Question of the day
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Lynn Sweet…
Illinois Democratic officials are poised to make the case to the Democratic National Committee that Illinois should be among the states with the first votes in the presidential primaries, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
Illinois, if it’s an early primary state starting in 2024, could become a power player in determining a Democratic presidential nominee.
The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee passed a resolution at its April meeting calling for a 2024 nominating calendar that reflects diversity; helps Democrats win the White House and “contributes to a fair and sound electoral process.”
For a practical matter, Iowa, the state with the traditional kickoff vote for Republicans and Democrats, will most likely lose its special status with Democrats. That’s because Iowa votes Republican in presidential elections; is not diverse; and has a much-criticized caucus voting system. […]
If Iowa is knocked out, the Illinois competition for the Midwest spot will likely be Michigan, Minnesota and Nebraska, a source said.
* The Question: Do you think Illinois should be one of the first states to hold a presidential primary? Explain.
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* Just so we’re clear, somebody other than the pollster and the client leaked me this internal tracking poll today. I’m not sure how this person obtained it, and I didn’t ask. We’ll get to the strong caveats in a moment…
The first takeaway is that spending lots of money works, particularly if it’s spent well, as the Irvin campaign is doing.
Just keep in mind that these were automated landline polls done on the cheap and for internal use only. No mobile phones. No text or online contacts.
The polls were not meant for public consumption, but since I had the results, Cor Strategies and its client decided to confirm their existence.
* Details from the pollster…
Universe: Likely Republican Primary Voters
Field Dates: Monday, April 18 - Thursday, April 21
Method: IVR (automated)
Responses: 536
MoE: ±4.23%
Discuss.
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Pick up the tempo just a little
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s about time more cams went up…
The Illinois State Police (ISP), working with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Chicago Department of Transportation, is currently installing 56 additional Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) on Chicago expressways. In addition to the 99 ISP ALPRs already covering the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-94), the additional ALPRs are being installed on I-90, I-290, I-55, and I-57. ” […]
In February of 2021, ISP received a $12.5 million grant to cover the costs of engineering, permitting, and labor associated with the purchase and installation of readers, controllers, servers/software, electrical power, and communications equipment required to install ALPR systems. In the first phase, ALPRs were installed on the Dan Ryan expressway during the summer and fall of 2021. For the second phase, ALPRs are currently being installed and have an estimated completion date of mid-May 2022 pending weather or other unforeseen delays. For the final phase, ISP is currently working on permits with the target of a total of 300 ALPRs installed for all three phases by the end of June 2022.
The funding and installation of ALPRs stem from the Tamara Clayton Expressway Camera Act (Expressway Camera Act), which was signed into law on July 12, 2019 and became effective on January 1, 2020. [Emphasis added.]
It’s totally understandable why people get so upset at the pace of government. But, hey, at least they’re finally going up.
* Speaking of the pace of government, let’s revisit this WBEZ piece I posted yesterday and look at another angle…
Pritzker’s administration set aside more than $50 million from the COVID stimulus funds for violence prevention in the budget that passed last year. The funding, to be administered through the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, offered a unique opportunity to flood resources into neighborhoods impacted by violence. But with the fiscal year almost over, the state has spent only $56,764, one-tenth of 1% of the money, as Illinois experiences its worst gun violence in decades.
“Normally the argument would be, we just don’t have the money. Now we have the money, and we’re sitting on the money,” said Illinois State Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago), co-chair of the Public Safety and Violence Prevention Task Force. “Right now, the city of Chicago is on fire with violence, and we have to respond to that … There shouldn’t be a delay … people are dying.” […]
“They claim to be working for the community and the people … yet our government doesn’t see the urgency in getting funding to us so that we can have boots on the ground … to stop the shootings,” said Tyrone Muhammad, executive director of the anti-violence group Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change.
The budget included $500,000 in funding specifically allocated to Muhammad’s organization, but they still haven’t gotten a dime. He said they were planning to spend the ARPA dollars expanding their street intervention teams so they can mediate gang conflicts in more parts of the city.
“How is it possible for [lawmakers] to allocate funding in a line item last year, and we still haven’t received it this year?” Muhammad asked incredulously.
* You may remember this gentleman from last month…
A rally to draw attention to the deaths of two Black transgender Chicago women turned into a chaotic shouting match when another small group of anti-violence advocates crashed the event at Federal Plaza on Monday evening.
As transgender activist Zahara Bassett was pleading for justice for the two women, several members of Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change, including founder Tyrone Muhammad, interrupted the event with bullhorns.
There was no mention of that disruption in WBEZ’s story.
* The ECCSC is fairly visible at the Statehouse partly because they sometimes park one of their special cars between the Capitol and the Stratton Building while they try to speak with legislators…
 
And they make no bones about their approach to things…
Advocating for social change is at the forefront of our approach, as we view the current political system and allocation of resources as corrupt, unhelpful for improvement and unaware of what needs to be done to fix blighted communities.
Rep. Ford, by the way, requested that ECCSC’s line-item be included in the appropriations bill. So, of course he’s pushing hard to get that money released.
* And while there are good reasons for the government to take its time with these grants, another member pointed out to me yesterday there’s no way that anti-violence groups, particularly the small groups, can spend the state money right away. This isn’t just about installing cams on the expressways, after all. It will take a while to stand up new programs or to expand existing programs. By then, the summer could be over. Not cool. We don’t want any big mistakes, but people have the right to expect that stuff gets done.
However, the money mentioned in the WBEZ piece is not the only game in town. From Jordan Abudayyeh at the governor’s office…
The state of Illinois has already sent more than $75 million in violence prevent dollars out the door with another $45 million in various stages of the award process and additional NOFOs ready to go out in the coming days. We have also funded $26 million for a summer expansion initiative to fuel existing providers that are already up and running and doing the work in communities. The bucket of federal funding at ICJIA is just one small part of our comprehensive funding, and that federal funding comes with strict rules and reporting requirements, so it’s taken some time to get organizations up to speed and able to utilize federal dollars.
[Headline explained here.]
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* Steve Daniels…
Households and small businesses that get their power from Commonwealth Edison will be unprotected from commodity price spikes in the high-demand summer months unless state regulators take fast action.
For the first time in the 14 years since the state took over the job from utilities of negotiating with power generators, the Illinois Power Agency was unable to reach an agreement on an electricity price in northern Illinois for the entire months of July and August, as well as part of June. […]
But ComEd customers won’t feel the increase in their wallets, thanks to the way the Pritzker administration structured a separate ratepayer bailout for Illinois nuclear plants now owned by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group.
In June, customers would have started paying about $2 extra on their bills to support the plants under the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA, enacted last year. But, with energy prices soaring, the subsidy will instead become a credit beginning next month.
* ICJC…
Today, utility Commonwealth Edison filed new rates with the Illinois Commerce Commission that will provide direct credits of more than $1 billion to customers as a result of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) that was signed into law last fall.
The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC), whose advocacy over several years was instrumental in passing the nation-leading legislation, released the following statement:
“At a time when electricity costs are skyrocketing across the country, Governor Pritzker negotiated protections against price spikes that mean electricity prices for ComEd customers will actually be going DOWN. For families struggling with the high cost of inflation, this is welcome relief. What could have been a nuclear subsidy was smartly negotiated into a billion-dollar bonanza for Illinois consumers.
“The deal shows the wisdom of Illinois’ approach to combat the climate crisis and create good-paying, equitable clean energy jobs, while saving money for consumers. […]
The “Carbon Mitigation Credit” program, created under CEJA, provides revenue certainty to three Illinois nuclear power plants, and was originally expected to potentially cost ComEd customers $700 million over the 5-year life of the program. The deal was structured, however, so that if wholesale electricity prices increased above a certain level, the nuclear plants would owe money instead. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, electricity prices have risen dramatically across the country.
As part of the deal, residential customers will see an average credit of $18/month starting in June through next May, as a separate line item on their bill. ComEd customers have not paid any money to the nuclear plants to date, and current electricity price forecasts show the customer credit will continue for at least the next several years.
* Ameren opted out of the Carbon Mitigation Credit program and its consumers will pay a steep price. Back to Steve’s article…
So central and southern Illinoisans will experience directly the brunt of an even more dramatic power-price spike down there. Their costs for energy will roughly double beginning June 1
* Back to the ICJC’s release…
We wish that Central and Southern Illinois consumers were also receiving this windfall, but Ameren chose not to participate in the Carbon Mitigation Credit program. […]
In a mistake that will cost their customers dearly, Ameren, the utility that serves most of Central and Southern Illinois, refused to join the Carbon Mitigation Credit program. As a result, their customers will see painful hikes in their electricity bills like consumers all over the Midwest.
*** UPDATE *** Ameren…
Ameren Illinois Statement on False Claims About Carbon Mitigation Credit Program
April 27, 2022
The statement issued today by the Clean Jobs Coalition is blatantly false. Ameren Illinois was never involved in the negotiations of the Carbon Mitigation Credit and was never given an option to opt in or out. In fact, throughout the process of negotiating the legislation, it was publicly stated by numerous CEJA members and supporters that the utilities would not be involved in crafting the new law.
This Carbon Mitigation Credit provision was written specifically to subsidize the Exelon nuclear facilities in Chicago, which are in a separate energy market from downstate. Again, the legislation specifically applies to “electric utilities serving at least 3,000,000 retail customers” in the state. Ameren Illinois has 1.2 million customers.
This policy was written specifically to benefit to Exelon nuclear plants in Chicago.
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* WTTW’s Amanda Vinicky…
Despite Bailey’s walkout, lawsuits, and campaign rhetoric, masks have been required for stretches during the pandemic in a downstate area he represents.
Specifically, per documents on file with the federal government, face coverings are required for certain workers at the Bailey Family Farm, where according to Bailey’s campaign website, he grew up. […]
When farms bring on seasonal workers via the federal H-2A Temporary Agricultural Employment of Foreign Workers program, like to aide with a labor-intensive harvest, they have to file employment conditions forms with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Bailey farm has postings up for jobs that run from early April through June and pay $15.89 an hour.
Those hired will run agricultural equipment, and help in the corn and soybean fields.
The job order, signed by Bailey’s son Zach, specifically states that the Bailey Family Farm will follow Centers for Disease Control, state and local health requirements and that the employer may implement its own additional safety measures.
Employees must “wear a face covering that covers your nose and mouth, always, unless you have received specific instruction otherwise. Stay at least 6 feet away from all other people, always. If a 6-foot distance cannot be maintained, a mask must be worn, even if you are otherwise exempted from that requirement” the form states in a final addendum.
The Baileys use similar language in relation to COVID precautions and masking in a job order that led to the farm hiring migrant workers in the spring and summer of ‘21. […]
The Bailey farm was under no apparent legal obligation to take such strict measures. Other Illinois farms, including another in Xenia, do not list COVID safety requirements. […]
“They farm over 12,000 acres, so social distancing comes naturally. The H2A is a federal program that legally brings migrant workers, and they’re required to abide by federal rules and make available to workers whatever they need,” the [Bailey campaign] statement said. “The Bailey Family Farm employs several local families and continues to advertise jobs locally to fill positions, but no one wants to work.”
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* So, Valencia admits that she’s had to previously prevent her husband from trying to cross an ethical line? Sheesh…
By the way, a Downstate reporter emailed me this morning about a press release he’d received from Chicago Ald. Silvana Tabares announcing she was asking the city’s new inspector general to investigate “recent allegations that City Clerk Anna Valencia inappropriately used her position as an elected citywide office holder to benefit the business interests of her lobbyist husband and his private clients.”
“Explain that one,” the reporter quipped.
Using inspectors general to further the aims of political campaigns will only undermine IGs. More on that topic later today.
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Another day, another lawsuit
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bloomberg…
The legal marijuana business in Illinois is being controlled by a state-protected “Chicago cartel” that includes companies linked to the wealthy Pritzker, Wrigley and Kovler families, according to a lawsuit filed by a group called True Social Equity in Cannabis.
Marijuana companies Akerna Corp., Green Thumb Industries Inc., Verano Holdings and Surterra Holdings Inc. have successfully monopolized the Illinois-branded marijuana market, from cultivation to manufacturing to retail dispensaries, the plaintiffs said in a complaint filed Monday in Chicago federal court.
* Tribune…
The suit notes that some of the companies sell each other’s products. But Illinois law requires that cannabis dispensaries sell competitors’ products. The complaint also notes that GTI and Verano share a shell company that manages both a GTI Rise dispensary in Effingham and a Verano Zen Leaf store in Charleston.
The suit, filed by attorney Mark Lavery, seeks to stop all the companies from selling marijuana and divest them of all assets. […]
[Edie Moore, a founder and legislative co-chair of Chicago NORML and a cannabis business license applicant] acknowledged that the Illinois cannabis market is restricted by law to 21 licensed growers, but said the solution is for the state to issue pending licenses. Those licenses have been held up in court, primarily hurting Black and Latino “social equity” applicants.
“People who keep suing don’t do anything but slow it down,” she said. “It doesn’t help anyone.”
Akerna, which sells software to track data in the cannabis industry, issued the following statement: “The document has multiple inaccuracies, including but not limited to the fact that we are not a plant-touching operator. As a public company, our shareholders and board of directors are a matter of public record. Our legal team is preparing their response.”
* From the lawsuit…
The “Chicago Cartel” state-protected cannabis operation was started in 2014 as part of a partnership between Michael McClain of the “Madigan Racketeering Enterprise”, Terrance Gainer of the U.S. Capitol Police and heir to the Jim Beam bourbon fortune, Benjamin Kovler.
I did not make that up.
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Today’s quotable
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WGEM…
The elimination of cash bail is fast approaching for Illinois following the passage of the SAFE-T act in January 2021. Some judges have even begun the transition to no cash bail, but prosecutors are saying no cash bail will make their job a lot harder.
One state’s attorney spoke out against the elimination of cash bail today. He argued in some situations, having an offender out on the street because there was no bail will harm victims and make them afraid.
“It’s not like we lock people up who are innocent, awaiting trial,” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said. “I do everything I can to make certain that if I can’t prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, I dismiss it.”
…Adding… From comments…
Is this the same James Glasgow who sent a police officer to jail for six days on murder charges only to dismiss charges AFTER an investigation proved his alibi, which resulted in Will County having to settle a lawsuit with the wrongfully jailed, innocent cop?
Because if it is the same James Glasgow, he’s literally locked up an innocent person (a cop no less) awaiting a trial that never happened.
References…
* Will County panel OKs settlement over wrongful arrest in ‘honeybee’ case: Will County officials are nearing a settlement with a Lynwood police officer who spent six days in jail on murder charges that were later dropped.
* Another fumble for Will County: “You can’t make the problem, clean it up and then act like a hero,” Carlson said. “He’s the one who charged him. He knew the evidence and now he’s acting like he’s trying to save the world. There’s only one person who charged Brian Dorian, that’s Jim Glasgow. There’s only one person who’s now claiming that he fixed it and that’s Jim Glasgow. He can’t have it both ways.”
…Adding… Want more? Here you go…
* Charges Dropped After Giant Meth Seizure By Will County Sheriffs: A 47-year-old California man who had nearly 23 lbs of methamphetamine seized from his car by the Will County Sheriff’s Office last September was the subject of an illegal and improper search, Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius ruled. On Wednesday morning, Assistant Will County State’s Attorney Tom Bahar appeared in Courtroom 404 informing Cornelius that Henry Duenas is being released from custody at the Will County Jail and his two Class X felonies are being dismissed. Duenas was in the Will County Jail for more than six months, facing a $1 million bail. Last week, Cornelius announced the search was illegal, and the evidence was inadmissible. On Sept. 27, the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office of Jim Glasgow charged Duenas with two Class X felonies, unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and unlawful possession of methamphetamine.
* Charges dropped against father in Riley Fox case: Prosecutors had promised to seek the death penalty against Kevin Fox. Now, they are back to where they were almost a year ago, with no named suspects and a development that has stunned even prosecutors. It turns out DNA from the crime scene doesn’t match the man they had in jail. Kevin Fox is free after prosecutors concede there is now considerable doubt about his guilt. “It was a nightmare, and I don’t want to relive it right now. I’m happy. I’m excited,” said Fox. Will County Prosecutor James Glasgow and Sheriff Paul Kaupas dropped the charge, but offered no apology and few answers about why law enforcement was so convinced Fox was their man.
* 1st Degree Murder Charges Dropped For Joliet 19-Year-Old: On Friday morning, an angry Joliet criminal defense attorney Jeff Tomczak raised his voice before Will County Chief Judge Dan Kennedy, insisting that 19-year-old client Rasean Stokes has no criminal culpability in the Feb. 8, 2020 gunshot homicide along Joliet’s Republic Avenue that ended the life of 17-year-old Jeremiah Frazier. Tomczak implored Judge Kennedy reduce his incarcerated client’s bail from $750,000 to $5,000, but the judge was not willing to make a decision on the bail at Friday’s hearing. Instead, Kennedy took the matter under advisement and put the case back on the court docket for Tuesday, Feb. 2. However, the judge did agree to dismiss both first-degree murder counts against Tomczak’s client during Friday’s hearing. As relatives of his client were seated in Will County Courtroom 403, Tomczak was livid, pointing out that Stokes has already spent an entire year in the Will County Jail “on a bad murder charge.”
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Open thread
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Please keep your discussions to Illinois-related topics. Thanks.
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