Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Feds focus on politically connected red-light camera company in suburban investigation
Federal agents who blitzed several southwest suburban towns last week were asking questions about a politically connected red-light camera company, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
The Chicago-based company, SafeSpeed, LLC, says on its website that it’s a “proud partner of over 30 Illinois municipalities.”
WBEZ: Illinois Senate President Withholds Key Details Of Federal Raid On State Sen. Martin Sandoval
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton on Tuesday released a federal search warrant related to last week’s FBI raid of Democratic state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s legislative offices, but virtually every key detail about what agents seized from Sandoval’s statehouse office was blacked out.
According to the warrant, federal agents justified the seizure of Sandoval’s state offices last Tuesday as they investigated whether the state senator violated seven federal statutes, including conspiracy, mail fraud and even a section of the U.S. Code called “interference with commerce by threats or violence.” Sandoval has not been charged with wrongdoing.
Chicago Tribune: 3 Chicago labor groups, including CPS teachers, could walk off the job together in coming days as city braces for ‘extraordinarily disruptive moment’
In a loud show of purple-shirted determination, employees for Chicago’s school and park districts delivered notices of their intent to strike to the fifth floor of City Hall on Tuesday.
Their allies in the Chicago Teachers Union already filed a similar alert — placing the city closer than ever to the possibility that all three labor groups will walk off the job simultaneously in coming days.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Lightfoot tells alderman who opposed her hiring his predecessor to a $123,996-a-year job to worry about ‘what matters to his ward’
Mayor Lori Lightfoot had a message Tuesday for the new alderman who opposed her decision to hire the man he beat to a $123,996-per-year city job: Focus on your ward, because you don’t get a say in City Hall hiring decisions.
Former Ald. John Arena started work this week as a senior adviser in the Department of Planning and Development. Lightfoot acknowledged Ald. James Gardiner, 45th, who defeated Arena in February, was not happy about it, but said that doesn’t matter.
State Journal-Register: State Board of Education schedules budget hearings in four cities
The Illinois State Board of Education has scheduled four hearings in different parts of the state to gather input in the coming weeks for its budget request that will be sent to the governor and General Assembly in January.
In a news release announcing the hearings, Illinois Education Superintendent Carmen Ayala touted the state’s evidence-based funding formula, which was passed in August 2017.
Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Hope springs eternal’ for Danville casino to turn economic tide in eastern Illinois city
Chuck Hamilton has seen a lot of new businesses come put their chips on the table in Danville over his 64 years in his eastern Illinois hometown, two and a half hours south of Chicago.
And he’s seen a lot more of them fold.
Daily Herald: Wauconda approves 3% tax on recreational pot sales, if they're ever allowed there
Wauconda trustees on Tuesday approved a 3% tax on recreational marijuana sales — if pot shops ever open in town.
Village board members still haven’t decided if they’ll allow cannabis dispensaries, growing centers and related businesses to operate in Wauconda. Although a majority of trustees have said they favor permitting such businesses, a formal vote is pending.
Rockford Register-Star: Winnebago County Board Chairman Frank Haney files court injunction
Winnebago County Board Chairman Frank Haney has filed for an injunction in circuit court to fast-track his attempt to reclaim executive authority that the board has stripped from him since his election in 2016.
Haney has filed two lawsuits against the board — one in circuit court, the other in federal court. In both suits, the chairman claims that the board has illegally undermined his authority and subverted the will of voters who elected him by approving ordinances that have diminished his executive duties and powers.
Peoria Journal-Star: EP council approves 5-year firefighter contract; Commissioner threatens legal challenge
The East Peoria City Council on Tuesday narrowly approved a 5-year firefighter contract by a 3-2 vote. The deciding vote was cast by Commissioner Dan Decker, who is also an Assistant Fire Chief of the East Peoria Fire Department.
Decker said he believed he was legally able to vote on the contract and did so to preclude the potential cost of arbitration.
Decatur Herald & Review: Decatur won't sell cannabis. What about Macon County?
Those hoping to buy cannabis for recreational use won’t be able to do so in Decatur next year, but they might not be out of luck. Governing bodies have yet to decide whether dispensaries will be allowed in the village of Mount Zion or unincorporated areas of Macon County.
The village of Forsyth has already nixed the idea, and the Decatur City Council on Monday voted 6-1 to “opt out” of allowing dispensaries. Members of the Macon County Board’s finance committee also considered the matter on Monday, ultimately voting to table the discussion for the Environmental, Education, Health & Welfare committee meeting on Oct. 24.