A nearly 100-year-old road that runs through Harvey, Dixmoor and Riverdale will be completely modernized for the first time in its history thanks to a $94 million investment from the state, officials announced Thursday.
“Illinois infrastructure is really just a word for opportunity,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a news conference in Harvey. “By investing in it, we open doors for our residents, and virtually everyone, who calls this state home can see and feel the results in real time.”
The roadway on Wood Street/Ashland Avenue that stretches three miles from 161st and 138th streets has largely remained untouched for nearly a century — only receiving the occasional resurfacing. The road is uneven, riddled with potholes and is often flooded when it rains excessively. […]
Bike and pedestrian accommodations will also be added throughout the corridor as well as the bridge over the Little Calumet River will be rehabilitated. One of the most important features of this modernization project is a new storm sewer system will be added to address longtime drainage and flooding issues associated with the outdated road.
This week, Vote Yes For Workers’ Rights, a diverse coalition of working Illinoisans, labor unions, and community organizations dedicated to passing the Workers’ Rights Amendment, launched their second television ad on broadcast television markets across Illinois.
The ad, titled Game Changer, features Knut, who knew college wasn’t the right fit for him and found a great-paying job as a crane operator. […]
With the new ad, Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights expanded its reach onto broadcast television in the Champaign, Peoria, Rockford, and St. Louis media markets, building on its existing presence on Chicago broadcast television, cable markets statewide, and key digital platforms.
The new ad debuted immediately following Labor Day weekend, which the Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights campaign spent building key momentum through community outreach events across the state.
Statement from Vote Yes For Workers’ Rights:
“Our campaign is proud to share the stories of incredible Illinois workers like Knut who understand how critically important protecting their rights to collective bargaining and workplace safety are. Every Illinois worker deserves a chance to earn a great wage in a safe workplace. The Workers’ Rights Amendment will give Illinois all workers, even those without college degrees, that opportunity.”
About the Workers’ Rights Amendment
The Workers’ Rights Amendment will update the Illinois Constitution to guarantee workers’ fundamental rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace, putting more money in the pockets of families struggling to deal with rising costs and giving emergency responders like firefighters, nurses, and paramedics the training and equipment they need to keep our families safe.
Knut: “I’ve never been afraid of hard work, but college just wasn’t in the cards for me. This job was a game changer. It’s a stable career and a good paycheck. We need more jobs like this in Illinois, especially with costs going up across the board. The Workers’ Rights Amendment will keep more jobs like this in Illinois. It’s good for families, and it’s good for the economy. College isn’t for everyone, but good paying jobs should be.”
Voice-Over: “At the top of the ballot, Vote Yes on the Workers’ Rights Amendment and protect Illinois jobs.”
With a petition of more than 650 signatures in hand, Brian Costin came to this week’s Arlington Heights village board meeting to oppose any suggestion of what he calls corporate welfare that could be part of the Chicago Bears’ proposed redevelopment of Arlington Park.
Costin, the deputy state director of the conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, on Tuesday night turned in pages of signatures to Village Clerk Becky Hume in his bid for a village ordinance that would ban any public giveaways to any business — including the Bears — to operate in town. […]
Costin’s petition — containing signatures of a little more than 1% of registered voters in town — requires the board to consider his group’s proposed ordinance at the next village board meeting Monday, Sept. 19, under an antiquated and rarely, if ever, used section of the municipal code.
That’s a new one on me.
* The Question: If you could force the General Assembly to consider any bill you’d like with a simple petition process, what would it be? Explain.
If state Rep. Marcus Evans has his way, Chicago will enter the race to build the first offshore wind farm on the Great Lakes.
Evans has introduced a bill that lays the groundwork for a proposed wind farm in Lake Michigan, about 10 miles from the shores of the Southeast Side. The bill sets up a fund that would help the state to compete for federal money, including $230 million for port infrastructure projects available from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Illinois would enter the race behind Ohio — where the Icebreaker wind farm in Lake Erie recently won a court battle that should allow construction of a demonstration project to proceed — and New York state, which is studying the feasibility of a Lake Erie wind farm.
“This is happening,” said Evans, a Chicago Democrat. “This is not a pie-in-the-sky thing. This is an opportunity for development.”
* Press release…
With growing momentum sweeping across the United States to rein in the power of dominant corporations, State Senator Robert Peters announces the launch of Fight Corporate Monopolies Task Force, a new coalition of state and local leaders leading the charge.
“Corporate monopolies extract wealth from working class communities, particularly communities of color,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “Companies like Amazon make deals in the shadows that dangerously fluctuate prices, suppress wages and propel a race to the bottom. We have to fight back against the unchecked power corporate monopolies exploit and the illusion that if we don’t give into that power, then we’re blocking economic development.”
Peters is the lead sponsor of the Honesty in Economic Development Act, which will prevent state and local governments in Illinois from entering into contracts where nondisclosure agreements are in place that prevent the terms of the contract being publicly known.
“The movement to dismantle the power of corporate monopolies is being led at the state level. The task force provides a real time check on the same corporations that are price gouging working people, profiteering while workers suffer, and making backdoor deals on taxpayers’ dime,” said Helen Brosnan, Executive Director of Fight Corporate Monopolies. “Their efforts reflect constituents’ concerns about the control and power corporations have over our economy and democracy. We’re proud to work with a coalition of legislative champions who are taking on bold policy fights to challenge corruption and corporate power at the root. We hope other state and local leaders continue to join their efforts.”
Peters was instrumental in the passage of the Fair Food and Retail Delivery Act, a bill that protects restaurants, bars, and retail businesses from deceptive third-party practices. This bill is now Illinois law and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2023.
“State governments have a long history of challenging corporations in order to protect their states’ workers, local businesses, and communities from the harms of consolidated economic power, and those efforts are continuing todays thanks to these great champions,” said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at Fight Corporate Monopolies. “The members of this task force have proven they’re willing to take on the toughest fights against the country’s largest corporations. They’re providing an example that elected leaders all across the country can and should follow.”
Peters joins Delaware Rep. John Kowalko, Pennsylvania Reps. Sara Innamorato and Nick Pisciottano, New York Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, and New York Assemblymembers Emily Gallagher and Anna Kelles as members of the task force.
State and local governments in Illinois spend millions every year on economic subsidies, but a new bill would eliminate non-disclosure agreements in those deals.
Senate Bill 3038 would prevent government bodies from entering into non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in economic development deals. Supporters of the measure said it would eliminate a tactic that allows businesses to secretly lobby while negotiating deals without the knowledge or input of local residents. […]
Confidentiality agreements are common in economic development, but agreements with lawmakers take NDAs to another level.
“Public money deserves public scrutiny,” Mozena said. “Venture capitalists, hedge fund managers and bank loan offices wouldn’t invest without knowing who was getting the money, and American taxpayers deserve at least the same level of basic transparency from their economic development agencies.”
Some firearm owners in Illinois may soon need to update their Firearm Ownership Identification.
A new bill filed by Representative Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn) would require young gun owners to apply for a FOID card again after their 21st birthday. She says this proposal would give law enforcement the chance to do another background check.
“Again and again, we see these heartbreaking crimes committed by young adults with a documented history of threatened and actual violence, including self-harm,” Costa Howard said. “Simply requiring young adults to re-apply for FOID cards after they turn 21 will create an opportunity to spot red flags and intervene to prevent tragedies.”
The bill was specifically inspired by the Highland Park mass shooting, where seven were killed and dozens more were wounded. The suspected gunman, Robert Crimo III, is 21, and legally acquired the guns used.
Asserting that the Illinois Gaming Board faces the biggest challenge to its credibility in decades, an activist group with church connections is urging the board to go slow and potentially block a bid by Bally’s to operate Chicago’s proposed casino.
In a letter to the board, Washington, D.C.,-based Stop Predatory Gambling and Illinois Churches in Action charge that Bally’s is “financially wobbly,” has run afoul of regulators in Rhode Island, and would hold “undue economic influence” in Illinois gaming business if the board grants Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s request to award the company the city license.
“This board must conduct a full and thorough suitability investigation and stand up against the pressure to hastily issue a license,” the groups wrote. The seven-page note compares the situation to another two decades ago, when officials initially signed off on the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont under strong political pressure only to have its license ultimately pulled amid allegations that some of those involved had ties to organized crime.
The letter does not raise any questions about Mafia involvement. But it does cast a light on a series of other matters that potentially could impact the board.
The Bally’s Corporation deficient application for a License for a new casino in the city of Chicago on August 10th represents the biggest challenge to the Illinois Gambling Board’s regulatory authority and credibility since the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont.
Much like the characters deemed unsuitable in the Rosemont proposal, executives with the Bally’s Corporation have approached their license application like they are entitled to a casino in Chicago, including taking steps to exert pressure on the Board to create the impression their licensure in Chicago is “a done deal.”
Because all applicants and licensees have a duty to disclose and maintain suitability for licensure, we strongly urge this Board and your investigators to follow your precedent to conduct a full, thorough, and transparent investigation into the major deficiencies and lack of candor in Bally’s August 10th application that we have detailed below.
We ask the Board to pay special attention to the conduct of Bally’s executives and investors, the company’s affiliation with unregulated and unlicensed online gambling networks, and its wobbly financial condition to honor the promises and representations made to the public and the Chicago City Council. We also urge the Board to hold extensive public hearings and fact-finding hearings during this licensing process.
* The letter includes reasons why Bally’s August 10th application requires a Board investigation…
- Restrictions on Bally’s Gambling Licenses
- Bally’s History of Bankruptcy
- Bally’s Disregard for the Culture of Compliance Central to the Illinois Gambling Board’s Mission and Regulatory Process in Its Investor Presentation Disclosures and During the Company’s August 4, 2022 Earnings Call
- Bally’s Affiliation With Unregulated and Unlicensed Online Gambling Operations
- The Economic Concentration of Bally’s Chairman and Largest Shareholder, Soohyung Kim
Bally’s has not received approval from the Illinois Gambling Board to do anything in Chicago. However, as seen below in its recent SEC-registered filings the company states plainly: “Initial facility opens JUNE 2023” and the “Permanent facility opens JUNE 2026.” Companies with a culture and history of compliance recognize the regulatory process takes time and refrain from openly pressuring state gambling regulators with definitive opening dates.
In addition to touting casino opening dates in its SEC filings, the president of Bally’s Chicago Holding Company, Amet Patel, disclosed during the company’s August 4, 2022 quarterly investor call that Bally’s is ordering gambling equipment, supplies and other materials to support a casino in Chicago. This investor call took place six days before Bally’s application was even submitted to the Illinois Gambling Board!
Chicagoans in search of reliable political coverage in today’s fractured media environment have a new source this campaign season. But whether that source is news or recycled propaganda from a prominent political activist is most debatable. As are the actions of the big donor who’s apparently picking up the tab.
At issue is the recent appearance in mailboxes all around town of Chicago City Wire, a broadsheet publication that bills itself just below its nameplate as “Real data. Real News.”
In fact, articles in recent editions of the newspaper mostly are negative pieces about Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, mixed with a little positive coverage of GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey. […]
Particularly striking in one issue are two pages of mug shots of people accused of violent crimes who may be released without bail under terms of a criminal justice reform bill Pritzker signed into law. At least 25 of the 36 men pictured are Black.
In DuPage County, one of the papers, entitled the “DuPage Policy Journal,” showed two full pages of photos of men – mostly Black and Latino – whom the publication says will be released from prison because of the new legislation. […]
Pritzker says that the mailers are not marked properly as campaign material, and says that the reduction of local media outlets throughout the state has allowed the paper to gain circulation.
“When you get one of these in the mail, you should know that this is not a real newspaper,” he said. “It isn’t even marked properly as campaign material. It’s put out by this right-wing network of newspapers that we all know exists in Illinois, and they’re trying to take over where local, real journalism unfortunately has receded.”
Proft dismissed Pritzker’s concerns about the publications in an email to NBC 5 Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern.
“Newspapers spreading misinformation and representing only one point of view? Pritzker must be talking about the Chicago Tribune and the NPR/AFL-CIO (Chicago) Sun-Times.”
* Gov. Pritzker was asked about the papers again today…
Well, first of all, this is a messaging that’s coming from a racist political consultant, who used to associate himself with Illinois, now lives in Florida. And he’s sending messages that are, you know, if you look at what he’s printed, it’s clearly all about the idea that, again, what he’s printing, that Black people are threatening your way of life. That’s essentially what he’s putting in these publications.
It’s a scare tactic. It’s meant to have people you know, concern for their safety. And the truth of the matter is that what he’s purveying here is complete hogwash. I’m probably being polite when I say that. It’s disgusting. It’s a terrible thing to do. We’re seeing it more and more in American politics, and unfortunately, we hadn’t seen it as much in Illinois, until this guy, Dan Proft, I think it’s missing an ‘i’ because it’s really all about profit for him. But that’s what he does.
And frankly, he’s doing it on behalf of Darren Bailey. And that says as much as you need to know about Darren Bailey
*** UPDATE 1 *** We have some react. Rep. Deb Conroy…
The DuPage Policy Journal and the “papers” Dan Proft puts out are trying to scare people with lies. They printed and doubled down on the hateful líes that caused months of threats to my life and prevented me from not only doing my job but going out and gathering petitions to run for DuPage County Board Chair. This is not journalism, this is paid for lies for political gain.
* Senate Black Caucus Chair Robert Peters…
The following is a statement from State Senator Robert Peters, Chair of the Illinois Senate Black Caucus, responding to the growing number of racist attack ads paid for by far right conservatives. These include “The Summer of Joy” ad, the People Who Play By The Rules PAC’s ad, and the mailer in the form of a fake newspaper, “Chicago City Wire” with the lead story titled, “It’s going to be the end of days,” referring to the end of money bond:
“The drumbeat of racist attack ads intended to decieve and scare suburban voters into supporting anti-abortion, pro-assault weapon right wing radicals must be called out for what they are: Willie Horton-level propaganda harkening back to Birth of a Nation that has nothing to do with working towards real public safety.
“The SAFE-T Act is based on evidence, data, and solving root causes of violence. It dares to imagine a world–that actually existed up through the 1970s–where people who never posed a threat to others weren’t rounded up and thrown into jail. And, it’s the only criminal justice reform legislation that has the full support of domestic violence, sexual assault, and victims rights organizations because it protects victims over perpetrators.
“These right wing groups have no intention of keeping us safe–they only want a rope around our necks. The SAFE-T Act will not be part of a Willie Horton-style lynch mob carried out by January 6th Oathkeeper zealots.”
* His papers seem to have quite the fixation on the governor’s daughter…
Governor JB Pritzker continues to attack private citizen, radio host and People Who Play By The Rules PAC President Dan Proft during press conferences around the state, first in Chicago yesterday, and then again today in Harvey while talking about the extremely controversial SAFE-T Act. On January 1st, thousands of violent alleged perpetrators will be let out of jail when HB 3653 applies statewide. 100 of 102 Illinois State’s Attorneys of both parties oppose the law. According to NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern, Pritzker said the following yesterday in Chicago regarding Proft’s association with local newspapers that have printed photos of some of the violent alleged perpetrators who will be released: “It’s pretty awful. These are lies and they’re putting them out in various forms, attacking people based on their background.”
All of the photos in the stories are accurate and publicly available, and all of the information printed is 100% objectively factual.
Pritzker comments in Harvey today: “Well, first of all, this is a messaging that’s coming from a racist political consultant, who used to associate himself with Illinois, now lives in Florida. And he’s sending messages that are, you know, if you look at what he’s printed, it’s clearly all about the idea that, again, what he’s printing, that Black people are threatening your way of life. That’s essentially what he’s putting in these publications.”
Dan Proft’s response:
“Pritzker infuses race into every, single policy debate. He never deals on the merits, particularly on public safety. He signed the state’s death warrant with his no cash bail law. Challenge to JB: name one specific item in the newspaper you excoriate that is untrue or inaccurate.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice takes up Proft’s challenge…
We have detailed four of the most egregious lies featured in the mailer here as a resource for journalists:
1. The mailer’s centerfold includes pictures of people—the vast majority of whom are Black—who it suggests are currently incarcerated in Cook County Jail. It then claims that under the Pretrial Fairness Act, they will be “released to Cook County’s Neighborhoods.” This is a lie. After January 1, 2023, judges will still have the ability to detain every person pictured.
Right now, any of the people pictured could be released from jail at any time by paying their money bail. In the current system, the amount of money someone has determines whether they can be released—not whether they pose a threat to someone else or are likely to flee prosecution.
The Pretrial Fairness Act ensures that the facts of a person’s case will be the main factor determining who is jailed and who is released pretrial, instead of the size of their bank account. When the Pretrial Fairness Act takes effect, a robust, individualized hearing will determine who is able to safely return to the community while awaiting trial.
2. “The Summer of Joy” section of the mailer claims that the Pretrial Fairness Act “mandates” that people charged with murder are released while awaiting trial. This is a lie. Any person charged with murder may be denied pretrial release under the Pretrial Fairness Act if they are found to be a danger to others or a flight risk.
3. The mailer features a list of charges that they claim are “non-detainable” under the Pretrial Fairness Act. This claim is factually incorrect; most of the charges listed are detainable if the person poses a flight risk. And anyone who is arrested for one of these charges while already on pretrial release for another crime can be denied release until trial.
4. Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow tries to sow fear by suggesting that Drew Peterson—a person convicted of both the murder of his wife and of attempting to hire someone to kill State’s Attorney Glasgow himself—would not have been able to be detained under the Pretrial Fairness Act. This is completely false.
Anyone charged with murder who poses a specific, real and present threat to another person can and would be denied release under the Pretrial Fairness Act. In fact, State’s Attorney Glasgow lays out in the article the exact facts that he would be able to present to a judge to have Mr. Peterson jailed without money bond under the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Q: Another busload of migrants came in Chicago last night. Has your office reached out to Governor Abbott’s office to see what if anything can be done coordinating, and do you expect these busings to continue?
Pritzker: At the staff level, our staffs have been in contact with one another. But they have been wholly uncooperative in Texas. They are trying to sow chaos around the country, not just here in Chicago. And as you’ve heard, the mayor also had words about this and I will just say that we’re going to do everything we can to care for the these refugees and asylum seekers, who are escaping their homes to come to the United States of America. And it shouldn’t be that the governor of Texas is essentially taking these people, treating them like chattel, treating them like property, putting them on buses, sending them wherever he wants to send them. It shouldn’t be the choice of people who come to this country and of course, the United States government should be managing that. And I guess I’ll just say, if they’re coming to Illinois, and we’re a welcoming state, we’re gonna make sure that they have a place to live. We’re going to make sure that they are able to get fed and get health care. But what’s happening, what the governor of Texas is doing is disgusting and it needs to stop. But again, when people arrive here, we’re going to care for them.
Q: Do you expect this could continue all the way up until the November election?
Pritzker: It certainly could. He sent thousands of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers to Washington DC, sent thousands to New York, now he’s chosen Chicago. And we’ll, like I said, we’ll do what we need to do to make sure that they get the care they need.
More buses should arrive at Union Station in the coming days. The city welcomed about 50 migrants on Sunday. Last Wednesday, more than 60 migrants touched down in Chicago.
“The role here is just to make sure they have the basic needs to live their life,” Duewel said.
More than 100 migrants arrived Wednesday. The Salvation Army told WGN News they’ve seen many families come with children of all ages. The organization adds that its support also includes several staff members within the facility.
“They’re staffed 24 hours a day,” Duewel said. “There is security here 24 hours a day. There’s Salvation Army translators here. There’s city translators here. We have volunteer translators here. We knew that was going to be an issue, so we made sure we were covered there.”
“We’re a welcoming city, so we’re always gonna step up and do the right thing to make sure that migrants who are coming here to our city are well received,” Lightfoot said during a news conference on Sunday evening.
The mayor said Chicago had not yet heard from any Texas officials and urged the state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, to collaborate on a more humane treatment of the asylum seekers and migrants.
“My frustration comes from the actions of the governor of Texas,” Lightfoot said. “There could be a level of coordination and cooperation but he chooses to do none of these things.”
Williamson County Republican Central Committee presents Donald Trump Jr.
Sat, Oct 8, 5:30 PM
The Pavilion
1602 Sioux Drive
Marion, IL 62959
Join the Williamson County Republican Central Committee for a black-tie celebration with Donald Trump Jr. The night will include a keynote by Donald Trump Jr., a cocktail hour, dinner, a silent auction, and recognition of elected officials & county chairman.
Donald Trump, Jr. is the eldest son of President Donald J. Trump. He is Executive Vice President at The Trump Organization, where he has overseen major construction projects in New York City, Chicago, Las Vegas and numerous countries internationally. During the 2016 presidential election, he became a sought-after speaker on politics, Republican fundraisers and played a major role in Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Trump, Jr. is an avid outdoorsman, and when he’s not on the campaign trail, he can be found on streams and in the mountains all over the world. He is also an active and loving father of 5 young children. Donald Jr. holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Real Estate from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania.
I asked Darren Bailey’s campaign last night if the candidate planned to attend the event. “We aren’t confirming events that far out right now,” was the reply.
Elected officials in Chicago and statewide reshape their districts every decade—but they prioritize their political careers instead of us and our communities of interest!
These maps dictate policy and the flow of power and money in our city. Let’s talk about how communities can organize to make change happen.
We, the people, need to take back our power and demand fairer redistricting instead of more corruption.
Whether you’re worried about gun violence, abortion, rising costs, quality education or any other concern, it all starts with making sure we have fair districts.
Disturbing ad: People Who Play By The Rules PAC has launched a new ad, titled “The Scream,” that shows a woman in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood being attacked by three men. The video appears to be taken from a nearby home security camera. The video fades to a picture of Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot with the words, “How much worse does it have to get,” an allusion to crime.
The PAC, which is backing Republican Darren Bailey for governor, is fronted by conservative operative Dan Proft and largely funded by billionaire Richard Uihlein. It’s the same group that put out an ad that was criticized as racist for showing Lightfoot’s face darkened.
Fentanyl-laced mail is making its way into Illinois’ corrections system and some are demanding a change in policy to make it stop.
Scot Ward, president of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Corrections Lodge 263, said there are ongoing issues concerning safety of staff and inmates.
“There’s always a staffing issue, there’s always mental health for the offenders and the officers,” Ward told The Center Square. “There’s all kinds of things going on in the [Illinois Department of Corrections] that needs to be spoken about.”
But, Friday, in a statement Ward was critical of what he characterized as a system being watered down to appease special interest groups.
Keep in mind that Lodge 263 does not collectively bargain on behalf of corrections’ workers. AFSCME does that. The Lodge is a fraternal organization in this case.
* Ward’s full statement…
The environment in Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) facilities is becoming increasingly more dangerous for both correctional officers and offenders and there seems to be little or no movement toward improving the situation, according to the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Corrections Lodge 263.
According to Lodge 263, during the Pritzker administration the Governor’s appointee Camile Lindsay, who gives direction to IDOC, has dangerously shifted focus to an anti-law enforcement, criminal-centered environment that placates social justice advocates at the expense of accountability for criminal behavior.
“Over the last several months working conditions for IDOC officers have become increasingly more stressful and dangerous,” said Lodge 263 President Scot Ward. “There is no valid plan in place to improve the situation, and frightening tragedies will undoubtedly occur unless something is done soon.”
Illegal, synthetic drugs are entering IDOC facilities at a more rapid pace through mail sent to the offenders. These drug-soaked cards, letters and fraudulent attorney-client correspondence has led to an increase in offenders being under the influence of drugs, carrying out violent acts on staff and other offenders. In addition, IDOC officers handling the mail have been unknowingly exposed to these substances, and as a result several officers have required a dose of Narcan or an emergency room visit.
“Many correctional agencies in the United States scan the offenders’ mail and then deliver those scans to the offenders, which keeps illegal drugs from entering the prison through the mail,” Ward said. “We have suggested this solution to top IDOC officials, but to date no action has been taken to stem this postal poison flow.”
The system that holds incarcerated offenders responsible for their actions has been watered down through policy and law changes, Ward said, and the result is that offenders no longer fear repercussions if they harm or kill a fellow offender or an IDOC officer. Restrictive housing for offenses has been reduced or eliminated, fewer cases of offender violence are being sent to county state’s attorneys for prosecution, and parolees are not being sent back to prison for violating the terms of their parole.
“Offenders are no longer concerned about being punished for their violent acts, and that means they literally have nothing to lose by assaulting any human being they encounter in prison,” Ward said. “And if they are not accountable on the inside, how can you ever hope to safely return them to society once their sentences are over?”
The mental health of IDOC officers is also a major concern. Ward said that these men and women work in some of the state’s most dangerous environments and they are under the constant threat of violence, intense scrutiny, lawsuits, investigations, drug exposure, and the daily fear of walking into an environment where anything can, and often does, happen.
“What makes matters worse is that these officers are forced to work excessive amounts of overtime to deal with critical staff shortages,” Ward said. “The mental health assistance systems in place do not offer the anonymity that officers need to avoid the stigma and negative scrutiny of both offenders and their fellow officers.”
“Mental health professionals with experience in helping law enforcement officers must be made available to assist IDOC officers when needed,” Ward said. “IDOC administrators must also be open to the idea of mental health time off, assignment changes, and small acts of appreciation for officers.”
Camile Lindsey has only been in the governor’s office for a few months.
* I asked the governor’s office for a response. Here’s Jordan Abudayyeh…
While smuggling contraband through the mail is a challenge for corrections institutions across the country, let’s look at the facts— the Department of Corrections houses approximately 29,000 individuals and this year there have been less than 230 instances of synthetics being discovered in the mail. If every individual in custody received just one piece of mail, that comes out to less than one percent. We remain committed to ensuring that staff are safe and instances of synthetics being smuggled into facilities are treated with the utmost importance.
What seems to be the real problem for the union is that a Black woman is in a position of power and is working diligently to carry out this administration’s mission to clean up the Department of Corrections and ensure we are treating those in our custody with respect and with a focus on rehabilitation.
* Background from the governor’s office…
• The Department’s evolution to an incentive-based corrections model is an administration-wide initiative and has resulted in a reduction of violence within DOC facilities. The restrictive housing reform is in accordance with the Department of Justice’s guiding principles and ACA standards.
• The Department offers staff wellness training, which uses best-in-class curriculum as well as providing staff wellness teams that provide peer support for facility staff statewide on an as needed basis. The health and safety of staff and the individuals in custody is the Illinois Department of Correction’s top priority.
It was also noted that the shift iaway from placing individuals in restrictive housing is part of active litigation. IDOC is apparently trying to avoid a consent decree.
* Also, I’m having a hard time buying the “several officers have required a dose of Narcan or an emergency room visit,” line. The FOP swears this is true, and I don’t doubt that officers have asked for Narcan doses or visited emergency rooms. However…
* Fact Check-Overdose of fentanyl just by being in its presence is not possible, experts tell Reuters: “You cannot overdose just by touching fentanyl or another opioid and you cannot overdose just by being around it,” said Dr Ryan Marino, medical director of Toxicology & Addiction at University Hospitals, Cleveland. “It will not get into the air and cause anyone to overdose.” … Lewis S. Nelson, professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and director of the Division of Medical Toxicology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey, agreed with these comments, explaining that an overdose from fentanyl by being in its presence was “not possible”. … “All of the findings that we see on this, and other videos, are inconsistent with fentanyl poisoning and are fully consistent with a stress/anxiety response.”
* Accidental Occupational Exposure to a Large Volume of Liquid Fentanyl on a Compromised Skin Barrier with No Resultant Effect: The high prevalence of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply has generated concern among first responders regarding occupational exposure. Social media sharing of unconfirmed first responder overdoses after brief exposure to fentanyl may be contributing to an inappropriate risk perception of brief dermal fentanyl exposure. This case details a dermal exposure to a large dose of analytically confirmed pharmaceutical fentanyl (fentanyl citrate, 10 microgram fentanyl base per ml), over a large skin surface area. Additionally, the exposure occurred at a site with some skin barrier compromise, a factor that can increase fentanyl absorption. The patient underwent appropriate decontamination and underwent a brief medical assessment with no clinical effects of opioid exposure observed.
* Cops say touching fentanyl is making them sick. Doctors say it’s impossible: Pharmaceutical fentanyl is used in hospitals — often in the form of a patch — for patients with extreme pain. But even then, said Dr. Ryan Marino, an emergency medicine physician and toxicologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who uses #WTFentanyl to bust myths surrounding the drug, it’s not easily absorbed . “Fentanyl patches require putting fentanyl into special liquid vehicles so it can be absorbed through skin, and then sealing them against the skin for 72 hours at a time,” Marino said. “The patches took decades and millions of dollars to develop and are still incredibly slow and inefficient.”
The Pritzker administration, once again, has decided to try and divert attention from a serious and deadly issue instead of taking care of the problem. They are playing the race card while putting lives at risk by their inaction.
The men and women who staff our prisons, many of them people of color, are facing more dangerous situations every day. As recently as Sunday, at the Western Illinois Correctional Center, an 18-page drug-soaked book caused several offenders to need medical attention and posed an extreme risk to staff.
So while the Pritzker administration plays the race card, they ignore the incompetence and inaction of the person who should be their advocate for change and safety in our prisons.
Color doesn’t matter, competence does. The 50 percent of our executive board and the large percentage of our membership who are people of color join all of their brothers and sisters in Lodge 263 in just wanting to go home safely to their families each night.
Minority marijuana license holders are calling on the state to loosen ownership regulations in order to make it easier to create and build retail stores.
Many of them cite issues with the state’s cannabis social equity program.
The program was designed to offer disadvantaged people and communities of color disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs an opportunity to benefit from the cannabis industry.
But instead, license holders say the process has been plagued by red tape.
“Three years in, and we still don’t have any Black-owned cannabis operators,” Douglas Kelly, head of the Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition, said at a news conference today outside the State of Illinois Building in the Loop, a move aimed at increasing political pressure on Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
License holders say they’re being hampered by the state’s Department of Financial & Professional Regulation’s rules, which prevent them from making any changes to ownership reported on their initial applications until they receive a final state inspection to open a dispensary. But it can cost $500,000 to $1 million or more to get a dispensary ready to open, requiring many license holders to seek investors.
“The rule-making process is screwing it up. Instead of making it easier for Blacks and Latinos, they’re making it harder,” said Rickey Hendon, a former state senator who won a retail license and plans to open a location in the South Loop.
He said he has an agreement with investors, but the state rules make it hard to complete a deal that would allow him to raise additional money to build out a facility, which he estimates will take $1.5 million to $2 million.
But under guidance by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, license holders are prohibited from selling their preliminary “conditional” licenses until they are approved to begin retail sales.
“Which is ludicrous, because in the conditional phase is when you need to raise the most capital,” said Edie Moore, co-founder of Chicago NORML and a conditional license holder. “There’s no reason not to do it. It’s not disallowed in the law, and it hurts people.” […]
The conditional license holders can’t open for business until they pass background checks, get local site approval, pass an inspection, and pay the license fee.
The apparent intent of the policy against selling conditional licenses was to keep minorities and social equity license holders from selling out before even beginning operations. But owners say that keeps them from using their greatest asset, shares of ownership in the license, and they should have the same rights as business owners in other industries.
* Chicago NORML’s Executive Director Kiana Hughes and Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell spoke on Chicago Tonight…
Kiana Hughes: One of the things that we’re hearing is that on every level, licensees are hitting obstacles that are being put in place, or that are just kind of left in place, whether it’s by actual legislation, whether it’s by the rules, whether it’s by interpretations of the law. So for example, you might have there are some dispensary owners, that are all dispensary owners.
All you get when you get the license is a conditional license. Your license isn’t real until you’re actually able to open your doors. Well, as you can imagine a lot of social equity licensees are trying to raise capital to get to the point where they can actually open their doors.
One of the rules is being interpreted as saying that you cannot sell or exchange any portion of ownership or equity in your company in order to get investors for your business. So it’s making it very hard for them to raise capital.
Christian Mitchell: We’re hearing two different sides of this. On the one hand, you’ve got owners who are saying ‘hey, we want to change principal officers so we can raise capital right now because we need it.’ On the other hand, you have a pretty much an equal number of folks saying ‘hey, wait a second.’
We’ve got principal officers who have been holding this for a couple of years. They’re people of color, we want that growth in this industry. But we don’t want to some of these predatory folks who are coming in and saying, hey, I’ll give you some cash, but you’ve got to give me a majority stake in your business. Do we have to restore that license now? Is that true social equity is now a majority person has bought in has the sake and now is saying ‘I’m a social equity license because this person originally had the licenses conditional holder.’
These are all nuanced debates that we need to have. My office door is open as as the governor’s our phone lines are open there. Multiple members of the coalition have contact info for us. We got to sit down and have a nuanced conversation about this in the future social equity in the dispensary.
There has been a drastic surge during the pandemic of these drivers meeting up and blocking traffic for these raucous street parties, prompting new legislation and crackdowns from law enforcement across the country.
In June, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a new law targeting illegal stunt-driving events in the state. That measure, increasing fines and threatening arrests, followed similar moves in the past year by Arizona, California, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas to curtail dangerous driving antics.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed a law in October threatening a six-month suspension of a driver’s license for participating in a sideshow, even as a spectator. Two months later, Oakland’s current mayor, Libby Schaaf, pointed to “reckless driving and gunfire brought on by sideshow activity” as contributing to the city’s high number of homicides. There were 134 murders in Oakland in 2021, the highest in a year since 2006. […]
Since the emergence of sideshows in Oakland in the late 1980s, successive mayors have railed against them. In 2005, after eight people died in sideshows over a year, former Gov. Jerry Brown, then mayor of Oakland, called for action. But sideshows continued. In 2009, following three sideshow-related deaths, the Mayor Ron Dellums made a plea for change — to no effect.
* I asked my associate Isabel Miller to compile some other news stories about the topic…
With nine weeks to go before the 2022 midterms, local election officials across Illinois are fielding a new wave of baseless grievances and impossible demands from ‘election integrity’ activists who insist the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
In recent weeks, a variety of form letters and emails, most of them including the same language, started arriving in county clerks’ inboxes. The letters often came as open records requests filed under the state’s Freedom of Information Act law, but they included incoherent demands or inaccurate lists of data the clerks don’t collect in their election counting processes. […]
Michelle Turney, a former Chicago police officer who failed to collect enough signatures to appear on the 2022 primary ballot, sent an email to the Iroquois County Clerk’s office under the subject line “Class Action Lawsuit.”
“I am contemplating filing suit against your organization based on credible information I have received regarding your organization’s possible involvement in criminal and/or civil actions pertaining to election integrity issues,” Turney wrote.
Later, in the same email, she told the local election authorities who work in a county two hours south of her hometown that she was their employer and threatened them with criminal consequences.
“I AM CONSIDERING SUING YOU FOR YOUR AND/OR YOUR ORGANIZATION’S INVOLVMENT IN THE FRAUDELENT (sic) ELECTIONS THAT WILL SOON BE PROVEN TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE SINCE 2017,” Turney wrote in all capital letters. “Any attempts by you or your organization to destroy the election records and accompanying relevant documentation that I, as your benefactor and employer, have demanded you retain will be met with the harshest possible criminal and civil repercussions available under the law.”
Isabel has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all the FOIAs filed with the Madison County clerk, which appears to be a top target of election results deniers. We’ll let you know what we see.
Also, Iroquois is about the most Republican county in the state.
A slate of far-right conspiracy theorists have filed to run in June’s Republican primary for nominations for Illinois public offices ranging from governor to a seat in Congress, aiming to amplify baseless claims of rampant voter fraud and to “take back” the government.
Their website features a slogan and symbol linked to QAnon supporters, although one of the candidates sought to downplay the connection. […]
Secretary of state candidate Michelle Turney — a former police sergeant from the Beverly neighborhood — said in an email that her first priority would be to “decertify the 2020 Election on day one of my term.”
Turney, who has more than a thousand YouTube followers, also wrote that all “voting machines will be disassembled, sold, donated, or destroyed.” She’s no longer on the city payroll.
Her failed slate’s website is still active and might conceivably be the source for at least some of the FOIA filings. Click here.
Although team officials continue to say a move to Arlington Heights remains a matter of “if,” not “when,” the Chicago Bears have offered the first sneak peek of their vision for a new stadium complex.
A trio of high-level renderings released by the team on Tuesday demonstrate the scope of the Bears ambition. More than just a new stadium, the team is aiming to turn the 326-acre property into “a multi-purpose entertainment district anchored by a new, best-in-class enclosed stadium, providing Chicagoland with a new home worthy of hosting global events such as the Super Bowl, College Football Playoffs, and Final Four.”
Though the team’s press materials were long on anticipated revenue-generating benefits for Cook County and the state of Illinois — forecasting $1.4 billion in annual economic impact — they were short on projected costs.
The team stated it would seek no public funding for direct stadium construction, but would expect to partner “with the various governmental bodies to secure additional funding and assistance needed to support the feasibility of the remainder of the development.”
Aside from the stadium, the master plan also encompasses entertainment, commercial and retail, restaurants, parks and open spaces, housing and possibly a hotel.
“Whenever anyone is offering up an economic impact number, a good rule of thumb is to move the decimal one place to the left,” [University of Chicago economics Prof. Allen Sanderson] said, noting he hasn’t seen the team’s research. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the Bears, or a local chamber of commerce, or a mayor — 90% of that is hyperbole or just inflated.
“It’s especially true in the NFL, because money affiliated with the team is local in nature. People will be watching the Bears whether they’re in Soldier Field or Arlington Heights. Money gets redistributed, but the net addition is usually minimal,” Sanderson said.
And the sizable “mixed-use” development the Bears are pitching on the rest of the 326-acre plot probably won’t create the massive economic windfall the team has suggested, said Sanderson.
He added that the team’s implication that they’re not seeking public financing for the stadium project “made me scratch my head.”
“Essentially they’re saying, ‘We’re not going to ask for public money for the stadium, but we are going to ask for other money to build next to it.’ In the end, somebody is going to have to fork over something like $2 billion to build this facility. I don’t care what euphemism is used, but it’s $2 billion.”
* The Question: Should the Bears receive any public (state or local) assistance in constructing their multi-purpose project? Explain.
The state on Tuesday announced the award of the first electric vehicle manufacturing-targeted tax incentives made possible by a law signed by Gov. JB Pritzker last year.
The incentives come from the Reimagining Electric Vehicles Act, which passed nearly unanimously and became law in November, and will provide an estimated $2.2 million in value to T/CCI Manufacturing in Decatur.
The REV Act passed two months after the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act which incentivizes EV adoption, driving Pritzker’s vision to make Illinois “the best place in North America to drive and manufacture an electric vehicle.”
T/CCI’s Decatur plant currently manufactures compressors for gasoline-powered cars. The company plans to retool the Decatur facility to produce compressors for EVs with an estimated $20 million investment. Currently, T/CCI makes EV compressors, a part which cools batteries and powers car air conditioning systems, in China and India.
Pritzker, joined by industry leaders and state and local elected officials at T/CCI’s facility, proclaimed that “if you want to build a career in the electric vehicle economy, you can start right here in Decatur.”
“This is another in-state element to the EV ecosystem of Illinois that we’re building, which is especially crucial given the supply chain challenges of the past year,” Pritzker said. “And thanks to the REV Act, Illinois beat out international competition to bring this deal home. That means new jobs and jobs that would have gone overseas are staying right here.”
It was also announced Tuesday that T/CCI will partner with Richland Community College to create an EV innovation cluster that will include a Climatic Center for Innovation & Research Facility.
About $15.3 million has been allocated to Richland and $6 million to the city of Decatur from the state’s fiscal year 2023 budget for the project.
* Pritzker said the manufacturing of EV parts domestically is necessary to work around supply chain issues. Fox 2…
REV Illinois offers competitive incentives to companies that manufacture EVs, EV parts or components, and EV charging stations. The incentives are contingent upon job creation and retention, capital investments, annual compensation, and continued operation in the state.
“This pivotal moment for our economy, our climate, our communities demand ambition, and Illinois is meeting this moment,” Pritzker said.
The announcement comes as EV infrastructure planning and development grows on both sides of the river.
“It’s coming faster than everybody realizes. It’s not stopping. It’s here” said Gabe Warner, project manager at RJP Electric.
The company will also set up a climate innovation center in cooperation with Decatur’s Richland Community College. State and company officials say the center will serve more than T/CCI, with Deputy Gov. Andy Manar saying he hopes the facility will be the first step in creating a broader EV campus that will spur manufacturing here.
The deal is rather modest, at least compared to multi-billion-dollar EV battery plants that have recently been announced in Ohio and other states. Still, T/CCI will invest more than $20 million and has agreed to keep 103 jobs that now produce compressors for conventional vehicles while adding 50 more.
But officials are hopeful the move is the first of bigger additional announcements to come. “We could have chosen to locate this anywhere. We chose Illinois,” said company Vice President Kara Demirjian-Huss in an interview. The company has facilities in China and India and considered the latter, as well as other facilities, for the new plant. But the new incentives–mostly payroll tax credits–made a difference, she said.
Those incentives will be worth up to $2 million, with another $250,000 tax credit awarded under a different program, Manar said. In addition, another $15.3 million in grants will go to Richland over some years with the city of Decatur getting $6 million for infrastructure improvements.
* While taking questions from reporters, Pritzker played down the notion that the lack of new projects was bad news, but claimed Illinois will see more out of the REV Act and more companies coming to the state…
Well, it’s been less than 10 months. I mean, I think anybody in business can tell you that it takes quite a long time to evaluate facilities’ locations where you’re going to put new manufacturing, and then to make the decision to put the capital into the ground, so to speak, that you need to in the community. So you’ve got to know it’s not just about the financial incentives. That’s obviously a core portion of what businesses consider. We provide it through the REV Act, a very competitive ability to attract companies from a financial perspective.
* Ensuring areas overburdened by past pollution can participate in and benefit from Pritzker’s clean energy law is more complicated in practice, St. Louis Public Radio reports…
But achieving this vision is more complicated in practice, which was on display when dozens of people gathered at Lewis and Clark Community College last week to discuss a local workforce development hub, just one of the key provisions laid out in the law.
“There’s still more work to be done,” said Hilary Scott-Ogunrinde, executive secretary of Macedonia Development Corp. in East St. Louis. “Community leaders now have to make sure that what’s in the black and white actually ends up in our households, in our businesses, at our city municipal governments and on our table.” […]
Along with Scott-Ogunrinde, union electricians and carpenters, environmental groups, educators, community organizations and local elected leaders gave their ideas on how to best implement such a hub, which will provide education and training for jobs related to solar and other clean energy transitions.
“Let’s face it, it’s a big piece of legislation, it’s very wonky,” said Virginia Woulfe-Beile of the Piasa Palisades Sierra Club in Alton. “It’s got a lot of moving parts, and to get these moving parts going in sync, we need people that understand what the legislation is supposed to do and how we’re supposed to get there.”
And then finally as your children are off to school again today in public schools all across Illinois, unfortunately, they’re being taught woke ideology. They’re being taught CRT, they’re being taught sex education, and these curriculums have been elevated. That’s all that’s been talked about over the last couple of years instead of the math, the science, the reading, all of the history. History. We have got to start teaching our children how to live, how to work, how to thrive. History is very important, the real history because history repeats itself. History is repeating itself right now. History will repeat itself in a dangerous way if we allow it, but we can stop this.
* Vanity Fair interviewed Gov. Pritzker early last month, when people were talking about runs for president and stuff like this…
“I think it is disgusting,” outgoing Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee, told CNN in late July of the strategy [by Democrats to help nominate far-right Republicans in primaries].
Pritzker brushed off the criticism.
An overwhelming majority of voters in the Illinois Republican primary selected Bailey of their own volition, and it’s insulting to their intelligence to suggest they were tricked into it, he told me. What’s more, “the ads that were run in the primaries were all ads that I could run today in the general election,” he said.
The GOP was fighting to “transform the state of Illinois into what Donald Trump wants the country to be transformed into.” What was he supposed to do?
“I was being attacked,” he said. “Don’t tell me I’m not allowed to attack back.”
* Kelly Bauer and Colin Boyle at Block Club Chicago report that US Rep. Chuy Garcia will soon announce a decision about a mayoral bid…
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García is considering a run for mayor, he said Wednesday.
García — a longtime local politician and community organizer — would be entering an already crowded field, but he could pose a significant challenge to Mayor Lori Lightfoot. In the 2015 elections, when he last ran for mayor, he forced then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel into a runoff. […]
“I don’t want to pressure myself,” García said at a news conference where he and other leaders announced who they’re endorsing in various races. “I want to be as deliberate and as understanding of all of the issues that are facing the city of Chicago. The public safety challenges, the promise of new endeavors, and the area of public safety … .” […]
“In all seriousness, I am conflicted because of the responsibility that I have to help save and protect our democracy and our republic,” García said. “The threat against our democracy remains so violent. We’ve been hanging by a thread for the past year now or so. So I’m conflicted.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is already facing a large field of challengers in the upcoming mayoral election, but a familiar face may join that crowd as former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says he is mulling a run.
Quinn, who served as governor after the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich and who was defeated by Republican Bruce Rauner in 2014, says that he will make his final decision within a matter of weeks as petitions begin to circulate for candidates.
“I think Chicago needs someone who can step in and rescue our city,” he said.
Quinn says that polling data shows a strong performance if he were to jump into the race.
“I did a poll earlier, just recently, and I had 42% and I think the incumbent mayor had 31%,” he said.
* Yesterday…
Today, the Illinois AFL-CIO criticized Regan Deering, Republican candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, for her tone-deaf and anti-worker comments in her interview with WCIA’s Cole Henke on Labor Day.
Deering said that she “doesn’t believe we need to enshrine union power” when asked if she supports the Workers’ Rights Amendment on the ballot in Illinois this year. Deering, who is worth up to over $142 million was asked if she supports a minimum wage – after previously complaining about having to pay workers $10 per hour – said that she would look at the “$10 to $13” – which would be a decrease from Illinois’ $15 dollar minimum wage that fully goes into effect in less than three years.
“When you’re worth up to $142 million, you probably don’t need to worry about enshrining the right to bargain collectively and fight for fair wages and safe working conditions,” said Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea. “For the rest of us, we do. That’s why organized labor exists – to stand up for the worker against people like Regan that would exploit them.
“Regan left no room for doubt – she is anti-labor and anti-worker. She is advocating to pay workers less than the Illinois minimum wage.”
* Today…
Candidate for the 13th Congressional District in Illinois Nikki Budzinski has spent her career championing policies that cause tax increases, higher gas prices, and inflation, all of which are the triple threat faced by working families today all across Illinois. Now, Budzinski wants to take her attack on middle-class families a step further, and repeal the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
According to Budzinski’s policy agenda, her top economic priority is repealing the 2017 tax cuts legislation that save Illinois families over $1,000 a year.
“This is the absolute worst time to raise taxes on Illinois families,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “As families across our state grapple with Gov. JB Pritzker’s high taxes and President Joe Biden’s inflation, the last thing we need in Congress is another tax-and-spend-happy politician. Whether working for Pritzker or Biden, one thing is consistent about Nikki Budzinski - she’s made a career out of championing policies that have caused pain at the pump, higher taxes, and the generationally high inflation that we’re facing today. She will do even more damage if elected to Congress.”
In 2019, while Nikki Budzinski was serving as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Governor, JB Pritzker signed a $45 million package of bills that doubled the gas tax, while indexing annual gas tax increases to inflation. She was also in a senior role in advocating for Pritzker’s failed tax referendum that would have changed the Illinois Constitution to give politicians more opportunities to raise income taxes.
In 2021, Budzinski joined the Biden Administration as Chief of Staff to the Office of Management and Budget to - you guessed it - advance higher taxes and higher inflation while turning a blind eye to skyrocketing energy costs. Budzinski led the office that was in charge of implementing Biden’s vision for America that included canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline, which eliminated more than 1,000 great jobs and cut Americans off from much-needed additional energy resources. Budzinski continues to champion the American Rescue Plan, despite dire warnings from respected Democrat economists that it would cause the severe inflation that we are now seeing.
“Nikki Budzinski’s solution to solving the inflation problem she helped create is implementing higher taxes on working families. Central Illinois families cannot afford Nikki Budzinski,” said Chairman Tracy.
* 3rd Supreme Court District…
Justice Mary Kay O’Brien, candidate for Illinois Supreme Court, 3rd District receives the strong backing of the Coalition of Frontline Police Officers. The coalition comprises Illinois Police Benevolent & Protective Association (“PBPA”), Metropolitan Alliance of Police (“MAP”), Illinois Council of Police and Sheriffs (“ICOPS”), and Association of Professional Police Officers (“APPO”), representing over 20,000 active and retired law enforcement officers across Illinois.
“Judge Mary Kay O’Brien earned our support because she has made the safety and advocacy of law enforcement officers in the line of duty a priority,” said Sean M. Smoot, Chairman of the Coalition and the Director and Chief Counsel of PBPA. “Judge O’Brien’s extensive career serving Illinoisians over the last 25 years as a State Representative and Appellate Court Justice is the experience we need on the highest court in Illinois.”
“I am honored to have the support of the Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois,” said Justice Mary Kay O’Brien. “As an association who protects the rights of our working men and women in law enforcement, I am proud to have the support of law enforcement across the Third District.”
“Accordingly, the Coalition strongly endorses Justice Mary Kay O’Brien to the Supreme Court of Illinois.”
The Coalition of Frontline Police Officers was established in 2022 to provide a voice for frontline officers who serve and protect our communities across Illinois.
* Equality Illinois…
In an unprecedented move, Equality Illinois, the state’s LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, endorsed Judge Elizabeth Rochford and Judge Mary Kay O’Brien for election to the Illinois Supreme Court in the 2022 General Election.
“Equality Illinois has not traditionally engaged in judicial races but the alarm bells are ringing loudly for our democracy and our rights. That’s why we today are proud to endorse Judge Elizabeth Rochford and Judge Mary Kay O’Brien for Justices on the Illinois Supreme Court,” said Justin DeJong, Chair of the Equality Illinois Board of Directors. “We are confident Judge Rochford and Judge O’Brien will ensure every person receives equal protection and due process under the law and that they will also protect the tenets of democracy.”
This fall, two newly-redistricted seats on the Illinois Supreme Court are up for election: the 2nd Judicial District (DeKalb, Lake, Kane, Kendall and McHenry Counties) and the 3rd Judicial District (Bureau, DuPage, Grundy, Kankakee, LaSalle and Will Counties). Rochford is in the 2nd Judicial District and O’Brien is in the 3rd Judicial District.
With the United States Supreme Court controlled by justices opposed to the foundational rights underpinning reproductive freedoms and marriage equality, the Illinois Supreme Court is the last line of defense to protect the rights grounded in Illinois law. If anti-equality and anti-family forces take over the Illinois Supreme Court, many hard-won freedoms will be in jeopardy. In Illinois, the non-discrimination protections in the Illinois Human Rights Act, the marriage equality law, the conversion therapy ban, and the requirement to teach LGBTQ+ contributions in public schools are examples of laws that could be annihilated. We are also gravely concerned about judicial attacks on free and fair elections, access to justice, voting rights, reproductive rights, workers rights, and criminal justice reforms.
“For voters in the 2nd and 3rd Judicial Districts, we urge all who care about LGBTQ+ equality and justice to vote for Rochford and O’Brien,” said Brian C. Johnson, CEO of Equality Illinois. “Vote like your rights depend on this election. Because they do.”
* AFFI…
Today, the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois (AFFI) announced its endorsement of Judge Elizabeth Rochford in her campaign for Illinois Supreme Court in the Second District. The Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois is the state’s foremost authority on, and advocate for, issues related to professional union firefighters and EMS providers. The AFFI does not base its political endorsements on party affiliation, but on support of issues important to firefighters in general and to their members in particular.
“The Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois recently met to consider the candidates in this race, and it was clear that Judge Elizabeth Rochford is the most qualified to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court in the Second District,” said AFFI President Chuck Sullivan. “Judge Rochford’s extensive experience and qualifications in and around the court system has positioned her to be an excellent Justice, and we are proud to support her campaign.”
This endorsement builds on Judge Rochford’s strong support in both the primary and general elections, including the Illinois State AFL-CIO, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Personal PAC, Secretary of State Jesse White, Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court Iris Martinez, and multiple pro-choice legislative leaders.
“Our firefighters are an incredibly important part of the fabric of our communities, risking their lives everyday to keep us safe,” said Judge Elizabeth Rochford. “I’m honored to receive the endorsement of the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois in my campaign, and am committed to bringing equity and justice to the Illinois Supreme Court.”
* DuPage County…
Dear Honorable Deb Conroy:
The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150 is a proud labor union with a long history of representing the interests of working men and women on the job, at the bargaining table, and in the halls of government. In addition to workers’ rights, we value commitment to a strong and reliable infrastructure that supports Illinois’ economy and creates job opportunities in every industry.
I am proud to inform you that IUOE Local 150 has endorsed your candidacy for DuPage County Chair in the General Election, and this endorsement will be communicated to our membership.
Hardworking Illinoisans are counting on determined leaders to stand up for their rights and ensure that we have a safe infrastructure that is a strength rather than a weakness when it comes to economic activity and job creation.
Good luck in the upcoming election.
In Solidarity,
James M. Sweeney
President-Business Manager
…Adding… Press release…
Today, three Mayors- Inverness Mayor Jack Tatooles, Gilberts Village President Guy Zambetti, and Rolling Meadows Mayor Joe Gallo- announced their decision to join the “Mayors for Raja” coalition, endorsing Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi’s re-election campaign to continue to represent Illinois’ 8th Congressional District in the U.S. Congress.
“I have been in contact with the Congressman on a regular basis to discuss and address our local issues and needs,” said Inverness Mayor Jack Tatooles. “I am confident our community will be well served by Raj.”
“Congressman Raja reached out to me when I was sworn in as Village President and maintained communication since,” said Gilberts Village President Guy Zambetti. “Being able to pick up the phone when I have questions or concerns means a lot to me.”
“Congressman Krishnamoorthi and his office have been instrumental assisting residents of Rolling Meadows through the immigration process and a path towards citizenship,” said Rolling Meadows Mayor Joe Gallo.
“I humbly accept these endorsements,” said Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. “The new Illinois 8th Congressional District spans across the West and Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, from the 41st Ward in the City of Chicago to St. Charles, Illinois. Having the support of the many bipartisan local leaders who represent these communities is absolutely instrumental, and it speaks to my track record of working collaboratively and in a bipartisan fashion on the pressing economic and social issues impacting working families in Illinois.”
The growing list of 14 Mayors now includes:
• Addison Mayor Richard Veenstra
• Carol Stream Village Mayor Frank Saverino
• Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain
• Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson
• Gilberts Village President Guy Zambetti
• Hanover Park Village President Rod Craig
• Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod
• Inverness Mayor Jack Tatooles
• Itsasca Village President Jeff Pruyn
• Oak Brook Village President Gopal Lalmalani
• Schaumburg Village President Tom Dailly
• Rolling Meadows Mayor Joe Gallo
• Roselle Mayor David Pileski
• Villa Park President Nick Cuzzone
Way back in 1996, I spent a few minutes walking around the Chicago-based Democratic National Convention with then-House Minority Leader Michael Madigan.
Madigan at the time was working to regain his chamber’s majority after the 1994 national Republican wave combined with the Republican-drawn legislative district maps to knock the speaker’s gavel out of his hand.
But even with his lessened official status, Madigan was still hugely powerful within his party, and he was clever enough that many figured he’d somehow find a way back.
At some point that evening, Cook County Recorder of Deeds Jesse White approached Madigan. White had served 18 years in the House with Madigan, so the two knew each other well.
White told Madigan he was seriously considering running for secretary of state. Madigan was polite but non-committal in response.
After White walked away, Madigan turned to me, chuckled, shook his head “no” and sighed, “Jesse.” He clearly had other plans for the office, which had been held by the Republican Party for 15 years by that time and was likely to be an open seat if incumbent George Ryan did as expected and ran for governor.
Long story short, Madigan ended up supporting Tim McCarthy, a former Secret Service agent who took a bullet to his chest while protecting President Ronald Reagan during a 1981 assassination attempt. White ended up winning the 1998 Democratic primary by 13 points. Madigan, by then the House speaker, brought a large campaign check to his first post-primary meeting with the winner and supported White from that point on.
White went on to win the 1998 general election against former state Rep. Al Salvi, whose spouse Kathy is currently running for U.S. Senate, by 13 points.
From that election forward, White became a singularly unifying force in Illinois politics. He routinely managed to win areas where no other Democrat could even hope to compete. In 2002, he won all 102 Illinois counties, raking in 68% of the vote and cementing his legendary status. He won 63% of the vote four years later, then won subsequent elections with 70%, 66% and 68%.
A determined worker, White had gone all-out to defeat Madigan’s candidate in 1998, campaigning everywhere, and he was not happy he lost a few counties in 2006 after sweeping them four years earlier, so he made sure to ramp up his efforts in 2010.
Over six elections, White outpolled his party’s candidate for governor by an average of 13.8 percentage points.
In 2018, he lost just two of Illinois’ 59 state Senate districts, according to the Illinois Elections Data website.
Nobody has ever tried to quantify White’s impact on down-ballot races. Did crossing over for White help nudge Republican-leaning voters to maybe support a Democrat for the legislature or local office? There’s no data to prove such an hypothesis, but I gotta figure he helped, and nobody can ever doubt that White has been a strong net-positive for his party.
And when his preferred candidate to replace him as secretary of state failed after innumerable problems were exposed with how she has run her current Chicago office, the Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias was quick to embrace the longtime incumbent White, knowing he’ll be an asset in the fall campaign.
When White leaves office in January, I just don’t see how we’ll ever see another politician like him. His appeal not only crosses party lines, but he showed Madigan and others in 1998 that people of all colors and origins would eagerly support him.
In 1998, I wrote White was an American hero and predicted Illinois voters would pick up on that. He recruited kids out of neighborhoods that many folks are afraid to even drive through to his eponymous Tumblers team and helped shape them into solid citizens. He’s run that team since 1959, and over all those decades only a tiny handful have ever had serious trouble with the law. His fellow party members aren’t the only ones who owe him a debt of gratitude.
White’s retirement may or may not make a difference for Democrats on Election Day going forward. We simply don’t know what actual impact his huge wins have had on other races.
What we do know is we are losing an elected official whose consistently unifying appeal has no equal in this state’s politics. And we will be the lesser for that loss.
* Meanwhile, from a brand new press release…
Today, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White endorsed Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s re-election campaign for Mayor of Chicago. Secretary White announced his support in a video testimonial.
Law enforcement leaders throughout Illinois are calling on state decision-makers to strengthen opioid prevention and remediation efforts by investing in early childhood programs that are shown to help with such goals — and doing so with a promising, new source of funding.
The settlement of several national lawsuits against the distributors and manufacturers of opioids will bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Illinois over the next two decades. A portion of these resources should be committed to birth-to-3 initiatives helping the youngest and most vulnerable victims of the opioid epidemic, say DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and other members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois.
“Tragically, children have been hit especially hard by the opioid epidemic,” said Berlin, one of the prosecutors who originally filed some of these lawsuits. He was among the law enforcement leaders participating in a news conference Wednesday. “As our state considers where to most wisely invest its settlement funding, we must prioritize efforts that support vulnerable kids and their families and help prevent future opioid abuse.”
Berlin noted that, every 25 minutes nationwide, a baby is born suffering from opioid withdrawal, or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. NAS rates skyrocketed by 64 percent in Illinois between 2011 and 2017, alone, before opioid abuse grew even further during the COVID-19 crisis.
“As the adoptive parents of a child who was born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, my wife and I personally know just how significant the toll of opioid addiction can be on infants and toddlers,” added Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley. “Young people born to addicted parents, like my adopted daughter, need support to ensure they can grow up to be healthy and successful.”
Hanley and Berlin are among 100+ Illinois prosecutors, sheriffs, and police chiefs who have joined a public statement from Fight Crime, calling for settlement-funding prioritization of voluntary home-visiting programs that are known by various names, including Healthy Families, Maternal and Child Home Visiting (formerly Parents Too Soon), and Nurse-Family Partnership.
These initiatives work with new and expecting parents in supporting the healthy development of infants and toddlers. The programs can help parents with addiction problems connect with treatment options, and several home-visiting programs have been shown by research to reduce what are known as Adverse Childhood Experiences — such as child abuse and neglect — which, in turn, are linked with a greater likelihood of future opioid abuse and criminal activity.
Fight Crime members similarly support greater investments in Early Intervention services — physical, occupational, speech, and other therapies for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities.
“The programs we are talking about today are backed by clear data and research,” said Rock Island County State’s Attorney Dora Villarreal. “If we want to see significant improvements in public safety, we have to look at evidence about what works best, and act accordingly.”
Unfortunately, Villarreal added, a 2020 analysis showed that 15,000 Illinois families lacked the home-visiting help they needed — one reason why Fight Crime members are looking to forthcoming funding from the settlement of opioid lawsuits.
In February, Illinois Attorney General Raoul — working with several county prosecutors — announced the state would receive approximately $760 million in settlement funding from a national lawsuit against major distributors and manufacturers of opioids, including Johnson & Johnson. Those dollars are intended for opioid prevention and remediation purposes over a period of 18 years, with some of the funding going to counties and municipalities for distribution.
In July, Raoul revealed that two further lawsuit settlements will add to that funding total, once details are finalized. Governor Pritzker issued an executive order creating a statewide office to oversee the distribution of settlement dollars. The executive order also calls for the establishment of an advisory council consisting of experts with experience addressing opioid use and addiction to determine the best use of funding.
“Addressing the needs of pregnant or parenting women and their families, including babies with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome,” is one approved use of these resources, named in the state’s Opioid Settlement Agreement — and, law enforcement leaders said, further evidence of the relevance of their recommendations.
Fight Crime has shared its recommendations with several key Illinois decision-makers, including officials at the Department of Human Services and a number of legislators. Its law enforcement leaders will continue to monitor these funding determinations and seek further opportunities to support efforts prioritizing the well-being of young people, with an eye toward boosting crime prevention and bolstering public safety.
Emily: When I got the call and it was the doctor, not the nurse, I kind of suspected that there was something not right.
ON SCREEN: Emily and her husband were expecting their second child.
Emily: She said that there was something wrong with your baby. There’s a chromosomal disorder, most likely she’s not going to survive.
ON SCREEN: The condition would have caused the baby to suffocate and die shortly after birth.
Emily: We spoke to many, many doctors and decided that the best option for us was an abortion.
Darren Bailey thinks that should have been his decision, not mine — that I shouldn’t be trusted with that decision.
He doesn’t understand what we went through, he wasn’t the one who got the phone call saying that our daughter was dying. We were.
It’s like saying that a family doesn’t know what they’re doing. Whether it be in the case of fetal health, rape, or incest, women are perfectly capable of making their own decisions.
ON SCREEN: Daren Bailey wants to ban abortion even in cases of rape or incest.
Emily: Darren Bailey puts his beliefs before my health. And I fundamentally disagree with him on that.
ON SCREEN: Darren Bailey, too extreme for Illinois.
* From Rick Pearson’s story on Darren Bailey’s faith-based campaign…
But changing gears to attract the broader electorate needed to defeat Pritzker may be overthinking Bailey and his campaign, said Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston and a nationally recognized expert on the intersection of religion and politics.
Burge — who was born and raised not far from Bailey’s farming operation and who once taught the candidate’s campaign manager, Jose Durbin, as an undergraduate student — also is a pastor of the First Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon.
“I think it’s very important to say that he is not putting on airs when he does this. He really believes this. And I think for him, it would be a betrayal of his principles to do anything but be who he was six months ago,” Burge said. “He is a charismatic, evangelical Christian and he was doing this long before he was running for governor, so I think for him, there’s no going back.”
Burge said Bailey would “rather lose by being 100% who he is and authentic to himself, as opposed to selling out and still probably losing and not be able to look himself in the eye six months from now.”
“If it wins, it wins,” Burge said, citing a political strategy that has advanced Bailey from a rural downstate member of the Illinois House to a statewide candidacy in four years. “If you lose, you become a martyr.”
* From a Darren Bailey press conference yesterday…
When I’m Governor, this is how we will restore law and order across Illinois: For starters, we’ll stop trying to make the police the enemy and we’ll start working with them to keep innocent people safe. We will repeal the SAFE-T Act and we will reinstate cash bail everywhere all across the state. We will repeal limits on pretrial detention for violent criminals. We will surge police support and work with city leadership to find solutions. We will prioritize state funds to hire and retain officers. We will increase signing and retention bonuses for police statewide. We will support police and end anonymous sworn complaints against them. We will support local ordinances to provide scheduling and mental health release for law enforcement. And we will send a strong message to criminals by increasing penalties for individuals who assault law enforcement and reinstate the death penalty for convicted cop killers.
When told that the governor had announced a new ISP regional headquarters in East St. Louis that day and that $250 million in grants were being made available ofr anti-violence programs, Bailey said…
That’s all we ever hear for solutions in Illinois, more money, more spending. And that more money and that more spending never comes with more accountability and more transparency. So all this man’s done is continuing to spend and waste taxpayers money, throwing it at the four winds. We don’t even have the infrastructure to fill a new state police office. We’ve got to start dealing with this.
I want to give special recognition to Director Brendan Kelly and his team at the Illinois State Police. They have demonstrated their dedication to safety here and across the entire state from day one that we the ISP in total by adding troopers modernizing the technology and tools necessary and upgrading equipment and facilities to support law enforcement. Today’s announcement is funded in large part by our Rebuild Illinois capital plan, which includes $120 million for ISP facilities, the largest investment of its kind in state history. Other historic investments at ISP include hiring substantial additional personnel for the Division of Forensic services and acquiring state of the art robotics and software to speed up drug and DNA evidence turnaround time. We are designing and building a new state of the art crime lab in Joliet, Illinois, and we are opening a new lab in Decatur, increasing even further our ability to handle cases. We’re filling those jobs with best in class experts starting at the newly established ISP Forensic Science Institute at the newly expanded Belleville educational campus, another really great development at the Illinois State Police. And this year, I’m directing the highest funding ever to supporting new ISP Cadet classes so that we add significant numbers to the ranks of state troopers. That’s vital to keeping all of our communities safe. Of course whatever policies and procedures we implement, are only as good as the folks who see it through. And the men and women of the Illinois State Police are the best in the nation.
* ProPublica Illinois story written by Beth Hundsdorfer of Capitol News Illinois, and Molly Parker and Brenden Moore of Lee Enterprises Midwest…
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called patient abuses at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in rural Anna “awful” and “deeply concerning,” and he said the future of the facility depends on correcting poor conditions.
Pritzker’s comments at a news conference on Tuesday came on the heels of articles published Friday by Capitol News Illinois, Lee Enterprises and ProPublica outlining a history of egregious patient abuses and other employee misconduct at Choate.
At least 26 employees over the past decade have been arrested on felony charges in relation to their work at the facility, and internal investigations have cited dozens of other employees for neglecting, exploiting or humiliating residents, lying to investigators, or failing to report allegations of mistreatment in a timely manner. In some cases, investigations have languished for years as accused employees have continued to receive their full pay while on administrative leave.
At least one advocacy organization called for the state to close Choate in the wake of the reports. Amie Lulinski, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, an advocacy organization for people with developmental disabilities, said the details of abuse and neglect are “appalling” and called on the state to move residents out of the facility and into smaller community-based living arrangements such as group homes.
Pritzker said the state isn’t currently planning to close Choate, but he didn’t rule it out if safety issues aren’t addressed.
“The question is, can we prevent that in the future? And if not, then obviously that’s not a facility that should remain open,” the governor said in response to a reporter’s questions at an unrelated event in downstate Decatur.
Meanwhile, he said, the “state has an obligation to the people that it serves at that facility right now” and is concentrating on upgrades to the facility and ensuring that appropriate services and personnel are in place. In a statement to reporters last week, Marisa Kollias, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Human Services, which runs Choate, said that the problems there are the result of “longstanding, entrenched issues” and that the department has taken “aggressive measures” to address them.
The push to close facilities like Choate is controversial, and some residents’ parents are advocating for less severe measures to address safety concerns.
* This is the first Dan Proft ad that actually promotes Darren Bailey. His PAC appears to have spent about a million dollars on the spot…
The People Who Play By The Rules PAC has launched a new ad, “Darren Bailey: Practical Problem Solver.” An ad buy was placed in statewide media markets and the spot is available on YouTube and the PBR PAC Facebook page.
:30 https://youtu.be/noMHJzs5D60
TV Script:
VO: Darren Bailey isn’t popular with the political establishment of either party because he’s from the real world.
Bailey: “I’m proud to be a family farmer. We fix things that are broken, we solve problems, and we grow things.”
VO: Like you, Bailey knows what hasn’t worked.
Bailey: “Decade after decade of mismanagement in Springfield. Back-to-back billionaire governors – and where has that gotten us?”
VO: High taxes, high unemployment and high crime rates.
How much worse does it have to get before we give a practical problem solver a try?
VO: Darren Bailey isn’t popular with the political establishment of either party because he’s from the real world.
Bailey: “I’m proud to be a family farmer. We get up before the sun comes up and we work until after it goes down. We fix things that are broken, we solve problems, and we grow things. And I love to remind people what farmers do: they feed the world.”
VO: Like you, Bailey knows what hasn’t worked.
Bailey: “Decade after decade of mismanagement in Springfield. Back-to-back billionaire governors – and where has that gotten us?”
VO: Bailey got involved in state politics by opposing the income tax increase signed by the previous Republican governor, and then led the opposition to the income tax increase proposed by the current Democrat governor, because high taxes are driving families from Illinois. We’ve tried billionaires from both parties, and they left us with high taxes, high unemployment, and high crime rates. How much worse does it have to get before we give a practical problem solver a try?
* My uncle was in good spirits after his surgery yesterday. He’s looking at several weeks of recovery, but he’s one of the toughest people I know (along with having one of the biggest hearts of anyone I’ve ever met), so he should eventually be OK.
Anyway, how are you doing?
…Adding… My brother found these photos in my late grandfather’s wallet while he was visiting my uncle before I got there. My granddad was my uncle’s father…
