Illinois Quick Hits: Ex-Chicago housing director indicted in alleged kickback scheme
(The Center Square) – A former Chicago Housing Authority property director is accused of steering more than $4.8 million in city business to a construction company in exchange for more than $421,000 in kickbacks.
Ryan Ross, 50, of Bolingbrook and Vanessa Rhodes, 47, of Chicago are both charged with eight counts of honest services fraud.
A federal indictment accused Ross of receiving the kickbacks in 2023 and 2024 from Rhodes, who owns a Chicago company that did business as Twenty Eleven Construction, Inc.
ONE OF FBI’S MOST WANTED SENTENCED FOR MACHINE GUN POSSESSION
A Belleville man who was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for possessing a machine gun.
Dontay Moore, 23, is facing state charges in St. Louis for other offenses, including his alleged involvement in a drive-by shooting that resulted in serious injuries to bystanders.
Prosecutors say his federal sentence will be in addition to any sentence imposed in state court. Moore was arrested by Illinois State Police in September 2025.
ICE-INVOLVED CRASH REPORTED IN CHICAGO
A pursuit reportedly involving federal immigration law enforcement officers ended in a crash on Chicago’s Northwest Side.
WGN-TV reports that the incident came to a halt around 11 a.m. on Tuesday in the 3800 block of North Olcott Avenue.
A witness said several unmarked vehicles followed a red Lexus and appeared to strike the Lexus before it crashed into a tree. Another witness said he later saw a man being escorted from the scene.
REPORT: THOUSANDS DROP OBAMACARE IN ILLINOIS
More than 92,000 Illinois consumers have lost or dropped Affordable Care Act health insurance in recent months.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the unusually large decline followed the expiration of tax credits that had helped to curb the plans’ costs.
Last month, Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee estimated that 120,825 people in Illinois would lose health insurance due to the ACA cuts proposed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
Clear
Latest News Stories
Land Use Committee: ‘Clean Fill’ Proposal Stalls After Unauthorized Tree Removal Sparks Environmental Concerns
Meeting Summary and Briefs: Will County Planning and Zoning Commission for February 17, 2026
Ad-Hoc Committee: Liquor Ordinance Stalls Over Drafting Errors; Debates License Cap Policy
Green Garden Township Residents Threaten Incorporation to Block 6,000-Acre Solar Farm
Meeting Summary and Briefs: Beecher Board of Education for February 11, 2026
Elsies Place Grand Opening
Executive Committee: Tension Rises as Republican Whip Removed from Panel
Ad-Hoc Committee: County Stripped of Power to Regulate Motor Races, Must Drop Solicitor Fees Due to State Statutes
Commission Overrides Staff Recommendation, Approves Manhattan Township Barn Expansion
Superintendent Warns of State Funding Gaps Despite Balanced Budget
Executive Committee Advances “Project Northwinds”: 2,475 Jobs and $346 Million Investment Proposed for Former Caterpillar, Lion Electric Sites
Land Use Committee Advances Mokena Scrap Yard and Homer Glen Landscape Business Over Local Objections
Planning Commission Backs 5-MW Peotone Solar Farm; Developer Pledges Pollinator Habitat and Community Funds
Board Approves New Early Childhood Curriculum and Technology Upgrades
