Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: CPS strike updates: ‘Glimmers of progress’ but then it ‘stopped dead,’ says Chicago Teachers Union president
As the fourth day without classes began Tuesday at Chicago public schools, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren was expected to appear with striking teachers hours after Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey accused the city administration of “vindictive actions.”
In an email sent after midnight, presumably after leaving the bargaining table, Sharkey said “our bargaining team was beginning to see glimmers of progress on issues that matter to our members. (Monday) that progress stopped dead.
Chicago Sun-Times: Sen. Elizabeth Warren to join Chicago teachers on picket line
Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is set to join the city’s striking teachers on the picket line Tuesday.
The senator will bring her campaign to Chicago in a visit to Oscar DePriest Elementary School at 139 S. Parkside Ave. in Austin on the West Side, her campaign said.
Chicago Tribune: Gov. J.B. Pritzker releases $23.5 billion multiyear transportation plan for upcoming road projects throughout Illinois
Gov. J.B. Pritzker rolled out the details of a multibillion-dollar statewide transportation plan, only to be forced Monday to offer repeated assurances that state contracts and taxpayer spending will be closely scrutinized in light of a developing federal corruption probe.
Pritzker on Monday announced a plan for $23.5 billion worth of work on roads and bridges statewide over the next five years, a major piece of the $45 billion infrastructure plan that lawmakers widely cheered when it received bipartisan approval from the General Assembly this spring.
Chicago Tribune: While she mulls the property tax hike question, Lightfoot proposes hiking parking meter, Uber and restaurant taxes, fees
For months now, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said she wants to avoid hiking property taxes to close a projected $838 million budget gap. A mayoral confidant even told me late this summer that the public may be pleasantly surprised when the mayor releases her budget Wednesday and finds a minimal — or no — property tax increase on the table.
So today, I asked: When the mayor takes the podium for her first budget address, will there be a property tax increase in the spending plan? The mayor’s team was keeping its cards close to the vest, reiterating that unless the city gets some help from Springfield in the upcoming veto session, the unpopular property tax increase may be the only funding lever left to turn.
Chicago Sun-Times: City debt refinancing not a ‘scoop and toss’ with long-term pain, finance chief says
Working to close an $838 million deficit, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration said Monday it will book a one-time savings of $200 million by refinancing $1.3 billion in bonds, a practice the mayor’s finance chief said differs from the “scoop and toss’’ maneuver of the past.
While the savings from reduced interest costs will occur over the next 20 years, the entire amount will be taken upfront, Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett said. She said the city hopes to reduce the average interest rate on the bonds to from 3% to 3.5% from 4.9%.
WBEZ: Cook County Prez: No Tax Hike To Aid Forest Preserves
Cook County voters will not decide after all on a property tax hike that would have raised about $40 million a year for the Cook County Forest Preserves.
Advocates have been lobbying Forest Preserve District commissioners for the referendum to help fund bold, expensive plans. The commissioners, who are also Cook County Board commissioners, first have to approve putting a referendum on the 2020 ballot. The referendum would ask voters for the tax hike. Voters would make the final call.
Chicago Tribune: Watchdog: County Health senior officials’ hefty raises exceeded caps, should be discontinued
The chief financial officer of Cook County Health system was given a $60,000 pay raise this year, lifting his salary by 25% from $240,000 to $300,000, according to a recent watchdog report.
Ekerete Akpan was one of nine high-ranking Cook County Health employees who were given robust pay raises without the county providing the proper approval on paperwork, according to the report. In addition, the pay increases exceeded the county’s protocol, which caps pay raises at 6%, the Office of the Independent Inspector General determined in its quarterly report.
Northwest Herald: Grafton Township board OKs 15% levy reduction, abatement
The Grafton Township Board of Trustees approved a property tax levy of roughly $727,000 on Monday, which is about 10% lower than last year’s levy and roughly $433,000 lower than its 2015 levy.
Township Supervisor Eric Ruth said at this level, the board should be spending about what is being levied in the future.
Daily Herald: Buffalo Grove trustees hear recreational pot outcry past midnight, then vote to allow sales
Angering residents who showed up in droves to oppose the sale of recreational marijuana in the village, Buffalo Grove trustees at about 1 a.m. Tuesday approved zoning regulations to allow it.
For 4½ hours, residents spoke passionately against recreational pot sales. But in the end, only one trustee, David Weidenfeld, voted against the regulations, which will allow recreational dispensaries as a special use in nonresidential areas — three business districts and the industrial district.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Bloomington City Council will vote next week on whether to start zoning process to regulate cannabis sales
After hearing a report by a task force that recommended 6-3 in favor of allowing the sale of cannabis in Bloomington, the City Council decided Monday night it isn’t ready to vote on whether to opt out entirely.
Because the meeting was a work session, the council took no formal vote on the issue.
Decatur Herald & Review: Decatur council moves to tear down 24 homes on demo list
City council members on Monday moved to tear down 24 vacant properties on the city’s demolition list, a major component of ongoing efforts to revitalize core neighborhoods.
The batch of houses was recently put to bid in three groups after clearing legal and environmental reviews, according to a city document. The groups were bid on an individual property basis and as groups with potential savings. One of the houses, 1372 E. Condit St., was first identified as unsafe 10 years ago.