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Part of the $500 million in capital funding appropriated for the Discovery Partners Institute and the Illinois Innovation Network, NIU will receive $15 for a hub on campus. Said university president Lisa Freeman, “NICCS will strengthen Illinois by creating locally based innovative solutions focused on improving food systems and water resource management.”
Senate Bill 1966 would double FOID card fees people pay to apply for the card and require applicants to submit fingerprints.
Judge Michael Toomin denied a motion Friday to block Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx from using public funds to hire outside counsel in the Jussie Smollett investigation.
Comment: For a little perspective, $250 million sounds like a lot but is just 2.5% of the average annual loss Illinois has reported on its financial statements since 2001.
With Governor JB Pritzker’s annual budget address coming up next week, it’s a good time to step back and look at the big picture.
Chicago City Hall’s employment blacklist is 29 pages long. Former Alds. Isaac Carothers (29th) and Arenda Troutman (20th), who went to jail on federal corruption and bribery charges, respectively, are the only former elected officials banned from getting city jobs.
Critics say the current criteria for landing on the DO NOT HIRE list – and the process for appealing that status – leave too much room for individual discretion and political retribution.
“The proposed project is not just expensive for an aboveground rail line — its cost, $2.3 billion for 5.3 miles, could pay off CTA’s entire unfunded pension liability — but it also serves an area already covered by two Metra lines.”
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