The governor’s office no-showed a revenue hearing, supposedly because it took place in Chicago. Yet at the same time the hearing was taking place, Gov. Bruce Rauner was speaking just across the street.

Rauner says his primary residence is the Executive Mansion, but he was across the street at the Thompson Center in Chicago at the very same time the hearing was taking place. He says his administration had requested the hearing be moved to the Capitol.

When asked why he was in Chicago Monday at the same time the hearing was held, Rauner said it was to discuss new legislation consolidating several items from his agenda into one bill.

In other state news, more cars mean more accidents, and that means more fatalities. The National Safety Council says the first half of the year has recorded a fourteen percent increase compared to last year.

More favorable weather and a better economy for driving are the reasons.

Illinois transportation secretary Randy Blankenhorn says numbers are up in this state, too.
Through Monday, the 2015 fatalities are 591 in Illinois, up 48 – not quite nine percent – from the same period a year ago.

Blankenhorn says another problem he’d like to solve: an increase in pedestrian fatalities.