Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Survey shows Illinois leads country in rate of small business rent delinquency
Illinois has the highest percentage of small businesses that couldn’t pay their rent in full or on time in October, a new survey shows.
The small business network Alignable reports that 54% of the small businesses in Illinois experienced rent problems last month. That is compared to the national average of 40%. Other states near the top include Virginia at 50%, and Texas at 49%.
Chicago Sun-Times: Black City Council members call for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s ‘bullying’ floor leader to give up post
Members of the City Council’s Black Caucus on Saturday called for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s floor leader to resign his post after allegedly trying to physically restrain an alderperson from entering the City Hall chamber during a chaotic Council meeting last week.
The Black Caucus, which includes 20 of the Council’s 50 members, issued a statement condemning what they termed “bullying” by Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) against Caucus member Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), the longest serving woman in the chamber.
Chicago Tribune: From Chicago machine maestro to indicted alderman, Ed Burke’s corruption trial follows half-century of clout
Ed Burke was born into the machine.
The son of a Democratic ward boss and 14th Ward alderman, the younger Burke grew up in a home steeped in Chicago’s particular street-level realpolitik: Smooth over potholes, fix up friends with patronage jobs, and make sure everyone who benefited knew how to vote — and for whom to vote.
WBBM: Chicago tops list of America's most corrupt cities for 4th straight year
A new report published by the political science department at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) said — for the fourth year in a row — Chicago is America’s most corrupt city, and Illinois is the third-most corrupt state.
The UIC report was based on Justice Department statistics from 2021, when there were 32 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois, which includes all of Chicago. Many of the corruption cases focus on former House speaker Michael Madigan and red light camera bribes in the suburbs.