City briefings: Chicago teachers carry out one-day strike
Chicago Public Schools teachers hit the picket lines Friday, saying the controversial one-day strike, though an irritation to some parents and students, is vital to draw attention to the lack of adequate funding.
A few thousand teachers were massing around the Thompson Center Friday afternoon, and police began shutting down nearby downtown streets, which promised a snarled rush hour.
Carrying signs blasting Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner, teachers, formed a sea of red shirts at the Thompson Center, where they chanted slogans and listened to a series of speakers.
Earlier in the day, about 40 teachers picketed outside Amundsen High School on the North Side, Several said they'd much prefer to be in their classrooms teaching, but that they were taking a bigger-picture view of the state of education in the city.
"I know it's an inconvenience for the day, but you want these kids to come into schools that are funded," said Sean Reidy, the orchestra director at Amundsen. "You don't even want to know about strings for the instruments and how we keep that going. It's an absolute miracle that we have an orchestra here."
Officials with the Chicago public school system said it filed a complaint with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, arguing the strike is illegal because it is happening before a fact-finding process is completed.
The school system wants all damages incurred by the strike as well as the board's legal fees paid by the teachers union. School officials also want an order that prohibits all future strikes from happening until the fact-finding process is over, plus fines and sanctions.
Chicago credit rating falls
Chicago's credit rating has been lowered to one step above junk grade by Fitch Ratings.
In downgrading the city's rating, Fitch cited the Illinois Supreme Court decision a week ago throwing out Mayor Rahm Emanuel's reform plan for two city pensions.
Fitch lowered Chicago's rating from "BBB+" to "BBB-."
The agency called the court ruling "was among the worst of the possible outcomes for the city's credit quality."
Top cop wants to restore trust
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's surprise pick to become the next top cop said his goal is to restore the public's trust in the Chicago Police Department while maintaining his independence of City Hall.
"The central challenge facing Chicago is trust," said Eddie Johnson, later adding that he has "complete autonomy" to run the department.
Johnson, a 27-year veteran, was most recently the department's chief of patrol.
FOP hires cop in Laquan case
Jason Van Dyke - the white Chicago police officer charged with murder after firing 16 shots into a knife-wielding black teenager in 2014 - has landed a job with the Fraternal Order of Police, the union president confirmed.
Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he decided to hire Van Dyke after receiving a call from the Chicago Sun-Times several weeks ago asking whether the officer was working for the union.
Angelo said he then considered the idea and decided to give Van Dyke a job.
Van Dyke, who is stripped of his police powers and is on unpaid status after being charged in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, makes $12 an hour from the FOP to be a jack-of-all-trades.
The FOP's move drew quick criticism.
The Rev. Michael Pfleger blasted the move, saying in part on a Facebook post: "The police union says to Chicago we don't give a damn what he did or what you think. He is one of ours, and we are going to take care of him."
A small group of protesters chanted and waved signs outside the Chicago FOP Lodge Thursday calling for the dismissal of Van Dyke.
Protester Ja'Mal Green described Angelo's decision as a "slap in the face" to the city.
Metra installs security video
Metra has installed 11 small cameras inside one of their Electric Line railcars as part of a preliminary test to determine how camera technology can be used on their trains.
The cameras are being tested for functionality, location and range.
Test results will serve as "the first step Metra needs to take before we can move forward with a plan to buy cameras for more of our cars," Metra CEO Don Orseno said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provided Metra with grant funding to purchase the test cameras.
Rauner: Blame Dems for CSU
A day after Chicago State University employees were told to turn in their keys, Gov. Bruce Rauner accused Democrats of dragging out the budget crisis to try to force a tax hike.
Rauner called the Chicago State situation "an outrage" and pointed his finger at the Democrats.
"It should never happen. There's really no excuse for it. I believe that the supermajority in the legislature is using Chicago State University and many other service providers in Illinois as leverage to try to force a massive tax hike," Rauner said.
Administrators at Chicago State last week demanded all employees turn in all keys to campus facilities by this week ahead of an April 30 date for layoffs but later backtracked to say they would take an inventory of keys that might have to be collected if there are layoffs.
Warrant issued for Reynolds
U.S. District Judge John Darrah has issued an arrest warrant for indicted former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds for failing to comply with an order to return to Chicago from a trip to South Africa.
Reynolds told Darrah in an open letter Thursday that he's staying abroad to care for his ailing daughter. Reynolds says his daughter is suffering from scoliosis and may also have cervical cancer. Reynolds asked Darrah "to show some compassion and understand."
Defense attorney Richard Kling said he hadn't known what Reynolds was going to say in his statement but that he has told his client repeatedly that he would be found in violation of the judge's order if he didn't come back to Chicago
• This week's City Briefing was collected in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times. For complete versions of the items, check chicago.suntimes.com.