An increased moratorium on closing Chicago Public Schools – including charters – easily passed the state House heads to the Senate over the objections of the Chicago Teachers Union and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointees to the city’s school board.
Politics
Former Ald. Ed Burke paid two law firms, Blegen & Garvey and Breen & Pugh, approximately $769,000 one month after his conviction, according to state records.
The deadline for applications is Friday. And while there are more than 100 suburbs in the county that are eligible, only two have applied, including Oak Park and Ford Heights.
The Illinois Food Safety Act passed on a 37-15 bipartisan vote and will head to the state House for consideration. The banned chemicals are used in a wide variety of food products.
The recent surge of migrants arriving in Illinois has brought with it a host of new challenges for state and local officials. Advocates say the state has not done enough to address educating the children of those coming across the border.
Important documents — the volumes of paperwork that go along with buying or selling a home, for example, or granting the power of attorney — require notarization. Under a new initiative announced Wednesday by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, the entire process can now be done remotely.
Stephen Colbert, host of CBS's "Late Show," announced Wednesday night he'll be broadcasting live from Chicago during the convention, Aug. 19-22.
Bad sidewalks can be found all across Chicago, but the slow pace in getting them repaired is tied to a lack of funding and the city’s complaint-based approach to maintenance, experts say. While a shared cost program has improved some areas, it has also caused disparities.
Both proposals could get a vote at the next Chicago City Council meeting, set for Friday.
Even as solar projects have boomed in Illinois in recent years, the head of the state agency responsible for approving renewable projects said changes to state law may be necessary to phase out fossil fuels by 2050.
“These policies support those communities most impacted by the gun violence crisis,” Yolanda Androzzo, One Aim Illinois program director, said at a rally. “It’s an opportunity to ensure protection and justice for survivors of gun violence.”
The measure would put a moratorium on the closure of selective enrollment schools and prevent CPS from altering its standards for admission to those schools until 2027 when a fully elected school board in Chicago is in place.
The recommendation followed the unanimous decision on Monday by the Chicago Board of Ethics to dismiss an enforcement action against a City Hall lobbyist who donated to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign fund.
The Rev. Frederick Haynes III told The Associated Press that he submitted a letter with his resignation as head of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition, effective immediately.
The five officers who conducted the traffic stop that led to the death of Dexter Reed and the wounding of one officer had been the subject of 36 complaints that they were improperly stopping Chicagoans driving through the city’s West Side, according to records provided to WTTW News by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
It’s a more targeted proposal than the one the U.S. Supreme Court struck down last year. The new plan uses a different legal basis and seeks to cancel or reduce loans for more than 25 million Americans.
