An attorney representing the Chicago Board of Education offered a buyout to Pedro Martinez, the embattled chief of Chicago Public Schools, according to sources close to the conversations.

The offer, made over the phone earlier this week, came after Martinez retained attorney William J. Quinlan to represent him in an ongoing power struggle with Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union, which has waged a fierce campaign against the chief executive officer as the union negotiates a new contract with the district.

After crashing in a friend’s apartment for a couple nights, Porfirio Elliott and his partner, Melissa, returned to their tent in Humboldt Park, where they’ve been living for six months, and found it ransacked.

“Is my blue jacket still here?” Porfirio asked. He pointed out he had lost all of his pants except those he was wearing.

Bensenville voters will be asked to decide if the village should change its form of government and have the village president take on a full-time role with a higher salary.

A vote on the ballot measure came just one week after Bensenville trustees terminated the village manager without an explanation.

A proposed tax in Champaign County is meant to make people think more about the environment.

The Urbana City Council is preparing to vote on increasing its recycling tax rate. A larger plan to cover costs for recycling includes a 10-cent fee on disposable plastic bags.