With the governor’s signature today, the Youth Opportunity and Fairness Act (HB 3817/SB 2021), our latest effort at reforming and modernizing juvenile justice, is now law. This is an important step in removing barriers from the paths of our most vulnerable youth as they try to build productive lives by easing the often cumbersome process of expunging juvenile arrest records.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has made clear that he thinks it’s a winning political message to divide Chicago Public Schools students, like my three grandchildren, from other Illinois students. And he’s shown that he is willing to hold every public school student in this state hostage on the political bet that voters will be more motivated by animus toward “others”—in this case, young Chicago residents—than by the promise of providing a quality public school education to all Illinoisans. As a grandmother, I find this offensive.
Cook County Animal and Rabies Control urges Cook County residents to vaccinate their pets against rabies after a kitten tested positive for rabies in Carroll County IL.
“Finding rabies in cats is unusual and Cook County Animal and Rabies Control wants to make sure all domestic animals are protected against the disease, which can be fatal,” Animal and Rabies Control Administrator Dr. Donna Alexander said. “Pet owners should not panic, but should take precaution to protect their pets.”
A total of 18 bats have tested positive for rabies in Cook County this summer.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle today announced she is naming Ammar Rizki as the County’s next Chief Financial Officer, pending Board of Commissioners’ approval.
Preckwinkle will present Rizki’s appointment at the September 13 County Board of Commissioners meeting. The appointment will be considered first by the Board's Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee and then by the full Board at its next meeting.
What we have seen on display in Charlottesville is the kind of raw hatred, racism and xenophobia that has no business in our nation. Denunciation of this behavior cannot be strong enough and cannot be ambivalent. Hatred must be condemned swiftly, constantly and consistently, and cannot be conditional or tolerated.
Flooding has impacted communities across Cook County, leaving many residents and local governments with questions about flooding assistance. While Gov. Bruce Rauner has included Cook County in the state’s disaster proclamation, Illinois does not have disaster assistance programs.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced today that she has commissioned a full review of Cook County’s property tax system. The review was spurred by recent reports asserting that inequities exist in the way property taxes in Cook County are administered.
Today we regrettably laid off more than 300 employees as a result of the County’s budget crisis. The exact number continues to change as our Human Resources Department works on this issue with departments, bureaus and the offices of separately elected officials. The personnel actions are necessary to address an approximately $68 million gap in our FY2017 that is directly related to the Illinois Retail Merchants Association’s (IRMA) lawsuit and Temporary Restraining Order that prohibits us from collecting the Sweetened Beverage Tax.
The Archdiocese of Chicago and Cook County officials today unveiled a black granite monument that will mark the gravesites of the indigent, unidentified and unborn during a committal service at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 2755 W 111th St.
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, and Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President, gathered with Cook County Commissioners, local funeral directors and volunteers during the ceremony.
Initiative encourages economic development; environmental stewardship
Cook County, in partnership with a coalition of seven west suburban municipalities, is working to return brownfield properties to productive use to encourage economic development.
The Cook County Department of Environmental Control on behalf of the coalition that includes Schiller Park, Franklin Park, Northlake, Melrose Park, Bellwood, Maywood and Forest Park -- received in 2014 a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess brownfield sites in those communities.
