Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Friday, October 21, 2016. Have a great weekend!
- Weather: Another cool fall day
It will be cool again Friday, with a high of 53 and a low of 42. The sun should be out periodically during the day and the rain will stay away. [AccuWeather]
- Report: Taxpayers likely to end up paying more for police misconduct lawsuits
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2017 budget doesn’t leave enough money to cover the expected costs of police misconduct lawsuits, which means a larger financial burden for taxpayers, according to the Chicago Reporter. Emanuel set aside $20 million for police lawsuits, but Chicago “spent more than $263 million on settlements, judgments and outside legal counsel for police misconduct” from 2012 to 2015. Only $70 million was budgeted during those years, and the rest was paid for by issuing bonds. “At the high interest rate Chicago paid, that borrowing will cost taxpayers more than double over the life of the 30-year bonds,” according to the magazine. [Chicago Reporter]
- Chicago Teachers Union delegates approves four-year contract
Chicago Teachers Union delegates approved a new four-year contract with a vote of 358-130. Union president Karen Lewis believes that the nearly 30,000 CTU members will also approve the deal. “This agreement is the product of a lot of hard fights and struggle by our members,” CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey said. [Tribune] [ DNAinfo Chicago]
- Vote early and vote often: a history of voter fraud in Chicago
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has been talking incessantly about voter fraud and claiming that it still occurs in Chicago. Multiple studies and investigations have found that, nationally, voter fraud is extremely rare to the point of being nonexistent; still, the city is closely associated with political corruption, claims of dead people voting, and Mayor Richard J. Daley allegedly stacking the 1960 presidential election in President John F. Kennedy’s favor. DNAinfo Chicago has written a fascinating history of the city’s elections, from shootings and bombings to machine politics. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Jury rules in Derrick Rose’s favor, finds gang rape claim not credible
A Los Angeles jury ruled that gang rape claims against former Bulls star and Chicago native Derrick Rose and two of his friends weren’t credible. The woman accusing Rose and his friends, Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen, of gang rape sued for millions of dollars. In an interview with the LA Times, a juror said the jury hadn’t seen evidence to prove the plaintiff hadn’t consented to the alleged 2013 encounter, and said that her testimony in court wasn’t convincing. “She could have done a number of things to prove that this happened and she took none of those steps to prove her case,” he told the newspaper. [Los Angeles Times]
- Before they were Cubs: How Jon Lester helped Anthony Rizzo with his cancer battle
Cubs players Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo are getting closer to possibly bringing the team its first World Series victory in 108 years, but many fans might not know that they’re both cancer survivors. Lester helped a teenage Rizzo get through his battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma when they were both playing in the Boston Red Sox organization, and ESPN The Magazine has written a very interesting story about their battles and bond. [ESPN The Magazine]