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The Center Square: Analysis: Immigration covers up huge decline in Illinois workforce participation
A new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies shows a dramatic decline in the labor force participation of working-age Illinoisans over the past six decades.
The analysis shows the labor force participation rate of working-age men without a bachelor’s degree in Illinois fell from 89% in 1960 to 71% in 2023.
Chicago Tribune: Aldermen, mayor and other Chicago officials set for another, albeit smaller, pay bump
One year after some City Council members accepted a nearly 10% pay hike that roiled Chicago politics amid a citywide election, aldermen are slated to decide later this month whether to forgo another automatic raise tied to inflation.
This time around, the salary bump would be far smaller: 2.24%, according to a memo from the city’s budget office obtained by the Chicago Tribune. City Council members have until the end of Sept. 15 to reject the raise, or else it will automatically be applied to their salaries next year, the budget office informed them last month.
Chicago Sun-Times: Restaurant association offers alternative to ending subminimum wage for tipped workers
The Illinois Restaurant Association is trying a different approach in a long-shot bid to discourage the Chicago City Council from eliminating the subminimum wage for tipped workers.
Armed with a survey showing a higher wage could be a death knell for smaller restaurants, association President Sam Toia is proposing a less costly alternative. He’s urging dramatically higher fines for restaurants that thumb their noses at the mandate that restaurant owners make up the difference whenever their tipped workers — now paid $9.48 an hour — don’t make enough in tips to reach the $15.80-an-hour mandatory minimum wage that applies to all other Chicago workers.
NBC Chicago: City's office of inspector general can't examine CPD 911 response times due to data ‘substantially missing'
A new report from the city’s Office of Inspector General is critical of the Chicago Police Department and its incomplete data when it comes to tracking its emergency response times.
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said her office was hoping to conduct an examination of CPD’s emergency response times to understand if disparities exist in certain parts of the city – because residents have complained to her office about being underserved or ignored by police.
CBS Chicago: 14 CPS workers fired, resigned after being accused of PPP fraud
At least 14 employees for Chicago Public Schools have been accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in federal funds.
According to a report from the CPS Inspector General, the workers filed false statements through the Paycheck Protection Program and lied about supposed small businesses to get pandemic relief loans.
Daily Herald: Come hungry: Taste of Chicago is finally here
It’s same place, different time for the Taste of Chicago when it returns to Grant Park Friday through Sunday, Sept. 8-10.
The free food and music event, a sweaty, summer staple since its debut in 1980, traditionally takes place in early July but was moved to September to accommodate the NASCAR street race held July 2.