Party over for Burke and Arroyo? Democrats ask criminally charged ward bosses to hit the bricks – Chicago Sun-Times

Leaders of the Cook County Democratic Party on Monday voted unanimously to ask former state Rep. Luis Arroyo to step down from its ranks Monday — and will be sending a letter to indicted 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke requesting he do the same.

Democrats hadn’t previously asked Burke or Solis to hit the road, although the chair of the party, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, had asked Burke to step down from his party post in January when Burke was first hit with federal charges.

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Bribery charge against ex-state Rep. Luis Arroyo brings fresh scrutiny to sweepstakes machines, raises questions about potential for abuse as gambling expands – Chicago Tribune

Chicago Democrat Luis Arroyo, who resigned from the Illinois House on Friday after being charged with bribery Monday, is alleged to have offered kickbacks to an unnamed senator in exchange for the veteran lawmaker’s support for legislation that would regulate and tax so-called sweepstakes machines.

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Will Donald Trump upset Lori Lightfoot’s budget? – Chicago Sun-Times

“Ka-ching, k-not.”

Included in Lightfoot’s massive city budget expectation is $163 million federal dollars in ambulance service reimbursements based on the feds rewriting a section of the Medicaid formula. Political insiders are betting the ranch the Trump administration will nix the cash by turning a thumbs-down to approval of the formula rewrite by the U.S. Department of Human Services. Why? It’s pretty obvious this president, who is consistently bashing Chicago, doesn’t forget slights.

And Lightfoot’s decision not to greet Trump at the airport Monday, his first trip to Chicago since his 2016 election, probably stung. As a

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