Governor JB Pritzker unexpectedly moved away last week from his long-standing opposition to taxing services, saying he didn’t want to start taking ideas off the table as lawmakers search for ways to fund and reform the Chicago region’s mass-transit system. A major business group predictably pushed back.

2024 Scott County Primary Election Candidate Questionnaires

In keeping with the Reader's tradition during primary season, we are publishing a candidate questionnaire for each of the three Scott County offices on the ballot this election year. The following questions were emailed to the candidates below. The unedited responses will be published at the Reader's website May 8 through May 10, and then again in print on May 23, 2024, when the June Reader print edition hits the streets.

Scott County Appointments to Elected Offices Keep Records Secret and Not Transparent

When public officers are appointed to positions by a bureaucracy or by fellow elected officials versus elected by the people, there is often a distinct lack of transparency that accompanies the process that can be antithesis to the public interest.

More sports team stadium drama could be on the horizon as the Chicago White Sox are said, as of this writing, to be preparing to announce a significant private investment in a new South Loop ballpark. The ball club has already demanded a share of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority’s bonding authority, which the Chicago Bears claimed for itself in its entirety last week for its own stadium plan (to the tune of $900 million).

As the dust settles from our most recent battle against the hazardous and unnecessary CO2 pipelines, I find myself weary, but nevertheless the war against the pipeline continues.

I was born on August 13, 1961. This was the day that construction of the Berlin Wall began. It was a symbol of the Cold War. It cast a shadow upon the first 28 years of my life, as prime-time news images were burned into my memory of daring escapes, and of East German citizens tragically gunned down by East German soldiers.

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Has a Cure for Earth's Humanity - Cartoon by Ed Ne

As 196 member countries prepare for the World Health Organization's (WHO) unveiling of its finalized proposed amendments to the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), much controversy and resistance is percolating.

Just eight of 78 Illinois House Democrats openly sided last week with the once-indomitable Chicago Teachers Union. The CTU hotly opposed a bill to halt all public-school closures and prevent disproportionate budget cuts and changes to admissions criteria at Chicago’s selective-enrollment schools until a fully-elected Chicago school board is seated in 2027. The final roll call was a lopsided 92-8. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose popularity has plummeted along with his Statehouse influence, ought to take this as a warning not to follow the CTU’s example. And so should some other Chicago-based organizations.

Chicago-area news outlets have been so intent on amplifying every possible angle on the proposals for new publicly-financed sports stadiums that they’ve sometimes missed the bigger picture. Senate President Don Harmon last week tried to make it simple for everyone what that bigger picture is.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has been a very big state problem for a very long time. The department now has new leadership under Director Heidi Mueller, whose appointment was met with widespread praise. The former director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice was confirmed by the Senate without a single “No” vote last month, minutes before I interviewed her.

Pages