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Friday, September 23, 2016
How do you fix someone who will do anything for a fix?
Drugs (32)
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Legislature (56)
Lou Duran’s son suffered a high school sports injury and was prescribed 90 pills for the pain. The young man escalated his addiction to heroin in college. He overdosed and died. Local authorities conducted a multi-agency heroin sweep a year ago that yielded 35 suspects. Two have since died: one overdosed and the other was murdered. Exactly five years ago, the News-...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Bogus jury bill goes down drain
Good riddance to judicial rubbish. Taxpayers in each of Illinois' 102 counties can breathe just a little bit easier thanks to a court decision that saves them from an unwise, unwanted, unaffordable and unfunded state mandate. Two years ago, a lame-duck General Assembly threw a bone to trial lawyers by reducing the size of juries to six members and ordering county offi...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Bogus jury bill goes down drain
Budgets--Local
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Courts (27)
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Legal System (27)
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Legislature (56)
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Local Government (60)
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Political Parties (Incld Tea Party) (39a)
Madigan, Michael--State House, 22
Good riddance to judicial rubbish. Taxpayers in each of Illinois' 102 counties can breathe just a little bit easier thanks to a court decision that saves them from an unwise, unwanted, unaffordable and unfunded state mandate. Two years ago, a lame-duck General Assembly threw a bone to trial lawyers by reducing the size of juries to six members and ordering county offi...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
UI provost: Budget hole too big for just cuts
Budget--State (8)
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Education Funding (36a)
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Education--Educators/Administrators
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Education--Higher (37)
URBANA — The numbers are big: $70 million in budget cuts and a $190 million hole left to fill. That's too much for the University of Illinois' flagship campus to absorb by slashing spending alone, interim Provost Ed Feser says. The campus has to grow its way out of the state budget crisis and reduce its reliance on iffy stat...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Friday night chandeliers: What could CPS do with a spare $70 million?
Chicago--Schools (18)
In Texas, deities come in silver, blue and white or Longhorn burnt orange. So it should come as no surprise that high school districts in suburban Dallas are trying to outdo each other with outsized football stadiums. Allen High School's Eagle Stadium, built in 2012, seats 18,000. It could accommodate the entire population of < read more >
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Vote for House candidate who has an open mind
Candidates--Legislative (11)
Madigan, Michael--State House, 22
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Mussman, Michelle--State House, 56
It is time to start cleaning house of the Madigan puppets. Michelle Mussman's voting record shows she is nothing more than a Democrat puppet of Madigan and falls in line with the waving of his scepter. She has voted for every House bill aimed at taking away the law-abiding citizen's right to the Second Amendment. Thi...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Poverty decreased slightly in 2015 New census data shows weak recovery from long slide
Poverty
More than 1.7 million Illinoisans lived in poverty last year, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week. That’s an improvement over 2014, but not nearly enough to erase the steady increase in poverty since 2000. Meanwhile, nearly 32,000 people in Sangamon County lived in poverty last year. The Census Bureau released its 2...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Dist. 15 Referendum Airs Concerns
Education--Educators/Administrators
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Education--Elementary and Secondary (36)
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Election Issues (not candidates) (39)
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Local Government (60)
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Referendum
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School board (38)
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Taxes, property (87)
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Unions, labor (55)
Some local residents opposing Palatine Township Elementary School Dist. 15's property tax hike referendum have taken to social media to share their concerns. Others have signed a p...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
BHC trustees hopeful for new program
Bonds, Bonding, Borrowing, Debt, Credit Rating
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Budget--State (8)
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Capital Development Board, Capital Construction Plan (14)
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Education Funding (36a)
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Education--Educators/Administrators
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Education--Higher (37)
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School board (38)
MOLINE — There may again be a push for the state to allow community colleges to offer at least one more advanced baccalaureate program. Black Hawk board chairman David Emerick said the budget crisis put consideration of a baccalaureate of nursing program on hold about a year ago. “When the Illinois Community College Board was not able to buy supplies or pay its staf...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
New deadline set for $177 million passenger rail grant
Budget--Federal (9)
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Congress (22)
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Federal Government (22A)
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Governor (44)
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Governors, former (45)
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Railroads (77)
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Rauner, Bruce
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Trains (77)
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Transportation (91)
Illinois has a new deadline for an agreement with the federal government designed to provide $177 million for a planned passenger rail line between Moline and Chicago. The long-planned project was at risk of losing the federal money earlier this year because state officials had to confirm they would provide matching funds by June 30. The administration of Gov. Pat Qui...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Training young drivers on traffic stops
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Education--Elementary and Secondary (36)
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Governor (44)
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Legislature (56)
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New laws (57)
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Rauner, Bruce
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Transportation (91)
A new state law will require student drivers to be instructed on what to do and what not to do when they are pulled over by police. Given recent high profile cases around the country of traffic stops resulting in unnecessary deaths or other comp...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Illinois candidate appeals ballot case access to U.S. Supreme Court
Candidates--Federal (13)
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Congress (22)
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Courts (27)
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Legal System (27)
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Political Parties (Incld Tea Party) (39a)
SPRINGFIELD — Bloomington physician David Gill is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to restore his name to the Nov. 8 ballot as an independent candidate in the 13th Congressional District. Gill’s campaign announced Friday morning that it is asking the nation’s high court to reverse a decision from the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that removed the c...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Race, speech and football protests
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Discrimination (66)
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Drugs (32)
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Education--Elementary and Secondary (36)
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Sports (83)
Six members of Rock Island High's football team have seized their First Amendment rights and taken a knee. And, like any good protest, it divided the community and this editorial board. Athletes throughout the country have started using the pre-game national anthem ritual as a moment to highlight racial inequality, a movement instigated by San Francisco 49ers quarter...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Caregiving now a multilayered problem in U.S.
Disabled (47)
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Federal Government (22A)
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Health (49)
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Human Services (75)
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Senior Citizens (81)
CAREGIVING is the new national health care problem. Children are struggling to care for their aging parents as advances in medicine make it possible to live longer with chronic diseases. The baby boom was followed by a drop in the birth rate, so the sheer numbers of people likely to need help in coming years is daun...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Attack on state senator leads to arrest of murder suspects
Harris III, Napoleon--State Senate, 15
An attack on an Illinois state senator has led to murder charges in the death of a Georgia man. Former NFL player and Democratic Sen. Napoleon Harris was attacked Sept. 6 as he made a pizza delivery from his restaurant in Harvey. The order was a ruse, leading to the attack by four men. Harvey police spokesman Sean Howard says the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Harris fought off the attackers. The...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Illinois Supreme Court overturns law allowing 6-member juries
The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned a law requiring six-member juries in civil trials. The court ruled 5-0 on Thursday that the law is unconstitutional. Chief Justice Rita Garman determined in the court's opinion that the Illinois Constitution does not allow the Legislature to alter the size of civil juries from 12. A 2014 law reduced civil juries to six. The ide...
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Local unemployment of 4.6 percent still lowest in state
Unemployment (93)
Springfield was one of two labor markets in Illinois where unemployment remained below 5 percent last month, according to figures released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The local rate of 4.6 percent was the lowest among 14 metropolitan job markets tracked, followed by 4.8 percent in Lake County. Springfield and Lake County also were the only areas w...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
DuPage Election Commission won't speed up returns for November
DuPage County (33)
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Election Issues (not candidates) (39)
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Technology (98)
The DuPage County Election Commission has decided to take a pass for the Nov. 8 election in changing its operations so that returns could be posted earlier on the county's website. ...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Kickapoo Landing owners, state spar over bank account
Banks (7)
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Business (10)
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Parks, Recreation
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State Facilities/Buildings
OAKWOOD — As owners of the canoe and cafe business in Kickapoo State Park are permanently closing down this week and selling all of their equipment to an Indiana campground, they're also hoping to resolve a disagreement with state officials over a bank account connected with the operation. Earlier this summer, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources ended its lease agreem...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
'Madigan' producer says film gives pol a fair shake
Ethics, Campaign Reform, Transparency (12a)
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Madigan, Michael--State House, 22
If word-of-mouth spreads interest in a movie, word-of-mouth about a documentary on Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan is generating a buzz that will help build an audience. The latest shoe to drop in the round of mea culpas surrounding “Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics” comes from Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass. Writing Wednesday, Kass said he showed “...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
More tax dollars down the drain
Education Funding (36a)
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Education reform (38)
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Education--Educators/Administrators
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Education--Higher (37)
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Employment, Jobs (40)
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Governor (44)
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Rauner, Bruce
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School board (38)
The people in charge of Chicago State need to be held accountable. It may be regrettable, but it's not unusual for high-ranking university administrators to be dismissed, their silence bought with a lot of money in exchange for a non-disparagement clause. The University of Illinois is certainly not without sin on that issue. But what happened last week at Chicago...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Parkland trustees approve $55.3 million budget
Budget--State (8)
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Education Funding (36a)
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Education--Educators/Administrators
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Education--Higher (37)
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School board (38)
CHAMPAIGN — Parkland College trustees Wednesday night approved a budget that is 3 percent less than last year's but which board Chairman Dana Trimble said still would allow for quality education. Spending for the fiscal year that began July 1 will total $55.3 million, down from $57.2 million last year. But while last year's budget was upset by the virtual elimination of a...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Suspension plan carries a risk
Children, Teens (19)
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Education reform (38)
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Education--Educators/Administrators
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Education--Elementary and Secondary (36)
Let's not suspend common sense in the process of keeping disruptive students in school. Zero-tolerance policies adopted by school districts in Illinois are history now as a consequence of a law that took effect earlier this month. It's all part of legislation designed to reduce the number of suspensions and keep kids in school. It's fine to keep sometimes disrupt...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Vision 2020 breakfast focuses on technology
Business (10)
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Employment, Jobs (40)
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Internet, Social Media (98)
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Technology (98)
DIETERICH — A trio of Dieterich High School graduates told a large group of community leaders and business people Wednesday how technology can enhance business. The theme of this fall's Community Celebration of Excellence was "Building Businesses, Families and Futures Through Technology." The semiannual breakfasts are an outgrowth of the Vision 2020 community development progra...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
League Of Women Voters Advocates Consolidating Recorder Of Deeds
Cook County
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Election Issues (not candidates) (39)
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Local Government (60)
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Referendum
A referendum question on the Nov. 8 Presidential Election ballot asks Cook County voters whether they would like to see the Cook County Clerk’s Office take over resp...
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