Chicago refused to pay Bucktown woman when rusty light pole snapped, damaged her car – CBS2 (Chicago)

The car’s owner said she called the Law Department for more information on the denial and was told if someone had called to report the rusty pole before it had snapped, the city would have paid her claim. CDOT said of the light pole that fell, “It was last inspected in 2017, at which time, inspectors noted no observed structural issues and a routine amount of rust.”

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Chicago’s Anti-Tourism Hotel Tax – City Journal

“Reliance on hotel taxes reflects a destructive pattern in Chicago’s fiscal policy: turning to narrow, politically convenient revenue sources instead of addressing core issues driving fiscal gaps. The city has used this approach with taxes on streaming services, sports betting, and social media to cover broader structural gaps.”

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May Day: Chicago could be home to nation’s only major school shutdown May 1 – The Last Ward

“Why is shutting down schools for a union-led protest part of a contract discussion in the first place? In part, it’s because of a state law passed in 2021 that repealed limits on CTU’s collective bargaining powers. There are now virtually no limits on what CTU can demand at the bargaining table, which means unlimited political moves and unlimited grievances.”

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SB 3138: The Mental Health Industry’s Latest Power Grab – Illinois Family Inst.

“Look beneath the surface of this bill. You will find a troubling set of facts: a sitting state senator who is simultaneously the sole officer of a private consulting corporation and a founding board officer of a nonprofit that lobbies for the very industry her legislation is designed to expand — and a network of multimillion-dollar behavioral health organizations positioned to profit from every referral the system generates.”

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IL House unanimously passes utility bill transparency plan – WAND (Decatur)

The Illinois House unanimously passed a bill to require the state to create an online portal detailing utility charges to consumers, separate from delivery and supply charges. The website should include the statutory authority for charges remitted to the state or retained by utility companies, the amount collected each year and a detailed accounting of how funds are spent.

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Wisconsin sheriff sues Skokie woman for defamation over claims of immigration detention – CBS2 (Chicago)

Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi drew national attention with claims that she and five others returned from a work trip in Turkey March 5 and were held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at O’Hare International Airport for 30 hours, moved to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, and then transferred to the Dodge County Jail. Her supporters, including Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, decried her alleged detainment before surveillance images were released to show Naqvi was able to leave O’Hare about 90 minutes after she landed.

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‘Painful to watch’: Several colleges in central Illinois have closed – State Journal-Register (Springfield)

Among them, Lincoln College posted record-breaking enrollment in 2019, but was done in three years later by the “economic burdens initiated by the COVID pandemic” and hastened by a cyberattack. The closing of a college can impact a community from multiple angles, from loss of population base, to loss of revenues, to what to do with empty buildings.

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