* The Cook County Public Guardian is now claiming, without evidence, that the Pritzker administration is lying about DCFS hiring…

The Department of Children and Family Services gained more than 100 employees between 2021 and 2022, records show. This mirrors figures in the governor’s proposed budget, which shows a 4.3% increase in headcount for the department for the 2022 fiscal year. Headcount for the department jumped by almost 500 employees since the 2017 fiscal year, according to state records. […]

Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert, who has been with the office for more than three decades, is skeptical the increased staff will improve performance by DCFS.

“Whatever number of people they’ll tell you that they’ve hired, whatever it is, they’ve lost the same number,” Golbert said.

The governor’s office disputed that characterization while emphasizing staffing trends.

“The net number of workers at DCFS is at the highest number in more than a decade. Any statement that implies that number is not actually higher than it was in the previous year is wrong because numbers do not lie,” said Jordan Abudayyeh, deputy chief of staff for communications and media strategy.

* Supreme Court Justices Rochford and O’Brien won’t recuse…

The Illinois Supreme Court has denied a motion to disqualify two justices from hearing a challenge to the state’s new gun ban over perceived conflicts of interest. The two justices also declined to recuse themselves.

Before Elizabeth Rochford and Mary O’Brien were elected to the Illinois Supreme Court in November 2022, Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave each of their campaign funds half a million dollars from both his campaign account and a revocable trust, totaling $1 million to each. The two justices also received six-figure donations out of a campaign fund controlled by Illinois House Speaker Emanual “Chris” Welch,” D-Hillside. […]

Rochford further said previous precedent “cautioned that courts must consider whether attacks on a judge’s impartiality are ‘simply subterfuge to circumvent anticipated adverse rulings.’”

“Plaintiffs cast sinister aspersions that contributions to my campaign committee were made to influence the instant litigation,” Rochford said. “Plaintiffs provide no factual basis for those aspersions.”

Rochford’s ruling is here, O’Brien’s is here.

* The fact that nobody at IDPH seemed to realize that what they were doing was wrong says so much…

This isn’t about incompetence at this point. At best, it’s about a system that lacks intentionality. If administrators of the compassionate use statute (our medical program) truly centered patients, we wouldn’t be dealing with stories like this and the stagnation of the program.

— Ron Holmes 😷🧤💉💉🚀 (@RonHolmesIL) April 16, 2023

The list of ways @RepBobMorgan & I have run up against that missing compassion is long. Like the time a software upgrade wasn’t communicated to patients & when it crashed telling them it was their fault they couldn’t get medicine… https://t.co/G5MkG5VISN

— Rep. Kelly Cassidy (@RepKellyCassidy) April 15, 2023

* Background is here if you need it. This loss puts them at 0 for 3…

UPDATE: CTU members who filed an unfair labor practice charge against their own union have their case dismissed. The members contended CTU committed an unfair labor practice by diverting up to $2 million in dues money to political committees supporting Brandon Johnson…

— Paris Schutz (@paschutz) April 15, 2023

* The same guy who wrote this…

This was Chicago last night. Save the excuses & rationalization. Unless you want this to be the norm in Chicago, hold them & their parents accountable.

Now! https://t.co/o17QJILBfC

— Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RLopez15thWard) April 15, 2023

Also filed this…

Looks like resolutions to honor retiring/outgoing aldermen are starting to drop + a separate proposal from Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) to declare May 15 of this year as “Alderman Edward M. Burke Day” in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/GlrGnOWaKf

— Erin Hegarty (@erin_hegarty) April 17, 2023

By the way, May 15 is Chicago’s inauguration day. Unreal.

* Isabel’s roundup…

* WBEZ | Thousands of Black history archives will be made available to the public through a $2 million grant to the Chicago Public Library: “Archival collections in general, they don’t circulate. People usually do have to come see them in person. But digitizing is one of those things that makes it so that everybody doesn’t have to come see it in person. Geography, that’s definitely a thing for most folks. That’s an access issue,” said Stacie Williams, head of archives and special collections for CPL.

* Tribune | Political operative tied to ex-Ald. Daniel Solis gets nearly 5 years in prison for wire fraud: Caldero — who pleaded guilty in September as he faced eight charges for attempting to influence a $1 billion Chicago Public Schools janitorial contract and using former Ald. Daniel Solis’ clout to solicit campaign cash and get a park and street renamed for donor’s relatives — had made his mark, Seeger said.

* Crain’s | Who is Jessica Angus, Brandon Johnson’s transition team chief?: His choice to lead the transition team, Jessica Angus of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, is a veteran of local political fights, according to those who’ve worked with her. But in recent years, she has been the kind of behind-the-scenes operator Johnson may need to fill out his team with people who recognize compromise will be needed to advance his progressive policy agenda.

* WTTW | 4 Years of High-Profile Appointments by Lightfoot Did Not Completely Keep Pace with Growth of Latinos in Chicago: The people of Chicago are 31.4% White, 28.7% Black, 29.9% Latino and 6.9% Asian, according to the 2020 U.S. census. But approximately 34% of Lightfoot’s appointees are White. Another 31.5% were Black, while 27% were Latino and 6% were Asian, according to WTTW News’ analysis. That analysis does not include appointments Lightfoot made to a variety of advisory councils designed to make recommendations to her administration that require City Council confirmation. However, those boards and commissions have no policymaking authority and serve a largely ceremonial role.

* Tribune | High-impact tutoring, funded by Illinois pandemic aid, helps boost students’ scores and confidence: Borders said high-impact tutoring allows kids in small groups to get much-needed extra time to sharpen skills in a subject area, but it’s hard to say how quickly a program like this can fill in the gaps. And there is a key caveat: The tutoring initiative was designed specifically for schools that were under-resourced or schools that were disproportionately affected by COVID-19. ITI looked at the percentage of low-income students, among other things, to determine which districts qualified for the program.

* Crain’s Editorial | Judging Johnson by the company he keeps: No, what really stands out is how little actual government experience is shared among the five people Johnson is surrounding himself with at this critical juncture. Also noteworthy: The team’s résumés contain little in the way of experience running a business or even working in the private sector. To many in the business community, the people on Johnson’s transition team list are virtual unknowns.

* WTTW | Black Unemployment Rate Falls to Record Low in March: Brenda Palms, president and CEO of the North Lawndale Employment Network, said that while these new numbers are interesting, it’s not necessarily reflected in the job markets she works with, primarily in North Lawndale, where there’s a “constant concern” about the reduction of the unemployment rate.

* Crain’s | Asking prices for homes hit a new high: The asking prices on Chicago-area hit a new high in late March, according to data from online real estate marketplace Redfin. The median asking price was a little more than $333,500, according to the market-tracking tool in Redfin’s data center. That’s up about 2.4% from the same time last year and about 1.1% above the region’s highest median asking price on record, mid-May’s roughly $332,700.

* STLPR | Renewable energy use is up sharply in Illinois and slightly in Missouri: Generation of renewable energy surged in many U.S. states last year with a major jump in Illinois and a minor increase in Missouri, according to a new report by a nonpartisan research group. Nationally, renewable energy climbed 16% in 2022, compared to 2021, according to the Climate Central “WeatherPower Year In Review: 2022.”

* Crain’s | The looming Medicaid purge is sending a chill through hospitals: While some patients removed from Medicaid may find other insurance, many will become uninsured and unable to pay for medical care. With fewer dollars coming in, safety-net leaders say they may be forced to cut back on charity care and hiring plans. In more severe cases, leaders say eliminating services and staff is a possibility.

* CNN | The government wants to change how it collects race and ethnicity data. Here’s what you need to know: A new proposal aims to change that, merging the two questions into one and adding a new category for people of Middle Eastern and North African descent. That would alter how the government – and by extension, the research community studying Americans’ demographics, opinions, voting habits and behaviors – measures and reports on the race and ethnicity of the American public.

* WTTW | 4 Wheaton College Students Prevented From Proselytizing in Millennium Park Should Be Paid $205K, City Lawyers Recommend: The proposed settlement is set to be considered by the City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday. A final vote of the City Council could come on Wednesday. The incident began when four members of Wheaton College’s Chicago Evangelism Team, a group of students devoted to spreading the gospel in the city, were stopped from handing out religious literature to people in Millennium Park by security guards.

* SJ-R | African American History museum names first executive director: Serving as a connector of people has always been a priority for Nalo Mitchell. Now she plans to use that skill for the purposes of expansion as the first executive director of The Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum. “I’m truly excited and I really want this museum to be on the map,” Mitchell said. “It’s an honor to work with the board and be in a place where I can make a difference in a different way.”

* AP | Why are teen girls in crisis? It’s not just social media: Study after study says American youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Among the most glaring data: A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60% of U.S. girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. Rates are up in boys, too, but about half as many are affected.

* Block Club | Snow Hits Chicago Days After City Breaks Warm Weather Record — But The 70s Could Soon Return: Tuesday is expected to be sunny with a high near 52 degrees, according to the weather agency. There could be wind gusts up to 25 mph.