* Greg Sapp…
Oral arguments are to be heard October 14 in the case of St. Rep. Darren Bailey vs. Governor J.B. Pritzker in its new venue.
The case was moved from Clay County to Sangamon County and consolidated with similar cases from Edgar County, Bond County, Clinton County and Richland County. The plaintiffs in all of the cases are represented by Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore. Each case basically charges that the governor exceeded his authority in continuing to issue disaster declarations after his initial order issued in March.
Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow has ordered the defendants to file responses to the charges by August 31, then the plaintiffs have until September 21 to file any responses. Defendants then will have until October 5 to respond to those filings.
This is how a real judge operates, unlike in one little county that won’t be named.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Question of the day
Friday, Aug 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Cal Skinner…
Watching State Rep. Allen Skillicorn’s disengagement from the Illinois political stage over the last couple of months puzzled me.
His tweets are most likely to be able national politics than that of Illinois.
He did not show up at the Algonquin-Grafton Township fundraiser on Monday.
The two townships contain a majority of Republican primary voters.
Now comes a report that Skillicorn is leaving Illinois after his term expires in January, that he tried to withdraw his name from the ballot last Friday.
Subscribers know more, but lots of people have been trying to reach Skillicorn lately to find out what he intends to do and when he intends to do it. I mean, there’s only like 82 days until the election is over.
* This may explain some things…
* The Question: Caption?
*** UPDATE *** Sigh…
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* Some heavy-hitter lawyers have filed suit to stop the federal government from collecting the $200 million ComEd fine because, they claim, it violates federal victim restitution law…
Their argument is that ComEd effectively admitted to bribery, but at the same time CEO Joseph Dominguez and others separately have argued before state regulators and others that ratepayers suffered no financial damage in the scheme. The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, meanwhile, has failed to follow federal requirements that should favor restitution of victims over a fine that goes to the U.S. Treasury, according to the motion. […]
Federal law requires restitution of victims to take precedence over any fine payable to the government, the plaintiffs argued. “In the parties’ proposed resolution of this case, however, not a penny is going to alleviate any crime victim’s losses, including the state of Illinois and ComEd ratepayers,” according to the motion.
ComEd agreed with federal prosecutors’ assertion that its scheme provided the utility with at least a $150 million benefit.
“Illinois ratepayers have funded the $150 million ‘benefit’ defendant admits it sought as the quid pro quo for the multiple payoffs ComEd made in its bribery scheme,” the motion said. “It is noteworthy that the government had the opportunity to press restitution claims against ComEd, but it did not do so. By its inaction, and without lawful authority, the government apparently proposes to forfeit statutory restitution claims the non-federal victims have against ComEd, because the DPA provides not a cent for restitution. Essentially, the federal government is, without authority, monetarily preferring itself.”
Go read the rest.
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Bureau, Cass, Clinton, Franklin, Greene, Grundy, Hancock, Jefferson, Kane, LaSalle, Moultrie, Perry, Union and Will counties put on warning list
Friday, Aug 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 14 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
Fourteen counties are currently reported at a warning level – Bureau, Cass, Clinton, Franklin, Greene, Grundy, Hancock, Jefferson, Kane, LaSalle, Moultrie, Perry, Union, Will.
These counties saw cases or outbreaks associated with weddings, businesses, birthday parties, long-term care facilities and other congregate settings, bars, sports camps, and spread among members of the same household. Public health officials are seeing people in some communities are not wearing masks, or if they are, they are being worn incorrectly. Local health departments are finding it challenging to obtain the information necessary to halt local transmission, by quickly identifying exposures from contacts of cases and businesses. Inconsistent messaging from local elected leaders are contributing to on-going transmission in some communities where there is little public concern for consequences or enforcement of social distancing, banning large gatherings, or quarantine/isolation orders.
Several counties are taking swift action and implementing mitigation measures to help slow spread of the virus. Examples include increasing the availability in testing in their community and working with local businesses to educate and spot check mask wearing and guideline adherence.
IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county.
• New cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
• Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
• ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
• Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Tests perform. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
• Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases.
These metrics are intended to be used for local level awareness to help local leaders, businesses, local health departments, and the public make informed decisions about personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do. The metrics are updated weekly, from the Sunday-Saturday of the prior week.
A map and information of each county’s status can be found on the IDPH website at https://www.dph.illinois.gov/countymetrics.
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The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,264 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 25 additional confirmed death.
- Bureau County: 1 female 80s
- Cook County: 1 female 30s, 2 males 50s, 2 males 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- DeKalb County: 1 female 60s
- DuPage County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 90
- Iroquois County: 1 female 50s
- Madison County: 2 females 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Morgan County: 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Will County: 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 202,691 cases, including 7,721 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 49,541 specimens for a total of 3,285,348. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 8 – August 14 is 4.1%. As of last night, 1,612 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 345 patients were in the ICU and 126 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Region 4 (Metro East) of the 11 COVID-19 Regions is seeing increases in test positivity rates and could surpass the resurgence metrics in the coming days. If the region experiences three consecutive days of 8% test positivity (7-day rolling average), the State will implement mitigation measures. A list of mitigation options can be found on the coronavirus.illinois.gov website.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
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* Background is here if you need it. WTWO…
A local school district named in a lawsuit by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for not mandating masks alters their return plan pending an upcoming court date. […]
During a Thursday meeting of the Hutsonville school board, by a vote of 4-3, the board decided to comply with guidelines from the state.
“We had a lot of discussion and have gotten advice from our attorneys that if we don’t exactly follow the guidelines then our tort immunity disappears and that’s what the major concern was,” Kraemer said.
Kraemer said the school district does have a court date next Tuesday, and their battle over who should make decisions for schools is not over yet.
“We encourage our community to show up at that court date,” she said. “We will continue to try to fight. We’re not just giving up. We’re just going to go ahead and follow those guidelines until we can get there and present our plan.” [Emphasis added.]
* Meanwhile…
Herrin High School sent home about two dozen students Thursday morning after one tested positive for COVID-19.
District Superintendent Terry Ryker said that as soon as the school was notified that the student had tested positive, officials reviewed class assignments and seating charts and quickly moved to quarantine the other students while contacting their parents to notify them and arrange for transportation.
…Adding… With thanks to a commenter…
The Springfield District 186 school board voted 5-2 Thursday to adopt remote learning for most students when classes begin Aug. 31.
Thursday’s special meeting was called after the board first voted 4-3 for a hybrid/blended model at its Aug. 3 meeting. A surge in coronavirus infections across Sangamon County forced the board to reconsider starting the school year with remote learning.
The vote included an amendment that the hybrid/blended model cannot begin until at least Oct. 26.
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* From a July 17th Tribune profile of a Canadian company called Red, White and Bloom that operates a huge hemp growing facility in Illinois and wants to get into the cannabis growing business here…
In addition, one full-scale growing license remains from the original 21 medical marijuana licenses that Illinois awarded in 2015. One license was given for each of the state police districts in the state, but the last license was for the district that patrols the tollways. State regulators said they would not give it out because it lies on tollway land, and would be impossible to use. Red White and Bloom pushed for legislation to force the state to award that license, but the measure was never voted on and is seen as a long shot.
At the same time, the company has applied for new craft grower licenses in Illinois. But those licenses are limited to 10,000 square feet. Competition is fierce, with 455 applications for only 40 available. The Illinois Department of Agriculture has indefinitely delayed awarding those licenses, citing the coronavirus.
State regulators may also create licenses for new full-scale recreational pot growers after July 1, 2021, based on supply and demand.
That tollway land bill was originally sponsored last year by Sen. Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago), but she eventually handed sponsorship over to Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago). You’ll recall that Van Pelt was running a “marijuana millionaires” company which attracted some unwanted attention. The bill, which would’ve allowed the state to open a grow facility outside the tollway area, never moved out of the Assignments Committee and never picked up another co-sponsor.
According to the governor’s office, the tollway land was on federal property, making it impossible to use as a grow center. And because of the pandemic, only very limited cannabis legislation advanced out of the GA in May. Even a tiebreaker provision wasn’t dealt with, which resulted in a new rule that finally took effect this week to allow licensing of 75 new dispensaries.
* Anyway, that brings us to this somewhat bizarre Sun-Times story today…
A former celebrity publicist for R. Kelly and confidante of Kanye West has jumped into Illinois politics, lobbying for a major Canadian cannabis firm that wants to start growing weed here.
But Trevian Kutti has already ruffled feathers in just a short time in the fray, lodging a series of incendiary and profanity-laden attacks against Toi Hutchinson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s top adviser on cannabis issues. While both women are Black, Kutti has vowed to “keep my knee on Toi W. Hutchinson’s neck” and has referred to her as a “slave.”
Kutti says she is furious over the state’s delays in awarding the next round of licenses prioritized for so-called social equity applicants, saying “those in greatest need are being screwed with again.”
* OK, one thing at a time. First, here’s Kutti’s full statement on Hutchinson…
Charity Greene with the Pritzker administration handled the response…
As the nation continues to reckon with the tragic murder of George Floyd and countless other black lives lost to police violence, comments regarding kneeling on someone’s neck are especially insensitive and abhorrent. Invoking violence and hurling insults and profanities at a State of Illinois employee is the antithesis of everything this administration stands for. Governor Pritzker remains committed to ensuring the cannabis industry in Illinois is equitable and will continue working towards that goal in spite of these misinformed, callous remarks.
* Red, White and Bloom is a publicly traded company with an all-white board of directors.
The angle here, supposedly, is that Red, White and Bloom wants to sell reasonably priced product to social equity retailers. But it can’t do that without a grow license.
* Ms. Kutti has a truly different concept of lobbying than most. Back to the Sun-Times…
“I’m sure that like most lobbyists, I have my share of allies and my share of disparagers,” she said in an interview. “Those who fall in the latter camp quiver hearing my unapologetic truths.”
That’s… a novel approach. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.
* The Sun-Times story veers all over the place, even touching on Kutti’s support for President Trump. Meh. It’s a free country.
But the bottom line here is a person with no apparent lobbying experience is setting off rhetorical bombs after failing to move her bill forward an inch and, according to the story, her employer believes the approach can actually work. Again, it’s a free country, but that lack of experience may show in her state disclosure reports. Note the dollar amounts reported on these filings…
The Illinois Gift Ban Act bars lobbyists from spending more than $75 on food or refreshments on a legislator during a single calendar day.
She probably submitted the entire amount for everyone at the table. I mean, spending $260 at Springfield’s Wyndham hotel restaurant on only one person would be really tough. Still…
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Secretary of State’s website…
All lobbyists must refrain from harassment, sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination of any person. “Harassment” means, as set out in the Illinois Human Rights Act, any unwelcome conduct on the basis of an individual’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, order of protection status, disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, unfavorable discharge from military service, or citizenship status that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with the individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, a hostile, or an offensive working environment.
A working environment “Does not require an ‘employment’ relationship between the alleged harasser and victim.”
After an investigation, the offenses can be referred to a circuit court by the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission. Violations are treated as a business offense “and subject to fines of up to $10,000 for each violation.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** A spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White told me that this matter has been referred to the inspector general.
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* The Sun-Times takes a close look at how the McCormick Place was stood up in a big hurry with mostly federal funds. Remember the times we were in then, with New York City setting up tent hospitals to handle the overflow and patients were waiting for days to be admitted…
Taxpayers spent nearly $66 million fashioning McCormick Place into an emergency coronavirus hospital with 2,750 beds this past spring amid fears that COVID-19 patients would overwhelm hospitals in the Chicago area.
Those fears turned out to be unfounded. Just 38 patients were transferred to the sprawling convention center — meaning taxpayers’ cost for the makeshift hospital turned out to be more than $1.7 million per patient, on average.
But top aides to Mayor Lori Lightfoot say her decision to initiate the project with the federal government and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority was an important “insurance policy” at a time of “immense emergency.”
“It’s something I’m incredibly proud of,” says Samir Mayekar, Lightfoot’s deputy mayor for economic and neighborhood development who says the money was “not spent in vain.”
He also notes that the medical equipment is being stored and can be redeployed if needed.
Aside from the headline and the lede, the story is very informative, so click here to read it.
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Gaming analyst to Chicago: Time to get moving
Friday, Aug 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mitchell Armentrout at the Sun-Times…
Although Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s opening roll for a Chicago casino came up snake-eyes, a new tax structure keeps her in the game.
But it’s too early to tell whether she winds up making her point or sevens out.
That’s according to the Las Vegas consulting firm that previously declared that the “exceptionally onerous” taxes originally written into state law last summer would mean no dice for the city as it tried to attract developers to the table for a shot at the long-sought megacasino.
Union Gaming Analytics now says the revised Chicago structure that passed the Legislature during a shortened spring legislative session in May is “significantly more palatable for potential developers,” lowering the effective tax rate on gaming revenue from a whopping 72% to about 40%.
That should be “attractive enough” to draw proposals from gaming developers — and the city should start soliciting information from them, analyst Grant Govertsen wrote for Union Gaming in a report released this week.
There’s more to this story, so click here.
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Pritzker warns against Missouri travel
Friday, Aug 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* St. Louis Business Journal…
llinois Governor JB Pritzker has a message for residents who go to Missouri during the pandemic.
He posted the following message along with Belleville News Democrat’s article ‘As COVID cases soared in Missouri, more from southwest IL went to visit, data shows’ on Facebook,
“Folks, we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
“Missouri may be more ‘open’ today, but if you cross the border and let your guard down, you’re putting the future of the Illinois economy at risk.
Harsh.
* The BND article…
(T)raffic doubled from metro-east to the Missouri side of St. Louis from July 2019 to July 2020, according to an analysis of smart phone tracking data by Saint Louis University researchers. They looked at travel from St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Calhoun and Jersey counties in the metro-east to St. Louis city, St. Louis County, Jefferson and St. Charles counties.
Two counties accounted for the biggest increase in travelers: St. Charles and Jefferson counties, which don’t have mask mandates and allowed businesses to open in May.
“This is highlighting the arbitrary borders our infectious diseases don’t care about,” said Enbal Shacham, associate director of the Geospatial Institute at Saint Louis University. “We’ve seen this in STDs and HIV and now we’re seeing this even worse, I would say, in COVID because of the activity and how easy it is to transmit.” […]
Additionally, the average number of cases per 100,000 residents in counties bordering Missouri was double that in counties that shared no borders with other states, according to an analysis of U.S. Census and Illinois COVID-19 data.
* Positivity rates and the number of new tests coming back positive as of Wednesday…
St. Charles County, Mo.: 12.7%, 16.6
Jefferson County, Mo.: 11.9%, 17.5
St. Louis County: 6.4%, 21.1
St. Louis City: Insufficient data, 20
Monroe County: 9.7%, 157
St. Clair County: 8.6%, 175
Madison County: 6.6%, 131
Calhoun County: 6.2%, 1
Jersey County: 4.8%, 46
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Open thread
Friday, Aug 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Please keep it Illinois-centric and polite. Thanks.
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