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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, Jun 23, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Here you go…
* Sun-Times | Ex-Proud Boy from Aurora gets more than 3 years in prison for Jan. 6 Capitol assault: The sentence handed down to James Robert Elliott, 25, on Thursday is the harshest dealt so far to an Illinois resident charged in the riot. In addition to the 37-month prison sentence, Elliott must also pay $2,000 in restitution, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C. * Vandalia Radio | Governor JB Pritzker signed dozens of new laws this month; here are a few you may not of heard about yet: Some of the new laws require insurance coverage for preventative liver screenings and medically necessary compression sleeves. There’s also one that requires new construction of single-family homes and apartment buildings to include basic infrastructure for electric vehicle charging stations. State Representative Robyn Gabel sponsored the bill in the House. * WAND | Illinois education leaders discuss first draft of statewide comprehensive literacy plan: Lawmakers and advocates hope the 54-page plan can get students back on track. Many believe the new literacy plan should consider core instruction practices and guidance for intervention with at-risk students. * 21st Show | Senate President on the legislature’s accomplishments this session: The General Assembly ended its annual legislative session last month, and Governor Pritzker has been signing legislation from that into law — including a more than $50-billion dollar budget. Last week we talked about this with the Speaker of the Illinois House, Chris Welch, and today we spoke with his counterpart on the north side of the Capitol building — Senate President Don Harmon. * Crain’s | With downstate visit, Biden’s health chief to spotlight ‘tale of two states’ on abortion access: During Friday’s appearance at the Illinois location, HHS says, Becerra intends to talk with the stakeholders, like abortion providers and advocates, about what he calls as the “tale of two states,” which describes the experience for a clinic in a state where abortion care is still legal to operate near a state where abortions are now banned. At the St. Louis center, Becerra will host a roundtable and press conference to highlight why abortion bans are putting patients in “harm’s way” and contributing to a nationwide health crisis. * Sun-Times | After Anjanette Young search warrant reforms, a massive drop in number of Chicago Police Department raids on homes: In 2021, after the reforms, the number of residential searches dropped to 172, with 183 last year, down from 509 in 2020. A former police commander says that means criminals will “feel more free to do their illegal business.” * Tribune | 3M reaches $10.3 billion settlement in ‘forever chemicals’ suits: Under the sweeping settlement, 3M said it would pay out the money over 13 years to any cities, counties and others across the country to test for and clean up perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, in public water supplies. * Crain’s | Obama Presidential Center lands $26 million grant: $25 million of the grant will go toward establishing the Democracy in Action Lab, a programming hub that aims to provide “a physical space to facilitate community convening and inspire civic participation.” The remaining $1 million will support the Obama Foundation’s Leaders Program, connecting and supporting civic leaders around the world. * Tribune | Residents and birders frustrated that developer proceeded with demolition that damaged gull colony on Goose Island: On Friday evening, Frank was developing photos she took of the birds when she noticed nests on the roof of the facility. Frank proceeded to contact the construction company, Brandenburg Industrial Service Co., to alert them of the gull chicks and received replies about addressing the issue. By Tuesday morning, Frank had photos and videos of dead gulls around the active demolition site. She said her contacts at the construction company stopped responding to her. * Tribune | A Chicago man crossing Lake Michigan in a watermelon-shaped craft disappeared 120 years ago. Here’s what we know.: Known as Foolkiller No. 3, the 30-foot long and 20-foot wide canvas-covered vessel looked more like a floating blimp than a submersible. It was not designed to sink, but to glide — across land or water — when propelled by the wind. Its cavity was dotted with one glass porthole on each end and hollow except for an axle to help the watermelon-shaped machine turn while its occupant was seated atop it. * Crain’s | What a $3,000 ticket gets you at the NASCAR Street Race: The premium tickets, which start at $3,015 per person, grant guests access to the President’s Paddock Club, a two-story viewing structure overlooking the race’s start and finish line on South Columbus Drive. Ticket-holders will find an enclosed, air-conditioned space on the lower level and an open-air rooftop terrace upstairs.
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- H-W - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 8:51 am:
Re: WAND story on literacy
Wonderful. I am always reluctant to accept stories and commentary by fellow educators that take the form, “These students are lessers than previous students.” Too often such stories are more about the intransigence of colleagues.
But I have noticed far fewer college students willing to read their books since the Covid experience. Teaching students early to read, to enjoy reading, and to learn from reading is an issue that we need to address. I blame it on online education, not the students or teachers. Hopefully, good results will be forthcoming.
- Candy Dogood - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 9:03 am:
===A former police commander says that means criminals will “feel more free to do their illegal business.”===
Statements like this certainly don’t help the police. An anonymous commander should be required to explain how raiding innocent peoples homes and handcuffing unarmed naked people reduces crime. Especially since we apparently can’t send the officers who assault innocent naked women to jail for what should certainly be considered criminal behavior.
- Twitter cat lady - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 9:31 am:
As someone who lives in an apartment, requiring infrastructure for EV charging is a pretty big deal.
Sure it’s only new construction but new construction will eventually become old construction. Today’s upscale bonus feature is tomorrow’s basic amenity.
- cermak_rd - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 9:33 am:
H-W,
I would put some blame on the current standards that emphasize reading non-fiction. Not that students shouldn’t learn to read that material, but first they need to get engaged with reading in the first place.
I’m not sure about phonics in high school though. I was hearing about a district that does that so when the science class learns new words, they go over the phonics of all new words learned. But I guess if it doesn’t take too much time it could be beneficial to ESL students and those with reading difficulties.
- Zoe - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 10:27 am:
—Statements like this certainly don’t help the police—
It names the former officer in the article.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 10:31 am:
Sorry, hit send too early. He says this which makes sense. Metrics are needed.
Winstrom says that, when the Chicago Police Department was doing thousands of home searches a year, “it wasn’t as focused on violent crime as it should have been. The metrics of success weren’t always tied to actual success. It became more of a numbers game.
“Success should be defined as: ‘Did we get guns? Did we do something to prevent violence?’ ”
- Zoe - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 10:32 am:
Good grief - Anonymous is me (sorry).
- Zoe - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 10:33 am:
Anonymous was me. Sorry about that.
- JS Mill - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 10:43 am:
@Cermak- I applaud any district that is teaching phonics even in high school. For too many years we got away from phonics. The evidence is indisputable, phonics works and is an essential component of learning to read and comprehend.
- froganon - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 11:25 am:
A police chief who apparently advocates for raiding people’s homes without a lot of prior clearance. Ugh, ugh and more ugh. Policing that allows for terrorizing residents in your community is unacceptable. Period - banned punctuation. Ms. Young deserves every penny of her settlement and the officer who supervised the search can’t be trusted with the power she had.
- Cool Papa Bell - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 11:30 am:
Georgia has tried a new way of teaching that follows a program that has show success in Mississippi.
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/12/1181723966/reading-georgia-science-schools-learning-literacy
=Teaching students early to read, to enjoy reading, and to learn from reading is an issue that we need to address.=
I’ve have two boys. One probably hasn’t read for enjoyment ever in his life. The other just counted and he has over 300 books in his personal collection and we just started him off on some “banned” classics.
We read hundreds maybe a thousand books to our kids by the time they were three or four. Reading starts at home and is reinforced there. Everyone should be proficient in reading but not everyone will love it.
And in our house - reading was reading. I didn’t care if it was comics or Tolstoy.
- Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 1:11 pm:
Let’s hear it for teaching phonics. Long and short vowels, silent letters, r-controlled vowels, digraphs, and blends. Recognizing syllables, primary and secondary accent in multi-syllabic words.
Recognizing homophones/homonyms using context clues: they’re, their, there; to, too, two; do, due, dew. Also included are the synonyms and antonyms.
The Caldecott and Newberry collections (award-winning children’s fiction). The Great Books collection.
Teaching reading is essential for every child’s success in school. One of the challenges in today’s classrooms is a shortage of experienced, trained teachers. Substitutes may not have the techniques required to implement and support reading instruction.
- Dotnonymous x - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 1:48 pm:
Teaching your children the notion that the goal of life is learning how to become better…is a good place to start.
- Proud Papa Bear - Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 3:24 pm:
= And in our house - reading was reading. I didn’t care if it was comics or Tolstoy.=
We had a well-stocked library. My go-to was always the almanac or MAD Magazine. I didn’t read literature until my late teens (almost never read what was required in school). Now I usually read several books at a time.