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1 week ago | 
news-gazette.com | Jim Dey
It’s not often that federal appeals court justices throw up their hands and say an issue is above their pay grade. But that was the action taken by three justices on Chicago’s 7th Circuit Court of Appeals who were challenged by a Wisconsin school board to overturn a controversial precedent. “We declined an invitation to overrule (Whitaker vs. Kenosha Unified School District) ...
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2 weeks ago | 
news-gazette.com | Jim Dey
Six months ago, plugged-in Chicago politico Forrest Claypool sounded the alarm about rising pensions debts and called for dramatic action to bring them under control. A longtime Democratic Party stalwart, Claypool charged that “Chicago and Illinois are sinking in a quicksand of pension debt.”Legislators responded to the issue last week, as it related to the city of Chicago, but not in a way Claypool would support.
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2 weeks ago | 
yahoo.com | Jim Dey
Jun. 12—Illinois legislators have created a new statewide public defender's office, but it's going to take a while to sort out the details. They put the finishing touches on the "Funded Advocacy & Independent Representation (FAIR) Act" on May 31, the last day the legislature met in its spring session. The bill now goes to Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his expected signature. The legislation won't take effect until Jan. 1, 2027, because there are major details to iron out.
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2 weeks ago | 
news-gazette.com | Jim Dey
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services developmentStore and/or access information on a deviceYou can choose how your personal data is used.
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2 weeks ago | 
news-gazette.com | Jim Dey
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services developmentStore and/or access information on a deviceYou can choose how your personal data is used.
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2 weeks ago | 
news-gazette.com | Jim Dey
When federal prosecutors recommended a lengthy prison term at Friday’s sentencing hearing for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, defense lawyers called it outrageously “draconian.”“The government seeks to condemn an 83-year-old man to die behind bars for crimes that enriched him not one penny,” Madigan lawyers countered in a filing submitted to U.S. Judge John Blakey.
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2 weeks ago | 
news-gazette.com | Jim Dey
It’s time once again to dive into another round of quick takes on the people, places and events that were being talked about over the past week:Keeping hat onAfter Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin announced that he won’t run for re-election in 2026, would-be successors quickly made their intentions known. Three candidates — Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and U.S. Reps. Robyn Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi — immediately threw their hats in the ring. Another, U.S. Rep.
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3 weeks ago | 
news-gazette.com | Jim Dey
Just a couple of days after Illinois legislators approved a $55 billion-plus budget loaded with tax increases for the coming 2025-26 fiscal year, budget analysts report revenues show slow growth. Overall revenues were up by 9 percent in May compared to the same month in 2024, but that was “mostly due to the timing of certain transfers and federal receipts,” according to the state’s Commission in Government Forecasting & Accountability.
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3 weeks ago | 
bnd.com | Jim Dey
Chicago-based federal Judge John Blakey is staring at the two faces of convicted felon Michael Madigan, the former and longtime speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. Which one will he find more persuasive? Prosecutors' portrait of a powerful pol "steeped in corruption"? Or the defense characterization of a kind man whose instincts to help "positively impacted millions of people throughout the State of Illinois"?
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3 weeks ago | 
yahoo.com | Jim Dey
Jun. 5—Decades ago, a convicted murderer whose death-penalty sentence was overturned on appeal was returned to Champaign County for re-sentencing. As part of that process, the defendant was asked to submit letters from friends and acquaintances for the judge to consider when imposing a new sentence. The letters are akin to recommendations — the writer says good things about the defendant as part of an effort to get him a lower sentence.
