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Uber’s Local Partnership = Stress-Free Travel For Paratransit Riders

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

The Pace Rideshare Access Program subsidizes Uber trips, leaving riders with a co-pay of just $2.

The impact: “This program has been a godsend for me. It offers flexibility, independence, freedom and the ability to maintain a beautiful life on so many levels,” says one rider.

CTA: See how it works.

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Subscribers know more. Brenden Moore


* Governor Pritzker

Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), local leaders, and Marshalltown Hammer Company leadership to announce new investments in Bushnell. In support of the project, the State of Illinois provided a $5 million grant to enable Marshalltown Hammer to acquire and establish operations in the former Vaughan & Bushnell facility. […]

With the acquisition and support from Illinois, Marshalltown Hammer has committed to retaining at least 100 full-time jobs at its Bushnell facility, investing in updating manufacturing equipment, and rebuilding the inventory needed to continue to manufacture tools at this site. Facility improvements includes purchasing of material handling equipment, production equipment repairs, and installing robotic grinding.

Since the Marshalltown Hammer acquisition, the quality of work life has improved for employees, with increases in wages, improved health care plan with more affordable benefits, coverage of outstanding medical debt from previous owners, maintaining the years of service for each employee as it pertains to retirement, and reestablishment of a competitive Employee 401(k) Retirement Plan.

* FYI


*** Madigan Trial ***

* Sun-Times | ‘Do the political work, keep the contract’: Top precinct captain takes the stand against Illinois’ once-powerful House speaker: A former top precinct captain for former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan testified Wednesday that he was paid thousands of dollars through another Madigan ally’s law firm so he’d continue campaigning for the Southwest Side Democrat — and for little else. That money came from ComEd, jurors in Madigan’s racketeering conspiracy trial have been told. It was funneled to Ed Moody through Michael McClain, an ex-lawmaker-turned-lobbyist. The utility ultimately paid $1.3 million to five Madigan allies over eight years, evidence has shown.

* Post-Tribune. | Court filing: Former Portage Mayor James Snyder can be tried on bribery charge: Former Portage Mayor James Snyder could find himself having another go in court on a bribery charge involving the purchase of garbage trucks if the government so chooses, according to a Wednesday filing by the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The appellate court had its say after the case was remanded from the U.S. Supreme Court, which in June overturned Snyder’s conviction 6-3 for accepting $13,000 from the Buha brothers, owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, for alleged consulting work, and deemed the payment a gratuity.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center Square | IL Republicans praise Trump’s Department of Education pick, plan to close agency: Wednesday, state Rep. Blaine Wilhour praised McMahon as Trump’s pick.“Linda McMahon did a great job cutting through the B.S. at the Small Business [Administration] in the last Trump presidency, so we’re pretty excited about it,” Wilhour said.

*** Chicago ***

* Bloomberg | S&P Warns It May Downgrade Chicago’s Credit Rating Amid Budget Fight: S&P Global Ratings late Tuesday put the city on “CreditWatch with negative implications” as officials mull one-time measures to close the shortfall. While the firm affirmed its BBB+ rating, analysts see at least a one-in-two chance of a cut in the next three months. A downgrade hinges on the 2025 budget passage and whether the gap is closed with one-time fixes rather than structural changes, Scott Nees, an S&P credit analyst, said in a statement.

* Press Release | Broad Coalition Launches to Oppose Chicago Alcohol Tax Hike: By hiking a regressive tax, City Hall would disproportionately harm those who can least afford it with low-income Chicagoans and local small businesses bearing the greatest share of the burden. As working families in Chicago struggle to make ends meet with rising costs, the proposed alcohol tax hike will mean paying even more at the checkout counter. “City Hall wants Chicagoans to pay one of the highest alcohol tax rates in the nation,” said the Chicago Alcohol Tax Coalition. “Instead of helping families make ends meet, supporting workers, and growing our small businesses, City Hall is trying to make it even harder to do business in the city of Chicago. As representatives of small businesses, home-grown companies, and working people across this city, we are coming together to tell City Hall that Chicago can’t afford this latest tax increase. We urge the members of Chicago City Council to stand with us and say no to the alcohol tax hike.”


* ProPublica | In Five Years, Chicago Has Barely Made Progress on Its Court-Ordered Police Reforms. Here’s Why: In fact, all told, police have fully complied with just 9% of the agreement’s requirements. And while excessive force complaints from citizens have dropped, complaints about all forms of misconduct have risen. Sheila Bedi, an attorney who represented the coalition of police reform groups that sued the city years ago, called the faltering reform effort a “tragedy.” “It has been a waste of time and money,” said Bedi, a Northwestern University law professor. “It has been nothing more than an exercise in pushing paper.”

* Tribune | Chicago Park District $600M budget includes fee hikes but stable property taxes: The fresh fees included in the proposed 2025 budget would apply to bowling, roller skating, harbor, parking and green fees at district golf courses. Day camp rates will also climb back to pre-pandemic levels, but only for some programs, General Superintendent and CEO Rosa Escareño told the Tribune Tuesday ahead of her budget presentation to the district’s board. “We’re looking at this through an equitable lens, so some of the camps that can absorb and be brought up to the 2019 levels, they will,” she said. In areas with lower-income families, “those will not rise yet.”

* Tribune | Chicago seen as safe haven for homeless youth in uncertain climate: ‘I wouldn’t trade it for the world’: Indeed, as attitudes and legal protections toward LGBTQ+ populations have deteriorated in other parts of the country, some Chicago-based organizations have reported a spike in the past two years of unaccompanied youth from outside Chicago who seek their help. “We’re at a moment where national policy and state policy are pushing people out of their communities,” said Niya Kelly, director of state legislative policy, equity and transformation for the Chicago Coalition to end Homelessness. “They may end up in the state of Illinois or in Chicago because it feels safe, or safer, like you can build a community here.”

* Block Club | State Board Of Ed Closes Investigation Into CPS Restraint, Timeout Practices After Almost Two Years: The district’s office for special education has created a Physical Restraint Time Out Team, which is responsible for documenting incidents, school staff has been fully trained in de-escalation and physical management techniques, and the district is working closely with schools if additional training is needed, according to the district spokesperson. Chicago Public Schools reports that 5,140 staff members across schools are fully trained in both de-escalation and physical management techniques as of this month.

* Chicago Reader | Shedd workers approve union: Shedd Aquarium is the ninth Chicago-area cultural institution to unionize with AFSCME Council 31 in the past three years. Now that they’ve won the union vote, members have set their sights on negotiating their first contract with Shedd leadership. The freshly unionized workers include 110 employees in guest relations, 50 in learning and community, and 15 in development and marketing. Some portion of workers are not yet unionized—like those in the animal care department—but are on track for a union vote soon.

* Sun-Times | Angel Reese, former Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon won’t reunite in Unrivaled league’s inaugural season: On Wednesday, rosters were announced for the league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, and Reese landed on the Rose Basketball Club, coached by Nola Henry. Reese’s teammates include Kahleah Copper and Azurá Stevens, members of the Sky’s 2021 WNBA championship team; three-time WNBA champion Chelsea Gray; guard Brittney Sykes; and shooting guard Lexie Hull. Weatherspoon was tapped to lead Vinyl Basketball Club. Her roster includes Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale, Dream guard Rhyne Howard, Fever forward Aliyah Boston, Dream guard Jordin Canada, Sparks shooting guard Rae Burrell and Sparks forward Dearica Hamby. Weatherspoon was fired after one season with the Sky. The team went 13-27 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

* WBEZ | Without Native Americans, would we have Chicago as we know it?: November is National Native American Heritage Month. Curious City listener Mark Liechty often finds himself wondering what Chicago was like hundreds of years ago, before the city was officially incorporated in 1837, when thousands of Native Americans were living in villages throughout the region. “One of the ways I try to relate to the place I’m living is to try to understand what it was like in the past,” he said.

* Sun-Times | Sake 101: Chicago experts help us navigate the mysterious, elegant Japanese rice wine: Daniel Bennett’s eye-opener came while working for Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. For Bennett, sake provided a window into Japanese cuisine and culture. Since then, he’s passionately explored this ancient beverage, including at his current gig as assistant general manager at Sushi-san and The Omakase Room. His journey includes earning the title of certified sake professional and crafting a private label sake, Sake-san, for the restaurants in partnership with a brewery in Osaka, Japan.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Move judge who released man accused of killing wife despite unsettling abuse charges, advocates say: The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence urged Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans to move Nowinski out of the domestic violence division and ensure that he no longer presides over such cases. Nowinski previously faced criticism for denying a protective order against Crosetti Brand, who later stabbed the pregnant woman who sought protection and killed her son in March. “Judge Nowinski’s failure to protect the community has now resulted in two tragic, preventable murders,” said Amanda Pyron, president and CEO of The Network. “He has repeatedly shown he does not have the judgment necessary to keep survivors safe, and at a minimum he must be reassigned.

* Cook County Record | Controversial Cook County judge loses retention bid, unofficial vote totals show: According to unofficial results posted by the Cook County Clerk and the Chicago Board of Elections, only 57.9% of voters had voted to allow O’Malley to retain his judgeship, more than 2 percentage points short of the 60% approval needed to win another term as judge.

* the Regional News | Peakau, Dodge to duke it out in Orland Park: At one time, Keith Pekau and Jim Dodge were on friendly terms. Pekau said he even supported Dodge for Illinois treasurer in the 2018 election. But things went sour during their time on the village board with Pekau being the mayor and Dodge a senior trustee and the two frequently locked horns until Dodge declined to run in 2021. Now the two will lock horns in the 2025 mayoral election, which will take place April 1.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | U of I study tracks harmful particles in landfills, wastewater plants: Scientists measured the liquid waste released by Illinois landfills and wastewater treatment plants. Although the study did find that landfills keep most of the plastic that’s dumped, and wastewater treatment plants remove 99% of microplastics, both microplastics and PFAS gather in biosolids.

* WCIA | Threats against superintendent ‘not credible’: Danville Police: According to Police Chief Chris Yates, the situation stems from the “bizarre behavior” of a former student who allegedly used racist language and was displaying a Confederate flag on his truck. Geddis first created a police report with Danville Police on Sept. 30. In the report, she said she noticed a truck with Confederate flags following her throughout town and outside her workplace multiple times in late September. After reviewing surveillance camera footage, Danville Police were able to confirm that Geddis had seen multiple different trucks. None of the trucks belonged to the former student that Geddis believed to have been harassing her.

* WCBU | Divided Peoria City Council passes full ban on homeless campsites: Political divisions on the Peoria City Council came to the forefront Tuesday as elected officials again weighed the possibility of adopting an ordinance to ban unauthorized camping in public. Ultimately, the council voted 6-5 to enact the prohibition of homeless encampments with the possibility of jail terms among potential penalties for multiple violations.

* WCBU | Spears ekes out a win over incumbent Ierulli in contested Peoria County judicial race: Spears had 63 more votes than the incumbent after the final tally was completed. The Tazewell County public defender consistently ran ahead of Ierulli, but his lead widened as additional mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day and provisional ballots continued to be counted ahead of the November 19 deadline to close the count out.

* BND | St. Clair County man, a decorated war veteran, fought years to save the home in which he died: Post-traumatic stress disorder, remnant of the firefights he took part in amid the highlands and valleys near the Cambodian border, had left him 70% disabled. Sculpture became his therapy. But neighbors complained to St. Clair County about the vividly colored scraps of metal and plastic bolted together that adorned Euge’s yard. Citations had been written and neighbor threatened a lawsuit, Jason Euge said. The most recent of those complaints was dismissed in 2020, according to St. Clair County Circuit Court records.

*** National ***

* NYT | How Bluesky, Alternative to X and Facebook, Is Handling Explosive Growth:Bluesky was initially financed with a grant from Twitter under Dorsey; Musk cut ties with the Bluesky team after he bought Twitter. Bluesky later raised more than $23 million in two rounds of venture funding from private investors. From there, a team of about a half dozen, led by Graber, began building the “AT protocol.” That is a technical term for the code that would essentially let independent developers create their own social networks atop it, while allowing people to carry their digital identities and information across different platforms. Using this technology, Bluesky executives say, people can tailor their own algorithms to show themselves the kinds of social media posts they want to see.

* AP | 6 monkeys are still on the loose from a South Carolina compound after dozens escaped: Two more Rhesus macaques were trapped Sunday outside the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, bringing the total of recovered monkeys to 37 of the 43 that escaped, Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said in a statement relayed by Yemassee Police in a social media post. Both monkeys recaptured Sunday were examined and were in “excellent condition,” said Westergaard, who was present when they were recovered.

  4 Comments      


Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Retail provides one out of every five Illinois jobs, generates the second largest amount of tax revenue for the state, and is the largest source of revenue for local governments. But retail is also so much more, with retailers serving as the trusted contributors to life’s moments, big and small.

We Are Retail and IRMA are dedicated to sharing the stories of retailers like Emil, who serve their communities with dedication and pride.

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Some election news (Updated)

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* President…

* Freshman incumbent Democrat Eric Sorensen increased his percentage to 54.3 from 51.98 in 2022…

More congressional results are here.

* Legislative…

Subscribers know more about other contested legislative and judicial races.

* Two years ago, Rep. Syed defeated a Republican incumbent who had managed to unseat a different Democratic incumbent, so she under-performed the top of the ticket. This time around, her percentages were more aligned with the new map

Click here to read the rest of her thread.

…Adding… Wow…

  16 Comments      


Meanwhile… In Opposite Land

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* North Carolina

North Carolina Republicans advanced extensive legislation Tuesday that would weaken the powers of the incoming governor, attorney general and schools superintendent — all Democrats who were elected two weeks ago — and shift election board appointments to the GOP state auditor.

The final 131-page measure, which also includes setting aside additional funds for Hurricane Helene relief, became public roughly an hour before the GOP-controlled House met to debate it during a lame-duck General Assembly session this week. The House voted largely along party lines Tuesday night for the measure, which the Republican-controlled Senate was expected to take up on Wednesday. […]

Currently the State Board of Elections’ five members are appointed by the governor based on recommendations by the Democratic and Republican parties. The governor’s party always holds three of the seats. Republican legislators have tried for years to wrest away those appointment powers but have been thwarted by courts. Judges have blocked for now a 2023 law that would move board appointment authority from the governor to the General Assembly.

Even with litigation pending, Tuesday’s measure would move the independent state board to the State Auditor’s Office starting next summer. At that time the new auditor — Republican Dave Boliek, who was elected this month — would make appointments. These changes likely would mean Republican control of the board.

In a likely response to complaints about slow vote-counting this month, the bill also would require in 2025 that county election boards count all provisional ballots by three days after Election Day.

* In 2021, Illinois became the second state to fully repeal its HIV-specific criminal law. Indiana

Indiana laws criminalizing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission are “outdated” and largely unnecessary, asserts a Thursday report from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. […]

Nearly all are felonies punishable by years-long imprisonments and fines of up to $10,000 — and half include enhancements for actual transmission. None require intent to transmit.

Indiana’s contaminated bodily fluids and semen donations bans are the state’s oldest HIV criminal laws, per the report, which found that current U.S. Food and Drug Administration practices are “highly effective” at keeping the blood and plasma supply, as well as semen donations or transfers, safe. […]

In a separate report, the institute found that Indiana has arrested 18 Hoosiers with HIV on charges of donating plasma since 2000 — but not under provisions penalizing actual transmission. Nearly all were convicted of at least one HIV-related crime.

* Washington DC

House Speaker Mike Johnson signaled support Tuesday for a Republican effort to ban Democrat Sarah McBride — the first transgender person to be elected to Congress — from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol once she’s sworn into office next year.

“We’re not going to have men in women’s bathrooms,” Johnson told The Associated Press. “I’ve been consistent about that with anyone I’ve talked to about this.”

Johnson earlier in the day emphasized the need to “treat all persons with dignity and respect,” adding, “This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before, and we’re going to do that in deliberate fashion with member consensus on it.”

A resolution proposed Monday by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace said the bill is aimed specifically at McBride, who was elected to the House this month from Delaware.

* South Carolina

South Carolina now faces a lawsuit stemming from a rule dictating who is allowed to use which restrooms at school.

The people who have filed the legal challenge claim they are now facing “grave violations of their civil and constitutional rights” because of it.

The lawsuit focuses on a temporary law in the current state budget, called a proviso, which requires people, including students, to use school restrooms and locker rooms based on their biological sex at birth.

Schools that violate the law by not enforcing it risk losing a quarter of their state funding.

* Alabama

When the Alabama Legislature approved a near-total abortion ban in 2019, some Republican members of the Legislature downplayed the impact of the legislation, saying it was meant as a challenge to Roe v. Wade and that the state would revisit the issue if Roe fell, possibly in a “heartbeat” bill that would ban the procedure at about six weeks after conception.

“I have prayed my way through this issue and this bill, because it was hard to give up heartbeat,” Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, said at the time. “I believe we can’t get a heartbeat bill until we get Roe v. Wade turned over.”

More than five years later, and over two-and-a-half years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended federal abortion rights protections, Alabama’s ban seems unlikely to change despite successes of abortion rights advocates in other parts of the country.

Collins, who sponsored the legislation, said in a recent interview she had asked other lawmakers if they were interested in moving to a heartbeat bill, and she did not find that they did. […]

Seven states earlier this month voted to enshrine or expand abortion rights in their state constitutions, but such a move would face high hurdles in Alabama. The state has no referendum process allowing citizens to put proposed laws on the ballot, requiring any changes to be made by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Even if the Legislature was moved to add exceptions to the law, it would likely face major legal action from anti-abortion rights activists.

* Texas

Texas’ education board on Tuesday advanced a new Bible-infused curriculum that would be optional for schools to incorporate in kindergarten through fifth grades, one of the latest Republican-led efforts in the U.S. to incorporate more religious teaching into classrooms.

The vote moves the Texas State Board of Education one step closer to signing off on what is known as the “Bluebonnet” textbook, which drew hours of often emotional testimony from school teachers and parents earlier this week.

The board is expected to hold a final vote on the measure Friday.

The curriculum — designed by the state’s public education agency — would allow teachings from the Bible such as the Golden Rule and lessons from books such as Genesis into classrooms. Under the plan, it would be optional for schools to adopt the curriculum though they would receive additional funding if they did so.

  55 Comments      


Roundup: Former ComEd board appointee testifies about Madigan’s role in securing his seat

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Courthouse News Service

Juan Ochoa, a former board member of Illinois’ largest electric utility company ComEd, took the stand Tuesday in the ongoing federal corruption trial of ex-Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Ochoa, current CEO of facilities services company Miramar Group, is a businessman who has been active in Chicago politics for decades. He told jurors Tuesday he had done “election work” for ex-Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and he helped found the Latino Leadership Council PAC in Chicago in 2018.

Blagojevich also appointed Ochoa CEO of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which operates Chicago’s McCormick Place and Navy Pier, in January 2007, though Ochoa left the authority in May 2010.

Ochoa only stayed on the board of ComEd for a year, from April 2019 to April 2020, but how he got his seat — and the $78,000 pay that came with it — informs several of the government’s conspiracy and bribery charges against Madigan. Jurors saw evidence Tuesday that then-House Speaker Madigan pushed ComEd to take on Ochoa as a favor to other influential Latino politicians in the Chicago area, including former Democratic Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez and current Democratic Illinois Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

* Tribune

The episode of Ochoa’s appointment to ComEd’s board is central to the one of the biggest allegations in the case against Madigan and McClain, a longtime ComEd contract lobbyist and self-described “agent” of the speaker. In exchange, prosecutors allege, Madigan used his position to help with the utility’s legislative agenda.

It’s also a lesson in the strange political machinery of Chicago, where changing demographics in Madigan’s Southwest Side ward led to an unusual alliance with Gutierrez and Garcia, two influential Latino politicians who had never endorsed the speaker until the 2016 election.

In fact, Ochoa had been on the outs with Madigan ever since he had personally fired a McPier employee in 2007 who’d previously served as a Madigan legislative staffer in the General Assembly.

After the employee’s termination, Ochoa hit a brick wall when it came time to negotiate for House approval of legislation to refinance McPier’s high-interest bonds in early 2008. Eventually, Ochoa resigned because he felt the debt refinancing would never pass if he stayed on, according to Ochoa’s statements to investigators

* Sun-Times

The process took more than a year. It prompted pushback from Latino leaders such as Martin Sandoval and Iris Martinez, who were Democratic state senators at the time. But jurors also heard how Madigan told McClain he wanted then-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore to keep pushing. They also heard McClain pass along the instruction and Pramaggiore agree to it.

“I will keep pressing,” she said of the pending Ochoa appointment, which didn’t become official until April 2019.

Along the way, Pramaggiore told McClain that, “you take good care of me … and so does our friend, and I will do the best that I can … to take care of you.” Jurors have heard that McClain and others often used the phrase “our friend” to refer to Madigan.[…]

Ochoa testified that he prompted the meeting with Gutierrez and Madigan. Todd Pugh, one of Madigan’s defense attorneys, pressed Ochoa on the point Tuesday. He asked Ochoa, “Mike Madigan didn’t reach out to you or Congressman Gutierrez to say, ‘Hey, thanks for helping me out with the election’? That’s not the way it worked, correct?”

Ochoa agreed that wasn’t how it happened.

* Capitol News Illinois

They spoke once more a couple months later once Ochoa had finally been appointed to the board, asking McClain to pass along his thanks to Madigan. McClain told Ochoa that there was a “bigger team” behind him all along, including Pramaggiore, whom McClain encouraged Ochoa to thank separately.

Late in the afternoon on May 14, 2019 – two weeks after Ochoa’s first ComEd board meeting – Ochoa did just that, emailing Pramaggiore and asking if he could take her to breakfast or lunch that summer.

Unbeknownst to Ochoa, a few hours before he sent his message, FBI agents conducted a coordinated series of searches at the homes of Madigan allies, including McClain. Agents also showed up to Pramaggiore’s door with a subpoena to seize her cell phone, according to her testimony in last year’s “ComEd Four” trial.

Did Ochoa ever end up sharing a meal with Pramaggiore that summer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur asked as she wrapped up her direct examination on Tuesday.

“I did not,” Ochoa replied.

* More…

    * Tribune | Madigan jury expected to hear from precinct captain: Jurors in the Michael Madigan corruption trial on Wednesday are expected to hear testimony from legendary 13th Ward precinct captain Edward Moody, the onetime Cook County Recorder of Deeds who prosecutors say raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars from ComEd through do-nothing consulting contract. Moody, who along with his twin brother, Fred, was one of Madigan’s most trusted election-time door-knockers, testified at the related “ComEd Four” bribery trial last year that the speaker made it clear that the money would dry up if Moody stopped working on campaigns.

  15 Comments      


This judge needs to be pulled off of domestic violence cases (Updated x2)

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From March

As Chicago’s top cop announced charges Friday against a convicted felon accused of brutally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and killing her 11-year-old son, Police Supt. Larry Snelling repeatedly said the attack “should’ve never happened.”

But questions remained over what should have been done to prevent the attack, including why Crosetti Brand, 37, was released from the Stateville Correctional Center on Tuesday after having been sent back to prison earlier this year for menacing the pregnant woman while on parole.

The next day, Brand allegedly forced his way into the woman’s Edgewater apartment, stabbed her repeatedly, then stabbed her son Jayden Perkins when the boy came to her aid.

The woman had repeatedly asked for help from authorities in the weeks before the attack, including seeking an emergency order of protection that was denied by a Cook County judge. […]

In the meantime, the woman sought an emergency protection order. During a Feb. 21 hearing, the woman told Judge Thomas Nowinski that Chicago police didn’t let her file a report when she called about Brand. Instead, they told her to get a protection order. “They asked me, do I have one currently,” she said, “and I told them no.”

At no time during the hearing did the judge ask questions about the alleged texts or Brand’s visit to the home, according to a transcript.

Nowinski decided against issuing an order, even though the woman testified under oath that she had previously sought one against Brand in 2009.

* Yesterday

A man suspected of fatally stabbing his wife Tuesday in Portage Park had already been facing charges for allegedly choking and attempting to kidnap her last month, but he was released on GPS monitoring, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Hours after the Tuesday stabbing, the suspect, 57, was found dead inside a car a block away.

An off-duty detective witnessed the stabbing about 2:25 p.m. in the 5600 block of West Leland Avenue and suffered a gunshot wound while trying to intervene, according to a preliminary statement from Chicago police. […]

The man was previously charged in a separate attack against his wife on Oct. 9 — the same day he was served with an emergency order of protection she had sought, court records show.

Prosecutors filed a petition that day to have him held in Cook County Jail pending trial, but it was denied by Judge Thomas E. Nowinski. Nowinski instead released the suspect on GPS monitoring, ordered him to refrain from possessing weapons and forbade him from visiting his wife’s home, work or school.

According to her petition for the protective order, the second the woman had sought against her husband this year, she said he grabbed her as she was walking to the bus, tried to cover her mouth to stop her from screaming and attempted to knock her unconscious.

Judge Nowinski, who serves in the court’s Domestic Violence Division, is Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Iris Martinez’s former chief of staff.

* And before anyone pops off in comments, every major group that works with domestic violence survivors in this state supported the SAFE-T Act because it gave judges and prosecutors far more power to keep abusers behind bars until trial.

…Adding… From The Network, an anti-domestic violence advocacy organization…

Yesterday, a woman was stabbed to death by her husband in Portage Park, who then injured an off-duty police officer before taking his own life. According to media reports, the man was previously charged in a separate attack against his wife in October and prosecutors filed a petition to have him held in Cook County Jail pending trial. However, Judge Thomas E. Nowinski denied the petition and released the individual on electronic monitoring. Now, the woman is dead and a police officer is injured.

Judge Nowinski was also at the center of the tragic murder of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins by Crosetti Brand in March. A few weeks prior to the murder, Nowinski refused to issue an order of protection to Jayden’s mother, who was told by Chicago Police to seek order of protection after Brand sent threatening text messages and appeared at Perkins’ home.

Today, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence is calling on Chief Judge Timothy Evans to reassign Judge Thomas Nowinski from the domestic violence division and ensure Nowinski no longer presides over any domestic violence cases.

“Judge Nowinski’s failure to protect the community has now resulted in two tragic, preventable murders,” said Amanda Pyron, President and CEO of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence. “He has repeatedly shown he does not have the judgment necessary to keep survivors safe, and at a minimum he must be reassigned. When survivors go to the courts for protection, that protection must be effective. Judge Nowinski has failed in that duty, and allowing him to continue to hear domestic violence cases sends the wrong message to survivors across Chicagoland.”

“We also strongly encourage the Pretrial division to review procedures for domestic violence screening to ensure that judges have all necessary information to accurately understand risk, including recent petitions for orders of protection,” said Pyron. “The failure to provide correct information in this case proved lethal.”

…Adding… One of the judge’s longtime friends (who I also know well) wanted to get this into the record…

This is an awful tragedy. If there were tools to perfectly predict human behavior pretrial with zero error, they would be used to prevent these sorts of tragedies.

The facts of this case are that the defendant was served an order of protection to stay away from the victim at the hearing and placed on GPS monitoring. The petition to detain filed by the prosecution stated no history of orders of protection, no prior arrests for assault or threats, and no weapons used.

There are metrics used to assist in risk assessment on whether defendants should be held pretrial, and this defendant had very low pretrial risk assessment scores. He had a 1 for Domestic Violence Screening, no flag for violent criminal activity, and a 2 out of 6 on criminal activity scale. He had no prior convictions or supervisions in his background and no prior arrests for domestic battery based on what was presented in court.

Illinois Appellate Court precedent clearly states that judges must consider GPS and must issue the least restrictive conditions of release. If someone has no background and low scores from pretrial, and without other incidents, detention has routinely been reversed by the appellate court.

The role of protecting the community from violent offenders while also respecting the constitutional rights of the accused is complicated, especially in this modern era. Every case has different facts and must also be viewed in context with hundreds of previous cases that set precedent for the judiciary, public safety professionals, and the attorneys involved in these matters.

The person claims that the office of pretrial services and the state’s attorney claimed there was no history of orders of protection and no prior arrests for assault, harassment, or threats. The judge, he said, doesn’t recall anything brought up by the prosecutors, particularly not a threat to choke her. The state’s attorney didn’t appeal the decision.

  28 Comments      


Caption contest!

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A top Chicago official was in Springfield yesterday…

Another angle on Capitol Avenue…

  28 Comments      


Open thread

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…

  8 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Here’s how the Citizens Utility Board has saved Illinois consumers billions. Sun-Times

    - The nonpartisan Citizens Utility Board of Illinois has helped save consumers an estimated $20 billion in blocked rate hikes and refunds over the past 40 years.
    -Created by the state Legislature to be a voice for consumers in utility matters, CUB weighs in on proposed rate hikes by electric, gas and water utilities statewide. It also helps educate consumers, from warning people about shady alternative energy sellers to giving tips for lowering cellphone costs, getting heating discounts and obtaining solar power.
    - CUB started in 1984, and within a year, it had won state reforms requiring audits of utility plant construction costs and other spending.
    - Two years later, it notched its first win against a proposed ComEd rate increase that saved consumers $1.9 billion.

* At noon Governor Pritzker will announce a new DCEO grant award. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | LGBTQ+ families brace for Trump’s second term: ‘The stakes are a lot higher now’: The emails began trickling into Carol Jones’ inbox around 4:30 a.m. Nov. 6, shortly after the presidential election was called for Donald Trump. Later that day, the Chicago-based LGBTQ-focused family lawyer said she was inundated with calls and emails from people with questions about what same-sex parents could do to maintain their parental rights.

* Center Square | IL nursing home operators could be fined if they don’t comply with staffing ratios: A law signed in 2023 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives nursing homes until Jan. 1, 2025, to comply with the staffing requirements or they will face fines. Those requirements are based on the hours of care residents in those facilities need per day. Wearing a SEIU brooch and chanting “SEIU” and “put the nursing home industry on notice,” state Sen. Javier Cervantes, D-Chicago, said during his time as an SEIU representative, he heard many grievances about staffing shortages.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | Senate committee unanimously approves bill prioritizing kin-first foster care placement: More than 10,000 youth in care currently live with relatives. Yet, over 60% of those caregivers are denied foster care benefits necessary to care for young people. House Bill 4781 requires DCFS to pursue federal funding to establish a kinship navigator program to help relatives who have youth in care.

* WCIA | Illinois State Capitol Complex security fortified with new rules: “We understand that these changes might present some challenges and – for some – may appear too extreme,” part of the memo reads. “However, in light of the growing number of threats and acts of violence across the nation, we must do everything we can to provide additional layers of security and prevent future tragedies from occurring here.”

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Johnson accuses critics of ‘tantrums,’ says it’s time they ‘grow up’: Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday accused City Council members who engineered the 50-0 vote shooting down his proposed $300 million property tax increase of “having tantrums” and said it’s time for his critics to “grow up.” Johnson said the unanimous vote was an “additional step” created by a “small group of individuals” that blew a giant hole in his $17.3 billion spending plan and only managed to drag an already delayed budget process well into December.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago City Council considers Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new $150M property tax hike proposal: We want to go down to $100 million. In a perfect world, it’ll be none; that’s where we want to be. But, we also don’t want to go to fines and fees because all you’re doing is kicking it back to the taxpayers. So, we’re looking at efficiencies and enforcement,” 20th Ward Ald. Jeanette Taylor said. There appears to be agreement to tax cloud storage services. That would raise $128 million.

* WBEZ | Behind Chicago’s buzziest art destination: a mysterious Democratic megadonor: “The founder really wanted to create a — we don’t really know what to call ourselves,” says Jan Kallish,Wrightwood 659’s executive director. “Some people say ‘gallery’; some people say ‘museum.’ People, when they hear ‘gallery,’ they think we’re selling things. We’re not. When they hear ‘museum,’ they think we have a collection, and we’re not collecting. We used ‘exhibition space’ for a while.” There’s still no consensus inside the building on what word to use.

* Crain’s | Union League Club’s Monet auctioned for $9 million: The most-prized piece in the Union League Club of Chicago’s art collection sold at auction tonight for just over $9 million, topping the median of the predicted range of $7 million to $10 million. “Pommiers en Fleurs,” or “Apple Trees in Bloom,” by Claude Monet was put up for sale to raise cash for the club to pay down debt, fund upgrades and buy other art.

* ABC Chicago | Inside FBI file of Chicago Outfit boss Joey ‘the Clown’ Lombardo: An early mugshot of Joseph Patrick Lombardo set the bar for his public personality. Even though “the Clown” nickname stuck, in Chicago Outfit circles, Lombardo preferred the nickname “Lumpy,” as a reminder of what he liked to leave behind on the skulls of those he beat up.

* Sun-Times | Jesse White Tumblers keep rolling forward after 65 years of local, global shows: Anthony Cavin has been with the organization for 33 years. He’s 54, 5-foot-6 (“and a half”) and muscular with gray in his beard. He’s a coach, but he still tumbles, even though he’s previously torn both Achilles tendons, had reconstructive surgery on his right wrist and, as a kid, was hit by a ricocheting bullet. Oh yes — he also had a kidney transplant in 2002.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | After 40 years, Skokie mayor Van Dusen not running for re-election: Mayor Daniel Biss of neighboring Evanston told Pioneer Press that Van Dusen is a “thoughtful, extremely pragmatic guy. Skokie is like his universe; he loves that town; he knows it like the back of his hand.” Per the village’s website, Van Dusen has been a resident of Skokie since 1974, though he originally hails from Detroit, Michigan, he said in an interview with Pioneer Press. Van Dusen is also a former Niles Township assistant supervisor, per previous reporting.

* Daily Herald | Geneva council member’s critics, supporters speak out over Facebook post: Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns read aloud a review from the city’s appointed ethics adviser, attorney Charles Radovich, about Naperville attorney Lynda Segneri’s ethics complaint against Paschke. Radovich determined Segneri’s letter was not an ethics complaint because it did not allege a violation of either a prohibited political activity or gift ban activity.

* Daily Herald | Critical habitat’: DuPage forest preserve wants to buy oak-studded land: The roughly 43-acre tract features old-growth oaks. By the district’s count, there are some 240 trees on the site, on the north side of North Avenue, a bit west of Route 59. “It is critical habitat that’s already intact, would not need, necessarily, heavy restoration, and obviously, once those trees are gone, they’re gone forever,” Forest Preserve President Daniel Hebreard said.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘I understand why people may have concerns’; Proposed Champaign homeless shelter: “We have a long waiting list that people have been on, and been sitting on for some time,” C-U at Home Executive Director Melissa Courtwright said. “So, it’s really important to us to try to meet the community need and expand our program.” C-U at Home operates seven shelters across Champaign-Urbana but said that isn’t enough. Courtwright said while they’re aware people in the area are concerned, there are regulations for who can be housed.

* WGEM | Students learn about future in trades at Central Illinois career fair Tuesday: Andrae Richardson was one of the union members answering students’ questions. A member of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers, he believes events like Tuesday’s fair are key to showing the next generation they have options. “I think these are very big for the community, for us as a whole as the nation, advising children and some parents and people who are not education to this degree. Knowing that with the trades, you can build a better life. You don’t have to go to college to be successful and you can learn right here in your own backyard and get a great wage at the end of the day,” Richardson said.

* WSIL | Jackson County State’s Attorney race decided: What was a tie at the end of the election night on November 5th, both receiving 10,805 votes a piece, has now been decided after county election officials counted provisional ballots. Cascio-Hale will soon take over as the new Jackson County State’s Attorney, after tallying 39 votes more than Cervantez.

* SJ-R | Illinois Innocence Project based in Springfield helps free man after 32 years behind bars: A southern Illinois man who spent over three decades behind bars for a murder evidence proves he did not commit was freed last week thanks in part to the Springfield-based Illinois Innocence Project (IIP). The court vacated the sentence of Danny Davis, 52, of Cairo, and ordered him freed from the Department of Corrections. The state is appealing the ruling of Circuit Court Associate Judge Tyler Edmonds’ made last week in Alexander County.

* WCIA | Time capsule shows off 100 years of U of I history: The actual time capsule contents were damaged after years of being improperly stored. But thanks to the university archives, staff and students can still take a look at what is inside. The display shows off copies of books, pictures and other items that were in the original capsule.

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Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* You can click here to follow the Madigan trial. Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. It’s the best we can do unless or until Twitter gets its act together.

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Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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PREVIOUS POSTS »
* Uber’s Local Partnership = Stress-Free Travel For Paratransit Riders
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work
* Some election news (Updated)
* Meanwhile… In Opposite Land
* Roundup: Former ComEd board appointee testifies about Madigan’s role in securing his seat
* This judge needs to be pulled off of domestic violence cases (Updated x2)
* Caption contest!
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today's edition
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
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