Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: ComEd convictions could spur fresh efforts to tackle corruption in Springfield
The former Commonwealth Edison executives and lobbyists convicted this week join a storied history of public corruption in Illinois, including four the state’s last 10 governors.
Since 1976, the Northern District of Illinois has reported more public corruption convictions (1,792) than any other judicial district in the United States, according to Department of Justice statistics. The Northern District was followed by California’s Central District (1,611) and New York’s Southern District (1,369).
Chicago Tribune: ‘ComEd Four’ bribery trial: What you need to know — and what’s next
The sprawling federal investigation into Commonwealth Edison’s alleged attempts to sway former House Speaker Michael Madigan rocked Illinois politics to the core.
In a sweeping verdict sure to reverberate in Illinois power circles, a federal jury convicted the “ComEd Four” defendants on all charges related to a conspiracy to bribe ex-Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan to win his support for the utility’s legislative agenda in Springfield.
Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois lawmakers push back on library book bans
Illinois lawmakers greenlighted a bill Wednesday that says libraries in the state must adopt an anti-book banning policy to receive state funding, in a vote that fell along party lines.
The measure, spearheaded by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, represents a counter-movement to growing efforts to restrict books on topics such as race, gender and sexuality in schools and libraries across the United States.
WGN: Teamsters oust suburban board after more than $1M in questionable expenses
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has removed leaders of Local 731 based in suburban Burr Ridge after an audit turned up questionable and excessive spending on everything from steak to booze and bonuses.
It totaled well over $1 million.
CBS Chicago: Bears file for demolition work at Arlington International Racecourse site
The Bears confirmed Wednesday night that they have filed paperwork for demolition to begin at the Arlington International Racecourse property.
The Bears closed on the property in February. The team said Wednesday that the filing for demolition at the site does not mean for certain that they will be developing it.
Capitol News: Latest state budget forecast puts brakes on previously predicted surplus
The state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has decreased its current-year budget forecast by $728 million, erasing much of a once-predicted surplus that had led Gov. JB Pritzker to float the idea of tax cuts earlier this spring.
While the commission’s $51.2 million estimate is now 1.2 percent below its estimate from early March, the impact on Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget proposal is relatively small because the governor’s plan relied on a more conservative estimate.
WTTW: Human Composting Could Soon Be Coming to Illinois
Most people are either buried or cremated when they die, but there is another practice that’s gaining steam — and controversy along with it. It’s called natural organic reduction or “human composting.”
A bill sponsored by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy was narrowly approved by the Illinois House and is now before the state Senate. If the bill passes, Illinois would become the seventh state in the nation to approve the practice.