Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: CPS strike: Teachers and support staff, along with parks workers, will all strike on Oct. 17 if no contract deals reached
The Chicago Teachers Union, school support staff and Park District workers will all go on strike together on Oct. 17 if they can’t reach contract deals by then.
The joint announcement late Wednesday by the three labor groups sets up the prospect of about 35,000 public employees in Chicago walking off the job at the same time.
Chicago Tribune: As strike date set, Chicago Park District cites pension crisis, urges workers to accept 'a very fair offer’
Hours before park employees announced an Oct. 17 strike date, the Chicago Park District spoke out for the first time about the possible historic action.
In a Wednesday interview, Superintendent Michael Kelly talked about what he believes is a fair contract and a pension crisis that cannot be ignored.
Crain's Chicago Business: Investors squirm over costs as Chicago teachers set strike date
The Chicago Teachers Union said Wednesday it had set a strike date of Oct. 17. The announcement comes after about 800 union delegates representing every school in the district met behind closed doors.
Chicago Tribune: Rahm Emanuel raised taxes to get city worker pension funds on a ‘path to solvency.’ The shortfall still ballooned by $7 billion.
A record-high property tax increase. A new tax on water and sewer service. A higher 911 emergency fee on telephone lines.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s series of tax hikes was painful, but he promised the extra money was part of a plan to get the woefully underfunded city worker pension funds on a “path to solvency.”
Chicago Sun-Times: Gov. Pritzker: ‘Let me be clear.’ Sen. Sandoval should quit top committee post — or get the boot
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday said he has urged Illinois Senate President John Cullerton to ask state Sen. Martin Sandoval to step down as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee or remove him if he won’t go voluntarily — amid a federal investigation into an alleged kickback scheme.
Pritzker reacted quickly to the news of Sandoval’s raid — to get ahead of worries that the investigation would taint the governor’s massive capital plan, which Sandoval helped put together.
WBEZ: WBEZ Sues Illinois Senate For Documents In FBI Probe Of Sen. Sandoval
WBEZ filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Illinois Senate, alleging that details from the recent federal anti-corruption raids of a top legislator’s offices are being hidden from public view in violation of the state’s open-records law.
The suit was filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court by lawyer Matt Topic and comes a day after Democratic Senate President John Cullerton’s office gave reporters heavily blacked-out documents from the FBI investigation of powerful state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a high-ranking Cullerton ally.
Chicago Tribune: Recent federal raids connected to probe of red light camera company, source says
A clout-heavy red light camera company that does millions of dollars in business in Chicago’s suburbs is one focus of the federal investigation that led to last week’s raids on state Sen. Martin Sandoval and several towns in his district, a source with knowledge of the probe told the Chicago Tribune.
The company, Safespeed LLC, was the subject of a Tribune investigation two years ago that revealed Sandoval — chairman of the powerful Senate Transportation Committee — had interceded with the Illinois Department of Transportation on Safespeed’s behalf while also taking tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the company and its owner.
Champaign News-Gazette: Former Madigan staffer — futilely — denies misconduct
Timothy Mapes, the one-time right-hand man of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, was a political force of nature until last year when he suffered a head-on collision with the #MeToo movement.
A one-time terror of House staffers and legislators alike, Mapes’ career as a Madigan operative — chief of staff, clerk of the Illinois House and executive director of the Illinois Democratic Party — went up in smoke in June 2018. That’s when he was accused of bullying members of Madigan’s staff and sexually harassing female employees. No sooner were the allegations made than Mapes, a longtime Madigan associate, was out on his ear.