Jim Dey: “(Former Illinois House Speaker Michael) Madigan was present electronically after his first indictment, the one involving Commonwealth Edison. Now he’s received the court’s permission to not attend his most recent arraignment on an indictment, the one involving AT&T…In his motion, Madigan stated that he has received a copy of the charges and is pleading ‘not guilty to each and every charge against him.’ He directed the court to ‘enter my pleas of not guilty.’ The motion carried a handwritten signature and a typewritten identifier, ‘Michael J. Madigan, defendant.'”

“Still, the state’s 4.5% unemployment rate in September does provide grist for conservative groups and Republican lawmakers who contend that so many workers’ inability to find jobs is proof of the state’s inhospitable business climate. ‘The tax environment is terrible for people living and investing in Illinois,’ said Jason Heffley, state director for the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative economic advocacy group. ‘The real job creators are scared to invest in Illinois, and who wouldn’t be when you have super high taxes and super shaky finances?'”

“Is there a better, more equitable more fair method of seeking compliance. than cash? That is the question for us to answer. I do not believe the SAFE-T act even addresses that issue because what the SAFE-T act does is it tries to eliminate the cash component of incentivization without replacing it with anything,” candidate Thomas DeVore said. He added that simply removing money from the equation doesn’t do anything to ensure fairness.

Jannelle Fritts of the Tax Foundation worked on the report and said Illinois could have been ranked even lower than 36th if not for one tax. “Illinois is not ranked in an enviable position, but in all reality, their income tax, which is a flat rate and a relatively low rate even though it is higher than some of its neighbors, is really keeping their score up.”

Last year, 26,904 educators earned six-figure salaries while 16,592 retirees pocketed $100,000+ pensions. However, test scores plummeted with only 31% of students reading at grade level.

Incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat running for a second term in office, has said that he wants to increase funding for K-12 schools and to make early childhood education and higher education more affordable. Republican challenger state Sen. Darren Bailey has said that he would cut education spending and fire the state board of education.

Jim Dey: “Why is politics, at least theoretically, verboten in judicial elections? Because judges are required to make decisions free of bias or the appearance thereof by applying facts to law. That approach works almost all the time, and people should be grateful it does. But it’s not 100 percent. That’s why four judicial candidates — three of them sitting judges — are locked in two vitriolic, expensive campaigns.”

“We actually were in talks with our surrounding counties to see if any of them would be interested in sharing a Supervisor of Assessments, and the talks didn’t pan out” said Jasper County Board Chairman Jason Warfel.

One resident explained, “When industry moves away, some young people leave to look for work; those who graduate from universities find jobs in large cities; and those who stay don’t have enough children to keep the schools filled. More fundamentally, people are just fed up with Illinois’ high taxes, crime, and incompetent government. Anyone who can get up and go, gets ups and goes.”

“’When I think structurally, education, crime and taxes, we’re a disaster,’ (Wirepoints President Ted) Dabrowski said. And so, wirepoints.org has been putting out some incredible data-driven reporting on its website, something the Tribune and Sun Times used to do.”

“Undoubtedly, (Illinois Gov. JB) Pritzker and (Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate John) Shapiro’s decisions to buck the party line on school choice are an effort to win favor with voters. It’s a smart move, backed by the numbers. The polls show Pennsylvania and Illinois voters overwhelmingly support educational choice for families.”

The Illinois Housing Development Authority’s “Opening Doors” grant is for anyone looking to buy a home in Illinois. It helps combat the increasing interest rates which are around 7%. That’s the highest in 20 years. This includes housing inventory dropping at a large rate. 23% lower than last year and 63% from three years ago.

“For decades, Tom Cullen was one of the Madigan machine’s key engineers, holding a position of high confidence in a small group of (former House Speaker Michael) Madigan’s confidants, whose members one longtime political insider said is so closely guarded that only the ‘people in the circle know who the people in the circle are.'”

This fall, total headcount increased about 1.5%. But that’s still nearly 40,000 fewer students than were enrolled in community colleges in 2019.

Recent studies have shown that remote learning and school closures impacted all children. Many lost ground and regressed in their basic skills. Their lives were disrupted when their parents lost jobs. Many children were forced to move out of their homes and their familiar neighborhoods. Loved ones and caregivers died and children are still grieving.

The University of Chicago, United Airlines and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin are among those backing affirmative action in friend-of-the-court briefs.

A north suburban Democratic state lawmaker is now under fire amid accusations he was among those who attempted to pressure a female staffer to abort her unborn child.