* Neil Steinberg took a look at ticket prices for the NASCAR Chicago race and his mind was blown…
Did you, like me, see that page and think: “They CHARGE for this?!?!” We shut down the heart of Chicago for a month so a bunch of speed freaks can chase each others’ tails and regular Chicagoans are expected to PAY MONEY to watch the proceedings? […]
Not a little money, either. “General admission” ranges from $269 to $353, which covers the two days, in the mad assumption that someone, going downtown, could then conceivably think: “Gee, that was fun; I think I’ll go again tomorrow.”
Ticket prices sail off into the stratosphere from there. Reserved seats start at $465. Something called the Pit Road Terrace begins at $1,265. And what is the Pit Road Terrace? “Open Air deck with GREAT VIEWS of Pit Road and the Start/Finish Line.” Which makes you wonder where plain old General Admission gets you. The same open air, one hopes.
OK, the tickets do give you access to a place where you can buy food — it’s as if they found a way to make Taste of Chicago even MORE expensive and inconvenient by adding a road race.
The President’s Paddock Club, which is billed as offering “The most LUXURIOUS race weekend experience” is $3,015 per person…
Enjoy the beautifully decorated Paddock Club, a two-level elevated deck with sweeping views overlooking the Start/Finish Line and thrilling Pit Road. Indulge in air-conditioned comfort, impeccable food and beverage service, and access to premium bathrooms
* NBC 5…
NASCAR pays a $500,000 permit fee per year, a guarantee of 15% of net commissions on concessions and merchandise, $2 per admission ticket and a $50,000 security deposit for damage to Grant Park.
The city also collects a 9 percent amusement tax. But sheesh.
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Afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of a Seventh Circuit response brief in its lawsuit that secured a preliminary injunction against the Illinois “Protect Illinois Communities Act” (“PICA”). The brief in FPC’s Harrel v. Raoul case, along with other case documents, can be viewed at FPCLaw.org.
“Simply put, the firearms and feeding devices Illinois has banned are not just in common use; they are ubiquitous,” argues the brief. “Under a straightforward application of Bruen, that puts HB5471 profoundly out of step with our Nation’s history of regulating firearms. The district court was thus eminently correct to recognize Illinois’ grave overstep and enjoin HB5471.”
“Two months ago, the District Court correctly found that the arms banned by PICA are in common use and protected by the Second Amendment,” said FPC Vice President of Communications Richard Thomson, “We look forward to the Seventh Circuit affirming the District Court’s decision and letting our preliminary injunction go into effect.”
FPC is joined in this lawsuit by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association.
* Crain’s…
The world’s largest dairy maker, France’s Groupe Lactalis, is expanding in Chicago after a $3.2 billion deal to acquire cheese brands from Kraft Heinz Co.
The family-owned company plans to hire almost 100 people at its offices in the Windy City over the next year, according to Peter Cotter, chief executive officer of Lactalis Heritage Dairy — the business that runs the natural cheese brands bought from Kraft. […]
Lactalis, founded in 1933 and known for its President cheese, is now hiring to build out those areas and expects to have more than 850 employees at its Chicago offices by the end of the year. Lactalis Heritage Dairy represents 39% of the group’s total US business.
* Click here for the letter…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with 14 state attorneys general, is today calling on Target to support inclusivity and to reject anti-LGBTQ+ hate, intimidation and discrimination.
Raoul and fellow attorneys general sent a letter to Target during Pride Month in response to Target’s recent decision to remove certain Pride-related merchandise from its stores. This decision came amid an increasing trend of harassment, hate and politically-motivated attacks on LGBTQ+ people. In the letter, Raoul and the attorneys general expressed their commitment to protecting the civil rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and their concern regarding Target’s recent decision.
“Discrimination and harassment against LGBTQ+ people have no place in our society. Members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve to feel safe and welcome in Illinois and beyond our state’s borders,” Raoul said. “During Pride Month and throughout the year, I urge businesses to work with local law enforcement to ensure staff members and customers are safe from LGBTQ+ harassment and vandalism – without sending a message that anti-LGBTQ+ bullying will be successful.”
The letter explains the attorneys general are concerned that Target’s decision to remove certain Pride merchandise sends the wrong message to LGBTQ+ people and anti-LGBTQ+ bullies alike. While Target’s desire to protect its staff and customers safe from anti-LGBTQ+ harassment, vandalism and other criminal acts is commendable, removing Pride merchandise signals that anti-LGBTQ+ bullying works – even on the biggest corporations in America.
This is the latest in Raoul’s efforts to ensure LGBTQ+ people in Illinois can count on state-level protections against discrimination and harassment, including the Illinois Human Rights Act. In 2022, Raoul and Gov. JB Pritzker addressed public officials’ safety concerns over anti-LGBTQ+ violence and harassment in a letter to Illinois public officials. Since becoming Attorney General, Raoul has also partnered with other attorneys general to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and to defend against and call out anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.
Raoul filed the letter along with attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
* More good Metro East news…
Governor JB Pritzker, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today announced that Gulfstream will expand its operations at the St. Louis Downtown Airport - creating 200 new full-time jobs and retaining nearly 500 existing jobs. New investments will enable the company to increase completions and outfitting operations while investing in modernization at its Cahokia Heights facility.
“Illinois sits at the heart of the Midwest—serving as a major transportation hub for cargo and passengers alike,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Gulfstream’s latest $28.5 million investment into Cahokia Heights’ St. Louis Downtown Airport speaks to the steps my administration has taken to attract new businesses to our state—all while modernizing our infrastructure and supporting our workforce to meet the demands of our 21st century economy.”
Through a $28.5 million investment, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. – which designs, develops and services the world’s leading business aircraft – will be expanding its Cahokia Heights facility which will enable the company to increase capacity for exterior aircraft painting, furniture installations, avionics integrations and other operations. The company’s investment will also modernize facilities adding state-of-the-art equipment and tooling while improving energy efficiency and reducing waste. Once complete, the expansion will bring Gulfstream’s total footprint at Cahokia Height’s St. Louis Downtown Airport to 642,657 square feet. […]
As part of the expansion, the company received an Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credit, which stipulates a goal of making a $28.5 million investment and creating 200 new full-time jobs and retaining nearly 500 jobs. A link to the full agreement can be found here. In calendar year 2022, companies in the EDGE program committed more than $1 billion in investments in Illinois communities across the state.
* Sounds like someone could be in trouble. From the News-Gazette…
The website for the secretary of state’s drivers services facility at 2012 Round Barn Road, C [in Rantoul], indicates that it’s open for walk-ins, but appointments are encouraged for faster service.
The recorded voice message for that office, however, says all transactions for drivers licenses and state ID cards are available by appointment only.
Callers are directed to the secretary of state’s website to make appointments.
Henry Haupt, spokesman for the state agency, said appointments “are absolutely not required,” and if the Champaign facility is requiring appointments for drivers licenses and state IDs, that will be corrected.
* Speaking of constitutional officers…
The Illinois Funds, a mutual fund investment used by local governments through the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office, has earned the top AAA rating from Fitch Ratings, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said today.
The Illinois Funds rating reaffirms the confidence Fitch showed in the program during the last year. The Illinois Funds provides more than 1,500 units of local government a safe investment vehicle with competitive rates that are designed to complement, not compete with, local banking relationships.
“This is an example of an outside firm pointing out that we’re doing things right,” Frerichs said. “The Illinois Funds is one of the many ways we invest in the people of Illinois.”
Established in 1975, more than 1,500 units of government such as cities, counties, libraries and school districts have invested in The Illinois Funds because it is a safe, liquid and competitive investment.
The $15 billion local government investment pool (LGIP) invests in assets focused on safety, preservation of principal, liquidity and income. The investment can be as short as overnight. The weighted average maturity is less than 60 days. No minimum investment is required.
“The fund maintains a high-credit-quality portfolio by investing exclusively in short-term securities rated at least ‘F1′ by Fitch or the equivalent,” Fitch wrote. “The key rating drivers for the affirmations are the fund’s overall credit quality and diversification, holdings of daily and weekly liquid assets consistent with shareholder profiles, asset maturity profiles meeting Fitch’s rating criteria, and the capabilities and resources of the investment advisor.”
U.S Bank is the pool’s primary service provider and custodian. The fund officially is named the Illinois Public Treasurers’ Investment Pool (IPTIP).
For more information about the Fitch rating, click here.
* Justin Ian Sia writes in Crain’s that curb-cuts were intended to assist wheelchair users, but also wound up benefiting “travelers with luggage, caregivers pushing strollers and runners”…
However, gender-inclusive restrooms do not exclusively serve the TGNC community; all Illinoisans will benefit.
For instance, same-gender restrooms force parents and guardians with children of a different gender to either leave their child alone in the restroom or enter a restroom that does not match their gender. Gender-inclusive restrooms will keep children and families together, creating a safer experience.
Gender-inclusive restrooms similarly will benefit caregivers who assist people with disabilities or older adults of a different gender in restrooms, especially in medical care settings.
* ILGOP…
Today, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy released the following statement in response to news that Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to federal tax charges in exchange for a plea agreement:
“It’s a sad day for Americans who are reminded yet again that there are two-tiers of justice. The political motivations that sweep serious cases, like that of Hunter Biden, Hillary Clinton, and many Illinois Democrats, under the rug, yet throw the book at former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have irreparably eroded the confidence Americans have in our justice system. The DOJ must do away with its ‘rules for thee, not for me’ mentality; and they can start by addressing the corruption problem that has taken root in the Illinois Democrat Party.”
Mike Madigan would like a word. /s
* Imagine the sense of entitlement…
* Getting the band back together…
* And finally…
The pic…
Oof.
…Adding… Related…
Effective immediately, Doug Scott will serve as Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Scott was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker earlier this year to serve out the remainder of outgoing Chairman Carrie Zalewski’s term.
“It’s an honor to have been chosen by Governor Pritzker to return to the ICC. Illinois is in the midst of a major energy transition, and thanks to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, the Commission has a major role to play in helping the state responsibly and affordably turn its clean energy goals into a reality. After a valuable stint away from state government, I am eager to serve the people of Illinois in this new capacity,” said ICC Chairman Doug Scott.
Chairman Scott is an accomplished, well-respected attorney with an extensive public service background at both the state and local levels. Scott most recently served as the Vice-President for Energy Systems at the Great Plains Institute, where he addressed climate strategy, regulatory response, and issues involving the changing utility business model.
Prior to joining the Great Plains Institute, Scott previously served as Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission from 2011 to 2015, during which he helped Illinois expand its renewable energy usage and saved consumers hundreds of millions of dollars on their utility bills. Prior to being appointed to the ICC, Scott worked to protect consumers and significantly reduce emissions from the state’s power plants as Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Scott’s public service also includes a term as Mayor of Rockford, Illinois, three terms as an Illinois State Representative, and ten years as an attorney for the City of Rockford.
Chairman Scott holds a Juris Doctorate with honors from Marquette University and a Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of Tulsa.
“I am proud to pass the gavel onto our new Chairman, Doug Scott. He brings a tremendous amount of experience in energy and environmental regulation, along with many years of dedicated public service. I have no doubt that he will ensure the Commission is on the right trajectory. I wish him the best and will be rooting for Commission’s success,” said outgoing ICC Chairman Carrie Zalewski.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* WAND | State leaders call for city leaders to take charge after attacks on abortion clinic continue: Congresswoman, Robin Kelly, sent a letter to Danville Mayor, Rickey Williams Jr. and Danville Police Chief, Christopher Yates. The letter addressed the “terrorizing attacks” made to the future site of Affirmative Care Solutions.
* KFF Health News | Families flee for states like Illinois amid crackdown on transgender care: More than a quarter of trans adults surveyed by KFF and The Washington Post late last year said they had moved to a different neighborhood, city, or state to find more acceptance. Now, new restrictions on health care and the possibility of more in the future provide additional motivation.
* Center Square | Former Illinois GOP governor candidate weighs congressional run: “I’m getting closer and closer to making a decision,” added Bailey, who also challenged Gov. J.B. Pritzker as the GOP nominee in 2022. “Definitely, if I make the decision to run I would look to have President Trump on my side again.”
* Bond Buyer | Illinois variable-rate debt conspiracy case moves toward summer trial: On Tuesday, an Illinois court denied the banks’ motion that the claims should be tossed based on the public disclosure bar, a legal standard that exists to prevent whistleblowers from filing lawsuits supported by information that was already known to the public, in this case through EMMA, which the banks argued functions as either as a report of the state or as news media.
* WAND | Decatur council to take look at video gambling: The council may consider raising fees to have gambling terminals and may force new businesses to wait at least one-year before obtaining a video gaming license.
* WTTW | Johnson Set to Start Tackling Chicago’s Pension Woes, Hemmed in by Vow Not to Raise Property Taxes: If Johnson wasn’t fully aware of the formidable challenge facing the group, the mayor got another reminder from the Civic Federation, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog, which called the city’s “enormous pension shortfall” one of five major fiscal challenges facing Johnson in a report released Wednesday.
* Sun-Times | Will state study be end of the line for $6.5 billion One Central transit hub?: No transportation agency, from the CTA to Amtrak, has voiced any real support for the center since it was proposed three years ago, which is telling. But they haven’t slapped it down, either, which is troubling.
* WBEZ | In a sanctuary city for migrants, the long, grueling wait for an apartment: Affordable housing and willing landlords are in short supply. Social service agencies are also overstretched, trying to keep up with the fast clip of new arrivals that only continues to grow. And nonprofits are racing to keep up, adding staff and expanding their volunteer networks to fill in city services’ gaps — from helping new arrivals apply for rental aid and securing apartments to finding furniture that makes these homes livable.
* Injustice Watch | Promised City Hall hearings on U visa failures never happened: Injustice Watch revealed in December how Chicago police denied hundreds of U visa certifications from undocumented crime victims. More than half of the city council called for accountability and new transparency rules, but the measures never passed.
* Crain’s | Lightfoot, Preckwinkle hit the fundraising circuit: Lightfoot is the star attraction for a Planned Parenthood fundraiser tomorrow evening, with tickets priced from $250 to $5,000. The location of the event is not being disclosed, but the beneficiary will be Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis and southwest Missouri region, where the politics are considerably different than in Illinois and abortion rights are under much stronger legal and political fire.
* TND | Companies reluctant to lay off workers, knowing they might not get them back: This “somewhat unusual” combination in the labor force shows just how reluctant companies are to shed staff after the widespread hiring difficulties they experienced coming out of the pandemic shutdowns, said Colorado State University economist Stephan Weiler.
* AFP | ‘I Nearly Died’: Texas Abortion Case Reveals New US Reality: “I nearly died on their watch,” she says of Republican politicians who have increasingly pushed a hardline anti-abortion stance in the United States. Zurawski, 36, has now dedicated her life to fighting what she sees as a regressive movement to strip women of healthcare rights — while she and her husband try for another baby.
* Automotive News | Rivian adopts Tesla’s EV charging standard, joining Ford and GM: Rivian said it will provide a charging adapter as early as spring 2024 for its current vehicles next year so they can access 12,000 Superchargers contemplated in the deal. Rivian currently uses the Combined Charging System port while Tesla uses its own North American Charging Standard.
* Crain’s | Longtime Citizens Utility Board staffer succeeds Kolata as chief: Kolata, 54, is taking a job as vice president of policy for New York-based energy efficiency firm Sealed, which serves residential customers, offering company-financed efficiency upgrades in homes. He will continue to be based in Chicago.
* Sun-Times | Chicago fishing: Father’s Day stories and waiting on perch: A number of Father’s Day stories and a slow start to the reopening of perch fishing on Illinois’ Lake Michigan lead this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.
* WSIL | Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom event held in Carbondale: “It is very important to recognize this holiday, but it’s more important to teach our children about this holiday and help them to understand why we want to celebrate Juneteenth and it’s more celebrating freedom,” African American Museum of Southern Illinois Co-founder and President Corene McDaniel said. “This is about freedom and I trust that we will not let our children forget why we have this day.”
* Fox Illinois | Local officials say education, participation can strengthen Juneteenth: Springfield Alderwoman Lakeisha Purchase visited the Kidzeum of Health and Science today to help celebrate and educate people about the holiday. Purchase read aloud to audience members. One page made her think of how inclusive the holiday can be. “One page that stuck out to me when he said, ‘I don’t want to build a taller fence I want to build a bridge’,” Purchase said in an interview. “It’s more so about bringing everyone together, and it doesn’t matter what walk of life you are coming from or your background. We are all the same, but we need to celebrate our past too.”
* Block Club | Scenes From Juneteenth Celebrations In Chicago: Chicagoans gathered at dozens of events throughout the weekend to commemorate when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 to free enslaved people.
* Telegraph | Long-standing Juneteenth celebration in Alton note: “This is about rejoicing, reflecting and remembering,” LeFlore-Porter said. “We have to rejoice about being together, reflect on our past about those who came before us, and make sure we remember what all of our ancestors went through.”
* Block Club | Morgan Park, Beverly Neighbors Celebrate Juneteenth With Double Dutch, Painting And More: “People love it,” said Shanya Gray, the lead organizer and co-founder for the Juneteenth Family Festival. “We’ve gotten more and more support [every year]. Everybody’s been coming out, people who lived here for 30 years that never thought they’d see something like this in their neighborhood.”
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* Mike Flannery Day continues. Gov. Pritzker was asked by Flannery about whether he was worried about the future of Ford’s Chicago assembly plant because the company is not building electric vehicles there…
Pritzker: I think any plant that is producing internal combustion engine vehicles right now, we should be worried about. Because the truth is that they’re all going to be converted to electric vehicle plants or close, right? It’s one of those two things. The challenge I think at Torrence is that it’s a small footprint relative to what most of the companies, and I’ve talked to most of them, most of them are looking for, and Ford included, which is they need a lot of territory. Why? Because they need to have a partnership with a battery manufacturer. Those are not US manufacturers. They’re foreign manufacturers that they bring to the US, creates a lot of jobs if you can bring a battery factory, but it’s right next to the assembly plant of these assemblers.
Flannery: It’s just a matter of pulling the land together.
Pritzker: You’ve got to. The reason they have to be next to each other, they mostly are next to each other, is the batteries are very heavy and they’re costly to ship. So you want them to be next door. You see that in most of the country where an assembly company, whether it’s Ford or GM or Stellantis, they’ve got assembly and then they’ve got a partnership next door making batteries, and basically they’ve got an assembly line where those batteries are just moving next door.
Flannery: And your people are talking to Ford?
Pritzker: We are and we want to keep that Torrence plant going. We want to make sure that to the extent that they will of course continue to make ICE vehicles, internal combustion engine vehicles, we want them to make them at that Torrence facility, but we also want them to come to Illinois to build an EV factory.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
Excuse or decent analysis?
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* Daily Herald…
State records show there were 12,891 sworn officers employed by suburban and downstate municipal police departments in 2021 compared to 12,927 former officers or surviving spouses receiving pension benefits from those departments. In 2020, there were 617 fewer pensioners than officers.
When combined with Chicago, those figures are nearly double. But Chicago has had more pensioners than active police for several years, records show.
Among 80 suburbs in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties, Des Plaines had the widest gap between sworn police personnel and the number of pensioners in 2021. Records show the city staffed 95 sworn police positions, while 133 people received pension benefits, a difference of 38 individuals. The gap has only widened in the following years, Wisniewski said.
In 2021, 27 of the 80 suburban police department pension funds reported more pension recipients than officers. A decade prior, that was the case in just four towns, records show. […]
Most retirement-age officers currently have to be only 50 years old and have worked for 30 years to maximize the benefit, which is 75% of their final annual salary. The benefit then grows annually by 3%. Most pensioners make back the entirety of their contributions in less than three years of retirement.
Discuss.
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It’s almost a law
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Labor Tribune…
Illinois unions made big steps in the recently ended legislative session, a statement from Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea and Secretary-Treasurer Pat Devaney proudly points out.
“The list of successes is long, and we tackled issues that impact working families from creating new opportunities to increase pay equity and transparency with the Equal Pay Scale Act to new prevailing wage provisions and safety protections for our essential workers in the transit industry,” Drea wrote in the statement. […]
Among the successes Drea and Devaney listed were:
HB 1120 protects Illinois teachers and education professionals working in privately funded charter schools from intimidation or retaliation when they organize to join a union.
HB 2396 requires public schools to establish full-day kindergarten by 2027-28, which will boost education while making child care easier for working parents.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a measure to guarantee disability payments to first responders who contracted COVID-19 in the line of duty.
HB 1342 allows transit agencies to create procedures to suspend problematic riders, to prioritize the safety and well-being of transit workers and operators.
HB 2231 requires rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft to abide by the same liability standards as common carriers like taxicabs.
HB 1122 creates legal protections for freelance workers to ensure they are properly compensated and hold contracting entities accountable. Meanwhile, the Temp Worker and Fairness Safety Act has passed both chambers ensuring improvement of wages and working conditions for the 650,000 temporary workers across Illinois who suffer injuries at three times the rate of direct-hire employees.
The Equal Pay Scale Act requires employers to disclose their pay scale to combat income inequities in the workplace, particularly concerning race and gender.
HB 3351 requires all projects funded under the Illinois Solar for All program must pay the prevailing wage to workers.
* Center Square…
The call is growing louder in Illinois for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to veto a freelance workers bill.
The Freelance Workers Protection Act in House Bill 1122 requires written contracts for freelance workers and several requirements on payment. The measure would require contracting entities to pay freelance workers according to the terms stated in their contract. If no such terms exist, then payment shall occur no later than 30 days after they fulfill their obligations under a contract. […]
“Freelance workers deserve the same dignity other workers receive, including being offered the basic respect of timely compensation for their labor,” said Cristina Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago. […]
The Independent Writers of Chicago is the latest group denouncing the bill, joining the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Trucking Association. IWOC has penned an open letter to the governor asking him not to sign the bill, saying it adds needless rules that all independent contractors will have to obey.
* The Crusader…
Prominent consumer activist and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader is praising State Representative La Shawn Ford (IL-8th) of Chicago for the passage of a bill that allows relatives of crash victims to sue corporations for punitive damages.
Nader, who for decades lobbied for consumer rights nationwide, and prominent Attorney Bruce Fein sent a letter in February to the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), urging the organization to help Ford and State Representative Jay Hoffman get the bill passed.
They were surprised when Illinois HB219 passed both Houses on May 18. Governor JB Pritzker will sign it into law later this month.
During a telephone interview with the Crusader, Nader expressed surprise at how quickly the bill passed in just one legislative session. “Ford really carried the ball for us,” Nader told the Crusader. “We didn’t think it was going to pass in this session.”
* Chicago Tribune…
Lelia Peradotti learned about fentanyl while she was baking cookies.
She still remembers that phone call from her mother, Susan Peradotti, who was in shock after she walked into her partner’s apartment to find him slumped over the kitchen sink next to a hot stove, a cold spoon and a white powder. A coroner’s report reviewed by Susan Peradotti found the synthetic opioid known as fentanyl in his system. […]
For the last two years, she has been studying fentanyl whenever she was in a class that gave her freedom to investigate a topic of her interest, and in her senior year she took a humanities course focused on achieving measurable results on an issue. What she learned about fentanyl and how she put it to use contributed to two bills passed by Illinois lawmakers this spring aimed at educating high school students about fentanyl and preventing tragic outcomes for those using it.
One bill requires high schools to “provide instruction, study and discussion on the dangers of fentanyl” beginning with the 2024-25 school year. The other requires all schools to maintain a supply of opioid antagonists, including Narcan or naloxone. Both bills passed legislative chambers without any “nay” votes and are on the desk of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose office said he will review them.
* Attorney Justin Ian Sia.…
Last month, the Illinois General Assembly passed HB 1286, a common-sense bill that allows places of public accommodation to implement multi-stall gender-inclusive restrooms. If an entity chooses to install a gender-inclusive restroom, it must have locks and privacy strips on each stall to ensure users’ safety and privacy, baby-changing stations, menstruation supply dispensers, and other features. The bill only needs the Governor’s signature to become law.
HB 1286 began as my law school capstone project in 2019. At the time, Illinois law barred our law school from installing gender-inclusive restrooms to serve its transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) students. My professor and I thought the prohibition was discriminatory, so I drafted an amendment to Illinois law to allow for gender-inclusive restrooms.
While primarily meant to serve the LGBTQIA+ community, I also saw the bill as a broader opportunity to make Illinois restrooms safer, more private, and more inclusive.
TGNC individuals face daily challenges when same-gender restrooms are the only option. TGNC individuals may have difficulty deciding which restroom to use, as they may not identify as female or male or may be transitioning genders. […]
As neighboring states attack the LGBTQIA+ community, we should be proud that Illinois values its diversity and stands as a beacon of inclusivity in the Midwest.
* Ron Kern, manager of the Ogle County Farm Bureau…
The Illinois General Assembly wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and as usual, farm bureau was in Springfield working the Capitol halls. Let’s look at some of the legislation we were successful in passing.
Energy generation equipment sales tax exemption
The omnibus tax bill included language that allows energy generation equipment used directly for the raising of crops and livestock to be treated like ‘farm equipment and machinery’ for production which are not subject to state sales tax. Power equipment will include items like generators, solar panels, wind turbines or other forms of generation equipment. The equipment must be necessary for the actual growing of a crop or livestock. This is modeled after the current farm equipment exemptions so equipment that is primarily used for powering a machine shed, your house, electric fence, etc. will not be exempt.
Ethanol sales tax exemptions
This provision establishes a sales tax incentive on E-15 equal to 10 percent; creates a 20 percent sales tax break on mid-range ethanol (20 percent to 51 percent ethanol-blended fuel), and the current E-85 sales tax exemption of 100 percent will be extended. All three exemptions sunset on Dec. 31, 2028. The original bill introduced would have let the exemptions run until 2030, but there were concerns of the legislators that the exemptions could have a larger fiscal impact in future years, so the shorter sunset will require a review sooner. The only group that opposed this provision was ABATE. Their feeling was this was somehow going to mandate the elimination of E-10.
Diseased animals prohibition
Allows the director of the department of agriculture to declare a temporary (30-day or longer) prohibition on the sale, movement, or exhibition of certain animals in order to prevent or reduce the spread of any contamination or disease in the state.
School code FFA & 4H absences
This bill allows schools to support FFA and 4-H students attending competitions or exhibitions. This also benefits the school by counting these students as in attendance while participating in the events. High school agricultural education and the FFA and 4-H are vital programs for development of the talent and leadership needed in farming and agricultural service industries. Students benefit from participating in competitions and exhibitions held by these organizations.
* Looking back to the ones that didn’t make it, via Capitol News Illinois…
Subminimum wage: State Rep. Theresa Mah, D-Chicago, led a late push to prohibit Illinois businesses from participating in a federal program that allows them to pay individuals with disabilities below the minimum wage. It came just short of passing, although Mah says she has the votes to pass it in the fall. […]
Another stalled measure would have made changes to the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, a 2008 law that allows individuals to sue companies over improper collection or storage of information such as fingerprints or facial scans.
Senate Democrats filed language to alter BIPA in an amendment to House Bill 3811 on what was scheduled to be the final day of the spring session before it was extended, immediately drawing criticisms from business groups. […]
House Bill 3158 would have legalized and regulated “natural organic reduction,” a process also known as human composting or terramation in which human remains are rapidly decomposed into compost. […]
The measure passed the House 63-38 on March 24 and was later discussed in a subject matter hearing in the Senate. But it never received a committee vote or consideration by the full Senate.
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* I guess it’s kinda turning out to be Mike Flannery Day here. This is our third Flannery-related post. But his interview with Gov. Pritzker was pretty good. Let’s start with the governor’s answer to Flannery’s question about the future of Chicago crime…
Pritzker: It has trended down from a year or two ago, but it’s been mildly moving in the right direction, again, I don’t think there’s evidence like it’s heading down to 400 or less murders a year and half the shootings. I do think, though, that there’s more emphasis on prevention than there ever has been before with the new mayor. And I’m grateful for that. I think that lifting up communities that have been poor and left out is the best way for us to make an enormous difference going forward at lowering crime rates.
Flannery: So what do you think’s going to work in the short term? How do we stop next weekend and weekend after that?
Pritzker: Couple of things. One is we’ve got to hire police. There’s no doubt about it. Right? The Chicago Police Department has lost hundreds, I mean, 1500 police officers, some of that is a result, and we saw that stay at the state level. Some of that is a result of there was a big hiring trend 20 years ago, and now it’s time for them to retire. And so you lose some people, right because they’re retiring. And then we as you know, we have a labor shortage in the country, let alone here
Flannery: And people don’t want to be cops anywhere in the country.
Pritzker: And I would say there aren’t enough people applying for any job. So the idea that you can build up the kind of force that you want in that environment is very difficult. I will say though, that at least at the state level, we’ve been able to build up state police. Because I started in my first year in office, and I’ve worked on it now for four plus years. So we have more state police now than we had when I came into office. You’ve got to stay at it. You’ve got to keep hiring. You’ve got to figure ways to attract people to the job. We’ve been successful at the state level. The city, I don’t think put as much of its shoulder into the wheel. Now though, I know that the mayor wants to do more, and I’m glad of that. But that’s not the only thing. More police isn’t the only answer. You’ve got to invest in communities and I don’t just mean you know, building up the economy, of course you do.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* On new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson…
Pritzker: You know what I find so impressive about the new mayor is he’s a listener. He isn’t stuck in some ideological rut or with only one idea and, you know, cuts out everybody.
Flannery: That is what some in the business community fear.
Pritzker: I think before he got elected, that’s what many people feared. I think what we’ve seen though, is he’s picking good staff. He’s listening and maybe changing a little bit, the way he views how we build up the economy in Chicago, what we need to do to build the future of Chicago. And public safety. I think he’s listening. And I’m very hopeful because he’s doing all of that. Look, I think all of us before we come into office, you run a tough campaign, you pick some lanes that you’re running down so that you can get elected. And then you get an office, and you still believe in those things, but you’re a little bit shaped by the circumstances that you’re walking into. And certainly Chicago has a bunch of challenges, situations that a new mayor needs to handle.
He sounds relieved to be rid of Mayor Johnson’s predecessor.
* On to downtown…
Flannery: Will downtown Chicago come back or is it going to be repurposed? Are we going to have, we’re still missing 100,000-plus workers. Will they be back or is it going to be somehow different in big cities like this?
Pritzker: There will be an evolution. Remember that under Mayor Daley, Richard M. Daley, downtown went from being a ghost town at night to having apartments and condos. You could watch people walk the streets in downtown Chicago. That never happened. People would go home and it was dead at night. And so that I think is something that’s a transformation that nobody expected. And it was a good transformation. I think we’re seeing transformation right now. Google bought the James R. Thompson Center … They are committed to that space and they’ve been making progress on it. … And I think they understand that this is an iconic location, and they’re taking a building over and completely renovating it, but it’s going to look very much the same. That beautiful, you know, glass edifice, right, and I think they see real possibility and that so it’ll be a gleaming center of downtown Chicago. You’ve seen Fulton Market. Look what’s happened at Fulton Market. Who thought, 20 years ago that was warehouses. Now it’s the cool area for businesses to move into and apartments and so on, Google, in their first iteration of a headquarters is there. We are seeing LaSalle street right. They’re building on LaSalle Street that will become condos and apartments. So there’s going to be a transformation and of course, we’re going to see people come back to work. You’ve seen it. It feels slower than it ought to be, but it is rising. And Chicago is doing better than LA and New York in bringing people back downtown. And I’ve talked to most of the major businesses downtown. I want them to bring their workers. It’s time. It’s time. … They understand that they ought to be doing that and that they really kind of need to do it. But they also know that they don’t want to lose some of the workers who are being productive at home and who are saying, ‘Hey, if you bring me back in, I’ve got kids at home I can take care of and do my job at the same time. If you bring me back in the office, I’m gonna have to leave my job with you and go to another…’
Flannery: Some of the big [hotels] downtown are in danger of going bankrupt. I think some of the loans are in some jeopardy. They’ve been filled up in the last few weeks, but not much in the last few years.
Pritzker: Look, it’s a great time to buy in Chicago. Certainly there was a downturn that came from the COVID 19 pandemic, a lot of buildings that have undergone distress as a result of that. But look at what’s happening now. And those hotels are getting filled up and it’s not just unique to a Taylor Swift concert. We now have major conventions coming…
Flannery: Are they going to be here through the rest of the year, do you think, through the winter?
Pritzker: It takes time to attract conventions, but we’re retaining conventions and we’re bringing as you know, the Democratic National Convention next year. We also have Rotary, they’re having their major convention. Nobody talks about that one.
Flannery: World headquarters in Evanston.
Pritzker: Yes, but they have their conventions all over. That convention is major for Chicago. People talking about the Democratic Convention…
Flannery: Bigger than the DNC.
Pritzker: It is bigger than the DNC. So these are the kinds of things, and by the way, you know, we’re having activities in downtown Chicago. Lollapalooza is a big deal. We’ll see about NASCAR and how much business that brings in, but I think there’s a belief that it will. So I think that you know, if you talk to the hoteliers in downtown Chicago, they will tell you things look pretty good going forward. So is a great time for people who want to buy real estate in downtown Chicago because there’s nowhere to go here but up because we went through so much turmoil in the last few years.
He also claimed that “over 10,000 jobs for sure” have been created here in the biotech and quantam spaces.
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* Gov. Pritzker was on Mike Flannery’s show the other day…
Pritzker: I think one of the biggest changes has been that we’ve seen, I think, a diminution of the belief on peoples’ part as they’re entering politics today, that corruption is okay, that somehow that you can, you know, make a little money on the side…
Flannery: So, putting it positively, I think there are fewer people going into politics to just get the money.
Pritzker: I think that’s true…
Flannery: And I agree with that.
Pritzker: And the reason I say that is because more prosecutions have taken place. So, people are starting to see that this is not a profitable endeavor. You’re going to end up in prison
Flannery: If you want to steal go someplace else.
Pritzker: That’s right.
From my own experience, I think what we’ve seen is fewer longtime political types running or being appointed to the General Assembly, and lots more people running because they view it as a calling or because they’ve grown weary of the corruption. That’s not universal, however. Not by a long shot.
Even so, it’s not an easy argument to make to the general public in the midst of a string of high-profile corruption trials.
Anyway, your thoughts on this?
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Today’s quotable
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* No relation…
Republican state Rep. Chris Miller says Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic lawmakers are directly responsible for fueling much of the state’s ongoing exodus.
“They’ve destroyed Social Security, the school system and our economy and now they’re destroying our energy independence,” Miller told The Center Square after the latest U.S. census Bureau data on state-to-state migration showed that Illinois lost 146,000 residents on net in 2021.
“On top of everything else, knowing that people can’t count on energy anymore is just another nail in the coffin,” he said.
Despite what the official numbers indicate, The Center Square previously reported Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic leaders continue to express optimism about the state’s direction, pointing to a Post Enumeration Survey released last year that found the state undercounted in the 2020 Census by nearly 2% as the basis for much of their resistance.
“They’ve destroyed Social Security.”
Too much time on the combine, and it’s not even harvest season.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Civic Federation’s report on Chicago finances…
Several advocacy groups have proposed instituting a City of Chicago income tax of 3.5% on household incomes over $100,000. They estimate this could generate as much as $2.1 billion annually. This would, however, require authority to be provided by the Illinois General Assembly.
Local income taxes may be imposed as a percentage of salaries or wages, a percentage of state or federal income taxes or as a flat charge per week. The tax may be paid by individuals or employers. Some jurisdictions permit exemptions for low-income taxpayers or military personnel. The income tax base can include:
• Earned income from wages, salaries, tips and other forms of taxable employee pay;
• Proprietary income from privately owned businesses;
• Corporate income; and/or
• Personal income, which includes compensation from salaries, ages and bonuses; dividends and distributions from investments; rental income; and business profit sharing.
The income tax base can be narrow or broad. The narrowest base for local income taxes includes earned and proprietary income only, as is the case in Pennsylvania. The broadest tax base includes personal, proprietary and corporate income, as in New York City.
The Illinois Constitution provides that home rule units of governments such as the City of Chicago may only impose a local income tax if that authority is granted by the General Assembly, and it has not done so to date. The City of Chicago Inspector General’s Office estimated in 2011 that a 1% municipal income tax could raise approximately $500 million.
According to the Tax Foundation, approximately 4,964 local government jurisdictions in 17 states imposed local option income taxes in 2019. They are primarily municipalities and counties. Nearly 60% of the jurisdictions are in Pennsylvania.
Local income tax rates vary widely. In most jurisdictions, the local income tax is levied on residents as well as residents who work in the taxing jurisdiction. The non-resident tax rate is typically lower than the rate imposed on residents. The exhibit below shows a sample of local income tax rates for select jurisdictions. Most jurisdictions impose a flat rate income tax. New York City, however, has implemented a graduated rate levy.
Pros and Cons of a Local Income Tax
There are several arguments in favor of a local option income tax:
• They can replace or reduce the need for increasing other more regressive taxes such as property or sales taxes;
• Income taxes are an elastic revenue source that yields greater amounts of revenue as the economy grows;
• The use of income taxes contributes to revenue diversification, thereby lessening reliance on other revenue sources such as property taxes;
• Income taxes can generate significant amounts of revenue; and
• If imposed on nonresidents who work in a jurisdiction, local income tax revenue can be
used to help pay for municipal services and infrastructure used by those nonresidents.
The arguments against local income taxes include:
• A local income tax may be a disincentive to live, work or do business in a city imposing the tax. Mitigating this impact might involve extending the tax to nonresidents or imposing a county or regional income tax rather than a municipal tax;
• It may be easy to avoid a local income tax that is only imposed on residents by moving out of the jurisdiction;
• A local income tax base will be shared with federal and state income taxes, which may lead to a high composite tax rate;
• The 2017 federal tax reform act limits deduction of local taxes, increasing the relative burden on taxpayers;
• Because income taxes are elastic, there may be significant fluctuations in revenue. In economic downturns, income tax revenues may fall precipitously, forcing governments to find alternative funding sources;
• A local income tax can export the tax burden to nonresidents who do not fully utilize city services; and
• A local income tax applied to corporate income may negatively impact economic development if it is perceived to create an unfavorable business climate.
* The Question: Should the General Assembly allow Chicago and other home rule municipalities to impose local income taxes? Explain your answer and specify any limitations or conditions (if any) you’d put on it.
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End of an era
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rick Kogan…
Mike Flannery walked into the newsroom of the Chicago Sun-Times on June 18, 1973, a fresh-faced, hopelessly curious and wildly energetic 22-year-old and now he is calling it quits, leaving the political scene where he earned the admiration of colleagues, rivals and viewers. Esteemed journalist Carol Marin puts it succinctly: “Mike is a walking, talking encyclopedia of politics.”
His final report will come on June 30 on WFLD-Ch. 32. That is where he has been political editor for 13 years, as well as host of the weekly “Flannery Fired Up” interview program, He previously spent 30 years in a similar role at WBBM-Ch. 2, which came after his seven years at the Sun-Times.
So, what will his final story be?
“Who knows?” Flannery said. “That has always been one of the great joys of being a reporter in this town, the constant unpredictability of it all, the ways in which a story will grow and alter, even over the course of one day. In that way, this business has been perfectly suited for my personality.” […]
So, you wish him well and he says, “Thanks. I can think of, almost see, my young self, sitting at home watching on TV the Democratic Convention in 1968 and then in 1996 there I was covering the next convention here, running around like crazy. And now, the convention is coming back next year and …” He goes silent for a moment and you realize you might be able to take this man out of politics but it might be impossible to take politics out of this man.
Good luck, Mike!
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
As I told you last week, the staid and conservative Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago’s latest and more liberal ideas on taxes and crime reduction have caused some folks to sit up and take notice, including Illinois Senate President Don Harmon.
“I think that the Civic Committee is approaching major problems with a very different perspective,” Harmon said.
Harmon suggested the business group’s recently hired president, Derek Douglas, as a possible reason for the change. Douglas is an African American who worked for the Obama administration as special assistant to the president for urban affairs and then at the University of Chicago as vice president for civic engagement and external affairs.
Harmon also seemed impressed with how the Civic Committee was willing to put itself in the firing line, particularly on the crime issue and its insistence that Chicago must institute police reforms.
Crain’s Chicago Business and others have whacked the influential group’s crime plan, which relies primarily on violence prevention, targeted investment and hiring, because it didn’t specifically call for hiring more police officers. The group wants to reduce Chicago’s homicide numbers below 400 a year within five years. Last year, 695 homicide victims were tallied by the Chicago Police Department.
A recent Crain’s editorial ended by saying if the Civic Committee “is going to issue a business-minded prescription on issues of law enforcement and reform — and if it is to truly reflect the sentiments not only of downtown businesspeople but their counterparts in neighborhoods hit hardest by violence — then it should also call for a fully staffed police force.”
The Civic Committee’s most prominent member supporting its crime-reduction plan is billionaire James Crown, and he told me he didn’t see the editorializing as “hostility.”
Instead, Crown said, it’s “something we have seen along the way, which is people have got in their heads that ‘this is the problem’ or ‘this is what we need.’ And it’s usually a very short phrase or answer. ‘The problem is guns.’ ‘The problem is jobs.’ ‘The problem is the schools.’
“The frustration we have had in those conversations is they’re right, but it’s not the whole answer. It requires many elements, many factors, some of which are immediate, some of which will take years before we have really addressed this problem satisfactorily.”
As far as the specific criticism about additional police hiring, Crown said, “There are people who will look at the understaffing of the police department relative to open positions or history and say that is a problem. And it might well be, and we’re very supportive of the police department and want effective policing, and we may well join in the observation that Crain’s has been promoting. But there also is evidence that police departments with many fewer officers per 100,000 residents are very successful. Why?”
Good question.
The Civic Committee’s president was also asked about Crain’s editorial and related attacks on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight program: “We were a little disappointed to see that, because the suggestion was as if we were against adding police or increasing police, which we never said.
“What we said was the approach we want to take is to sit down with the leadership of CPD, sit down with the city, understand what is their strategy, what are their needs, how much do they want to grow and get behind that.
“So as opposed to us dictating, ‘You need to do X, Y and Z,’ it was more of a collaborative approach to hear from the police themselves, ‘Here’s what we’d like to have, we’d like to add more of this, we’d like to add more of that,’ and then have the business community find ways to support it. So, it’s just about the way you come at the issue.”
Even with the somewhat conciliatory approach, it’s clear things have changed.
Harmon is right. The Civic Committee has evolved from a standard businessperson group issuing standard businessperson demands that echoed standard pro-business publications, editorial pages and pundits, to taking a much more nuanced, holistic approach to actually solving very difficult, perhaps intractable problems.
Douglas, I think, said it best when he talked about a “collaborative approach” that focused on listening. There are way too many unilateral screamers on the crime issue in particular, and far too few people who want to take the time to listen, learn and collaboratively find a path forward.
While I don’t know how long this approach will last (the Civic Committee’s membership being what it is), I wish them luck.
Discuss.
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Open thread
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Hope you got to get outside this weekend! What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Tribune | Fatal I-55 dust storm crash puts focus on Illinois farmers: ‘We haven’t advanced … but we can’: Illinois’ farming practices have come into sharper focus since May 1, when a massive cloud of soil, blown from nearby fields by winds topping 40 mph, blanketed a busy stretch of Interstate 55 south of Springfield, causing a 84-car pileup that killed eight people, injured at least three dozen others, and shook residents of the tiny, close-knit communities that dot the region.
* Crain’s | Pritzker faces blowback over cuts to health care for undocumented people: “Extremely disappointing,” said U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, said in a statement. A former state lawmaker, she added that the move will “put thousands of hard-working, tax-paying immigrants’ lives in danger.” The Chicago City Council’s Latino Caucus said it was “outraged” and termed the action “inhumane.” Many immigrants will just end up in the emergency room, costing the state more, it said in a statement.
* Tribune | With costs soaring, Gov. J.B. Pritzker to close enrollment for many in insurance program for immigrants: The move drew a swift rebuke from Latino legislators and an immigrant health care advocacy group that blasted it as “immoral and fiscally short-sighted.”
* NBC Chicago | Pritzker issues statement on mass shooting at Willowbrook Juneteenth celebration: At least one person was killed and 22 others were injured when gunfire erupted at approximately 12:25 a.m. during a fight near the Hinsdale Lake Terrace in unincorporated Willowbrook, authorities said. Multiple weapons were fired during the incident, with police saying an unknown number of suspects opened fire into the crowd.
* Tribune | Who will replace Kim Foxx? Only one potential candidate appears at Cook County Democrats’ pre-slating despite wide-open race: Only one candidate presented for the wide-open state’s attorney position: Clayton Harris III, an attorney and lecturer at the University of Chicago who is running with the support of Cook County Board President and party chair Toni Preckwinkle.
* Jim Durkin | I support the 2nd amendment — and an assault weapons ban: I am a suburban Republican, and I support one’s right to possess a firearm, as evidenced in my support of conceal and carry. But are we at a place in time where parents will begin suiting up their kids in kevlar before going to play in the park or on their front stoop?
* Tribune | Ex-State Rep. Denyse Stoneback sues successor, GPAC Illinois saying they defamed her: Stoneback, a Skokie Democrat who built a reputation as an anti-gun violence activist for years before her election to the statehouse in 2019, says GPAC Illinois, also called Gun Violence Prevention PAC, and State Rep. Kevin Olickal cast her in campaign literature during the 2022 primary campaign to represent Illinois’ 16th House District as an “enemy to gun violence prevention” and someone aligned with the National Rifle Association, according to the lawsuit.
* Crain’s | Exelon commits to overhaul board in ‘ComEd Four’-related litigation: Exelon Chairman John Young will relinquish his role as board chair by 2025, although he will be allowed to remain on the board under the settlement, disclosed June 16. Most other directors who served during the 2011 to 2019 period in which Exelon-owned Commonwealth Edison admitted bribing then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in return for his support of lucrative legislation either are in the process of departing or already have.
* Pontiac Daily Leader | State Sen. Tom Bennett reflects on Illinois budget process: “There were some good things in the budget, and there were a lot of things that I was very disappointed in,” Bennett said. “But it’s something that occurs every year.”
* Sun-Times | New stadium call gets tougher for Chicago Bears, and Soldier Field is back in the mix: While Naperville and other towns enter the picture, it really comes down to Arlington Heights versus Soldier Field, with one gaining momentum.
* AP | More than 1 million dropped from Medicaid as states start post-pandemic purge of rolls: Most got dropped for not filling out paperwork. Though the eligibility review is required by the federal government, President’s Joe Biden’s administration isn’t too pleased at how efficiently some other states are accomplishing the task.
* Pioneer Press | DuPage County board passes contentious new voting precinct map: Last May, the DuPage County Board failed to adopt precinct maps in compliance with an election law signed by the governor in November 2021, instructing counties to reduce the size of their election precincts to about 1,200 voters each in response to the shift to early and voting by mail. In 2020, nearly a third of DuPage County voters cast ballots through the mail.
* Daily Southtown | Former Orland Park manager loses defamation lawsuit against Mayor Keith Pekau: In his June 12 ruling, Judge John Curry also cleared the path for the village to continue its own lawsuit against Joseph La Margo, which alleges breach of employment agreement, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of duty of loyalty.
* Sun-Times | Son of Chicago-area woman on probation for Jan. 6 Capitol riot now charged in the same attack: “Trudy Castle was interviewed by FBI,” according to the complaint. “During the interview, Castle acknowledged that Von Keudell, who is her adult son, traveled to the Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, with Castle and [her sister, Kimberly] DiFrancesco.”
* CPS | Summer meals available for Chicago Public Schools Students: Starting June 20, CPS is launching summer meals programs to ensure students have access to free meals during the summer. Families can find a Summer Meals or LunchStop location near them on the District’s Summer Meal Finder.
* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson aims to resettle asylum-seekers from shelters, but it won’t be immediate: As it looks to eventually find more permanent solutions than the police station lobbies and large congregate shelters that have housed migrants in recent months, the city is preparing to seek proposals for a community-based model that could also cut down on current high costs of contractual shelter staff, Johnson deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told the Tribune.
* Sun-Times | Gage Park field house to serve as respite center for hundreds of migrant men: Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) said he volunteered the field house —possibly through Dec. 31 — because “stagnation has to come to an end.”
* Greg Hinz | Ex-leader of influential Illinois PAC throwing a birthday party in Paris. Here’s who’s coming.: Among those headed to Paris to fete Cosgrove later this week is Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, reliable sources tell me. So too, reportedly, are downstate U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, Chicago state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, Evanston state Rep. Robyn Gabel, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary K. O’Brien, political strategist Becky Carroll and at least a few other close associates. Not to mention author Sara Paretsky.
* Tribune | Mike Flannery is bowing out after 50 years of covering the wild and wacky world of politics: Mike Flannery walked into the newsroom of the Chicago Sun-Times on June 18, 1973, a fresh-faced, hopelessly curious and wildly energetic 22-year-old and now he is calling it quits, leaving the political scene where he earned the admiration of colleagues, rivals and viewers. Esteemed journalist Carol Marin puts it succinctly: “Mike is a walking, talking encyclopedia of politics.”
* Capitol News Illinois | PHOTO TOUR: Construction crews ‘exposing the bones’ of state Capitol as renovations continue: “So the Senate will return to a majority of their offices and to their chamber in January of 2025,” she said. “And for the next 9 to 10 months preceding that, we will return spaces back slowly. So about every three months, we’ll open up the new entrance, we’ll open up the tunnels, we’ll open up the underground conference center.”
* Tribune | New Chicago monuments will honor police torture victims, labor leader Mother Jones and gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, among others: The effort is an outgrowth of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s monuments commission, which she launched amid controversy over Christopher Columbus statues and hailed as a step toward racial healing and historical reckoning. Funding for the monuments project is largely being provided by the Mellon Foundation, though Johnson said the city would contribute an additional $1 million.
* Block Club | Cardinal Blase Cupich Presides Over LGBTQ+ Mass In Lakeview: ‘God Brought Us Together Here As A Community’: As the bells rang at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and the first notes of the organ swelled, gay and lesbian churchgoers held hands, wore rainbow colors and sang hymns so loudly that they drowned out about 20 anti-LGBTQ+ protesters chanting outside the church doors at 708 W. Belmont Ave.
* Release | Ignite Blue Partner Launch: Ignite Blue Partners is launching a consulting firm focusing on political and campaign strategy. The launch party will be July 19th. RSVP here.
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Live coverage
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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