Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Tentative agreement reached with Illinois state union workers
Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he has reached a tentative agreement with the state’s largest union regarding their new contract with the state. However, the taxpayer cost has yet to be revealed, leading some to expect increased taxes as a result.
Illinois has a contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, the union that supports a majority of the state’s workers. That contract expired at the end of June with the start of the new fiscal year.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Brandon Johnson replaces Chicago Board of Education president and most members ahead of move to elected board
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has chosen a former teacher and head of a prominent parents advocacy group to lead the Board of Education — part of Johnson’s near-total restructuring of the school board ahead of its transition to an elected panel.
Johnson, himself a former educator and organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, announced Wednesday that he’s chosen as his school board head Jianan Shi, the executive director of the nonprofit Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education.
Chicago Tribune: Walgreens cutting another 393 jobs in Illinois
Walgreens plans to cut 393 jobs at a Southern Illinois distribution center — a move that follows an announcement just months ago that it planned to eliminate more than 500 corporate positions.
Layoffs at the Edwardsville distribution center will be effective Aug. 28, according to a WARN notice filed with the state. Walgreens plans to shutter the plant.
Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago’s pension crisis worsens with investment losses
It’s a good thing Mayor Brandon Johnson established his own “working group” to find long-term solutions to Chicago’s pension crisis. The mountain is getting steeper to climb.
Chicago’s unfunded pension liability rose by 5.4% in 2022 — from $33.6 billion to $35.4 billion — after stock market losses suffered by the four city employee pension funds.
NBC Chicago: Chicago officials to ‘assess' options for NASCAR Street Race as opt-out decision looms
The first-ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race is in the books, but Mayor Brandon Johnson says that the evaluation process for the event’s future in the city remains ongoing, with an opt-out clause in the three-year contract remaining on the table.
The race, which shut down large swaths of Grant Park and portions of several key roadways including Michigan Avenue and DuSable Lake Shore Drive, was a unique spectacle, one that the racing circuit had never seen, but Johnson says he will dispassionately evaluate it in the weeks to come.