WLIP Voice of Lake County 5/13/19

North Chicago Murder Arrest

Vander Tuuk 5-13-19

(North Chicago, IL) An arrest has been made in a North Chicago murder that took place earlier this month. Back on May 4th, 20-year-old Xavier Collins was found shot in the 800 block of 13th Street. Collins was pronounced dead upon arrival to Advocate Condell in Libertyville. Lake County Major Crimes Task Force officials announced that the suspect in the case, Marquez Walker-McVae was taken into custody and appeared in bond court on Saturday. The 18-year-old faces two counts of first-degree murder, and a 1.5-million-dollar bond.

Fatal Beach Park Crash

Vander Tuuk 5-13-19

(Beach Park, IL) The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a single vehicle accident that ended with one death. Authorities were called around 2:30 Sunday morning to the area of Green Bay Road and Kenosha Road. It was there they discovered a vehicle with major damage that had crashed into the Benton Township Assessor’s Office, after running over an embankment. The driver of the vehicle was taken to Advocate Condell by Flight for life, the front seat passenger suffered minor injuries, but the backseat passenger…an unidentified 23-year-old male, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Unit is looking into the incident.

McHenry County Crash Kills Zion Man, injures Gurnee Man

Vander Tuuk 5-13-19

(Lakemoor, IL) A weekend crash in McHenry County killed one Lake County man, and injured another. McHenry County Sheriff’s officials say a vehicle being driven by a 23-year-old Zion man crossed the center line of West Bay Road just after midnight on Saturday, and collided head one with a vehicle being driven by a 56-year-old Gurnee man. The Zion man was flown to Advocate Condell in Libertyville where he was pronounced dead. The Gurnee man was hospitalized in McHenry, but suffered only minor injuries. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and the Lake County Coroner.

Illinois revenue bump spurs debate over Pritzker tax hikes

Associated Press 5-13-19

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Illinois lawmakers and Gov. J.B. Pritzker have learned that the state’s take from income taxes in April was $4 billion — 60% higher than anticipated. Now there’s disagreement on how to use that unexpected $1.5 billion windfall. Republican House Minority Leader Jim Durkin says it is reason enough to call off the Democratic governor’s revenue-raising plans for the budget year that begins July 1…including Pritzker’s proposal to change the tax system to a graduated-rate structure. Pritzker says the money is enough to cover most of the expected deficit in the current budget and to forgo a contentious plan to delay next year’s state pension payment. But Pritzker and Democratic legislative leaders say it’s far from a solution to Illinois’ shaky financial position.

Report: Illinois should spend $33M to promote 2020 Census

Associated Press 5-13-19

CHICAGO (AP) The Chicago Urban League says the state of Illinois should spend $33 million for community leaders to spread the word about the 2020 census. Illinois could lose billions of dollars in federal funding and one or two congressional seats if there’s an undercount next year. An undercount happens when the census counts a smaller number of people or homes in a population than shown by an independent estimate. The Chicago Urban League report uses data analyzed by the George Washington University’s Institute of Public Policy. The department found that at least $34 billion in federal subsidies for programs that directly benefit Illinois residents is tied to census statistics.