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Chicago Sun-Times: Beale predicts City Council resistance to massive property tax increase
Mayor Lori Lightfoot will be forced to propose a massive property tax increase to erase an $838 million shortfall, but she’ll have trouble getting the City Council votes because aldermen are fed up with her attempts to “neuter” them.
That’s the dire prediction from Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), the former Lightfoot ally-turned-adversary who is now trying to rally his colleagues to stand up to the new mayor.
Chicago Sun-Times: House still divided: Pritzker ousts head of Springfield’s troubled Lincoln library and museum
Gov. J.B. Pritzker fired the executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Friday, marking the latest chapter of turmoil for the Springfield institution.
Alan Lowe, who started at the library in Springfield in 2016, replaced Eileen Mackevich, who resigned in 2015 over differing views with then Gov. Bruce Rauner on the direction of the museum.
WBEZ: Cook County Agency Investigates Deal With Top Austin Aide
In response to a WBEZ investigation, a Cook County agency has launched a review of a land deal with the top aide to embattled Chicago Ald. Carrie Austin.
Days after WBEZ reported on the deal, Cook County Land Bank Authority officials said Friday they’re looking into the complex transaction — which wiped clean a property-tax debt of more than $150,000 for Austin’s longtime chief of staff, Chester Wilson Jr.
Northwest Herald: McHenry Township residents vote to fund senior bus service through March 31
Peoria Journal-Star: Illinois State Fair revenue sets record
The Illinois State Fair broke its all-time record for revenue raised this year, including grandstand shows that more than paid for themselves.
At a Thursday news conference at the fairgrounds, state Agriculture Director John Sullivan said total revenues for the 2019 fair topped $6.56 million. That beat the previous record of $6.47 million set in 2013.