Stories by paris schutz

Moody’s Investors Service has issued a “credit negative” warning against the state in light of last Friday’s State Supreme Court ruling rejecting changes to public pensions. It’s a somewhat tepid response to the ruling, relative to the double ratings drop Moody’s applied to city of Chicago’s credit, resulting in junk bond status. In today’s report, Moody’s says the reforms could have reduced the unfunded pension liability by about $21 billion. 

After months of speculation, the Barack Obama Foundation officially announces the library is coming to the South Side of Chicago. But when and where will it be located exactly? Paris Schutz has the details. 

The Illinois Supreme Court has struck down the state's landmark 2013 pension reform law, upholding a lower court ruling that it violated the state constitution. In the ruling, the court rejected the state's defense that its contractual obligations were not absolute, because it reserved "emergency powers" in a time of crisis.

Gov. Bruce Rauner takes his controversial right-to-work agenda to Chicago's City Council. Paris Schutz has the latest.

New hearings on a possible Chicago casino are underway today. Is the mayor's wish for a casino to fund pensions finally close to coming true? Paris Schutz has the latest.

The new, supersized NFL Draft gets underway in Chicago this evening. Just what does it mean for the city? Paris Schutz has the latest.

There’s a renewed push for redistricting reform in Illinois. Independent Maps, a nonpartisan statewide coalition, is starting a campaign for a constitutional amendment creating a non-partisan independent commission responsible for drawing Illinois General Assembly districts. Paris Schutz has the latest on the coalition’s efforts.

One of the most memorable quotes in Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain’s homily at the funeral of his good friend and mentor, Cardinal Francis George, came from George himself. “The only thing we take with us when we die is what we have given away,” Sartain said, quoting the Cardinal who had spoken to him about the nature of death. Given this core belief, it is no surprise that George spent much of his final weeks, and even his final hours, fine-tuning the manuscript for a forthcoming book of personal essays called A Godly Humanism. 

On Monday, a Cook County judge acquitted Chicago Police Detective Dante Servin for the fatal off-duty shooting of Rekia Boyd in March 2012. We discuss the fallout from that court ruling.

Chicago Public Schools is under federal investigation, school board officials confirm. We have the latest details.

Gov. Bruce Rauner has proposed big cuts to try and close a $6 billion budget gap, all the while traveling the state promoting a right-to-work agenda. We go one-on-one with the governor about his many controversial proposals in his first Chicago Tonight interview since the election.