Morning briefing
Tuesday, Jan 10, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * He did put on a good show…
* Here’s your briefing…
* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker sets out second term agenda as weapons ban bill heads for final vote : Pritzker was sworn in shortly after signing into law pay raises for the statewide officers and his agency directors, as well as the state’s 177 legislators beginning with the new term that starts Wednesday. Democratic lawmakers approved the raises with no Republican support. * WBEZ | Illinois lawmakers reach a deal on assault weapons ban: The legislation, which needs final Illinois House approval, would ban the sale, manufacture and delivery of assault rifles like the one used to kill seven people in Highland Park. * AP | Pritzker takes second oath as Illinois governor, calls for universal preschool and free college tuition: Catapulting off the financial successes of his first term — including the conversion of mounds of state debt into a $3.7 billion surplus, the Democrat declared, “It’s time for Illinois to lead.” He called his plans “as ambitious and bold as our people are, thinking not only about the next four years but about the next 40.” * Daily Herald | How GOP will replace outgoing Illinois House leader Durkin: Durkin, who gave up his House leadership post in November after Republicans lost more legislative seats in the 2022 elections, was the lone House Republican to vote in favor of a ban on high-powered weapons sales before announcing his resignation. * SJ-R | Pritzker signs pay increase bill for legislators, statewide officeholders: For the measure to go into effect, the governor had to sign the bill by noon today since pay raises for state officeholders during a term of office are barred by the state constitution. Before 10 a.m., Pritzker announced that he had signed SB 1720. The raises for legislators begin with the start of the 103rd Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday and on Jan. 9 for statewide officeholders. * Sen. Jacqui Collins | Close pawnbroker loophole in Illinois law on predatory lending: I helped pass the Predatory Loan Prevention Act, which caps the interest rate for consumer loans at 36%, which expands economic opportunity in Illinois by putting an end to predatory consumer loans — including payday loans, auto title loans, pawn loans, and high-interest installment loans that historically target Black and Brown communities. Prior to this, the average interest rate for a payday loan in Illinois was 297%. Legalized loan sharking sapped billions from lower-income and Black and Brown communities. * WBEZ | How 23-year-old Nabeela Syed wants to make space for more people in Illinois state politics: “Just seeing how Trump was growing in popularity, and the kind of support he was getting,” Syed said. “That was a moment where I was like, ‘Man, is politics meant for people like me? Is this country meant for people like me?’ ” * CBS Chicago | Politics are in mind on Inauguration Day at Springfield’s Cafe Moxo: At Café Moxo, at 411 E. Adams St. in Springfield, Mark Forinash takes orders served with a side of politics. * Center Square | More Than 30,700 Mail-In Ballots In Illinois For November Election Were Rejected: Data shows a total of more than 2.2 million mail-ballots were requested across the state for November’s election. More than 657,000 were returned with around 626,300 counted. That’s a difference of about 30,700. * Rockford Register-Star | New Rockford abortion clinic opens; second location gets building permit: Women can find legal abortion services in Rockford for the first time in more than a decade. Rockford Family Planning Center — Auburn Street saw its first patient on Friday. * Washington Post | Twitter said it fixed ‘verification.’ So I impersonated a senator (again).: Elon Musk said Twitter would begin authenticating users who pay $8 for Blue. Our tech columnist was still able to get a checkmark for an impostor Sen. Ed Markey. * Washington Post | A Chicago suburb promised Black residents reparations. Few have been paid.: Despite its problems, the city’s $20 million effort, aimed at rectifying decades of housing discrimination, is seen as a model for reparations being considered across the country * WTTW | Chicago Mayoral Race Finalized With 9 Candidates, as Debates Begin and Police Union Backs Vallas: That leaves nine candidates for mayor, including Lori Lightfoot, who is running to be the first woman reelected Chicago mayor. She faces activist Ja’Mal Green, Ald. Sophia King, state Rep. Kam Buckner, businessman Willie Wilson, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, Ald. Roderick Sawyer and U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chúy” García. * Block Club | West Ridge’s Closed YMCA, Now A Migrant Shelter, Gets $3.75 Million For Renovation, Likely Reopening: “Y leadership continues dialogue with the High Ridge Coalition, including members of the West Ridge community and public officials, about long-term next steps for the High Ridge YMCA,” Katy Broom, spokesperson for the organization, said in a statement. “While there is still a lot of work to be done on the site, the Y is optimistic for its future, and we look forward to working with our partners to develop a plan for the High Ridge YMCA.” * Tribune editorial | Goodbye, Sears. Now Chicago needs to nurture its next great company.: The latest news about Sears is, in a word, grave. When Sears and Kmart merged in 2005, they counted 3,500 stores in the U.S. In 2023, it would be no surprise if the store count finally hit zero. * Washington Post | He painted a mural of Kanye West. Then a rabbi called.: Devins, 48, an urban planner who has been sketching celebrities on buildings for years, figured this one would be a hit. Ye — the rapper formerly known as Kanye West — had grown up here, shouted out “Chi-town” in his songs and named his 4-year-old daughter after the Windy City. And at first, Devins was right: Passersby stopped to take selfies that morning with his portrait of Ye before the paint had dried. One man recorded an Instagram video of his wife admiring it: #Beautiful. * Sun-Times | Alderpersons call in crews to cut branches of tree in Gage Park after they say homeowner refused to take down noose: The owner said the noose was left from Halloween display, but Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th) said it didn’t matter why the noose was hung because people still saw it as a racist symbol from the days of lynching. * Washington Post | The moon beckons once again, and this time NASA wants to stay: The United States has since reversed course, with the moon once again the centerpiece of NASA’s exploration goals. Under its Artemis program — born during President Donald Trump’s tenure and embraced by the Biden administration — NASA has real momentum and bipartisan political support for one of the most ambitious human space flight efforts in decades. It began with the launch of its massive SLS moon rocket and Orion spacecraft on Nov. 16, a mission without any people on board. The Artemis I mission will be followed by subsequent flights with astronauts — first orbiting the moon and then eventually landing on the surface. * Kentucky Lantern | Pfizer gives $1 million to Republican Party of Kentucky to expand its headquarters: A report filed by Republican Party of Kentucky Building Fund last week with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance listed the $1 million from Pfizer along with five other big corporation contributions in the final quarter of 2022 totalling $1.65 million. That is an extraordinarily large haul for the fund which had raised only $6,000 during the first three quarters of 2022. * WMBD | ZZ Top tour coming to the Peoria Civic Center: According to a Civic Center press release, ZZ Top will be performing at the Peoria Civic Center on April 10. * $5M USDA Grant Funds Illinois-Led Innovative Cover Cropping Project0:U of I | At sites in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa, the team plans to scale up robotic cover-crop planting from 1,000 acres in Year 1 to 20,000 in Year 4 — bringing the cost to less than $10 per acre. Additionally, the team will work with Tuskegee, a Historically Black land-grant university, to enable robotic, high-resolution measurements of soil carbon and to create markets for climate-smart projects for minority, underserved farmers growing specialty crops and animal products.
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- Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, Jan 10, 23 @ 9:43 am:
I’m more of a rock guy, but Bruno Mars is unquestionably one of the most talented acts going.
- very old soil - Tuesday, Jan 10, 23 @ 10:25 am:
Man, I am old. I never heard of Bruno Mars.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 10, 23 @ 10:48 am:
To the post,
(Deep breath, sigh release)
I unabashedly like Jim Durkin. I do. Always have. While Cross continues to try to ban me from Fox Bend, I still like Cross, but I can’t help but like Durkin.
It should be noted, however, as Republican House Leader, Durkin aided and abetted Rauner for an entire General Assembly hurting Illinois’ most needy and vulnerable.
Here’s the thing, as I sigh, and wonder why too..,
This tweet… by the exceptionally talented Hannah Meisel…
“Durkin says he wants to grow the GOP (something Republicans always repeat). When I ask how he plans to do that when he’s no longer in a position of power, he says he’ll be a voice keeping Republicans in the party. “We’ve lost so many of them b/c…Trump & the politics of hatred..”…”
Durkin stood up to folks who protested, if you recall, and seemingly had no stomach for Rep. Bailey either.
So I ask myself, with that tweet. “What is next?”.
The thing is, let’s go golf, with no snark, I’d like to hear how I could identify as a Republican when all things Republican now I don’t identify with at all?
It’s not like anything this GOP as constituted here in IL or nationally is what Durkin, himself in that tweet no less, sees as anything that’s “good”
As I sit right now in a very Red “SEC Football” state currently and prepare to fly home, what is Durkin trying to say, if his target in the “next” for him is folks where I identify, but I can’t identify with any that this GOP is?
Let’s play 9 holes, have some Irish “whisky” and I wanna hear what exactly is the magic found.
Or at least if Durkin can get Cross to stop trying to ban me from courses… either one…
But to this, seriously, what is this plan, how can/will work, and how does it not include a new party that emerges and fails like any other 3rd party?
But, I like Jim Durkin, so where does he go with this… now?