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Daily Herald: Cadre of GOP insiders getting big salaries at Illinois tollway
In less than two years, the Illinois tollway has hired six Republican insiders for high-level jobs that collectively pay nearly $916,000 a year, including a former elected official, political operatives and the relative of a state GOP leader.
That troubles some government watchdogs who say they are concerned about favoritism in an agency with a history of patronage. Tollway officials said the agency is staffed with qualified professionals.
Decatur Herald & Review: A $2.7 million oversight: Documents show dispute over Lake Decatur sediment storage
City leaders are in talks over whether taxpayers will pay for a multimillion-dollar mistake in the $91 million Lake Decatur dredging project, documents obtained by the Herald & Review show.
The 3,831 pages of correspondence, dating to May 2013 and acquired through the state Freedom of Information Act, reveal a back and forth between officials about why the massive basin designated to hold lake sediment filled up faster than expected. The city’s contractor, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., spent months and millions of dollars on earthwork this year to ensure it could finish the project, which began five years ago this fall.