* Senate President Don Harmon on the bribery charges against Deputy Majority Leader Emil Jones III…
“I have asked for and expect to receive Senator Jones’ resignation from his leadership post and committee chairmanship.”
“These are grave allegations. Members of the Senate and all public officials need to hold themselves to a high ethical standard for the public to have trust and faith in our work.”
Thoughts?
…Adding… I’m told that there’s no “want,” by the Senate President. Jones is out. But he’s being given the chance to step aside.
* Sun-Times story by Jon Seidel and Tina Sfondeles about the new federal bribery charges against Sen. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago)...
The state senator allegedly lied to the FBI about his role in the scheme Sept. 24, 2019.
That was the same day federal agents raided the home and offices of state Sen. Martin Sandoval, including in the state Capitol building. Sandoval died in 2020.
That was three years ago, and the story notes the way he was charged means he’s likely to plead guilty.
* The Question: Your one-word reaction to the fact that Sen. Jones was questioned by and allegedly lied to the feds the same day they raided Sandoval? One word only, please. And keep it clean.
* John Feehery writing for The Hill on 11th Congressional District Republican nominee Catalina Lauf…
Lauf has been able to raise close to $1.5 million in campaign contributions, mostly through small donations, by saying that she, if elected, she will become the anti-Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). So she has some money to back up her message.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is critical of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for sending migrants to sanctuary cities, but Pritzker had to be asked twice Monday if the border is secure.
“The Republican governor of Florida and Texas and Arizona … they’re trying to sow chaos,” Pritzker said. “We’re trying to truly care for people who need their human rights upheld.”
When asked a second time, “and are the borders secure?”, Pritzker said, “In my opinion, we need to have comprehensive immigration reform, and we need to make sure that we are securing the border in every way that we can. I don’t live in Texas, but I know that people are concerned about the number of people who are coming to the border, and again we’ve got to address that.”
Twenty-six more migrants arrived Sunday in Chicago.
“We need to make union organizing a constitutional right and stop Republican efforts to eliminate collective bargaining,” Pritzker said at a Laborers’ International Union of North America training center. “So this November we will pass the Workers’ Rights Amendment.”
The proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution would give employees “the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work,” according to a General Assembly resolution. […]
GOP leaders have contended that the amendment is actually “a disguised tax referendum, a Trojan horse that, if passed, is projected to cost a typical family over $2,100 in additional property taxes within the next four years,” Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy said in a recent statement.
That doesn’t mean Republicans are anti-worker, Tracy noted. “We believe in hard work and personal responsibility. We are pro-growth, pro-business, and pro-worker. As a direct result of the important right to organize and collectively bargain, unions have benefited our brothers and sisters in the trades, business, and public safety.”
House Majority PAC is launching a new television ad, “Working”, highlighting Regan Deering being endorsed by extremists who want to ban abortion with no exceptions, and Nikki Budzinski’s work for Illinois’ families.
This afternoon, the Gun Violence Prevention PAC and Giffords PAC endorsed Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Illinois Supreme Court candidates Judge Elizabeth M. Rochford and Justice Mary O’Brien in the 2022 general election at an event at Bright Star Church on Chicago’s South Side.
“Every law we pass to strengthen Illinois’ gun law is at risk this November if we don’t elect gun safety candidates in our justice system,” said Kathleen Sances, President and CEO of the Gun Violence Prevention PAC. “Reducing gun violence and the number of illegal firearms on our streets have been key pillars of Attorney General Raoul’s work. Judge Elizabeth Rochford and Justice Mary Kay O’Brien have been recommended by the Illinois State Bar Association and have the full support of the organizations working to protect and strengthen our gun laws and maintain public safety. Together, these candidates working in Illinois’ justice system will make our state a safer place and ensure key positions don’t fall into inexperienced hands.”
“Illinois has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, but the gun lobby is trying to overturn them and elect candidates who would weaken them. That is why it is critical that we re-elect Attorney General Kwame Raoul,” said former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. “In office, Attorney General Raoul has restricted ghost guns, investigated and prosecuted gun trafficking, held gun manufacturers accountable, and defended Illinois’ law. We need Attorney General Raoul in office to help keep Illinois families safe. We are proud to endorse him today with G-PAC.”
After the U.S Supreme Court struck down New York’s handgun law this summer, more than 30 lawsuits have been filed across more than a dozen states – including three here in Illinois – as the gun lobby tries to dismantle all the progress we’ve made and roll back evidence backed laws that are proven to keep our children, families and communities safe.
The family of a mother killed in a high-speed Chicago police chase would receive $15 million under a pending settlement approved by a City Council committee Monday, more than two years after her high-profile death sparked revisions to the city’s vehicle pursuit policy.
Guadalupe Francisco-Martinez, a 37-year-old mother of six, died in the June 2020 crash at Irving Park Road and Ashland Avenue when a Chicago police car that was chasing a suspect barreled into her, according to the city’s Law Department counsel Mimi Ruether. Francisco-Martinez’s estate filed a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging wrongdoing on the officer’s part for speeding, blowing a red light and violating Police Department policy on chases. […]
The police car was traveling 101 mph right before the crash and 89 mph at the time of impact, Ruether said. Francisco-Martinez was driving 20 to 27 mph.
Francisco-Martinez was extricated from her car and died in the hospital during surgery. Oliver was arrested about 20 minutes later and charged with first-degree murder, vehicular hijacking, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and other charges in connection with the chase and crash.
According to Chicago Police Department data NBC News obtained through public records requests and first reported, the city has seen a significant amount of wreckage from police pursuits and emergency response crashes.
From August 2017 to the end of last year, the department recorded two dozen fatal chases and 617 crashes during pursuits, the data show.
Fatal pursuits in Chicago far outnumbered those reported during the same period in the country’s two largest cities — six in Los Angeles and two in New York City — according to Fatal Encounters, the independently run database that tracks every deadly interaction with police in the country.
During the same period, data show, Chicago police recorded 729 emergency response calls that resulted in crashes. Twenty-one civilians and 225 officers were injured.
* In the wake of Franco-Martinez’s death, the CPD updated its pursuit policy.Streets Blog Chicago…
The force had previously changed its pursuit protocols after another case where a chase led to the senseless death of a bystander. In January 2003, then-sergeant Paul Bauer was pursuing a man who had stolen a wallet in River North when the man stopped at a red and placed the wallet on the road. Bauer disregarded an order to end the chase, and the fleeing suspect eventually collided with another driver in the West Loop, then struck Qing Chang, 25, as she stood on the sidewalk, killing her and her unborn child. Chang’s husband was awarded a $17.5 million settlement from the city. (Bauer was eventually promoted to commander, and was fatally shot outside the Thompson Center while confronting an armed man in February 2018.)
In the wake of Chang’s death, the 2003 policy revision prohibited pursuit for minor offenses like theft, including theft of a vehicle. According to the policy, CPD officers are charged with applying an in-the-moment “balancing test” to determine if “the necessity to immediately apprehend the fleeing suspect outweighs the level of inherent danger created by a motor vehicle pursuit.”
The 2020 policy revision added a few more restrictions and procedures regarding pursuits, plus new incident reporting requirements. It also states that “The department will not discipline any member for terminating a motor vehicle pursuit.”
But these policies can hardly be considered progressive. The latest revisions in the CPD pursuit policy now align with a set of recommendations issued by The U.S. Department of Justice and National Institute of Justice in 1990, more than 30 years ago. The conclusion of the “NIJ Restrictive Policies for High-Speed Police Pursuits” states that “High-speed vehicle pursuits are possibly the most dangerous of all ordinary police activities,” and recommends finding alternatives to pursuit whenever possible. [Emphasis added.]
* Chicago police officials hope to replace two helicopters and Sheriff Tom Dart hopes to get a helicopter, too, the Sun-Times reports…
A police source said the city has earmarked about $12 million to buy two new helicopters, but no contracts have been signed. […]
Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) has called on Lightfoot and Brown to get more police helicopters to combat carjackings in his Southwest Side neighborhood and the rest of the city. O’Shea said he’s spoken to representatives of Illinois Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and to U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., about the possibility of securing federal money for one or more of them.
“Why we haven’t invested in purchasing multiple helicopters is puzzling,” O’Shea said. “It’s a proven tool to combat the crimes that are decimating our city.”
O’Shea said he’s been told the department’s helicopters are in “poor condition” and frequently out of service for maintenance.
Details of the police department’s drone program were included in an email sent last summer by Karen Conway, director of police research and development. In the email, Conway told other high-ranking police officials that the department’s counter-terrorism bureau “utilized 1505 funds for a pilot Drone program that operates within the parameters of current laws.” […]
Conway’s comments about the police department’s drone program were included in an email discussing a new vehicle pursuit policy.
The memo also included other technology options the department was considering to apparently minimize the risk of engaging in chases: a device to shut down a fleeing vehicle’s engine and a system for remote tracking. The latter option, StarChase, is a mechanism that allows cops to shoot a GPS-equipped dart at a suspect’s car.
Last August, the police department issued revised directives on pursuits, but the general order bears no mention of the technologies.
I’m curious why drones haven’t been at the forefront of this new policy. They’re certainly cheaper than helicopters.
///BREAKING/// State Sen. Emil Jones III has been hit with federal bribery charges alleging he took money from a red light camera company executive to kill legislation requiring traffic studies for camera systems. He’s also accused of lying to the FBI. Story to come pic.twitter.com/MYeBIgo1Tp
The Illinois Department of Transportation (”IDOT”) approved the installation and operation of red-light cameras within the State. In or around February 2079, JONES introduced a bill, namely, Senate Bill 1297, that would require IDOT to conduct a statewide study of automated traffic law enforcement systems, which included red-light cameras. Senate BIII1297 would require IDOT to report on the overall operation, usage, and regulation of automated traffic enforcement systems, and to propose any recommendations IDOT deemed necessary concerning such systems.
In or around 20L9, JONES agreed that, in exchange for benefits provided by Individual A to JONES and Individual B, JONES would oppose legislation that required the study of automated traffic enforcement systems located outside of Chicago, and would limit any legislation regarding IDOT’s study of and recommendations concerning automated traffic law enforcement systems to those automated traffic enforcement systems utilized in Chicago, thereby excluding from study and recommendations automated traffic enforcement systems utilized in numerous other muncipalties that Company A served.
Beginning in or around April 2019, and continuing until in or around September 2019, at Chicago, in the Northern District of lllinois, Eastern Division, and elsewhere, EMIL JONES, III, defendant herein, as an agent of the State of Illinois, corruptly solicited, agreed to accept, and accepted things of value from Individual A, namely a $5,000 payment and money for Individual B, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with a business, transaction, and series of transactions of the State of Illinois involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more, namely, legislation in the Illinois General Assembly concerning the operation of red-light cameras; […]
On or about JuIy 17, 2019, JONES told Individual A that he would protect Company A and Individual A from legislation in the Illinois General Assembly concerning the operation of red-light cameras in exchange for $5,000 for JONES and a job for Individual B.
On or about August 8, 2019, JONES told Individual A that if Individual A contributed $5,000 by sponsoring an event, JONES and Individual A would not have to report that contribution on Illinois campaign contribution reports.
On or about August 12, 2019, JONES and Individual A discussed how much money Individual A would pay Individual B.
The feds filed their charges against Jones in a document known as an information, which typically signals a defendant’s intention to plead guilty.
…Adding… Leader Durkin…
elow is a statement from House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) on the Indictment of State Senator Emil Jones III:
“The Democrat Party of Illinois has become an organized crime family whose only purpose is to shakedown Illinois taxpayers. Today’s indictment once again shows Illinois residents why Democrats refuse to pass real ethics reform; they are too corrupt.”
…Adding… Leader McConchie…
Below is a statement from Leader McConchie regarding the indictment of Sen. Emil Jones III:
“Even in a post-Madigan-era, Illinois continues to have a systemic corruption problem—one that Democrats continue to enable,” said Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie. “Democrats have refused for years to allow our anti-corruption proposals to move forward. If the Democrats won’t allow us to do the right thing, it’s time for voters to step in and make the change this November.”
As a refresher, the SGOP ethics package is SB 3636. One of the proposals in it includes empowering the attorney general to use a statewide grand jury to investigate public corruption.
…Adding… SafeSpeed…
“SafeSpeed’s goal has always been to provide a service that helps save lives. As new developments in federal investigations come to light, SafeSpeed remains both shocked and saddened that one of its former colleagues was engaged in criminal conduct and recruited outside individuals to help further his self-serving activities. Their actions were clearly in their own self-interest and done without SafeSpeed’s knowledge and undercut the important work SafeSpeed does.
“The criminal activity of a few individuals does not and should not reflect the values and integrity of SafeSpeed, its employees, and its clients. SafeSpeed built its business on integrity and ethics, and it holds its employees and representatives to the highest standards of conduct and ethics. SafeSpeed has long since terminated all contact with its former colleague and his associates.
“SafeSpeed remains committed to continuing to assist Illinois municipalities in improving traffic safety. SafeSpeed fully supports the federal government’s investigation into public corruption and will continue to aid their efforts in any way it can.”
A longtime Cook County Board of Review worker pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge Friday, more than a year after the Chicago Sun-Times revealed he was under investigation by the FBI for lowering property assessments in exchange for cash.
Danilo “Danny B” Barjaktarevic, 49, faces a likely prison sentence of up to two and a half years under federal sentencing guidelines. His sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 13.
He is no longer employed with the Board of Review, according to his attorney.
Barjaktarevic’s plea agreement anticipates he will repay $21,000 he received during the investigation. The document also indicates he lied when he claimed that others at the Board of Review helped him lower assessments for bribes.
Criminals set to be released into your neighborhood, sparse advertising and contact information, and an alleged teacher with a fake name pledging to teach critical race theory in class.
Those are some examples of what can be found in a series of publications that have been mailed in recent weeks to homes across the state, as well as in McHenry County. They are drawing attention – including from Gov. JB Pritzker – for being politically charged and containing right-wing talking points just a couple months before the November election.
The publications, totaling 34, include the McHenry Times, the Kane County Reporter, Chicago City Wire and the DeKalb Times. They are under the umbrella of a company called Local Government Information Services, or LGIS. It’s unclear whether each title has mailed out newspapers in recent weeks, but they have a presence online. […]
The press association has received inquiries from residents around the state asking about the mailings and how to get them to stop being delivered, Craven said. […]
[Don Craven, president of the Illinois Press Association] said neither the company nor its publications are members of the Illinois Press Association. The postage permit printed on the front of the papers is registered to Paddock Publications Inc., according to a U.S. Postal Service spokesman.
Paddock Publications Inc. is better known as the Daily Herald. Click here for its latest state corporate filing.
I called Daily Herald publisher Doug Ray and left a message yesterday and followed up with an email early this morning. I had a mutual acquaintance reach out to Ray and others yesterday and today at the Daily Herald and I also reached out to another person at the company yesterday. Silence.
I’ll let you know if anyone responds. I sure would like to know their rationale because, man, this is not a good look. At all. Shameful, even.
…Adding… From comments…
So while decrying fake news on social media, the parent company is profiting off distributing hard copy fake news? Can’t wait to hear what they have to say.
Paddock Publications has a large commercial printing operation in Schaumburg. In addition to the Daily Herald newspapers, Paddock handles commercial printing and mailing for a great variety of customers in Illinois, Wisconsin and across the country. The printing operation is a separate and distinct manufacturing business. Its operation has nothing to do with the editorial judgment or policies of the Daily Herald newspapers.
Stefanie Anderson, a senior vice president of Paddock Publications Inc. and general manager of Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group, is the newest member of the Illinois Press Association Board of Directors.
Prior to moving to southern Illinois to oversee the community newspaper group, Anderson was director of production in the Schaumburg printing facility for the Daily Herald Media Group.
Huh. That’s not quite how Ray explained it.
…Adding… Pearson at the Trib…
So Paddock Publications, publisher of the Daily Herald, is using its mailing operation to send out Dan Proft’s fake newspaper political mailings. It strains belief when trusted media is more important than ever, Paddock’s pursuit for cash outweighs its journalistic responsibility https://t.co/80QhMqqo1c
Lurie Children’s Hospital has increased security and moved a transgender youth support group from in-person meetings to virtual ones after it became the latest children’s hospital to face criticism online over its gender development program.
An account called Libs of TikTok posted a number of tweets late last month criticizing Lurie’s program, which aims to support “the physical, mental and social health of patients and their families as youth progress through gender identity development,” according to Lurie’s website. Many of the program’s patients are gender-nonconforming children, gender-questioning youth and transgender and gender-fluid youth.
In recent months, Libs of TikTok has criticized a number of children’s hospitals across the country for their care of transgender youth. Hospitals criticized by the account have sometimes received threats.
Lurie spokeswoman Julianne Bardele said Lurie has not received any recent threats but is monitoring the situation. The youth group is now meeting virtually out of an abundance of caution in response to “all harassment including Libs of TikTok but not solely because of Libs of TikTok,” she said. […]
Previously, Libs of TikTok falsely accused Boston Children’s Hospital of performing gender-affirming hysterectomies on kids. A number of threats followed, including a hoax bomb threat against the hospital in late August. A Massachusetts woman was charged Thursday in connection with that threat, which led to a lockdown of the hospital and the use of a bomb squad, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Across Chicagoland, recent drag events advertised as family friendly have been targeted with threats of violence and vandalism, with one suburban library even canceling its Oct. 11 children’s drag queen bingo because of “numerous threats” and “aggressive emails.” The controversies have been sparked, in part, by social media campaigns from Awake Illinois, an organization rooted in the suburbs that was born from the anti-mask, anti-vaccine fervor of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been criticized for anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
Over the past weekend, both protesters and counterprotesters showed up in Lake in the Hills outside UpRising Bakery and Cafe to express opposition and support for drag programming, according to footage on social media and Lake in the Hills police. The bakery was vandalized in late July for a family-friendly “Starry Night Brunch Drag” show that had to be postponed because of the harassment. An Alsip man was later arrested for the vandalism. […]
Lincoln Park Zoo has also come under recent scrutiny for planning a drag story time slated for Oct. 2 as part of the Fall Fest programming, according to their social media posts.
In the latest controversy, groups are opposing drag story time and a drag show that will be held at Plainfield’s first Pride Fest in October, which Candi is helping organize.
* Awake Illinois targeted the Downers Grove Public Library’s drag queen bingo event, resulting in a cancellation due to threats Huff Post reported…
The library’s staff received aggressive emails and threats from conservative-leaning residents after announcing the drag queen event last month, the Chicago Tribune reported. One Facebook post urged people to “bring weapons” to the library, the Daily Herald reported, citing police reports. […]
The far-right organization Awake Illinois issued a “call of action” in response to the event. Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, who’s also the Republican congressional nominee in Illinois’ 6th District, helped spearhead criticism of the event, which he used as a campaign fundraiser on social media.
Pekau: I have not. And it is a drag show. And it has no place for seventh grade through 12th grade. And we can agree to disagree, but that’s where my position is.
Q: You have a position on something you’ve never seen before, right?
Pekau: I’m very familiar with what a drag show is. I think we all are. So certainly adults are, but you know what I wasn’t familiar with what it was when I was in seventh grade, or eighth grade or ninth grade or 10th grade or 11th grade or 12th grade. It’s something that I was exposed to as an adult. That’s not something that was brought to me as a child that’s something for my parents, and to parents of children that they have to deal with, not something that the public should be getting into.
* Libs of Tik Tok and Awake Illinois routinely target LGBTQ+ events, sex education in schools.
Two months after Lake in the Hills’ UpRising Bakery and Cafe first became the subject of protests and even vandalism, the harassment, protests and counterprotests have continued and the owner said she fears for both her business and herself.
A number of protesters, both against and in support of the bakery, again gathered outside the shop on Saturday to voice their opinions on upcoming drag shows the bakery has planned this month.
James Gustafson, who said he resides in Arizona but had lived in Lake in the Hills for 30 years, said he made his way to UpRising Bakery both Friday and Saturday because he doesn’t agree kids should be invited to such events. […]
When asked about parents’ rights to take their children to a drag event, Gustafson said a line has to be drawn. He equated it to child abuse. […]
Gustafson said he plans to be at the bakery every day for the foreseeable future: “I already rented a tent for the winter with a heater. This is my new home.”
* The headline has since been changed, but not the story…
A voter opinion survey done for Republican Darren Bailey’s campaign shows Gov. JB Pritzker with a lead. But it’s closer than the landslide, 16 percentage points, Democrat Pritzker won by four years ago. […]
A survey done Sept. 8-10 for the current Republican nominee found Pritzker at 44%, Bailey 37% and libertarian Scott Schluter 8%.
Some might question the results since, before asking 500 likely voters which candidate for governor they prefer, the poll asked:
“…would you rather vote for a strongly conservative Republican candidate that will take the fight to the rich elite and tackle the big issues like fixing our economy and fighting crime or would you vote for a billionaire Democratic candidate who will focus on fighting the cultural issues like abortion rights?”
A U.S. appeals court in Chicago on Friday ruled that federal court oversight of state hiring is “no longer warranted,” freeing Gov. J.B. Pritzker and future governors from scrutiny that has endured through eight administrations over a half-century.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the U.S. District Court in Chicago to vacate the Shakman consent decree, an agreement that had its roots in the patronage hiring practices that have long plagued city, county and state government, as it applies to the governor’s office.
* Shakman asked the full appellate court to reconsider the ruling. That request was denied yesterday after not a single appellate judge sided with Shakman. From US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals…
Plaintiff-appellees filed a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc on September 2, 2022. No judge in regular active service has requested a vote on the petition for rehearing en banc, and all members of the original panel have voted to deny panel rehearing. The petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc is therefore DENIED.
Darren Bailey, Republican candidate for governor, was asked what he would do if he were Illinois governor and busloads of migrants arrived here.
Bailey responded that he would ask “J.B. Pritzker to talk to Joe Biden and secure our border, because if we have secure borders we don’t have this problem.”
That reads almost like a comedy sketch. He’d ask his defeated predecessor to talk to the president?
To be fair, Bailey did eventually manage to get in a Hyatt zinger…
“They’re exhausted, bewildered by all they’re faced with,” Pritzker said, “having made multiple months journeys to come to the United States, being shipped all across the U.S.”
Bailey says, “as far as J.B. Pritzker is concerned, I’m suggesting that he put these people up in one of his Hyatt hotels.”
