Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker and Lt. Gov.-elect Juliana Stratton acknowledge applause on election night. Planning has begun for their inauguration, which Pritzker says he personally will pay for instead of seeking corporate sponsorship or using public money.

STATE

U of I begins major push into autonomous technology

Research into autonomous technology such as self-driving cars and robotic assistants will be the focus of a new center announced by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university has allocated $2.1 million for the Center for Autonomy. The College of Engineering is providing another $2.1 million to recruit new robotics faculty.

The new center will play a role in designing systems that function without human intervention and will provide increased experimental space for autonomy and robotics research.

Pritzker will foot the bill for his inauguration

Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker has formed an inaugural committee that will plan events surrounding the Jan. 14 swearing-in ceremony of himself and Lt. Gov.-elect Juliana Stratton, and the state will not have to pay for it. Pritzker said he will pay the costs. 

Events will begin Jan. 12. The committee will be led by future Illinois first lady M.K. Pritzker and Bryan Echols, who serves as senior adviser to the Illinois treasurer. The executive director will be Mary Urbina-McCarthy, who was operations director for Pritzker’s campaign. The committee is made up of more than two dozen political and civic leaders. They include former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar and his wife Brenda and Chicago artist and professor Theaster Gates.

Details of the inaugural events will be put on the inauguration committee’s website, ilinauguration19.com. It will include a schedule of events and a ticket portal.

Because Pritzker will cover the cost of the inauguration, there will be no outside fundraising to underwrite costs of inauguration events. Tickets to a Jan. 14 party following the inauguration ceremony will be sold and the money donated to Cabrini Green Legal Aid, a group that helps low-income Chicagoans navigate the criminal justice system, and the Illinois Fairgrounds Foundation, which is trying to repair the crumbling fairgrounds. Tickets for the inauguration itself are free, and will be available Dec. 28.

COUNTY

Study shows most affordable homes are in Tazewell

Tazewell County posted the lowest home affordability index in Illinois, according to an analysis of 440 counties nationwide by ATTOM Data Solutions in the third quarter. ATTOM gathers and analyzes national property data. 

The county’s affordability index was 81 in the analysis, which reported modest home value appreciation and decreasing home affordability nationwide. The counties analyzed had populations of 100,000 or more and recorded 100 or more home sales in the third quarter.

In Tazewell County, a median home costs $133,500. 

The report determines the affordability number based on the household income needed to purchase a median-priced home in the county compared to historical data. An index under 100 indicates declining affordability.

MORTON

School board seeks new tax money

With a bit of reluctance, the Morton School Board will try again to pass a school facilities sales tax. The board has voted to recommend placing a 1 percent Tazewell County school facilities sales tax on the April 2 ballot. The same measure was defeated by voters in November by a 51.5 to 48.5 percent margin after it was rejected by larger margins in 2009 and 2013.

Board members expressed concerns about putting the sales tax back on the ballot so quickly even though Tazewell County superintendents want to do it. The resolution passed 5-1.

PEKIN

Library moves event to park district site

Pekin Public Library’s Book2Art, a program for adults, will still be held at 6:30p.m. Dec. 20, but in a new location: the Pavilion on the Lagoon in Mineral Springs Park, 1701 Court St. Water damage has forced the library to close for repairs until January. Some of the library’s planned events will be held in other locations. Check the library’s website, perkinpubliclibrary.org, for more information.

–Tazewell County News Briefs–