Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Indicted Ald. Carrie Austin ‘not medically fit’ for trial, her lawyers say days after she voted on city budget
Lawyers for indicted Chicago Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) told a judge Friday she is “not medically fit to stand trial” and that they will seek to have her prosecution put on hold.
Austin, who is in her early 70s, has faced a federal bribery indictment since July 2021. She is accused of taking home improvement materials — sump pumps, a dehumidifier and kitchen cabinets — as kickbacks from a developer overseeing a $50 million development in her ward.
The Center Square: ALEC weighs in on Illinois' 'workers' rights' amendment
The outcome of Amendment One in Illinois is going to be close, but a nonpartisan organization is waving a red flag on the possible repercussions if it passes.
Amendment One would amend the Illinois Constitution to add the right to collective bargaining for employees to negotiate such things as wages, hours, and working conditions.
Chicago Tribune: Some property tax increases for homeowners are due to Board of Review actions, Kaegi study asserts; board points finger back at assessor
With Chicago property owners about to get their first tax bills based on new assessments, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi has released a report finding that homeowners in the city are bearing more of the tax burden this year compared to last, pointing the finger at the Board of Review.
The result, he says, is flat or higher tax bills for homeowners.
Chicago Sun-Times: Top Illinois Medicaid contractor Centene Corp. failed foster kids with ‘unacceptable’ medical care
Illinois’ top Medicaid contractor has repeatedly failed to deliver basic medical services to thousands of foster children, from dental visits to immunizations to well-being checks, leaving foster parents to scramble to find health care, wait months for appointments and pay medical expenses out of their own pockets for the abused and neglected children they take into their homes, an Illinois Answers Project investigation has found.
Since 2020, the state of Illinois has paid nearly $370 million to the for-profit insurance powerhouse Centene Corp. to manage health care for 36,700 current and former foster children as part of the state’s YouthCare program.