Oktoberfest Brings A Taste Of Germany

NEW YORK – After five years of investigations and protests, the New York City Police Department on Monday fired an officer involved in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, the black man whose dying gasps of “I can’t breathe” gave voice to a national debate over race and police use of force. Police Commissioner James O’Neill said he fired Daniel Pantaleo, who is white, based on a recent recommendation of a department disciplinary judge. O’Neill said he thought Pantaleo’s use of the banned chokehold as he wrestled with Garner was a mistake that could have been made by any officer in the heat of an arrest.

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed more than 50 bills last week and has about one week remaining to sign the final 167 of the 599 total bills sent to him by the General Assembly this year. The most recently signed bills include a package of legislation affecting first responders, a bill striking down a 1998 state law pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions, a banking initiative of Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza and a measure to allow graduate student teaching assistants to unionize. House Bill 2766, which was signed last week, is aimed at “ending the stigma surrounding mental health issues among firefighters and law enforcement officers,” according to a news release from Indian Creek Democratic state Sen.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren offered a public apology Monday to Native Americans over her past claim to tribal heritage, directly tackling an area that’s proved to be a political liability. “Like anyone who has been honest with themselves, I know I have made mistakes,” the Massachusetts senator said at a forum on Native American issues in this pivotal early voting state.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has announced an updated operating schedule for the William G. Stratton-Thomas A. Bolger Lock and Dam facility on the Fox River. The lock will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays to facilitate ongoing construction at the facility through the end of the season, according to IDNR. The lock will be open on Labor Day, which is Monday, Sept.

The village of Cary will further discuss entering a memorandum of agreement with PIRHL Developers LLC after concerns were brought up about the agreement at the board’s previous meeting. Village administrator Jacob Rife said a representative from PIRHL’s development team will be at the board’s Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday to answer any questions. The agreement stems from a conditional use permit that was granted to PIRHL back in 2016, giving the developers “certain obligations” it needed to meet for its 62-unit affordable senior housing development to be approved. This included building an 1,800-square-foot community meeting room.

The city of McHenry approved its portion of an intergovernmental agreement Monday related to traffic and drainage issues that could result from the ongoing campus overhaul at McHenry High School West . The McHenry School District 156 Board must give its own approval on the agreements, which will take place at a future meeting. The district this summer began construction on the West and East high school campuses, with plans to continue work through 2021.