Cook County

A measure protecting federal housing voucher holders from discrimination by landlords received the approval of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Wednesday on a 9-6 vote.

The new law amends the county’s human rights ordinance to effectively prohibit landlords from refusing to rent to potential tenants on the basis that they possess housing choice vouchers, previously known as Section 8 vouchers.

Cook County Health and Hospital System board members on Friday praised the efforts of Gladys Lopez, chief human resources officer of CCHHS, for working overtime to deal with understaffing.

But the board acknowledged that Lopez’s work also underscores the severity of personnel issues at CCHHS. The system is focused on human resources hires, meaning CCHHS is in the process of hiring the people who will then recruit needed medical personnel.

A three-year extension of a contract with an Alabama-based company to implement the Circuit Court of Cook County’s new e-filing system will move forward despite concern from several county commissioners over the procurement process surrounding the contract.

The County Board voted Wednesday to extend the agreement with On-Line Information Services, Inc. for three years beginning June 7, 2013. The company was chosen from a pool of eight that responded to the county’s request for qualifications.

The Cook County Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners approved leases Tuesday for 1,500 acres of county land for farming uses.

That acreage is spread out between 13 forest preserve sites throughout the county. The sites range in size from a 486-acre parcel in the Janura Preserve just west of Hoffman Estates to 25-acres of land in at Tampier Lake.