Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: 2 Chicago cop-legislators changed law to benefit 2 people: themselves
They were a couple of Chicago cops, each serving in the Illinois Legislature, when they helped change state law to give themselves police pensions at taxpayer expense.
The amendment co-sponsored 16 years ago by now-retired state Rep. Edward “Eddie” Acevedo and current state Sen. Antonio “Tony” Munoz gave them — and also any future Chicago cops-state legislators — the ability to get credit toward their police pensions for every day they served in the Illinois Senate or House.
State Journal-Register: Lawmakers set to return Tuesday for veto session
Gun control, government transparency, student loan reform and more could be on the table this week as the General Assembly begins the annual ritual of the fall veto session.
Lawmakers are scheduled to return Tuesday for what is now scheduled to be three days of sessions to begin dealing with possibly overriding bills vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner and taking up additional issues that have arisen since lawmakers last met in Springfield in August.
News-Gazette: Double trouble
Illinois is a state that seems incapable of learning from its mistakes.
Two bits of recent bad news — one a surprise and the other not at all — are a useful reminder why Illinois’ economy is in bad shape and, absent a rising national economic tide that lifts all states, won’t improve anytime soon.
Starry-eyed boosters recently touted Illinois’ prospects for landing two huge private-sector economic development projects — one involving Amazon and the other an automobile assembly plant that is a joint project of Toyota and Mazda. Illinois has certain advantages that make landing the Amazon project in the Chicago area a viable option. But given the state’s business climate, the idea of Toyota-Mazda choosing Rochelle, a community roughly 80 miles west of Chicago, for a mammoth investment creating roughly 4,000 jobs was not realistic.
WBEZ: Voter Advocates Push Illinois To Exit Multistate Database
Voter rights advocates are pushing Illinois election officials to withdraw from a longtime multistate voter registration database over questions of accuracy, security and voter suppression.
The Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program is aimed at cleaning voter records and preventing voter fraud. States voluntarily provide their voter lists and the program searches for duplicates.
DNA Info: Here's How To Get A Refund For Wrongly Paid Red-Light, Speed Camera Tickets
Chicagoans can apply for their share of the $38.75 million that the City of Chicago will pay to settle claims that it failed to allow motorists to challenge tickets issued by red-light and speed cameras.
Under the settlement approved by the City Council in July, 1.2 million people who paid fines — but didn’t get a chance to contest the 1.5 million citations they received — could get a refund of half of what they paid the city, officials said.
DNA Info: Number Of Schools With Top Quality Ratings Fall — And CPS Blames The Cubs
The number of Chicago Public Schools that earned one of the district’s top ratings fell by 5 percent, which officials blamed in part on a drop in student attendance because of Cubs’ World Series championship, among other reasons.
“The presidential election, the Day Without an Immigrant movement, labor strike uncertainty and Cubs playoffs” games caused attendance to drop at schools throughout the district, lowering their ratings, district officials said Friday.
Northwest Herald: Prairie Grove School District 46 Board, support staff stuck in labor negotiations
Support staff and the Prairie Grove School District 46 Board started labor agreement negotiations in March 2016.
Now they’re in federal mediation.
Daily Herald: After big lull, suburban apartment construction has boomed since 2013
At age 56, Michelle Love has never rented an apartment or condominium.
That likely will change soon when she and her husband, Ron Mousseau, sell the four-bedroom, 2,400-square-foot Arlington Heights house where they raised their children.
Daily Herald: Move revived to disband Aurora Election Commission
Saying he could give Aurora voters better service at half the price, Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham spoke Thursday in support of disbanding the Aurora Election Commission.
Cunningham told a committee of county board members he discussed with Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin what would be involved with abolishing the commission. They agreed having the county run the city’s elections would be best, he said.
Belleville News-Democrat: Belleville officially unveils $5 million City Hall renovations
City Hall was rededicated Saturday afternoon and formally revealed its $5 million facelift.
Mayor Mark Eckert said the renovations improved safety and accessibility, although it wasn’t always a smooth process.