Question of the day
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rockford Register Star…
Saying Illinois could become the epicenter of a “clean transportation revolution,” Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed the Reimagining Electric Vehicles in Illinois Act during a visit to the Rockford region.
Pritzker signed the law championed by Illinois state Rep. Dave Vella and state Sen. Steve Stadelman during a visit to the future home of the Rock Valley College Advanced Technology Center in Belvidere. The facility focused on advanced manufacturing education is expected to open in 2022.
“With this bill, we intend to attract more EV manufacturers, charging station manufacturers and automotive parts manufacturers than ever before and help Illinois to become one of the leading EV hubs in the entire nation,” Pritzker said.
“With this new focus on electric vehicles, our state can also become a leader in the clean transportation revolution. Electric school buses, electric municipal buses, electric delivery trucks, electric 18-wheelers and so much more.”
After the presentation, the governor offered to take questions from the media. Nobody spoke up. “OK,” he said after a pause. “That was the easiest press conference I ever had.”
* We’ve seen time and time again on this blog that whenever I post a question having to do with the Illinois Senate, it gets almost no responses. So, I’m wondering, could the presence of this man behind Pritzker have somehow caused reporters to clam up?…
Yes, it’s the comment-killer himself, Don Harmon. And his trusty sidekick John Patterson (also a notorious comment killer) was at the event as well.
* The Question: Why don’t you like to answer questions about the Illinois Senate?
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* First we find out that the US Census Bureau was drastically overestimating annual population losses for states like Illinois, and now this…
The government sharply underestimated job gains for most of 2021, including four months this summer in which it missed more job growth than at any other time on record.
In the most recent four months with revisions, June through September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported it underestimated job growth by a cumulative 626,000 jobs — that’s the largest underestimate of any other comparable period, going back to 1979. If those revisions were themselves a jobs report, they’d be an absolute blockbuster.
In an average month before the pandemic, estimates would be revised by a little over 30,000 jobs, or just 0.02 percent of all the jobs in the United States. The recent revisions to the jobs reports have been much larger.
The missing jobs surfaced through revisions to the widely watched non-farm payrolls number that BLS releases each month. The data is considered preliminary until it has been revised twice. The fixes are typically minor, but recent revisions have been big enough to turn a substantial slump into a surprising surge.
Unreal.
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COVID-19 roundup
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WICS…
It was supposed to be the happiest of occasions. Now, family and friends of a Chicago couple are mourning their passing.
Luis Suarez and Norma Franco had been together for years and were finally going to make it official just after Thanksgiving by getting married.
But instead of a wedding, family members are now planning a memorial service after both died in October. […]
Santos says Suarez and Franco were not vaccinated, but we’re planning to get the shot soon so they could have family at their wedding.
Just before they could get it, however, both came down with the virus and both were hospitalized.
Get your shots, people.
* Daily Journal…
Riverside Healthcare has terminated 40 employees for noncompliance with its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
On Nov. 1, the hospital placed 62 employees on a two-week unpaid suspension for failing to become vaccinated by a Oct. 31 deadline. Kyle Benoît, Riverside’s chief operating officer, said of those, 35 percent (or 22 employees) became vaccinated and will remain in their positions. When the suspension period concluded on Monday, the 40 employees who still had not complied with the requirement were informed they were no longer employed.
“We were happy to see more employees become vaccinated,” Benoit said. “We wish it would have been 100 percent of them.”
Not included in Monday’s terminations are the 57 employees who gained a court-issued restraining order from a Kankakee County judge that protects them from being either fired or suspended until a Jan. 11 hearing on an injunction seeking to bar the hospital from firing unvaccinated employees.
The hospital employs 2,900 people.
* WICS TV…
Springfield District 186’s board of education voted Monday to fire a teacher for opting not to follow the state and district mandates about testing and vaccinations.
Franklin Middle School band teacher, Kingsley Keys, is now a former teacher after the board unanimously voted to dismiss him Monday.
The rules are that teachers and faculty must prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or get weekly testing. Keys decided to not do this so the board dismissed him.
* Meanwhile, here’s Jim Dey…
[Springfield school teacher Kadence Koen] recently caved to the pressure of being on unpaid leave and provided a photo of her vaccination card to district officials. News reports state the dates on her card showed she got two shots on June 29 and July 19, well before the mandate she protested so publicly was put in place.
So what was all the fuss about?
Koen contends that being “anti-mandate does not mean anti-vaccination” and that what she was really protesting was the district’s requirement that she show a vaccination card or submit to regular testing.
Few, however, will take that explanation credible because Koen could have been more forthcoming about her motivation. After all, Koen could have revealed that she was vaccinated, but did not.
Why? Who knows? Call it the coronavirus effect.
Call it a lot of things, I suppose. I cannot understand these odd ducks and I’ve mostly given up trying.
* Ms. Koen appeared on Jim Leach’s radio show a few days ago and showed a remarkable lack of understanding about vaccines and COVID-19 and masking and numerous other things. For instance, here’s a direct quote…
I am no less likely to contract COVID because I’m vaccinated.
Whew. I just. Wow.
And yet, she’s a teacher.
Koen also said she was still planning to pursue legal action against the district, but the suit wasn’t yet filed and she wouldn’t name her attorney.
* But while the weird people get a lot of headlines, there is still hope. From The Atlantic…
It’s possible COVID could become endemic in some countries in the coming months. That is, a disease that’s present and unshakable, but totally manageable without massive disruptions to work, education and travel. […]
There’s a cumulative effect from the mandates, a drop in hesitancy and the recent decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize boosters for many Americans, as well as first doses for children over five years old. From a recent low of just half a million doses a day back in July, the vaccination rate has climbed to a healthy 1.2 million doses a day.
“The combination of vaccinating children, continuing to get vaccination rates up in older individuals and natural immunity from the substantial numbers of people who have already been infected now puts the long elusive herd immunity within reach,” Alberg said.
Today, 59 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated. And that percentage has been increasing by a point roughly every two weeks.
A vocal and sometimes violent minority might make it seem like the United States has an insurmountable anti-vax problem. It doesn’t. And as COVID surges in its third winter, vaccines are likely to keep a lot of people out of hospitals and morgues in the U.S. and other countries with high case counts. The SARS-CoV-2 virus isn’t endemic yet, but it’s getting closer, Alberg said. “We can confidently say that endemicity is now within reach.”
Maybe. I’d sure like to see Illinois boost its 65+ rate, however…
The CDC reports 98.5% of adults 65 and older [nationwide] have received at least a first vaccine dose as of Wednesday, while 85.8% are fully vaccinated.
Illinois’ rates are 89 percent and 84 percent, respectively. Those folks are the most vulnerable by far.
* And this announcement will also help those folks, since they are also the most vulnerable to harmful breakthrough infections…
The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that it is purchasing 10 million courses of Pfizer’s covid pill, a multibillion-dollar investment in a medication that officials hope will help change the trajectory of the pandemic by staving off many hospitalizations and deaths, according to two people with knowledge of the transaction.
U.S. officials see this antiviral pill, and another by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, as potential game-changers to help restore a broader sense of normalcy and are eager to add them to a small arsenal of treatments for Americans who contract the coronavirus. With breakthrough cases rising and 30 percent of American adults not fully vaccinated, health officials believe the pills will help tame the pandemic because of their ability to thwart the virus’s most pernicious effects.
* More…
* COVID-19 update: 1,627 hospitalized, 20 more deaths, 3,005 new cases: Hospitalizations have increased by 16.8% from a week ago, IDPH figures show. … The state’s seven-day case positivity rate is at 2.8%. … A week ago, the state’s seven-day case positivity rate was at 2.2%.
* Why Health-Care Workers Are Quitting in Droves: About one in five health-care workers has left medicine since the pandemic started. This is their story—and the story of those left behind.
* Pfizer agrees to let other companies make its COVID-19 pill
* Illini football coach Bret Bielema tests positive for COVID-19 and will miss Saturday’s game against Iowa
* Minnesota COVID-19 deaths top 9,000 as new cases soar
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* Flashback to July 12th…
18th District Congressman Darin LaHood said he was pleased with the recent bi-partisan compromise struck by the Biden Administration with Senators last week: “I’m optimistic that the Senate will take up action this week and next week. They are going to be the drivers of this initially. I give the Biden Administration and the bi-partisan group of Senators a lot of credit. They keep working at this and working on it, and they have made a lot of progress. It’s about a trillion dollar bill – doesn’t raise significant taxes. It has some user fees on airports and the rail system. It gives back a lot of COVID money to help pay for infrastructure, but it’s a significant amount of money. It would be about a trillion dollars that would fund roads and bridges, and our locks and dams, and traditional infrastructure. We’ll see if it passes the Senate next week. If it does, I think it’ll pick up some momentum and it’ll come over to the House. I’m going to give it strong consideration if that happens. I’m looking forward to seeing this new progress that’s being made.”
* August 12th…
The Senate voted 69-30 Tuesday to approve a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, a historic piece of legislation that could reshape American lives for decades.
The measure fulfills a call from President Biden for the two major parties to work together to deliver one of his top priorities, but it faces an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives as progressive Democrats press for even greater spending. […]
The 19 Republicans who voted for the bill, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did so despite pressure from former President Donald Trump to deny Democrats a victory. Trump released a statement that called the bill “the beginning of the Green New Deal.”
Republican negotiators, including Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, dismissed that criticism and promoted the agreement as a huge breakthrough for the Senate.
* November 5th…
The House passed a more than $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill late Friday, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk in a critical step toward enacting sprawling Democratic economic plans.
The Senate approved the revamp of transportation, utilities and broadband in August.
* Also on November 5th…
Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) released the following statement on his vote against the infrastructure bill:
“I voted no on the infrastructure package which enables the Democrats to ram through their reckless tax and spending agenda using reconciliation. Given the reconciliation process initiated by President Biden and Speaker Pelosi at the behest of Senator Sanders and the radical progressive wing of the Democrat party, the reality remains that the infrastructure bill and reconciliation package are linked and cannot be viewed separately. A vote for the infrastructure bill is a vote that paves the way for an extreme reconciliation spending bill that includes crippling tax hikes that will kill American jobs and send them overseas, hammer small businesses as they struggle to recover from COVID-19, and worsen the labor shortage while driving up inflation on working families.”
So, he’s now the process police.
* This News-Gazette editorial on November 10th was about Rodney Davis’ argument, which was the same as LaHood’s…
Equally disappointing was the response of Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville — the ranking Republican on the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee — who voted no on the legislation and falsely claimed that it was paired with another infrastructure bill.
“I’m beyond disappointed that President Biden and Democrats in Congress paired bipartisan infrastructure investment to their reckless, multi-trillion-dollar, tax-and-spending proposal,” said Davis.
Davis could have voted for the physical infrastructure bill — as other Republicans did — without voting for the separate social-safety-net and climate-change bill that Democrats hope to pass later this month. Further, Davis last summer asked that about $23 million in “member-directed spending” or earmarks for his district be included in the infrastructure bill.
Congress’ history is full of hypocrisy, and last week’s voting on the infrastructure bill is another example.
Mike Bost made the same argument, by the way.
* Also on November 10th…
One caller instructed Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to slit his wrists and “rot in hell.” Another hoped Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska would slip and fall down a staircase. The office of Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York has been inundated with angry messages tagging her as a “traitor.”
Investing in the nation’s roads and bridges was once considered one of the last realms of bipartisanship in Congress, and President Biden’s infrastructure bill drew ample support over the summer from Republicans in the Senate. But in the days since 13 House Republicans broke with their party leaders and voted for the $1 trillion legislation last week, they have been flooded by menacing messages from voters — and even some of their own colleagues — who regard their votes as a betrayal.
* November 11th…
[US Rep. Darin LaHood’s] Illinois district includes the heart of the nation’s heavy construction equipment manufacturing industry, where Caterpillar, Komatsu America and their suppliers are mainstays of the Peoria economy. The upstart electric truck maker Rivian in Normal, Ill., has much to gain from the bill’s funds to electrify the nation’s highways and boost its power grid. […]
But while the new 16th District may have infrastructure needs, it also has Republicans — lots of them — with a heavy conservative tilt. The new district will almost certainly be represented by the Republican Party in 2023. […]
Eli Nicolosi, the Republican chairman in Winnebago County, which includes Rockford, had the misimpression that the bill was full of social policies that had nothing to do with infrastructure, some of which are in the reconciliation bill. He said he understood and accepted Mr. LaHood’s vote, even though he noted that the local airport could use some help and that aerospace manufacturing would most likely benefit from a cash infusion. […]
Connie Beard, the chairwoman of the McLean County Republicans, brought up Rivian as a company of the future, but she worried aloud that the infrastructure measure would mean “tremendous amounts of tax increases.” Told that there were none in the bill, which is dominated by old-fashioned public works programs, Ms. Beard pivoted.
“It’s hard for the legislators themselves to understand what was left in the bill and what was on the cutting room floor,” she said, adding, “I understand why Congressman LaHood wanted to take more time.”
Extreme partisanship combined with newly drawn districts and a whole new crop of voters will make politicians skittish as heck about breaking party ranks and drawing primary challengers. That’s not an excuse, but it’s clearly why they did what they did.
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* We talked about this last month, but here’s Hannah Meisel…
Campaign contributions from out-of-staters and so-called dark money groups will be banned in Illinois judicial campaigns beginning in January under legislation Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law Monday. […]
But making Illinois the first state to outright ban certain political contributions to judicial candidates is the biggest change contained in the law, which comes a year after an Illinois Supreme Court justice first elected as a Democrat became the first sitting high court member in state history to lose his retention bid — an expensive race fueled in part by dark money.
Republicans voted against Stuart’s legislation last month, with several members arguing during the House debate that the majority party was making another adjustment in state elections law to benefit their party.
“This is another effort for the majority [party] to change the rules of the game because they don’t like the outcome,” State Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) said before voting no on the bill. “And the voters of the state of Illinois are noticing that the policies and practices and elected officials that they’ve put in power have not served them well.”
I mean, I get it, but I’m still not sure how you can claim with a straight face that a bill to ban dark money contributions is a scary bad thing.
* There’s more to the omnibus bill…
The law also makes adjustments in deadlines and other technical requirements for candidates in next year’s primary election because it’s later. Pritzker signed a law in June moving the primary from March 15 to June 28 because late-arriving 2020 Census numbers delayed the drawing of new congressional district boundaries.
Under the law, which takes effect immediately, any polling place that is accessible to voters with disabilities and elderly voters shall include at least one voting booth that is wheelchair accessible. […]
Another change allows voters to designate sex on voter registration forms as “male,” “female” or “non-binary.”
…Adding… Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul Schimpf…
Out of all of the items included in SB 536, improving and increasing election integrity safeguards was not one of them.
If the Democrats are going to make voting vastly more accessible, they need to increase voting safeguards. Yet, they are so focused on their one-party control that they don’t even consider what the voters want—and Illinoisans want to know their vote will be counted fairly and securely. But Democrats couldn’t even reach across the aisle to make election integrity a pillar of our voting process. Good government and governance starts at the top and under JB Pritzker’s leadership deficit, Illinois voters will experience another election with a lack of safeguards that promote integrity in the system.
I would have VETOED SB 536 because of the lack of election integrity safeguards. Integrity and trust must be restored in our elections.
I’ve asked what specific safeguards he was talking about, since he didn’t mention any. I’ll let you know.
…Adding… [The bill in this deleted update had been signed previously. Oops. Sorry about that.]
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* What a long strange trip this has been…
…Adding… Some background from earlier this year…
Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino violated campaign law as a legislator, Illinois Supreme Court Justices ruled on May 20.
They found his campaign committee improperly spent more than $200,000 at Happy’s service station in Spring Valley.
They remanded his case to state election board commissioners, who must decide whether Mautino knowingly broke the law.
…Adding… [The bill in this deleted update had been signed previously. Oops. Sorry about that.]
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* I told subscribers about this press release earlier today. Despite a retraction sent yesterday, Moylan said only one word needed to be changed because it misidentified somebody…
State Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, has stated that he is convening a press conference with other state legislators and police chiefs to discuss proposed legislation regarding the increasing crime rate around Chicago and surging violence against police officers.
“The situation is getting out of control. FBI data this year shows that violent, fatal attacks against police officers are up 31%. Just this month, Officer Stephen Kotlewski of Bensenville was shot and hospitalized during a domestic violence call. It’s reaching into every community,” said Moylan.
Moylan is sponsoring two pieces of legislation to combat the alarming rise in fatal attacks. House Bill 4159, the Police Protection Act filed by Moylan, increases penalties for offenses when the act is taken against a police officer. House Bill 4125, proposed by State Representative Fran Hurley, creates the Police “Hate Crime” Act, which would label any offense where an individual attacks, harms or stalks a police officer as “hate crime” and increases penalties for those offenses.
Moylan is also asking for up to $100,000,000 to increase protections for officers on duty.
The conference will reportedly be attended by colleagues from both houses of the General Assembly including State Representatives Jaime Andrade, Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, Eva Dina Delgado, and State Senators Laura Murphy and John Connor. Additionally, Des Plaines Police Chief David Anderson and Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski have announced their attendance, along with Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow and DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin.
“The brave men and women who put their lives on the line each day to protect our communities deserve to know they, too, are protected.” Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) said. “Law enforcement officers are facing an increase in dangerous and stressful situations. Together, we must build mutual trust between our officers and the community to reduce violence on our streets.”
“We must address this issue immediately. We are not at war with our police departments. Too many lives are being lost and too many people are being made victims,” said Moylan.
The press conference will be held at Des Plaines City Hall on Thursday, November 18th, at 10:15 AM.
…Adding… USA Today…
An Illinois police union on Wednesday ousted from its membership an officer facing criminal charges for exposing a squad car video that showed his fellow officers slapping and cursing a man dying of a drug overdose.
The case of Sgt. Javier Esqueda, a 27-year veteran of the Joliet Police Department, was featured in September as the first installment of the USA TODAY series “Behind the Blue Wall,” an investigation involving more than 300 cases of police officers over the past decade who have spoken out against alleged misconduct in their departments. […]
Esqueda told USA TODAY that he’s become a pariah among his coworkers since July 2020, when he shared with a television reporter footage from January of that year showing how officers treated a handcuffed Black man in medical distress. Officers slapped Eric Lurry, restricted his airway and shoved a baton in his mouth hours before his death. Esqueda faces up to 20 years in prison after department officials opened a criminal investigation into his actions and prosecutors charged him with four counts of official misconduct.
Members of the Joliet Police Officer’s Association on Wednesday voted 35-1 to expel Esqueda, a move first reported by The Herald-Ledger newspaper in Joliet. In a letter informing him of the impending vote last month, union leaders described his conduct as “reprehensible.” The letter did not offer specifics on what actions from Esqueda prompted the vote.
Emphasis added.
* Tribune…
The controversial head of Chicago’s largest police union said Monday he will retire from the Chicago Police Department — an announcement that came just after he took the stand in a disciplinary hearing that could have ended with his firing.
John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, also declared that he will run for mayor in 2023, alluding multiple times to his combative relationship with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and said he felt the outcome of the proceedings against him was predetermined.
“It was pretty evident very early on that this cake was already baked,” Catanzara said, “I am going to be at human resources first thing in the morning, and I am going to be retiring. I will no longer be a Chicago police officer. … No one will be able to touch me.”
“This has all been a farce from the get-go,” he added, later saying to reporters: “There was never a possibility under God’s green earth that I was ever going to give this mayor the ability to utter the words, ‘I fired him.’ ”
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Open thread
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Oh, man, what a weird morning I had. Got up really early, but it’s just been one thing after another seemingly conspiring to prevent me from finishing my subscriber work. Oy.
Anyway, what’s on your mind?
*** UPDATE *** I just realized that this is our 400th open thread. Not sure what it means or if anyone cares, but it’s kinda boring today.
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Len Lieberman
Monday, Nov 15, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I don’t think I knew anyone at the Statehouse who loved their job more than Len Lieberman loved his. Len was the Jewish Federation’s lobbyist and he took his responsibility seriously as his faith’s top liaison to Illinois’ government. But he was also an incredibly kind person, a humble man with a genuine smile for everyone. A mensch in the truest sense of the word.
Len stayed out of politics because he lobbied both sides of the aisle and, before that, had worked for the state. But he proudly sent me an email back in 2014 with the announcement that these were his first two yard signs in 40 years, “two people I know personally and respect,” he said…
* Many, if not most members of the General Assembly never got to know Len because he’s been retired for so long. I feel sorry for you…
Len was born in Chicago on September 23rd 1947. There he attended Mather High School before graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1969. Len worked for ten years at both the Department of Transportation and Department of Corrections. He then found his dream job as a lobbyist for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the statewide Jewish Federations for 29 years.
A community activist, Len was a prior President of Congregation Temple Israel and the Springfield Jewish Federation, among other board positions. He was a founding volunteer with the local Parents Anonymous chapter, and B’nai B’rith Lodge #67 when it was re-founded, later served on the boards of Oak Ridge Cemetery and the State Journal Register’s Advisory Committee. Among his accomplishments Len was named Professional of the Year, given a Lifetime Achievement Award, honored as Alumni of the Year by his alma mater, and upon his retirement had the Len Lieberman Professional of the Year award named for him by the Jewish Federations of North America. In retirement he became active in the LLCC Academy of Lifelong Learning, serving as president in 2017-2018 among other leadership roles.
What Len treasured most in his later years were his relationships with the individuals he mentored, his many bridge and poker groups, and the annual get-together with his fellow NIU alumnists.
Len often said that when he died, celebrate his life rather than mourn his death.
His family asks that you contribute to your local Jewish Federation or Temple Israel in his name. Also, make a point to do something fun and kind. I’m sure he’d like that…
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Question of the day
Monday, Nov 15, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Pritzker campaign email…
After years of dysfunction in Springfield, JB is turning things around and getting big things done for Illinois.
From enshrining reproductive rights into state law, to a historic bipartisan infrastructure plan, to raising the minimum wage to a living wage, JB is moving Illinois in the right direction. And we want to hear why that matters to supporters like you, who’ve made all of this possible.
We want to know: Which of JB’s policies have benefited you and your family? Why would you re-elect JB for another term?
* The Question: Could you please tell us, as of today, why you would or why you would not vote to reelect the governor? Explain, please.
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COVID-19 roundup
Monday, Nov 15, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report…
Among COVID-19–like illness hospitalizations among adults aged ≥18 years whose previous infection or vaccination occurred 90–179 days earlier, the adjusted odds of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 among unvaccinated adults with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection were 5.49-fold higher than the odds among fully vaccinated recipients of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine who had no previous documented infection (95% confidence interval = 2.75–10.99).
What are the implications for public health practice?
All eligible persons should be vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible, including unvaccinated persons previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. [Emphasis added.]
Get your shots, people.
* Tribune…
According to the Food and Drug Administration’s announcement authorizing the use of the Pfizer vaccine in children 5 through 11, the recommendation would be for a two-dose series, three weeks apart, but at a lower dose than has been used for people 12 and older. Younger children would receive 10 micrograms, compared with individuals 12 years and older, who receive 30 micrograms.
The FDA noted that in the U.S., 39% of COVID-19 cases in people younger than 18 are in children 5 through 11 years old, and about 8,300 COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization in this younger age group. As of Oct. 17, according to the FDA, 691 deaths from COVID-19 had been reported in the U.S. in people under age 18; 146 of these deaths were of children 5 to 11.
The CDC notes that although fewer children have been infected with the virus compared to adults, kids can be infected, get sick and spread COVID-19. Right now, youths 12 and older receive the same dosage of the Pfizer vaccine as adults, and there are no patient weight requirements for vaccination, nor does the dosage vary by weight.
* Tribune…
Illinois students from economically disadvantaged families — who represent nearly 50% of the state’s roughly 2 million students — appear to have borne the brunt of the disruptions to education during the pandemic, with test scores for students in grades 3-8 plunging in math and English language arts on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness.
Now, with Illinois schools slated to receive around $7 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding, educators hope to bridge the gap with everything from tutoring and teacher development, to after-school programs and extra social emotional support for students dealing with trauma.
Still, school officials say despite Illinois classrooms being fully reopened for in-person learning this fall, the pandemic is far from over, and academic recovery efforts continue to be hampered by students in quarantine, hiring challenges and educators who are already exhausted, just two months into the new school year.
While around 25% of low-income third graders met proficiency standards for math in 2019, that number declined sharply during the pandemic, with only 13% of third graders in that demographic meeting proficiency standards on the recent assessment.
* CNBC…
About 47,000 patients with the virus are currently hospitalized nationwide, according to a seven-day average of data from the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. is reporting an average of roughly 1,150 Covid fatalities per day, according to Johns Hopkins data. Both figures are flat over the past week.
Besides the plateauing cases, Fauci, also director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the U.S. must focus on vaccinating the roughly 60 million people nationwide who have not yet been immunized. That excludes 28 million children ages 5 to 11 who became eligible to receive Pfizer’s two-dose Covid vaccine earlier this month, he noted.
“There’s a lot of good news, but some challenging news that we really need to address as we go into the winter months,” Fauci said.
Fauci added that those who’ve been fully vaccinated for Covid can gather for the holiday season without concern. But he recommended wearing a mask in indoor congregate settings with cases still hovering at a high level nationwide.
“When you’re with your family at home, goodness, enjoy it with your parents, your children, your grandparents,” he said. “There’s no reason not to do that.”
1,150 deaths per day translates to almost 420,000 per year.
* Get your shots, folks…
Though Lake County remains in the high risk category, the number of new cases of COVID-19 is approximately a quarter of what they were a year ago.
Local health officials say that decline is thanks in large part to the vaccine.
“It was four times higher without the vaccine,” said Lake County Health Department Executive Director Mark Pfister. “The major difference is the vaccine. Most of the new cases and hospitalizations are people who were not vaccinated.”
The county experienced a 10.35% increase of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past week but also crossed the 80% threshold of vaccinated residents with 80.1% of those eligible for vaccination receiving their shots.
* Tribune…
The opponents of vaccination requirements may be loud and litigious, “but they’re not going to get 50% of the vote plus one,” [Chris Mooney, a University of Illinois at Chicago political science professor] said. “And that’s, in some sense, what it’s coming down to for Pritzker.”
* More…
* ‘A real sense of relief’: Illinois school-based vaccine clinics get shots in arms of kids ages 5 to 11
* How one Southwest Side health center is leading Chicago on kids’ COVID vaccinations
* Surge protectors? Experts urge vaccinations as state’s climbing COVID-19 cases spark concerns of ‘yet another wave’
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* Center Square…
The attorney suing the governor for defamation may have a high burden to prove his case.
After being called a “grifter” by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Attorney Thomas DeVore filed a defamation case in Sangamon County late last month.
Pritzker’s comments came after DeVore filed a lawsuit against COVID-19 mandates in schools on behalf of more than 700 parents.
“So to make the suggestion that somehow or another these people were stolen from for all intents and purposes is completely out of bounds,” DeVore told.
He said he’s not a thief, didn’t dupe anyone and the governor’s comments have a chilling effect, keeping people from speaking up or taking action against policies they disagree with.
DeVore is seeking damages of more than $50,000.
While some suggest the governor has executive immunity, DeVore downplayed that idea.
“Ultimately, the governor can’t just say whatever he wants to say about somebody in that fashion, he doesn’t have that ability,” DeVore said.
“Some suggest”?
* The “some” who “suggest” is the Illinois Supreme Court, for crying out loud, and DeVore is running for appellate justice..
Attorney Don Craven explained Pritzker has absolute immunity due to an Illinois Supreme Court decision from 1976. Former governor Dan Walker had issued press releases with alleged statements of libel against two real estate brokers who were also attorneys.
Allan Blair and David Gray believed Walker made malicious statements about them and knew they were false. However, the highest court said executives need to exercise their duties free from civil liabilities for statements they make.
“So the use of the word grifter, even without the issue of absolute immunity, it’s simply name-calling. Perhaps it’s inartful name-calling, perhaps very artful name-calling,” Craven said. “But name-calling is not defamatory either.”
* From the decision…
We emphasize that today’s decision is not an endorsement of either the tenor or the content of the defendant’s statements concerning the plaintiffs. The Governor’s position could undoubtedly have been expressed to the people with language less calculated to injure the plaintiffs’ personal and professional reputations. While it is unfortunate that the application of executive immunity may occasionally deny relief to a deserving individual, the sacrifice is justified by the public’s need for free and unfettered action by its representatives.
* Back to WGEM…
“I’ve accused him of making horrible policy decisions,” DeVore said. “And I will continue to do so. But again, I’m taking issue with him as a politician. He’s taking issue with me in my professional capacity as an attorney. It’s not the same thing.”
Yeah, right.
* From a year ago today…
More here. DeVore never did pay up. And then he offered up some cockamamie story about not even knowing the governor had kids.
* I also told you a year ago today that DeVore was asked whether it might be time to stop filing lawsuits because he was losing so many of them…
If they think that any of this is going on is about winning or losing lawsuits, the people that say that need to consider if they’re as intelligent as they think they are. This isn’t about winning lawsuits.
* Meanwhile…
…Adding… DeVore’s American Freedom website is hosted by a German company.
* Related…
* Editorial: Our COVID-19 obligations: What few of us fully appreciate — and certainly most of the unvaccinated and those who disdain masks don’t — is that each of those who died were, in reality, killed by other people. Yes, the virus is a killer. But it could not kill anyone without people who are complicit in passing it along.
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* Tribune…
Republicans and a Latino voting rights group have filed alternatives to the state legislative districts drawn by Democrats, with both challenges pushing for greater Chicago-area Latino representation than provided in the map signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
In federal court filings on Wednesday, both the GOP and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund contended the Democratic-drawn map violates constitutional and federal Voting Rights Act guarantees by diluting the votes of a growing Latino population. […]
In its filing, MALDEF contended the Democratic map violates the federal Voting Rights Act “with regard to Latino voters on the North Side and Southwest Side of Chicago” and that Democrats engaged in a “racial gerrymander” aimed at protecting white Southwest Side incumbents. […]
Democrats have until Nov. 22 to file their response to the alternatives with the court. The challengers will have until the week after to respond to Democrats. In court arguments over the boundaries are scheduled to begin Dec. 6.
* Capitol News Illinois…
The proposed GOP maps would create four House districts in northern Cook County where Latinos make up a majority of the citizen voting age population, seven Latino-majority districts in southern Cook County and one district in nearby Aurora, District 50, where Latinos make up slightly less than half the voting age population but would still have an opportunity to elect a Latino candidate.
Their plan would also create a Black-majority House district centered in East St. Louis.
Their proposed map would reconfigure House Districts 3, 4, 39 and 77, primarily in Chicago’s northwest side and neighboring suburbs like Franklin Park and Melrose Park. Other districts around those proposed Latino districts would be adjusted so they would be substantially equal in population, but otherwise would be similar to their configuration in the September maps.
In southern Cook County, the GOP map would reconfigure House Districts 1, 2, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 32, all in Chicago’s southwest side and adjacent suburbs such as Berwyn, Cicero, and Burbank.
MALDEF’s map would create 10 Latino citizen voting age population majority House districts and four such Senate districts.
* A.D. Quig at Crain’s…
In a separate interview with Crain’s, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he hadn’t yet seen the maps released by Republicans, so he couldn’t comment directly on whether they expanded minority representation, but did say “Republicans are not known for doing things to increase diversity and representation. Just look at their caucus.” […]
The UCCRO/NAACP coalition submitted their own fresh map that they say addresses the dilution of the Black vote in the 114th House District (currently represented by Rep. LaToya Greenwood). Their proposal keeps certain communities like Washington Park, Belleville, and the Scott Air Force Base together and boosts the Black voting age population to 49.45%, up from the 33.55% in the current map.
But it’s unclear whether the courts will take up any of the remedial maps. Ami Gandhi, senior counsel at the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights who is representing UCCRO in the case, said they are “still awaiting details from the court on what procedures it will be planning from here on out.”
* Other stuff…
* Charles Selle: Illinois congressional districts were ‘cherrymandered’
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* Gregory Pratt and Madeline Buckley at the Tribune…
A Chicago police leader who worked to implement the department’s federal consent decree sent a resignation letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot this summer alleging that CPD’s top leadership failed “to even feign interest in pursuing reform in a meaningful manner.”
Then the official alleged that Chicago police retaliated against him for raising concerns about the department’s progress complying with court-ordered reforms. […]
“Unfortunately, my disappointment with the inability of this department’s top leadership to even feign interest in pursuing reform in a meaningful manner has made it impossible for me to remain involved,” [Chad Williams, the former civilian commanding officer of the department’s audit division] wrote in the email [to Mayor Lighfoot], obtained by the Tribune via a public records request. “Even more unfortunate is that my experience is far from unique. Many well-meaning and talented civilians have signed up to help improve the nation’s (second largest) police department, only to find themselves steadily thwarted by its perverse incentive structures until they inevitably depart due to demoralization.” […]
“Despite my efforts, both the office of the superintendent and the office of constitutional policing & reform continue to insist upon employing a ‘check the boxes’ strategy that focuses on getting credit for ‘preliminary compliance’ based primarily on policy edits that lack operational considerations,” Williams said. “Over time, the optimism I brought to this role withered in an incessant stream of discussions with the singular intent of identifying ways to ‘move the needle’ by ‘getting the percentages up’ to improve portrayals in local media coverage.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel had to be dragged by Attorney General Lisa Madigan into that consent decree. Sounds like the current administration is just trying to do the easy stuff first to get some positive news media coverage.
* More from Gregory Pratt…
A top adviser to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot resigned in August while raising concerns about the city’s ability to “keep moving the ball forward” on its violence prevention efforts and Police Department consent decree implementation, records obtained by the Tribune show.
Lightfoot’s one-time deputy mayor for public safety, Susan Lee, left that post in fall 2020 but remained involved at City Hall as an unpaid consultant on public safety issues, according to a contract between Lee and the city.
Part of her adviser role included consent decree implementation, according to the agreement.
Lee sent Lightfoot chief of staff Sybil Madison and current Deputy Mayor for Public Safety John O’Malley an email on Aug. 2 seeking to “clarify” her role as senior adviser. In the email, on which she also copied Lightfoot, Lee said she’d been trying to “connect” with the mayor “for weeks” but had been unsuccessful.
(Hat tip: Jonathan Ballew.)
* Related…
* Embattled Chicago FOP president faces termination hearing
* Disorganized Cops Handcuffed Innocent Black Teens at Gunpoint Multiple Times In Bizarre 2019 Incident, New Body Camera Video Shows: As he stepped out of his family’s Rogers Park apartment, he didn’t know he’d soon be stopped by Chicago Police officers four times, and handcuffed twice, in the span of 20 minutes. He also didn’t know around that same time, officers in the area were responding to a 911 call about a group of “Black males” who were “up to no good,” according to dispatch audio, and that they would target him and his younger brother, who were innocent.
* The sergeant who led the botched raid in February 2019 that left Anjanette Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help should be fired, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told the Chicago Police Board.
* Chicago police officer among 9 charged with defrauding low-income food program
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The Berrios way, but without the patronage
Monday, Nov 15, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* For years, the Chicago Tribune editorial board argued that voters should give Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios the hook. That finally happened a few years ago and many of the same upper-income people who backed Berrios’ opponent Fritz Kaegi are now upset at Kaegi for matching their property tax assessments to reality. The Tribune editorial board sums up the issues today…
During Berrios’ eight-year reign, ethics rules went ignored. Patronage and nepotism became the norm. Deep-pocketed insiders knew they could secure assessment reductions through well-timed campaign donations to his office. Finally, in 2018, voters indicated they had seen enough, and embraced Kaegi’s pledge to reform the county’s broken tax assessment system.
And so far, that’s exactly what Kaegi has set out to do. His reforms include basing assessments on the most accurate market value of properties — commercial and residential. What business community lobbyists conveniently forget is that, under Berrios, commercial and industrial properties were undervalued by nearly 40% in Cook County, and almost 50% in Chicago. Billions of dollars of tax burden was shifted from moneyed communities to low-income and minority neighborhoods.
* OK, now scroll down…
And [business lobbyists] should push [state legislators] to get rid of Cook County’s tax classification system that assesses commercial and industrial properties at a higher rate than homeowners — a 2.5 to 1 difference.
Possible translation: We didn’t like it when Joe Berrios shifted billions of dollars of the property tax burden to low-income and minority communities. We’d prefer it, however, if the General Assembly would give business owners a gigantic property tax cut and force low income and minority residents to pay lots more because then it would be all nice and legal.
Maybe I’m missing something here, or maybe they just don’t quite understand what they wrote. But I don’t see how that comes out any other way in the end.
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* Politico…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will be among the governors, mayors and members of Congress at the White House today to celebrate President Joe Biden signing the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.
* Gov. Pritzker statement via press release…
President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal is a testament to what government should do for the people it serves: create millions of jobs, power local economies, double down on America’s global leadership, and ensure working families have the roads, routes, and digital access they need to succeed in the 21st century. And thanks to our Rebuild Illinois infrastructure plan — the largest in state history — the Land of Lincoln is prepped and ready for federal dollars to jumpstart our projects ahead of schedule.
I am proud to join President Biden, Vice President Harris, and colleagues from across the nation to celebrate this exemplary renewal of federal leadership. Every American deserves access to safe, reliable transportation. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — the largest of its kind in over a decade — is how we deliver on that mission. Let’s get to work.
* Sun-Times…
According to Lightfoot, money from the bill will fund “huge improvements to our CTA without any change in cost to consumers while delivering the same service they expect.”
The CTA system will “become 100% accessible with the addition and improvement of elevators and other ADA enhancements,” Lightfoot said, and “the Red Line will finally be extended to 130th Street.” Also, she said “the bus system will become fully electric,” and lead pipe replacement will be faster. […]
Lawmakers were told the White House invited at least 200 to the bill ceremony, enough to include almost all yes votes. Illinois Democratic Reps. Marie Newman, Bobby Rush and Cheri Bustos are among those who will attend the White House signing. […]
The infrastructure bill, a major Biden agenda item, “marks the largest investments in roads, bridges and highways since the creation of the Interstate Highway System,” [deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation Polly Trottenberg] said.
* Background from the governor’s office…
• Gov. Pritzker last visited the White House July 14, 2021 to discuss the infrastructure package and how it would benefit states.
Under theInfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Illinois will receive:
• Water Infrastructure:The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal includesSenator Duckworth’s entireDrinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act,which would help rebuild our nation’s crumbling and dangerous water infrastructure,and also provides five years’ worth of appropriations totaling $1.7 billion to improve drinking and wastewater infrastructure throughout Illinois.
• Roads and bridges:$9.8 billion for federal-aid highway projects and $1.4 billion for bridge replacement and repairs. The state will be eligible for billions more in competitive grant programs.
• Public transportation:Approximately $4 billion over five years to improve public transportation options across the state. The state will be eligible for billions more in competitive grant programs.
• Broadband:A minimum allocation of $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state, including providing access to the at least 228,000 Illinoisans who currently lack it. 2,926,000 Illinoisans, or 23 percent, will be eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Benefit, which will help low-income families afford internet access.
• Airports:Approximately $616 million for airport improvements over five years, increasing the Airport Improvement Grant Program and creating a new Airport Terminal Improvement Program.
• Electric vehicles:$149 million over five years to support the expansion of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the state. Illinois is eligible for $2.5 billion in competitive EV charging grants.
…Adding… DPI…
The Democratic Party of Illinois is launching a multi-platform digital ad campaign highlighting the opposition of four Illinois Republican members of Congress to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that will be signed into law later today by President Biden. In total, 32 Republicans in the House and Senate supported the bipartisan deal, however Reps. Mike Bost, Rodney Davis, Darin LaHood, and Mary Miller put partisanship above the needs of their own constituents and opposed the deal. The DPI digital ads campaign is designed to raise awareness of these legislators’ failure to deliver commonsense solutions for their constituents.
“After years of broken Republican promises on ‘infrastructure week,’ President Biden and Illinois Democrats finally delivered on a once-in-a-generation investment in our state and our nation that will improve the lives of every Illinoisan,” said Democratic Party of Illinois Executive Director Abby Witt. “Unfortunately, instead of working in a bipartisan way for their communities, Reps. Bost, Davis, LaHood, and Miller followed Donald Trump’s lead, letting petty partisanship get in the way of a good deal for their constituents.”
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will deliver billions of dollars in investment for Illinois’ roads and bridges, safe drinking water, broadband access, cybersecurity systems, and more,” Witt continued. “These investments will grow good-paying union jobs while combating climate change, building on the progress already delivered by Gov. JB Pritzker and Democrats in the statehouse. Voters need to know that four Illinois Republicans decided to turn their backs on this bipartisan deal, and the DPI is ready to spread the word.”
The digital campaign begins today, will run across multiple social media platforms, and is expected to reach hundreds of thousands of voters across Illinois. Examples of the initial digital ads can be seen here.
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column...
Gov. J.B. Pritzker told reporters not long ago that he was worried about the plateauing COVID-19 hospitalization rate and said he wouldn’t yet lift his statewide mask mandate.
But the governor told me something around the same time during an interview that he hasn’t yet said publicly: He’s most concerned about what may happen in January and February and upbeat about the spring and summer.
“What we’re trying to evaluate is, are the hospitalization numbers increasing, decreasing or staying the same,” Pritzker told reporters in early November. “We want them decreasing. They’re not currently, just to be clear. New hospitalizations are flat. That is not a good sign. That’s not what’s happened in previous dips from surges. We went down for a while here, but now we’ve leveled out at a level that is much higher than the summer. And so the question is, is that just a temporary situation? Are we going to start heading downward in those numbers?”
Since the governor said that, hospitalizations have yet again begun to increase, rising by almost 22% as of this writing. Hospitalizations are up almost 30% since late October’s low of 1,198.
That increase led Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike to warn last week that the statewide mask mandate wouldn’t be lifted before Thanksgiving, as some had hoped when hospitalizations were plateauing.
“As we’ve moved indoors,” Ezike told Quincy’s WGEM-TV, “we haven’t maybe taken our masks indoors with us. So a lot of unmasked indoor gatherings are likely part of the problem.”
Last year, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths shot up in November and continued ravaging our still mostly unvaccinated state through January.
I interviewed Gov. Pritzker not long ago and asked him if he was worried about yet another big wave starting in November.
Pritzker said the top epidemiologists in Illinois he speaks with outside of IDPGH tell him, “Their expectation is that January and February we could see a surge of cases and the resulting hospitalizations. So, how worried am I? I am worried as much as the epidemiologists are.”
Asked how worried the epidemiologists are, Pritzker said he didn’t know how to characterize that, “other than that they tell me that they expect to see a surge. I have to take it very seriously.”
Pritzker also talked about the internal debate over what to do about mitigations, like mask mandates, in the meantime. “One of the questions that you have to ask yourself and that we all ask ourselves is, if we modify mitigations now as things are mildly reducing or getting better, what changes do you make now if you think that in January and February, you’re gonna see potentially a surge?”
A little later in the interview, Pritzker asked if he could clarify some things.
“I think when you look at the pattern here of surges, the surges are getting smaller because of vaccinations, because of where we are in the cycle. And so, the hope here is that each of the moves that we’re making going forward are really flattening those surges down.”
Pritzker went on to say that he’s hearing from the epidemiological community that by next spring or summer, the virus will become more like the flu “because people will be getting vaccinated on a regular basis or that boosters will be available, and because more people will have been vaccinated.”
The governor quickly added that he wasn’t suggesting COVID is anything like the flu. “I’m just saying if you look at other chronic diseases, other things that we’ve worked to overcome with vaccinations, this is becoming more and more like that because people are getting more and more vaccinated.”
And, it should be added, effective treatments may be on the horizon. Pfizer is developing a pill that shows real promise at preventing severe illness, the New York Times has reported.
But, as Dr. Ezike also said this month, “Of course, COVID is so complicated. It’s been throwing us curveball after curveball.”
Colorado is currently experiencing a surge in cases, and experts there have told reporters that they don’t know why and don’t know if they’ll ever know. And, as pointed out in a Denver CBS4-TV news story on that topic, the popularity of home COVID testing means that private results aren’t being reported and therefore not tracked by state and local public health departments.
That means the jobs of people who try to anticipate the future path of the disease have been made significantly more difficult, which is not what we need.
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