Progress Illinois

Chicago's 39th annual gay pride parade took place on the city's North Side yesterday, drawing an estimated 450,000 attendants. Organizers cited excitement over California's recent legalization of gay marriage as one reason for the high turnout.

The Democratic Leadership Council met in Chicago over the weekend. During their annual conference, members of the council suprised no one by urging Barack Obama to run as a political moderate as a way of winning over swing voters. The centrist group has a long history with Hillary Clinton, but reports from the conference indicated a high level of enthusiasm for Obama's candidacy.

A prison reform group has come out against Cook County's policy of shipping troubled inmates to jails in other counties. The John Howard Society for Prison Reform says that moving inmates farther away makes it difficult for them to receive visits from their lawyers and their families.

Beginning tomorrow, the Cook County sales tax will rise to 10.25 percent. The increase will make Chicago's sales tax the highest of any big city in the country.

It has been five years since then-Gov. George Ryan imposed a moratorium on capital punishment in Illinois, but what was meant as a temporary suspension is beginning to look like a permanent policy. Now groups on both sides of the debate are calling on lawmakers to make a specific and official declaration on the death penalty.

The fate of the Pontiac Correctional Center is still up in the air, reports Gatehouse News Service. Despite promises to shutter the facility earlier this year, Gov. Blagojevich has not included plans to close Pontiac in his proposed budget cuts.

The governor is currently reviewing legislation that would mandate greater transparency in the management of police and firefighter pension plans. The law would require that the state undertake a study of how pension plans affect cities broader economic landscape and force greater disclosure of how the pensions perform and are administered.