* Some folks who were eligible for Medicaid during the pandemic are no longer eligible because they have jobs again and can get their own insurance. So, judging the success of this effort by raw numbers alone will be difficult. Still, this is a huge test of how well the Pritzker administration can govern…

As the COVID-19 pandemic policy of pausing annual Medicaid renewals for customers comes to an end, the Pritzker administration is committed to protect coverage for eligible Illinois Medicaid customers, as annual eligibility verifications, or redeterminations, resume in Illinois. The first week of May is a critical time, as the first round of customers to go through the resumed renewal process will be receiving time-sensitive redetermination notices in the mail.

In Illinois, there will not be a “coverage cliff,” where everyone loses coverage at one time. Rather, redeterminations will happen on a rolling basis through mid-2024. Everybody’s due date is different, and all Illinois Medicaid customers will have a chance to go through the redetermination process.

“My administration is committed to making this renewal and redetermination process as smooth and efficient as possible, so that every Illinoisan knows the healthcare options that are available to them,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We’ve been preparing for this moment for many months now, from increasing staffing to our widespread Ready to Renew marketing campaign. And we are collaborating with community health centers, local organizations, and public health partners to deliver resources for Illinois residents that will be most impacted by the restart of the Medicaid redetermination process.” […]

In the month of June, approximately 113,600 cases in Illinois are up for renewal. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), which administers the Illinois Medicaid program, has conducted an ex parte screening on all cases using electronic data sources and known information to determine the customer’s continued eligibility. Thanks to robust preparations and enhanced data connections, HFS was able to automatically renew 51% of Medicaid customers due in June. […]

Customers who do not respond or are no longer eligible lose their Medicaid coverage a month after their due date. Anyone who is no longer eligible for Medicaid coverage will be notified and will receive information about how to enroll in alternative coverage.

* ComEd 4 jury deliberation update from the Tribune…

Shortly after resuming talks Monday, the jury sent a note asking the court to “clarify a possible discrepancy with the use of conjunctions and/or” in the indictment and instructions. It was a nearly identical question sent by the jury in the sexual abuse trial last year of R. Kelly, which was also in front of Leinenweber.

“This is precisely the same issue I had with the Kelly case” the judge said. The problem is the indictment is conjunctive, using the word “and” while describing the probable cause for the various elements of the bribery counts, while the instructions use the word “or.”

The judge said he would respond the same way he did in the Kelly case, which is to follow the instructions.

The Kelly jury later acquitted Kelly and his two co-defendants of the conspiracy counts that contained the confusing language.

Defense attorney Patrick Cotter objected on behalf of all ComEd Four defendants, saying “we believe the instructions constitute an improper amendment of the indictment” that lessens the government’s burden of proof.

Leinenweber overruled the objection, but said, “I don’t blame you at all for raising that point.”

* April numbers were up year over year, but the rest of the year was better. WTTW…

The number of shootings and homicides in Chicago are each down more than 10% through the first four months of 2023 compared to the same time last year, according to police department data.

There have been 166 homicides recorded in the city year-to-date, according to the Chicago Police Department. That’s fewer than the same time periods in both 2022 and 2021, but higher than the 156 homicides recorded through the end of April in 2020. […]

According to CPD data, vehicular hijackings are down more than 25% this year compared to last, while violent crime on the CTA is down 6% year-to-date.

* Unreal…

[Cook County state’s attorney’s office’ chief data officer, Matthew Saniie] told the Tribune that prosecutors get digital files from more than 100 municipalities, many of which use wildly different systems. The county maintains one computer that runs Windows 2000 — a technology more than two decades old — because prosecutors still receive files that can only be played on that operating system, he said.

As we saw at the beginning of the pandemic, local public health departments and hospitals were using fax machines to report their data.

* Full video is here. The lack of bollards causes very real dangers…

Start at the 3:00 minute mark. They probably accessed the trail at Randolph or Monroe. Need real bollards to prevent this @aldreilly @ChicagoParks pic.twitter.com/fuHWWiiDTz

— Michelle Stenzel (@MichelleStenzel) April 29, 2023

This intersection cracks me up. Look at the posts Chicago uses to protect a building (Sears Tower) versus the ones to protect pedestrians. pic.twitter.com/Hy8ndBvPdk

— Jake Wertz (@jakewertz) April 30, 2023

* NPR…

While the rate at which murders are solved or “cleared” has been declining for decades, it has now dropped to slightly below 50% in 2020 - a new historic low. And several big cities, including Chicago, have seen the number of murder cases resulting in at least one arrest dip into the low to mid-30% range.

“We saw a sharp drop in the national clearance rate in 2020,” says Prof. Philip Cook, a public policy researcher and professor emeritus at Duke University and the University of Chicago Urban Labs who has been studying clearance rates for decades. “It reached close to 50% at that time nationwide, which was the lowest ever recorded by the FBI. And it hasn’t come up that much since then.”

That makes the U.S. among the worst at solving murders in the industrialized world. Germany, for example, consistently clears well over 90% of its murders.

While reasons behind the drop are multi-faceted, Cook and other experts warn that more people getting away with murder in the the U.S. is driving a kind of doom loop of mutual mistrust: low murder clearance rates impede future investigations which in turn potentially drive up killings in some communities where a lack of arrests undermines deterrence and sends a message that the police will not or cannot protect them.

…Adding… People driving back to Springfield today from points south should check ahead…

A portion of Interstate 55 is shut down in both directions Monday afternoon after a dust storm caused a “large crash” in south-central Illinois.

Illinois State Police said a crash involving multiple vehicles happened about 11:40 a.m. from milepost 62 to 80 in Montgomery County.

The National Weather Service said on Twitter that visibility in the area was poor after a “combination of newly plowed fields and gusty northwest winds” generated a dust storm.

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Fox Chicago | Illinois residents to begin receiving Medicaid renewal notifications this week: “Here in Illinois, there will be no coverage cliff. Redeterminations and renewals in Illinois are happening through a deliberate and a careful process on a rolling basis over the coming year through mid-2024,” Pritzker said.

* WTTW | Inside Pontiac Prison Where Mental Health Issues, Violence, Officer Shortages and Aging Facilities Are Leading to Calls for Reform: A letter from 28-year-old Jermaine Young says, “On July 26th 2022, Lt. [Timothy] Bowden had assaulted me by kicking me in my chest and hitting me in the head and neck … which is all on camera. … I was in restraints the whole time from my hands and feet so it was nothing I could do even if I wanted to.” Young was held in Pontiac at the time, but has since been moved to Lawrence Correctional Center.

* Sun-Times | Why we’re launching The Democracy Solutions Project: In the runup to the 2024 election, the Sun-Times, WBEZ and the Center for Effective Government at the University of Chicago will be collaborating on a project to educate our audience about the threat to our democracy and how we can form “a more perfect union.”

* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson names John Roberson as city’s incoming COO: Roberson, a former 2004 Crain’s 40 Under 40 honoree, said in press release: “I’ve dedicated my career to public service, and it’s an honor to serve incoming Mayor Johnson in this capacity. I look forward to working closely with Mayor-elect Johnson to identify our goals and policy priorities to achieve our vision for a safer, stronger city that delivers for residents.”

* Crain’s | Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson names more appointees to transition subcommittees: Nearly 400 people — including politicians, activists, civic leaders and businesspeople — are on the lists. Among some of the more notable names that were added to the groups: Alds. Jeanette Taylor, 20th; Byron Sigcho Lopez, 25th; and Matt Martin, 47th; as well as state Rep. Will Guzzardi; Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi; Michael Sacks and Choose Chicago’s Lynn Osmond.

* AP | Midwestern hospitals that denied emergency abortion broke the law, investigation finds: The federal agency’s investigation centers on two hospitals — Freeman Health System in Joplin, Missouri, and University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas — that in August refused to provide an abortion to a Missouri woman whose water broke early at 17 weeks of pregnancy. Doctors at both hospitals told Mylissa Farmer that her fetus would not survive, that her amniotic fluid had emptied and that she was at risk for serious infection or losing her uterus, but they would not terminate the pregnancy because a fetal heartbeat was still detectable.

* Crain’s | Rivian’s troubles don’t end at a 93% stock price wipeout: The relentless erosion in Rivian Automotive Inc.’s share price is revealing an ugly truth: Investors have little faith left in the ability of the Amazon.com Inc.-backed company to compete in a crowded electric-vehicle market. A market capitalization that exceeded $150 billion days after a blockbuster public trading debut in late 2021 now stands at less than $12 billion after a 93% stock wipeout, reflecting almost no value beyond the company’s cash hoard.

* Block Club | Does CTA Boss Dorval Carter Use Public Transit? Records Show He Swiped Pass Once In 2021: Carter swiped into the CTA system 24 times in the past two years with his agency-issued card, according to CTA data provided through a Freedom of Information Act request. Seven of those 24 swipes were transfers to other trains or bus lines, and another seven were all done the same day at O’Hare.

* Sun-Times | Greyhound terminal makes departure plans. Will riders be kicked to the curb?: “What we’re seeing around the country is, these stations close … and in numerous cases [bus service is] ending up occurring on the curb,” said DePaul University professor Joe Schwieterman, director of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development. But a city with two major airports, and Union Station west of the Loop for Amtrak travelers, must have a facility for the 500,000 people who arrive here yearly by intercity bus.

* Herald & Review | Webinar to highlight Back to Business grant program: The Back to Business program’s new round of grants has $175 million available to provide to qualifying restaurants, hotels, and creative arts organizations.

* WICS | Gas prices down in Illinois according to GasBuddy: According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Illinois was priced at $3.33/g yesterday while the most expensive was $4.99/g, a difference of $1.66/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.33/g while the highest was $4.99/g, a difference of $1.66/g.

* Crain’s | Return-to-office numbers haven’t been this high since before the pandemic: More Chicago workers are back in the office now than at any time since pandemic lockdowns turned downtown into a ghost town. That’s according to data from real estate technology firm Kastle Systems, which analyzes building security card swipes and compares current figures to early 2020.

* Daily Herald | After 8-year fight, judge says Barrington Hills horse boarding law is constitutional: A Cook County judge has called constitutional a Barrington Hills ordinance permitting commercial horse boarding as a home-occupation business in the historically equestrian-friendly village, rejecting claims of corruption.

* Sun-Times | WXRT’s Terri Hemmert among patrons at New Orleans restaurant where ‘hail of bullets’ killed a waiter, wounded a friend: “Twenty-eight of my precious friends were hitting the floor,” Hemmert said in a Facebook post. “I looked to my right. Two very special women were on the floor by my feet. There was blood. And a bullet hole on the wall. Two inches from me. And a bullet in my friend’s back. It was surreal. But it was real. Only too real.

* CNN | Why are so many Americans unhappy with the state of the US today? Here’s what they said in CNN’s latest poll: Among the 69% who said things were going either pretty or very badly, dim views of the nation’s economic conditions were a top driver. The smaller share who were more positive often cited their own, rosier takes on the economy.

* Mashable | WordPress drops Twitter social sharing due to API price hike: According to a statement released by WordPress, the platform is removing Twitter from JetPack, an official plugin run by WordPress and its parent company, Automattic. Among its many security and marketing offerings, JetPack Social provides users with the ability to automatically share content directly to an array of social media platforms from their WordPress sites.

* Salon | Political “polarization” isn’t the real problem in America: One pole is a lot worse than the other: This unspoken anti-political and even anti-democratic bias is addressed in a new paper from Daniel Kreiss and Shannon McGregor, both at the University of North Carolina. They argue that the focus on polarization as such, while ignoring the actual content of politics that produces polarization, is fundamentally mistaken: “As a concept, polarization does not provide a normative or even conceptual way of distinguishing between White supremacists and racial justice activists, despite their asymmetrical relationship to liberal democracy.”

* Robert Reiter and Tim Drea | The heart of labor is beating strong in Chicago and Illinois: On Monday we celebrate May Day, also known as International Workers Day, a holiday forged by the Haymarket Affair that took place right here in Chicago in 1886. May Day is a moment to reflect on the vital role that the labor movement in Chicago and Illinois have played — and continue to play — in the battle for economic and social justice.