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Chicago Tribune: CPS teachers union holding up contract talks over affordable housing policy, Mayor Lightfoot says
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has raised a new issue that she said is holding up an agreement with the teachers union: affordable housing.
In a statement late Tuesday — nine days from a strike date set by the Chicago Teachers Union — the mayor said the union is “demanding that the City enact CTU’s preferred afforable housing policy as part of their contract.”
Chicago Sun-Times: Pricey cigars and a VIP room: Suburban cigar lounge a favored hangout for politicians tied to federal investigation
If you think smoke-filled back rooms are a thing of the past for Chicago-area politicians, think again.
An upscale cigar shop and lounge in southwest suburban Countryside is proving to be an intriguing — and, until now, little-known — link to political players involved in an ongoing federal corruption investigation that saw agents swoop into Chicago and the southwest suburbs over the last two weeks, seizing records and interviewing public officials.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: Land Deal Tied to Illinois Senate President Cullerton Under Scrutiny
A controversial land deal on the North Shore tied to Illinois Senate President John Cullerton is under fire. The deal would allow a private developer and his financial partner – Cullerton – to build a road on a public golf course leading to a private property they jointly own, and it has neighbors upset. Now, the deal is raising the question of whether Cullerton is using political clout for financial gain.
Canal Shores is an 82-acre public golf course that runs through Evanston and Wilmette. Wilmette Park District Commissioner Bryan Abbott says the course is a valuable public space for local residents.
Chicago Sun-Times: Red-light probe puts spotlight on old problems — and why tolerating them is ‘N/A’
Here’s a thought: if government officials receive outside income, it ought to be disclosed to the public. Period.
And here’s another one: nobody should be receiving a sales commission — or bounty, if you will — based on the number of red-light camera tickets produced by the system they happened to sell to their political friends.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago police misused placards to park for free near Bears, Cubs games, IG investigation finds
Chicago police officers improperly used department-issued placards to park illegally with their personal vehicles in police station parking lots so they or their friends and relatives could attend Cubs and Bears games, an investigation by the city’s government watchdog found.
Officers also regularly parked their cars in a tow-away zone along a narrow street near City Hall, creating potential safety hazards by blocking fire lanes and emergency exits, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s office reported Tuesday.
Chicago Tribune: Embattled Ald. Carrie Austin’s campaign committee spends $40,000 on lawyers
Embattled Ald. Carrie Austin’s political committee reported paying $40,000 to a downtown law firm this summer, according to a newly filed campaign finance report.
Citizens for Carrie M Austin-Alderman 34th Ward filed its quarterly report for the period covering July 1 through Sept. 30 on Tuesday. The report disclosed $40,000 paid to downtown law firm Clark Hill on July 9.
WBEZ: Mother Nature Is Behind Rare Potential Tax Hike For Cook County Forest Preserves
Leaders at the Forest Preserve District of Cook County have a pretty long to-do list: buy more land to protect it from development; bring more of the land back to its natural state; bring in more activities; and chip in more to workers’ pensions.
The wish list is expensive. The big idea to pay for it: pitching a question to voters on the 2020 ballot. Would they be willing to pay more in property taxes for the forest preserve district?
Rockford Register-Star: Judge rejects Winnebago County Board chairman’s bid to restore his power
Judge Donna Honzel on Tuesday denied County Board Chairman Frank Haney’s request for an injunction that would have immediately restored executive powers that the Winnebago County Board has taken away from him.
A federal judge has been asked to consider a similar injunction. However, Honzel’s decision means that, for now at least, there will no quick resolution to a political-turned-legal feud between Haney and the board.