Illinois has come out with new recommendations for addressing a teacher shortage in the state.

More than 1,400 teaching positions went vacant last school year, half of them in bilingual or special education. Forty percent of all vacancies were in Chicago Public Schools, but rural downstate districts also struggled to find teachers, according to a new report by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Nineteen referendums will appear on Lake County ballots this fall, asking voters about school construction projects, water system improvements and many other issues.

Most are for specific school districts or municipalities, so no voters will see all 19 questions. Many will see two or more.

Under the circumstances, District 186 Superintendent Jennifer Gill is proud of how well the district has maintained its aging facilities over the past few years.

The district has leveraged dollars from health, life and safety bonds to renovate some of its oldest buildings and keep up with maintenance. But with 81 percent of Springfield’s public schools now 50 years or older, the task has not been easy.

A St. Clair County judge who hasn’t heard a case in more than a year has received a nearly $5,000 annual pay increase

Judge Ronald Duebbert was elected in November 2016 but removed from hearing cases in January 2017. Since then, he’s been on desk duty, and now draws an annual salary of $202,433, according to the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. At that rate, he earns $775 a day.