I am grateful for the bipartisan support given to our major legislative initiative this spring, reform of the process for expunging juvenile arrest records. I want to particularly thank Rep. Elaine Nekritz and Sen. Michael Hastings for sponsoring the bill in their respective chambers and helping steer them to passage. The Youth Opportunity and Fairness Act is an important step toward removing barriers from the paths of our most vulnerable youth as they try to build productive lives.

Elected Officials, Residents & Community Organizers Protest Cuts

(Skokie) – The Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) today hosted a rally to preserve affordable housing programs and healthcare at the new Armond King Senior High Rise Apartment Building, rehabilitated with HOME Partnership financing.  

The Trump administration’s proposed budget confirms our worst fears. It goes well beyond the traditional budgets we have seen from conservative presidents; it is a mean-spirited, harmful fiscal plan that would impose lasting harm upon those who are the poorest and most vulnerable among us, not to mention damage public education, the environment, public health and the broader social safety network.

Cook County has been recognized with an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways’ innovative call for projects, called Invest in Cook. 

NACo President Bryan Desloge said, “Counties overcome complex challenges, provide essential services and constantly do more with less. We applaud these Achievement Award-winning counties for outstanding efforts to improve residents’ quality of life.”

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle unveiled the list of the County’s 2017 road construction projects, offering motorists a roadmap for the upcoming season.

The Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways plan will improve roads in nearly 20 suburban municipalities at a cost of $23.2 million dollars.  

Cook County’s inaugural low-cost rabies vaccine clinic of 2017 will take place Tuesday, May 30, from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at the Southwest Ice Arena, 5550 W. 127th St., Crestwood. It is the first of more than 30 rabies vaccine clinics scheduled throughout suburban Cook County and Chicago.

The first low-cost microchip clinic of the season will take place Thursday, June 8, at Cicero Community Park, 34th Court and Laramie Avenue in Cicero. It is the first of four scheduled in Cook County.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office is hosting the inaugural Cook County Missing Persons Day to connect those with long-term missing loved ones with resources and experts.

Those with missing friends and family missing more than one month will be able to submit DNA samples, medical records, pictures and other records to aid in the search. Emotional support services will also be available to families. 

“Our goal is to be a centralized resource for those searching for loved ones,” said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar. 

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed more than 40 deaths in 2017 due to a powerful, new opioid.

The office has confirmed that from January through April 8, 44 deaths were attributed to acrylfentanyl, a new fentanyl analog whose potency is still being studied. 

The data for 2017 is not a real time number, as toxicology testing can take several weeks.

In 2016, seven deaths were attributed to acrylfentanyl. 

The impact of today’s vote by the U.S. House will be devastating. More than a half-million residents of Cook County were able to obtain health care through the Affordable Care Act, many of them through expansion of Medicaid, like our own CountyCare program that has 140,000 participants. 

Chicago – The Cook County Board of Review, the largest assessment appeal board in the US, adjudicating over 400,000 assessment appeals annually has been recognized with an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo). The awards honor innovative, effective county government programs that enhance services for residents.