced Friday.
The Chicago Board of Education will consider closing ACE Tech High School, North Lawndale – Collins, Urban Prep West and Plato Learning Academy due to their poor academic performance and placement on the district’s academic warning list.
Daily Herald: Nearly $1 million in fees estimated for Arlington Heights school add-on
The Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 school board has approved paying nearly $1 million in architectural and construction management fees for the Greenbrier Elementary School expansion project.
The board this week voted to approve an architectural services agreement with STR Partners for about $426,000, while Nicholas and Associates’ construction management fee for the expansion project is about $500,000. Both fees are part of the total $6.4 million construction cost, officials said.
Rockford Register-Star: Rockford teachers to vote on new contract
Teachers in Rockford Public Schools will gather this weekend to cast votes on a new contract, something union and district leaders say will provide an additional layer of stability as the state rolls out a new funding formula.
Negotiations on a new contract for nearly 2,000 educators started in February. The last contract expired July 1, and teachers and other employees such as school nurses, speech and language pathologists, counselors, and social workers have been working under the terms of the expired contract — except for one term, depending on who you talk to.
Belleville News-Democrat: City hall cost doubled to $5 million, but they still need $500,000 to finish
Want to see the reason why Belleville city services have been spread across town for the past 16 months? You have a chance today at 101 S. Illinois St.
City Hall will be rededicated with speechifying at 10 a.m. The public is invited from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to see what they bought.