CHICAGO (AP) – Comptroller Susana Mendoza says state employees promised bonuses will now have to wait to receive them during the ongoing budget impasse. The office that controls Illinois’ checkbook announced Wednesday that payments to social services and public safety come first. Mendoza, a Democrat, took office this week after ousting Republican Leslie Munger in…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri’s Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson is calling for an investigation of the state Department of Corrections after reports of widespread workplace harassment. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2h7tw7F ) on Wednesday reported Richardson says he won’t tolerate what he said appears to be a culture of sexual harassment. The alternative…
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Eight Chicago residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury for the smash-and-grab crime at a Saks Fifth Avenue in suburban St. Louis. The U.S. Attorney’s office in St. Louis on Wednesday announced the indictments. All eight suspects are in their 20’s. Illinois State Police say they are also under…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner says he wants Democratic leaders to present him a budget proposal to end an 18-month stalemate before meeting again for another round of negotiations. Rauner made the announcement Wednesday a day before a planned meeting with legislative leaders, which he canceled. The Chicago Sun-Times reports (http://bit.ly/2h4CnUX )…
( KTRs) Authorities are investigating a call for an assault that involved an axe. Police were called to a residence in the 4800 block of Maffitt, just after midnight, Wednesday. When they arrived that victim told officers that he had got into an altercation with his neighbor, who then produced an axe and struck the…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A task forces says the University of Missouri system should emphasize diversity in its recruiting and hiring practices, while also finding ways to fund those practices to make them sustainable. A 21-page report by the UM System Diversity, Equity and Inclusion task force issued Wednesday made specific recommendations to improve diversity…
(KTRS) – St. Louis City leaders are asking for $40 million in tax credits to help finance a Major League Soccer stadium. This is on top of the $80 million that city voters will decide on in April. The new tax credit request will be presented to the state Development Finance Board in Jefferson City Thursday.…
PORT BYRON, Ill. (AP) – The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association says Gov. Bruce Rauner weakened Illinois’ job prospects by signing a nuclear-energy subsidy. Rauner signed the law Wednesday creating a plan to allow Exelon Corp. to keep two unprofitable nuclear plants open with $235 million a year from ratepayers. But he says it will save consumers…
HARTVILLE, Mo. (AP) – The state auditor says an audit shows new possible fraud by a former county collector who recently pleaded guilty to forgery. Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway said Wednesday in a release that the audit shows “new inappropriate and potentially fraudulent activities” by former Wright County Collector Cynthia Cottengim. Cottengim resigned in…
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City’s mayor and other Democratic officials say Congress is coming up far too short in proposing to reimburse the city $7 million for protecting Trump Tower. It’s a fifth of what New York requested. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that New York City taxpayers “should not be on…