* As I think I’ve told you, my pontoon boat has not been running this year. It’s a 2007 model, so things do happen with age, I suppose. Oldtimers may remember that we christened it “Sweet Bloggy Goodness” back in the day.
For me, putting around the lake on the ol’ pontoon is like going on a mini-vacation, so this mechanical issue has been a real bummer, especially with the limited recreational options during a pandemic.
But I have some great news! The boat is finally running! A buddy of mine is coming over soon and we’re taking it out on the lake for a while. So, I’m done for the day. Check out the live coverage post for updates. We’ll talk again tomorrow…
The grinding vote by vote hand recount of the disputed Macon County sheriff’s election finished Tuesday, and now it looks certain a judge will have to decide who keeps or gets the sheriff’s job.
Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner said he will announce the raw recount numbers Friday when he formally turns the results over to Champaign Circuit Court Judge Anna M. Benjamin. She will have to sort out dozens of disputed ballots where voters’ intentions weren’t clear in a race that saw Democratic Sheriff Tony Brown beat Republican rival Lt. Jim Root by just one vote: 19,655 to Root’s tally of 19,654 in the 2018 original contest.
Tanner wouldn’t comment on the number ahead of Friday’s formal announcement, but Root told the Herald & Review Wednesday evening that more than 1,300 ballots are not counted yet because they are in dispute.
“And yes, I am still confident the results are there for me,” he said. “I just need to get them in front of a judge for her to rule whether or not certain votes are going to be allowed.”
One hundred years after women were granted the right to vote, the U.S. has more women in political office than ever before. Yet gender has been a major theme of the 2020 campaign, as candidates, voters and the media debate whether a woman can win the presidency. To better understand what it’s really like to try and win an election as a woman, we spoke to women from every state who have done it — 97 women in all.
New claims for unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since March as states began reimposing lockdown restrictions in an effort to reverse a surge of coronavirus cases.
More than 1.4 million new claims were filed during the week ending July 18, an increase of more than 100,000 over the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
In addition, claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which helps people who are self-employed or who don’t qualify for regular benefits, went up nearly 20,000 to about 975,000.
The number of new claims had been steadily ticking downward since March, when nearly 7 million people filed for unemployment insurance in a single week. Last week’s numbers marked the first reversal of that trend.
The increases are evidence that the labor market is deteriorating as businesses around the country close their doors again in response to an intensified coronavirus pandemic.
According to the US Department of Labor, 35,938 Illinois filed for unemployment assistance last week, a decrease of 2,323 from the week before. But initial Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims rose in Illinois to 74,414, up a whopping 17,257 from the previous week.
* Not good, campers. Highest number of cases reported in almost two months. Lots more testing now, but that positivity rate continues to rise. Not good…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,624 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 20 additional confirmed deaths.
Boone County: 1 male 80s
Cook County: 1 male 30s, 2 male 40s, 4 females 50s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 100+
Douglas County: 1 male 80s
DuPage County: 2 males 60s
Kane County: 1 male 70s
Lake County: 2 males 70s, 1 male 80s
McHenry County: 1 female 80s
Will County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 166,925 cases, including 7,367 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 39,706 specimens for a total of 2,388,193. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 16 –July 22 is 3.4%. As of last night, 1,473 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 309 patients were in the ICU and 135 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Peoria County Sheriff Brian Asbell confirms to Heart of Illinois ABC that eight more inmates have been confirmed with COVID-19.
That brings the total to 30.
This comes less than 24 hours after he told us there were also 13 employees at the jail, currently isolating after either testing positive, potentially being exposed to someone who was positive, or still waiting for test results.
* Press release…
In a press conference this morning, union leaders representing thousands of faculty and staff at Illinois colleges and universities formally issued a joint statement calling on campus presidents to start the upcoming semester with online learning.
“The latest science should dictate and guide the reopening of our colleges and universities to protect the safety of our students, faculty, employees, their families, and communities,” said University Professionals of Illinois (UPI) President John Miller. “With so much still unknown about COVID-19, this is not the time to rush the reopening of our institutions.”
Considering the current uptick in cases across Illinois and the likelihood of a second wave in the months ahead, we must put science before politics and economics to ensure everyone’s safety, he added.
University Professionals of Illinois – which represents faculty and staff at seven of Illinois’ 12 public universities – is one of more than 40 unions and allied groups to sign on to a joint higher education statement demanding remote learning to start this fall.
As cases of COVID-19 again begin to swell in Southern Illinois, some restaurants are saying it’s just too risky to stay open for dine-in service, while others find themselves closing after employees test positive.
Thai Taste was late to the dine-in reopening party. As Illinois moved into Phase 4 of its reopening plan in June, Tam Rachatanavin, owner of the popular Carbondale eatery, said he wanted to wait. He and his staff waited until July 13 to welcome guests back inside. It didn’t last long, though. The restaurant announced on Facebook on Monday that after about a week of dine-in service, it would go back to curbside and delivery only. […]
“It was the reasonable and responsible thing to do,” Rachatanavin said of canceling dine-in service. He said “we take a hit, we take a hit but I’d rather this than have a positive case and (have to close).”
The Illinois bar exam, which was to take place in person in September, has been canceled and will be replaced with a remote version in October “due to continuing public health concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Illinois Supreme Court announced Thursday.
The change comes after months of student advocacy and a letter earlier this week from nine Illinois law school deans to the court recommending a remote exam.
According to an email sent out to administration, faculty and staff this morning, Frankfort District #168 Superintendent Matt Donkin stated: “We are tracking COVID-19 cases and working through protocols and guidance so that we can respond properly. Staff that were in closet contact will remain isolated at this time.” The email further states that the Administrative Service Center is also closed until further notice.
State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, is calling on institutions of higher education in Illinois to release data on their use of Black-owned businesses for professional services.
“Colleges and universities in Illinois are second to none when it comes to leadership in learning and education, but we don’t know if that is the case for these institutions when it comes to providing economic justice for African Americans and Black-owned businesses,” Welch said. “That’s why I’m calling on all public and private colleges and universities in Illinois to release data about their employment of Black-owned professional service firms.”
Welch sent a letter to the presidents of public and private colleges and universities in Illinois calling on them to disclose data about contracting and employment at their institutions regarding the hiring of Black professionals and Black-owned professional service firms. Welch’s letter was sent to the leaders of Bradley University, Chicago State University, DePaul University, Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University, Loyola University Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, Northwestern University, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Springfield, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Western Illinois University. Welch demanded that the data include information for the colleges and universities as well as their endowments and foundations.
“Economic justice and equity have always been tied directly to the quest for racial justice for African Americans. That’s why it is critical that Black-owned businesses that provide professional services including investment management and legal consultation, among other areas, are given a fair opportunity for contracting,” Welch said. “Our institutions of higher education can’t achieve their missions and can’t demonstrate their values to students if they aren’t providing equitable and inclusive opportunities for Black-owned businesses.”
Too often, lip service is paid on this topic and then you scratch the surface and find out the good ol’ boy network barely hands out crumbs, if that. Hopefully, these universities cooperate fully and, if need be, change their ways.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker admonished Illinois residents who refuse to wear a mask at his coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, as the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,600 new cases, the highest in the month of July so far.
“It is on all of us to bring these numbers down,” Pritzker said. “This virus is not a blue state or red state virus. The deadly nature of this virus is not a hoax. Going out without a mask is not a political statement. It demonstrates a callous disregard for people in your county, your state, and our nation. You’re endangering everyone around you. The enemy is you.”
* The Question: Your thoughts on the governor’s use of the word “enemy” to describe some recalcitrant Illinoisans?
* Dragging people through the mud because of an internet search without context. Great…
Telephone giant AT&T has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors amid a widening criminal probe encircling House Speaker Michael Madigan’s political operation, a source with knowledge of the investigation told the Chicago Tribune.
The subpoena, delivered earlier this year by the U.S. attorney’s office, is part of an inquiry into whether companies improperly used a stable of consultants with ties to the longtime House speaker as they pushed for legislation in Springfield. […]
Records show that AT&T has used several of the same former Madigan staffers and ex-Democratic state representatives as Commonwealth Edison, which was accused in federal charges unveiled last Friday of orchestrating a “years-long bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments to Madigan allies in exchange for favorable action in the state Capitol.
Among those who have lobbied for both ComEd and AT&T are Tom Cullen, who served as Madigan’s political director and was considered part of the speaker’s “inner circle”; former Madigan legal counsel Heather Wier Vaught; and onetime Madigan staffers Liz Brown-Reeves and D’Javan Conway, state lobbying records show.
You’d never know by reading the piece, but Cullen hasn’t lobbied for ComEd since May of 2007 - more than 13 years ago. He and several other contracts were terminated by the company at the insistence of then-Senate President Emil Jones. I could go on, but what’s the point? This story is just a list of people without regard to whether there’s any there there.
How about we not smear folks unless we have at least an inkling it’s for a good reason?
Also, that 2017 bill they wrote about was used as a practice run for the budget and veto override votes later that month. That legislation wouldn’t have passed without heavy rank and file Republican involvement.
A senior Department of Justice official on Wednesday corrected comments by Attorney General William Barr, who minutes earlier had said 200 arrests had been made within two weeks in Kansas City as part of Operation Legend, a federal anti-crime effort. […]
Speaking with McClatchy after the Wednesday event, the senior Justice Department official clarified that the 200 figure included arrests dating back to December 2019.
It also included, the official said, both state and FBI arrests in joint operations. […]
Prior to the DOJ’s correction of the misinformation, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas had cast doubt on the claim. Lucas said that he was aware only of one arrest that had been announced by the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas City.
