Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Tuesday, January 10, 2016.
- Illinois senate leaders Cullerton and Radogno have been negotiating a bipartisan budget proposal behind the scenes
Illinois senate president John Cullerton, a Democrat, and senate Republican leader Christine Radogno have been working together on proposals designed to get state budget negotiations going again after talks between Governor Bruce Rauner and house speaker Michael Madigan broke down last month—but on Monday afternoon the Illinois senate “pulled the plug” on the plan for now, opting to revisit the proposals after the new General Assembly is sworn in Wednesday. The effort includes “a sweeping group of proposals designed to jump-start stalled budget negotiations, including measures that would raise income taxes, expand gambling, hike the minimum wage and borrow billions of dollars to pay down government debt,” according to the Tribune. The historic state budget impasse started July 1, 2015. [Tribune] [Chicago Tonight]
- President Obama visited Chicago 19 times during his two terms in office
President Barack Obama will deliver his highly anticipated farewell speech at McCormick Place Tuesday evening. The president only visited Chicago 19 times during his eight years in office, and most of the visits were for fund-raisers, according to DNAinfo Chicago. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- GoFundMe campaign for Chicago teen tortured on Facebook Live has raised $145,000-plus
A GoFundMe campaign for a mentally disabled teenager who was tortured in a viral Facebook Live video had raised more than $145,000 as of Monday afternoon. “For those of you that have seen the horrific torture and trauma recently inflicted on a young man in Chicago, it is not something you will soon forget,” the man who started the crowd-funding campaign wrote on the site. “Let’s prove to him that there is far more good in this world than the evil he recently endured.” [Mediaite]
- Local congressmen question Trump’s temperament after he slams Meryl Streep on Twitter
U.S. rep Mike Quigley is questioning president-elect Donald Trump’s temperament after Trump slammed actress Meryl Streep in a Twitter rant early Monday morning. Trump was incited after Streep criticized the president-elect during her acceptance speech at the Golden Globe awards. “There’s a concern that [Trump] will let his personal ego go beyond the concerns of the country as a whole,” Quigley told reporters. “He’s the president of the United States. He doesn’t have to worry about bragging or proving his merits any more, he needs to relax and lead us.” Quigley isn’t the only local elected official to express his or her concern about the incident. “I think it’s important to, as we wind down this Obama administration, to remember: Not one scandal, not one in eight years,” U.S. rep Jan Schakowsky said. “We’ll see what happens going forward.” [Sun-Times]
- Rahm praises city employees for netting $1.1 billion in federal grants for Red Line improvements
Mayor Rahm Emanuel praised Chicago Transit Authority employees for completing grant applications that earned the CTA $1.1 billion in federal grants. “If our application wasn’t right, one comma off, one estimation off—it would not have happened,” the mayor said. The money will be spent to rebuild the Argyle, Lawrence, Bryn Mawr, and Berwyn Red Line stations. “You cannot have an economy move on a 21st century pace if it’s built on a 20th century structure,” he said. “And a lot of these stations . . . literally were opened in 1908 when Teddy Roosevelt was president.” [Sun-Times]
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?‘s Wayne Brady cast in Hamilton Chicago production
Comedian and actor Wayne Brady is taking over the role of Aaron Burr in the Chicago production of Hamilton. The actor currently playing Aaron Burr, Joshua Henry, has been tapped to play Burr in the musical’s national tour. Brady will perform in the play at the PrivateBank Theatre from January 17 through April 9. [The Hollywood Reporter]