Chicago and Cook County News

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled 5-2 Friday that the Chicago Public Schools don't have to rehire tenured CPS teachers they laid off when positions become available. The decision comes six days before the Chicago Board of Education could approve a new round of school closings and turnarounds, which, if approved, will lead to more layoffs of tenured teachers.

In other education news, parents and students marched to City Hall Monday in protest of the Noble Network of Charter Schools' use of $5 fines to discipline students for mild infractions. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has praised Noble's discipline policy, calling it the "secret sauce" to the charter network's success.

As part of an effort to alleviate Pilsen residents' concerns over local air pollution, the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization held a public hearing on Wednesday night with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The retirement Thursday of Chicago Fire Department commissioner Robert Hoff could mean cuts at the fire department, including closing firehouses and reducing the number of firefighters who staff each truck.

The Chicago Department of Public Health wrote a letter to each patient of the city’s mental health services clinics last week outlining when the city will close six of its 12 mental health facilities and what patients must do in response. About 1,300 mental health patients must transfer to a new clinic.

The department has also sent initial layoff notices to clinic employees – including some of the therapists that are supposed to help patients transition during the clinic closings.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that he would push for a bill the Illinois General Assembly introduced last week to legalize same sex marriage.

The Chicago City Council passed a law Wednesday that will subtract a person’s outstanding parking and speeding ticket debt, and other such citations, from their state income tax return.

Alderman Rick Munoz introduced Wednesday legislation prohibiting police from blocking access to social media and cell phone networks during the G8 and NATO summits in May. Munoz told PI that the ordinance is intended to show that the city has a commitment to civil rights.

Meanwhile, an ordinance to put watchmen at vacant properties languishes in the city council committee process. We reported on a press conference Sunday where aldermen, Action Now, and the Chicago Teachers Union urged Emanuel to make the Vacant Property Safe Passages Ordinance a priority

A report released Wednesday from the University of Illinois at Chicago political science department delivered the not so breaking news that city and state government have an appalling history of corruption. The report coincides with Emanuel’s launch of an ethics reform taskforce.

The author of an amendment that would significantly change Cook County’s immigration detainer ordinance told Progress Illinois Wednesday that he doesn’t have the votes on the 17-member Cook County Board of Commissioners to pass the amendment. Republican Commissioner Tim Schneider wants the Cook County Sheriff to honor some requests from federal immigration agents to detain charged criminals believed to be undocumented immigrants.

Chicago residents who live south of 95th Street have anticipated Chicago Transit Authority rail service since the 1960’s. PI reports that CTA is finally moving forward on extending the Red Line – but cash to complete the extension is tied up in federal funding.

A Chicago Board of Elections spokesman said Monday that 400,000 voting Chicago citizens aren't registered to vote and that the city could set an all-time low for voter registration.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Monday that city agencies will recommend projects on which they would like to see aldermen spend their yearly infrastructure allowances.

The choice to put more Chicago police in the Englewood and Harrison police districts coincides with reduced violence in those high-crime areas, said Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The city is developing its first cultural plan since 1986. PI attended a preliminary plan meeting, where audience members wanted the city to focus less on downtown culture and more on neighborhoods.

State News

PI looked at the recently-released 2012 Illinois Kids Count report Thursday. The report calls on elected officials to address the lack of long-term funding for children, while also pointing out that one in five children in the state lives in poverty. The report comes as the state is contemplating public health cuts.

Gov. Pat Quinn said Wednesday that there would be several state facility closures by the end of this year.

Sears Holding Corp. will lay off 100 workers at its Hoffman Estates headquarters, two months after Illinois gave Sears a $150 million tax credit to keep jobs in the Prairie State.

On Monday, we examined a report that super PACs are primarily funded by large contributions from a small collection of donors. The report, which was published by Illinois PIRG and Demos last Wednesday, synthesizes information obtained from Federal Election Commission filings from 2010 through the end of 2011.

Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will serve his 14-year sentence in a Colorado prison.

National News

Mike Reed of MoveOn.org penned an editorial for PI that a small delegation of constituents from Congresswoman Judy Biggert's district met at her Illinois office in Willowbrook on Tuesday. They delivered a "valentine" message asking her to vote to extend unemployment insurance through 2012.

The budget Barack Obama unveiled Monday was predictably focused on national debt reduction, but it did contain some welcome measures for progressives including money for job training programs and transportation investment.