* The Illinois State Fair is over, the governor has taken action on all legislation, the Illinois Supreme Court has finished (I think) issuing major opinions for the summer, petition filing doesn’t start until Sept. 5 and the Tim Mapes trial has concluded. Next week looks like a unique opportunity to take a little time off and Isabel concurs.
Today, the Board issued a decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC announcing a new framework for determining when employers are required to bargain with unions without a representation election. The new framework will both effectuate employees’ right to bargain through representatives of their own choosing and improve the fairness and integrity of Board-conducted elections.
Under the new framework, when a union requests recognition on the basis that a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit have designated the union as their representative, an employer must either recognize and bargain with the union or promptly file an RM petition seeking an election. However, if an employer who seeks an election commits any unfair labor practice that would require setting aside the election, the petition will be dismissed, and—rather than re-running the election—the Board will order the employer to recognize and bargain with the union.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced the CDC is reporting all 102 Illinois counties remained at a low level for COVID-19 hospital admissions as of the middle of August, though wastewater surveillance is detecting rising Covid-19 activity. IDPH is continuing to closely watch COVID-19 data and also monitoring other respiratory viruses, particularly flu and RSV, ahead of the fall and winter seasons.
“Although hospitalization rates and deaths from COVID-19 remain low, it is important for our residents to know that we are seeing rising COVID-19 activity across Illinois,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “We are fortunate the vast majority of Illinoisians have received immunity from a COVID-19 vaccine or previous infection that protects them against severe disease. However, COVID-19 continues to pose a risk for our seniors, individuals with chronic medical conditions, and those who are immunocompromised. IDPH is closely monitoring COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, emerging variants, and a broad range of respiratory illnesses including flu and RSV. As we approach the fall, our residents will have access to a number of tools, including updated shots and treatments, that can help us avoid another ‘tripledemic.’ Please contact your primary care provider to learn about the options available to protect you and your loved ones this upcoming respiratory season.”
Director Vohra said that the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System is indicating moderate COVID activity across all sampling regions in Illinois. The system is designed to monitor for levels of COVID-19, flu and RSV viruses in wastewater at 79 locations across Illinois. Flu and RSV activity remain low in the wastewater across all regions.
* I read this report and thought the same. A rarity…
A rarity in IG reports as it has mostly positive findings: The city's Office of Inspector General found a program coordinated by the Dept. of Family and Support Services is successful in helping some Chicagoans living in encampments find permanent housinghttps://t.co/W08Z6WqSxd
Illinois Railroad Association President Tim Butler was elected Vice Chair of the Illinois High-Speed Rail Commission during the commission’s meeting on Thursday, August 24, 2023. As Vice Chair, Butler will work with Chair Jim Derwinski of Metra and all members of the commission to craft a plan for the future of high-speed rail in Illinois.
“We are blessed to be the only state with all six Class 1 freight railroads,” said Butler. “If we are going to move forward with true high-speed rail in Illinois, our freight railroads are going to be vital partners in this effort. That is why I put my name forward for Vice Chair. Working with Chair Derwinksi, we have representatives of the commuter/passenger rail perspective and the freight rail perspective to help do the work of this commission.
* On to politics. Rep. Mike Coffey (R-Springfield) has a primary opponent. From Kelvin Coburn…
I am thrilled to announce my candidacy for the position of Illinois State Representative for the 95th Congressional District. With a deep commitment to our community and a passion for positive change, I am excited to put forth my experience and dedication to serve the people of this district.
Having lived and worked here for many years, I understand the unique challenges and opportunities that our community faces. From education and healthcare to job creation and protecting our Second Amendment rights, I am committed to working tirelessly to address these issues and ensure a brighter future for all.
Throughout my career, I have demonstrated a strong track record of collaborative leadership, effective problem-solving, and a willingness to listen to the concerns of constituents. As your State Representative, I will champion policies that promote collaboration with constituents, economic growth, sustainable development, constitutional rights and term limits.
* CD7…
The Center for Racial and Gender Equity (CRGE) has declared strong support for Kina Collins as she runs to represent IL’s 7th Congressional district.
“It is with great enthusiasm, the Center for Racial and Gender Equity announces that we are all in for Kina Collins! We are looking forward to giving Kina our full support in both the primary and general election in 2024.”
The CRGE runs a Black civic engagement program that reaches more than one million voters across Illinois and Wisconsin in an election cycle. The organization builds power by engaging Black voters and empowering Black women’s leadership to advance a legislative agenda and candidates that explicitly support Black women’s liberation.
* Texas…
The Timpone/Proft far-right fake newspaper project is now in Dallas, Texas, using the name of a former historic Black-owned real newspaper… https://t.co/ll01wrVGeP
* Dude was already a little godzilla, so I suppose it won’t hurt him /s…
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will visit Fukushima Prefecture later this month, where he plans to eat fish from the area to show support for Tokyo's decision to release treated radioactive water into the sea. https://t.co/EB92HARww1
* Block Club | Migrants Return To West Side Police Station Despite Ongoing Sexual Misconduct Investigation: “Because of the rising numbers and lack of space, the City of Chicago is once again utilizing the [Ogden] and [Town Hall] Police Districts,” Johnson’s office said. “The city of Chicago is focused on the safety of all Chicagoans, including our new neighbors. We are committed to working with CPD to ensure there are protocols in place to keep new arrivals at police stations safe while they wait for more adequate shelter.”
* SJ-R | Former Illinois Capitol Police investigator sentenced to 18 years behind bars: A former Illinois Capitol Police investigator involved in a 2021 car wreck that killed two people in Christian County was sentenced to 18 years behind bars earlier this week. Robert Milton Hodson, 48, of Taylorville changed his plea to guilty to a single charge of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol in May after originally pleading not guilty.
* WSIL | Senator Dick Durbin unveils plan to combat nursing shortages in Illinois during roundtable today: “By forging partnerships between local schools and nearby hospitals and clinics, we can bridge the gap in health care access and tackle the shortages of health care workers that afflict our rural communities,” said Durbin. “Together, we’ll ensure that every single Illinoisan, no matter where they live, can access the quality health care they deserve.”
* Daily Herald | ‘Flat-out lied’: Ex-Gurnee man imprisoned 29 years on bad conviction sues police, prosecutors: Williams this week filed a federal lawsuit against nine former law enforcement officers, a pair of former prosecutors and a deceased pathologist, along with several Lake County communities. It alleges they fabricated a confession, manufactured some evidence and kept other evidence secret because it would have cleared him of the killing.
* NBC Chicago | Proposed Midwest Interstate Trail would link Illinois, Wisconsin nature preserves: Officials have launched an effort to construct the Midwest Interstate Trail, which would link natural areas in Illinois’ McHenry County and Wisconsin’s Kenosha County. An official kickoff event took place on Thursday, with organizers pushing for funding to get the project underway.
* Tribune | Rev. Stephen Lee from Orland Park church surrenders in Trump Georgia case: On Aug. 14, Lee was named along with 18 others, including former President Donald Trump who turned himself in Thursday, in an indictment the group broke a variety of laws in an efforts to alter the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Lee is pleading not guilty, according to his lawyer David Shestokas.
* NBC Chicago | Residents in Tinley Park, Orland Park asked to conserve electricity by ComEd: According to the company, ComEd is “addressing a localized and emergent issue,” and as a result, they have had to take a piece of equipment in the area out of service. Residents in Tinley Park and Orland Park are being asked to conserve energy until at least 7:30 p.m. Thursday to “reduce the risk of outages” in the area.
* Sun-Times | Friday Morning Swim Club canceled, but hundreds show up — with police monitoring: The organizers announced this week there would be no official jump. Still, around 6:30 a.m. Friday, hundreds arrived at the harbor to swim. Police were called over to the 4400 block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive and found the group was “gathered peacefully,” but officers remained on hand to monitor.
* NYT | This Is Public Housing. Just Don’t Call It That: The Laureate is an attempt to marry these ideas — supply and subsidies; public and private — in a single project. It’s the first building financed with a new $100 million fund that Montgomery County created to speed development by having H.O.C. invest directly in new projects, then using its ownership position to become a kind of benevolent investor that trades profits for lower rents.
* SJ-R | Heat to finally abate over weekend; chance for thunderstorms overnight Friday: According to the National Weather Service in Lincoln, Friday will be the last day of extremely hot temperatures, with Springfield forecasted to see a high of 98 degrees with a heat index possibly getting as high as 115. However, scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected around 11 p.m., continuing through the evening and into Saturday morning.
* Republican congressional candidate Darren Bailey’s reaction to the booking of a former POTUS…
Failed downstate IL GOP Gov candidate and current primary challenger to five-term Republican conservative Mike Bost photoshops his own Fulton County “mug shot” in begging to get Trump’s endorsement. This speaks for itself. https://t.co/AnXSdGYQbk
* US Rep. Mike Bost is trying to fend off Bailey’s challenge…
Southern Illinois proudly supports President Donald J. Trump! Despite election interference from Democrats, we will Make America Great Again! #Trump2024
* US Rep. Mary Miller has been a Trump and Bailey ally…
Our country stands with President Trump amidst the unjust witch hunts that the lawless DC swamp has been putting him through. We know that they only doing this because he is above the target and fighting to restore our country to the Constitution and the rule of law.
Last night, our nation witnessed an assault on democracy as Fani Willis, a partisan District Attorney, led a political witch-hunt aimed at punishing Joe Biden's chief political rival.
* Republican US Rep. Darin LaHood’s non-government XTwitter account has been silent all month. The Illinois Republican Party’s account hasn’t been silent, but it has been mum on the Georgia indictments…
Giannoulias to Host Press Conference Highlighting Libraries and Literacy Program Grants, Totaling over $27 Million
Secretary Giannoulias to spotlight libraries and literacy programs across the state
Who: Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias
Elected officials, librarians and literacy organizations
What: Secretary Giannoulias is hosting a press conference to announce the libraries and literacy programs awarded grants by his office. The grants help to support and encourage education, lifelong learning and adult literacy.
The truth of matter is our office has minimal resources and libraries are already struggling to have the resources they need. They’re also struggling to keep people working there because of these disgusting threats and intimidation that was occurring before these bomb threats. Some are forced to have security guards, most aren’t.
And on a grander scale, I’m so disgusted and disheartened with what’s taking place, especially this week. What the hell is wrong with people? They’re threatening to bomb libraries, because you have libraries were doing their job, which is nurturing kids? We should be putting librarians on a pedestal.
So to me, it’s a sad, sad week for Illinois. It’s a sad day for our country, sad week for our country. But I couldn’t be more proud of our librarians, who by the way continue to go to work every single day, even with these threats, even with this intimidation, the likes of which they’ve never seen. So, disheartening and dangerous.
And I want to make one other point on that, because I know I’m not supposed to talk politics and political parties are irrelevant to me on day like today, we never ask anyone what party they are, we don’t care, we want people to do great work.
But I will also tell you that - and I could be wrong, if I am, I apologize - I didn’t hear one Republican across this state condemn these threats, condemn the attacks. That’s offensive, that’s scary and shows you how politics has invaded which should be something that is completely nonpartisan, which is educating our kids, providing resources for people to go and learn, and the right to the freedom of education in this country has always stood for.
Tim Mapes once seemed free and clear, even as the FBI drew its net around his former boss and his longtime colleagues in Springfield.
Months after the indictment of four people with ties to onetime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, Mapes found himself sitting before a federal grand jury. He had an immunity order, meaning he couldn’t be prosecuted for what he said — as long as he told the truth.
But Mapes decided to lie that day in March 2021.
That’s what a jury decided Thursday after five hours of deliberations at the end of a trial that lasted three weeks featuring 18 witnesses and several FBI wiretap recordings. In fact, they said Mapes lied a lot: on seven specific occasions, regarding 14 different topics.
Mapes is now a convicted liar. His word on anything can no longer be trusted in any court, including the court of public opinion. Even so, a commenter asked this yesterday…
Now the question becomes who will Mapes roll on to reduce his sentence? Is he finally at a point where he will reveal what he knows? Certainly does not seem like McClain has flipped but who knows?
First, he’s been convicted of perjury. He’d be a lousy witness even without his own personality, um, issues. Second, unless he knows something the government doesn’t after months of FBI wiretaps, email and document subpoenas, etc. he’s got nothing much to give. Third, even if he did have something, the ComEd Four trial strongly indicates that Madigan is a cooked goose. They don’t need him. Never did, actually.
Also, if the feds truly needed Mapes to make their case against Madigan and McClain they’d have pressed him much harder during the grand jury on far more topics. Also too, Mapes’ cooperation could actually complicate their case because the defense lawyers would make mincemeat out of him on the stand (although I’d almost pay to see it).
In a statement late Thursday afternoon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Morris Pasqual said Mapes’ conviction “should stand as a clear message to witnesses” who are called to appear in front of a grand jury. […]
About six weeks before his grand jury testimony, Mapes sat for an FBI interview in February 2021. During the trial, prosecutors hinted at the fact that Mapes ended the interview after agents broached the subject of Madigan and his close confidant Mike McClain. The FBI was interested in whether McClain, a longtime influential lobbyist in Springfield with whom Mapes also shared a friendship, acted as an “agent” of Madigan.
Shortly after Mapes’ FBI interview, he was subpoenaed for testimony in front of the grand jury, but roughly 10 days later, asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In response, prosecutors requested the court put Mapes under an immunity order, meaning that in exchange for his truthful testimony, Mapes couldn’t be charged in the investigation.
However, the immunity order also meant that if Mapes lied while under oath, he could be charged. It was under those circumstances that Mapes entered the grand jury room in late March of 2021, where during those two hours of testimony, he was reminded three times of the stakes of lying under oath.
The time to flip was February of 2021, well before the feds asked a judge to impose an immunity order on him. The train left the station and he wasn’t on it. Others quickly hopped aboard, and they’ll be home with their families while Mapes is serving whatever time he gets.
Mapes’ quick-and-quiet exit stood in high contrast to his heyday as Madigan’s longtime chief of staff and executive director of the state Democratic Party, when, as the speaker’s premier gatekeeper, he strode the halls of power with an almost autocratic style.
He also served as the clerk of the House, where he was known as a details-driven micromanager adept at keeping the legislative trains running.
Madigan unceremoniously dumped Mapes from all three positions in June 2018 after a staffer accused him of sexual harassment in a year in which the #MeToo movement cost the careers of several Madigan allies.
The jury’s verdict marked the conclusion of a nearly three-week criminal case that centered on relatively straightforward charges yet delved deeply into the behind-the-scenes political intrigue of the scandals that rocked Madigan’s office and ended his decadeslong grip on power.
“For whatever reason in his heart and his mind, (Mapes) chose loyalty over the truth,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said during closing arguments Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors said Mapes had a mantra: “protect the boss,” and he lied repeatedly to do that. Mapes’ defense said “protect the boss” meant protecting Madigan from political fallout, and nothing else.
As Speaker Madigan’s top aide for more than 25 years, the prosecution said Mapes lied about the nature of the long-term relationship between Madigan and his longtime confidant Michael McClain, arguing Mapes knew McClain, a lobbyist and close Madigan friend, did work for the former speaker.
Federal prosecutors said when called to testify before a grand jury investigating the ComEd case, Mapes lied “to protect the boss Mike Madigan and lied to protect his friend, Mike McClain.”
…Adding… True…
None of us were close before this. They pushed us together to their own demise. https://t.co/82CBf0i2si
* Tribune | Following Tim Mapes’ conviction, lawmakers condemn his conduct, GOP renews call for reform: Among the most notable was Sherri Garrett, who worked in the clerk and speaker’s offices and publicly came forward with allegations that for years she endured and witnessed harsh behavior by Mapes, saying it was “often sexual and sexist in nature.” “My experience speaking out about the sexual harassment I endured in 2018 was painful — and more painful was knowing that there were countless others like me who were too afraid of Mr. Mapes to come forward and speak their own truths,” Garrett said. “I hope that those individuals feel some relief today, as I know I do.”
At a late Thursday afternoon news conference, Deputy Illinois House Republican Leader Ryan Spain and Assistant Leader Patrick Windhorst wondered how many corruption convictions would it to take for Democrats to get serious about reform at the state capitol.
“Another day, another conviction in federal court,” Spain said, adding that “cleaning up the crisis of corruption that continues to plague the state of Illinois” needs to be a top priority.
Spain and Windhorst called for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to call a special session so lawmakers can work on comprehensive ethics reform.
“How many indictments is too many .. how many guilty verdicts is it going to take to have Democrats join Republicans” in ending the culture of corruption in Springfield, Windhorst said.
One thing that I think is clear is that Mike Madigan exerted almost absolute control over the House of Representatives. That’s done, as leader Spain referenced, because of the rules that were in place, the laws that are in place. Those things needed to be changed and reformed. Speaker Madigan had such control over Tim Mapes that, even when offered immunity, all he had to do was tell the truth and he would escape prosecution. But instead he lied. That shows the amount of control and power Speaker Madigan had.
So we have to put things into the law and make changes to our rules that will limit the power of one person. You know, there’s the saying that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And that’s what we’re seeing, absolute power in one man has corrupted that institution and the leadership of that institution, absolutely.
I don’t disagree that more rule changes are necessary in both chambers. I have long argued that the chamber leaders should not choose committee chairs, vice chairs and minority spokespersons. That should, in my opinion, be done by a caucus vote. I’m sure we can all think of something that could be changed.
* But Mike Madigan and Tim Mapes are long gone. That sort of velvet hammer rule no longer exists. I mean, just ask House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, who said this during the Illinois State Fair last week…
The session was complete chaos. And for the first time in decades - in decades - the Democrats didn’t have the capability to negotiate and navigate the budget and they gave up control to the Senate Democrats. Speaker Welch showed that he is the master of mismanagement.
South Carolina’s new all-male Supreme Court reversed course on abortion Wednesday, upholding a ban on most such procedures after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The continued erosion of legal abortion access across the U.S. South comes after Republican state lawmakers replaced the lone woman on the court, Justice Kaye Hearn, who reached the state’s mandatory retirement age.
The 4-1 ruling departs from the court’s own decision months earlier striking down a similar ban that the Republican-led Legislature passed in 2021. The latest ban takes effect immediately.
Writing for the new majority, Justice John Kittredge acknowledged that the 2023 law also infringes on “a woman’s right of privacy and bodily autonomy,” but said the state Legislature reasonably determined this time around that those interests don’t outweigh “the interest of the unborn child to live.”
The Florida State Board of Education is expected to vote Wednesday on new rules at state colleges for transgender employees and students that are intended to comply with a law, passed in May, restricting access to bathrooms.
According to the board’s proposal, colleges will be forced to fire employees who twice use a bathroom other than the one assigned to their sex at birth, despite being asked to leave.
The proposal also states that the bathroom restrictions apply to student housing operated by the colleges, meaning that transgender students living in dorms may be required to use only the bathrooms that align with their sex at birth.
The proposed new regulation shows that colleges, like K-12 schools, will be caught up in the new restrictions and the bureaucracy required to enforce them.
Parents of Black students in the fourth and fifth grades at Bunnell Elementary in Flagler County are upset, saying their children were targeted for underperforming on standardized tests.
Only Black students, whether low scoring or not, were called into an assembly Friday. […]
The students were presented with a PowerPoint the district shared with WESH 2. One page is called the problem: “(African Americans) have underperformed on standardized assessment for the last past three years… Only 32% are at Level 3 or higher.” […]
The parents say they were not told anything about the plan to single out students of color as though they and only they are what’s bringing the school down. The mother we spoke to on-camera says her daughter scored 4 and 5 on recent assessments.
“It became racial for me when they included and boxed all of the Black children together no matter if they were below average, average or above average,” the mother said.
The signs returned to the Tennessee statehouse after a judge blocked the House GOP rule…
People held signs without problems at the Tennessee Capitol complex Wednesday after a judge agreed to temporarily block a new rule advanced by House Republicans that had banned the public from doing so during floor and committee hearings.
The ruling came in a lawsuit that was filed after state troopers removed three people Tuesday who held small signs urging gun control at a hearing on the same statehouse grounds where Republicans also drew attention this year for expelling two young Black Democratic lawmakers for breaking procedural rules.
This week’s removals came at the order of a GOP subcommittee chair, who later instructed troopers to kick the rest of the public out of the committee room after deeming the crowd too unruly. That included grieving parents closely connected to a recent Nashville school shooting, who broke down in tears at the decision.
The emotional and chaotic scene irked both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, while others pointed out that although signs were banned, the public could still freely carry firearms inside the legislative office building. Signs were present during a House committee hearing Wednesday morning.
After conservatives took over Wisconsin's Supreme Court in 2008, they adopted a recusal rule that didn't even require it in cases involving their own campaign donors, & they again rejected such a requirement in 2017 https://t.co/ldk4llTMmi
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association this month launched the latest volley in the battle over environmental, social and governance investment factors, filing a federal lawsuit over Missouri’s first-of-its-kind ESG securities rules.
The Show Me State’s new rules require advisors and broker-dealers to obtain written consent from customers to buy or sell an investment produced based on social or other non-financial objectives. The disclosure would require an acknowledgment that incorporating ESG considerations “will result” in investments and advice “that are not solely focused on maximizing a financial return for the client.”
SIFMA named Missouri Secretary of State John “Jay” Ashcroft, who has jurisdiction over the state’s securities, and Missouri Securities Commissioner Douglas Jacoby in the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of Western District of Missouri, Central Division.
Georgia’s second-largest school district says that it has removed two books from 20 school libraries, saying the books had “highly inappropriate, sexually explicit content.”
The announcement, sent in an electronic message to parents in some Cobb County schools on Monday, comes days after the Republican-majority school board voted 4-3 along party lines to fire a teacher for reading a book about gender identity to fifth-grade students.
Although not new, book removals have surged since 2020, part of a backlash to what kids read and discuss in public schools. Conservatives want to stop children from reading books with themes on sexuality, gender, race and religion that they find objectionable. PEN America, a group promoting freedom of expression, counted 4,000 instances of books banned nationwide from July 2021 to December 2022.
Cobb County, with 106,000 students, said Tuesday that 20 libraries had contained “Flamer” by Mike Curato or “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews, or both. “Flamer” is a graphic novel about a boy who is discovering he is gay and how he is treated at summer camp. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” contains some discussion of sex and a lot of profanity, but is mainly about two high school boys who befriend a girl dying of cancer. Both were among the most challenged books of 2022, according to a list published by the American Library Association.
* Sun-Times | $2 million in grants heading to Chicago literacy centers: More than 400,000 Illinois residents — about 3% of the population — have less than a ninth-grade education, and about 900,000 adults older than 25 don’t have a high school diploma, according to state figures.
* Taylorville Daily News | State Rep Speaks Out On Behavioral Health Licenses: Representative Rosenthal says that those who suffer mental health and substance abuse need professional aid to provide necessary treatment that helps them. Rosenthal stressed that the state is in need dire need of licensed staff to fill vacant positions, and unnecessary delays have a negative impact on qualified applicants and the constituents in the community.
* Bloomberg | Chicago Blames Carmakers as Thieves Livestream Thefts: hicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has a plan to help tackle soaring car thefts in the city: sue the automakers. The city has filed a civil suit against Kia Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co. for failing to include engine immobilizers in various models, causing “a steep rise in vehicle thefts, reckless driving, property damage, and a wide array of related violent crimes in Chicago,” according to a statement on Thursday.
* Sun-Times | New details on little-known Obama Presidential Library, tucked away in Hoffman Estates: When Colleen Shogan, the new archivist of the United States, pulled up in front of the Obama Presidential Library in Hoffman Estates for the first time, “I thought it looked like a wedding center.” The gray brick exterior of 2500 Golf Rd. in the northwest suburb, once a Plunkett Furniture showroom and warehouse, has decorative front and side portico entrances. But there’s no grand architectural detail or even a sign to suggest that inside, for the past seven years, it’s been the temporary home of the official Barack Obama Presidential Library.
* WPSD | Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort officially opens Friday: “We’re thrilled to have worked with local and regional contractors and suppliers who brought their exceptional craftsmanship and dedication to the table,” Dan Kehl, CEO at Elite Casino Resorts, said in a statement released Thursday. “This collaboration has not only resulted in a state-of-the-art establishment but has also empowered our community by driving economic growth and creating jobs. I’d also like to thank Cynde and the late David Bunch for bringing this project here.” The Bunches built Walker’s Bluff. David Bunch died in 2021.
* Tribune | Chicago Water Taxi to return Sept. 5, refocusing on commuters: A lone boat will make trips three days a week, from Tuesday to Thursday, between Ogilvie Transportation Center in the West Loop and Michigan Avenue in Streeterville. The West Loop stop is located between Ogilvie and Union Station, while the Michigan Avenue stop is located near the intersection of North Rush Street and East Kinzie Street.
* Shaw Local | Current Illinois state flag designed by former school teacher: The state flag was back in the news this month with Gov. JB Pritzker’s announcement that a commission was being established to consider a redesign of the flag. Whether Mrs. Hutchison, who died in 2004 at age 93, would have been happy with that news is unclear. But there is no questioning her vast knowledge of flags, in addition to her keen interests in history, genealogy and cemetery records. Indeed, Hutchison found a way to turn her passion into her life’s work.
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois heat wave is the latest of several weather extremes in the state: The heat index, a measure that combines air temperature with humidity, reached higher than 128 degrees in Galesburg Wednesday. Chicago’s O’Hare airport recorded an air temperature of 98 degrees, the highest temperature for Aug. 23 since 1947, according to the National Weather Service. The heat index there peaked at 116, just two degrees shy of the record high that came during Chicago’s infamous 1995 heat wave.
* NBC Chicago | What could Chicago’s winter look like? Here are the latest projections: Last winter provided a surprising amount of rain and warmer-than-normal temperatures in the Chicago area, but could the region be in for a repeat? According to the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, that very well could be the case.
Breaking: Jury has found Tim Mapes, who served as former IL House Speaker Mike Madigan’s chief of staff, guilty on both counts of perjury and obstruction of Justice for lying to a grand jury investigating Madigan’s inner circle.
On count 1, perjury, the jury checked all seven boxes for the seven lies Mapes purportedly told during the grand jury testimony. The government only had to prove one of the seven at minimum.
He’s facing 20 years on the obstruction charge and 5 years for perjury.
…Adding… Alaina Hampton…
Alaina Hampton issued the following statement on Thursday following a jury’s decision to convict Tim Mapes of perjury:
“I have always said that my experience was the symptom of a toxic culture, and that it started at the top. Tim Mapes was as close to the top as it gets.
“Through these court proceedings, we have all had the chance to read the transcripts and listen to the recorded phone calls of Mapes and his closest colleagues strategizing in their efforts to undermine the Me Too movement in Illinois. None of it comes as a surprise.
“The Defense attempted to paint Tim Mapes as a victim worthy of pity after his resignation. It seems clear they were intentionally trying to divert attention from the reason for his resignation in the first place–his habitual sexual harassment and bullying of Sherri Garrett.
“Today’s verdict was an important step in the direction of full justice. But there’s more to be done.”
* Leader McCombie…
In light of the guilty verdict handed to Tim Mapes, former Speaker Mike Madigan’s right-hand man, House Republican Leader Tony McCombie issued the following statement:
“We have had too many glaring reminders that we must eliminate bad actors, self-serving politicians, and corruption from our statehouse, and this is just another verdict to prove it. It would be appalling if Speaker Welch did not move forward legislation House Republicans have filed to address ethics and instill public trust in our government.”
“While I strongly believe reform should start in the House, if Speaker Welch continues to stall on reforming the corrupt practices of this state, I hope President Harmon and the Senate will take the lead.”
* Sherri Garrett…
Following is a statement from Sherri Garrett regarding today’s verdict in Tim Mapes’ federal perjury trial. Garrett is the former Illinois House staff member whose public statements about her sexual harassment by then-Chief of Staff Mapes led to his resignation in 2018.
“Through the course of this trial, we’ve learned about the ways that Mr. Mapes and the rest of the inner circle of that organization worked to discredit those of us who were speaking out about our toxic work environment. My experience speaking out about the sexual harassment I endured in 2018 was painful–and more painful was knowing that there were countless others like me who were too afraid of Mr. Mapes to come forward and speak their own truths. I hope that those individuals feel some relief today, as I know I do. I remain hopeful, as I have all along, that more people will now feel safe coming forward, knowing that their stories can lead to real change.”
The jury of six men and six women deliberated for about 5 hours before delivering the verdict in U.S. District Judge John Kness’ courtroom.
Mapes, 68, of Springfield, faces up to 20 years in prison on the attempted obstruction count, while perjury calls for a maximum of five years behind bars.
The decision marked the conclusion of a nearly three-week criminal case that centered on relatively straightforward charges yet delved deeply into the behind-the-scenes political intrigue of the scandals that rocked Madigan’s office and ended his decadeslong grip on power.
The panel sent out only two notes during the deliberations Thursday, asking for a copies of the grand jury transcript of Mapes’ questioning as well as the indictment. The judge promised to send a hard copies back to the jury room.
* Rep. Kelly Cassidy…
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy issued the following statement on Thursday in response to the
conviction of Tim Mapes:
“Today’s verdict is a vindication for those who, over the years, were willing to stand up and speak out in the face of injustice and abuse by Mapes and his boss. More importantly, I hope it brings closure and some peace to those who shared their stories with me privately but still feared retribution from Mapes. Testimony in this trial showed the extent to which he retained a hand in the Speaker’s political operation, perhaps justifying their concern.”
“Anyone who has spent any time at all in the Capitol has to have found the defense’s attempt to portray Mapes as a victim who was ‘devastated’ by his completely justified removal as Madigan’s Chief of Staff and Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois laughable at best. Mapes used his power to deliver abuse, harassment, and bullying customized for maximum impact on his victims.”
“We’ve taken some important steps forward, but it’s critical that we remain vigilant to prevent future entrenchment and concentration of power while we continue to expand protections for those who experience harassment in the Capitol.”
* Rep. Haas…
In response to the guilty verdict of former chief of staff to Michael Madigan, Tim Mapes, Assistant House Minority Leader Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee) released the following statement:
“Another day, another conviction. If this isn’t a glaring sign that the culture of corruption that has plagued our state government must end, I don’t know what is. Although House Republicans are the minority in the House, we will always call out a problem when we see it. Why isn’t the revolving door halted? Why is self-interest placed above public service? Why are Republican bills to impose leadership term limits in the General Assembly, empower the Legislative Inspector General, and impose a 3-year lobbying ban for General Assembly members still stuck in Rules Committee?
“These principles are more important now than ever, and I certainly hope they are a top priority in the upcoming veto session in October.”
* HRO…
Statement from House Republican Organization Following Guilty Verdict in Mapes Trial
SPRINGFIELD - “In the end, protecting Madigan and his corrupt system at all costs comes with consequences. With yet another conviction in the string of corruption trials in Illinois, a jury again sees clearly that those who were working to protect Madigan’s criminal enterprise were not working for the good of Illinois. This guilty verdict is a good step towards holding the insiders accountable but more reform must be done to tear down the Madigan system.” - Tony Esposito, Executive Director of the Illinois House Republican Organization
* In response to Leader McCombie’s statement, here’s Speaker Welch’s spokesperson, Jaclyn Driscoll…
In addition to electing a new Speaker, hiring a new chief of staff, and building a new, diverse leadership team, the House recently passed comprehensive ethics reform, which Republicans voted against, and hired a new Legislative Inspector General who has a reputation of tenacity and independence. Speaker Welch has always said he believes in due process, and a guilty verdict is a signal the law is working. However, if the minority leader has any ideas on how to strengthen federal perjury laws, we’re all ears.
* ILGOP…
“The culture of corruption that Illinois Democrats fostered for decades is finally being exposed and prosecuted. There is more work to be done, but Illinois citizens deserve a government that works for them, not just for political insiders and their special interest allies.” - ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy
* SGOP Leader John Curran…
“Today’s conviction of the longtime Executive Director of the Illinois Democratic Party and House Democratic Chief of Staff delivers another clear message to the General Assembly that reform is needed. We must do more to empower local law enforcement officials with the same investigative tools that Federal Authorities possess, including wiretapping and grand jury authority. The Senate Republicans will continue to work for these reforms and others to help root out corruption and restore the trust and confidence of all Illinois citizens.”
* Feds…
The convictions were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and Justin Campbell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julia Schwartz and Diane MacArthur.
“Perjury and obstruction of justice are serious offenses that strike at the heart of the truth-seeking mission of the grand jury,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Pasqual. “This conviction should stand as a clear message to witnesses who choose to violate their oath to tell the truth before a grand jury that they will be held accountable.”
“There is no justice without truth,” said FBI SAC Wheeler. “Attempts to undermine the prosecutorial process chip away at trust in our institutions, and this conviction shows that we continue to work with our partners to ensure the integrity of our judicial system.”
“Citizens should expect that former public officials will maintain their integrity and be truthful even when it is inconvenient,” said IRS-CI SAC Campbell. “The investigation that resulted in this conviction is a testament to IRS-CI’s and our law enforcement partners’ commitment to ensuring that individuals who do not testify truthfully in the grand jury will be brought to justice.”
Over-the-year, total nonfarm jobs increased in thirteen metropolitan areas and decreased in one for the year ending July 2023, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (DES). Over-the-year, the unemployment rate increased in thirteen metropolitan areas and decreased in one. […]
The metro areas which had the largest over-the-year percentage increases in total nonfarm jobs were the Danville MSA (+2.6%, +700), the Elgin Metro Division (+2.4%, +6,200), the Champaign-Urbana MSA (+2.1%, +2,400), and the Springfield MSA (+2.1%, +2,300). Total nonfarm jobs in the Chicago-Metro Division were up +1.3% or +50,900. Total nonfarm jobs were down slightly in the Kankakee MSA (-0.5%, -200). Industries that saw job growth in a majority of metro areas included: Leisure and Hospitality (twelve areas); Education and Health Services and Government (eleven areas each).
The metro areas with the largest unemployment rate increases were the Danville MSA (+1.7 points to 6.6%), the Rockford MSA (+1.6 points to 6.8%), the Decatur MSA (+1.4 points to 6.9%), and the Kankakee MSA (+1.4 points to 6.1%). The only metro area with an unemployment rate decrease was the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metropolitan Division (-1.1 percentage points to 4.0%). The Chicago Metro Division unemployment rate tied 2019 for a record low in the month of July.
It’s payday in south suburban University Park. But when village employees checked their bank accounts Wednesday they found they had been stiffed. […]
“It’s no coincidence that this happened on the first payday after new Village Manager Elizabeth Scott wrongfully terminated the one and only employee who maintained the village payroll,” said Anders Lindall of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 31 (AFSCME).
All 30 of the village’s unionized employees went unpaid, according to union reps.
* IDOA…
Beginning Tuesday, August 29 the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) will host 31 international buyers from seven different Latin American countries to enhance existing relationships and increase export sales for the Illinois grain industry.
“The Illinois Grain Tour gives Illinois farmers, producers, and retailers the opportunity to showcase their world-class commodities and facilities to foreign investors,” said IDOA Director Jerry Costello. “We lead the nation in soybean production and nearly half of the soybeans and corn produced in Illinois are exported, resulting in billions of dollars in direct sales annually.”
In 2022, the Grain Tour returned to in-person for the first time since the pandemic and brought in $65 million in projected sales.
Participants begin the tour by meeting with representatives from the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The tour will also make stops at:
All participants of the Illinois Grain Tour are required to pay their own airfare and a participation fee prior to joining the tour.
There will be a planned media stop at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur with Director Costello. Information regarding that stop will be shared in the following days.
* Crain’s | The whole physics world will be watching Fermilab soon. Here’s why.: To answer the question, scientists at Fermilab and around the globe will conduct an elaborate experiment that will have the attention of the physics community focused on the Chicago area for the next several decades. “The reason there’s such worldwide interest is there’s possibly another Nobel Prize at stake,” says Mark Messier, a physics professor at Indiana University who is among the researchers involved with the project at Fermi and who worked on a groundbreaking neutrino experiment in Japan in the late ’90s. “In the pantheon of physics topics, it belongs right up there with the Higgs boson.”
* Reuters | Mexico says it won’t modify decree on GM corn ahead of USMCA panel: Mexico won’t make any further changes to a decree on genetically modified (GM) corn ahead of a dispute settlement panel requested by the United States through the USMCA trade pact, Mexican economy minister, Raquel Buenrostro, told Reuters on Monday. Buenrostro’s comments come after the United States last week escalated its objections to the restrictions imposed by Mexico on imports of GM corn and requested a dispute settlement panel under the North American trade pact, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
* Chalkbeat | I helped two migrant teens enroll in Chicago Public Schools. It was anything but straightforward.: After a few minutes, the Kelly teacher opens the door for us. We walk up to the security guard, who is helping with registration. She looks at the papers in Maria’s folder and a smaller stack of papers Rosa brought. Both moms have their daughters’ birth certificates, but neither has any transcripts from previous years. Both girls completed seventh grade in Colombia before making the trek to the U.S., their mothers say, but there are no records. The security guard says she can’t register them without a transcript evaluation. How do you do a transcript evaluation without transcripts? We’re not sure what to do next, so we step out.
* People’s Fabric | Alleged CPD Child Predator Was Assigned to High Schools: A Chicago police officer currently facing charges of aggravated sexual assault, sexual abuse of minors, and filming his abuse of children was previously assigned as a substitute School Resource Officer (SRO) at two high schools on the city’s far Northwest Side, People’s Fabric has learned.
* Post-Tribune | Valparaiso Creative Council raising funds for skatepark sculpture: “Our attempt is to raise $90,000 in 90 days,” she said. That’s not as simple as getting a few really large donations. “No one donor can be over 20% of what we’re doing,” she said. That shows broad public support for the group’s mission.
* AP | Transgender adults are worried about finding welcoming spaces to live in their later years: Now, as a wave of new state laws enacted this year limit transgender people’s rights, Narinesingh has new uncertainty about her own future as she ages. “Every now and then I have like this thought, like, oh my God, if I end up in a nursing home, how are they going to treat me?” Narinesingh said.
* Bloomberg | Student loan payments restart will dent US housing market, survey finds: About 70% of student loan borrowers — amounting to some 30 million people — are 25-49 years of age, a time of life when many Americans typically look to set up a new home, perhaps as they get married or have children. That source of demand is likely to come under pressure as household budgets are strained by student loan repayments after almost four years of forbearance.
* Sun-Times | Driverless cars racing toward us: Waymo is taking on Los Angeles next, and will only say they’re coming to cities such as Chicago “as soon as possible.” Don’t expect the City Council to bail out taxi drivers — in 2017, Illinois passed a law banning local ordinances against self-driving cars. Such laws don’t work forever anyway. Just this month, Oregon passed a law allowing drivers to pump their own gas. Leaving New Jersey as the only state where pumping your own gas is a crime — a $250 fine if a driver touches the pump.
A cow walks on the tips of her toes and the equivalent of our nails (the hoof wall) bears the majority of her weight. … The trimming length for a typical dairy cow’s toe should be 85mm long [3.3 inches]
According to PetKeen.com, dairy cows weigh between 900 and 1,600 pounds. That’s a whole lot of weight on those little feet.
* Now, let’s move on to this photo of the dismantling of the Illinois State Fair butter cow, which caused quite a stir…
The butter on that cow already weighs 500-800 pounds. A full cow made out of butter would weigh much more, perhaps even more than a real dairy cow.
Also, this is butter. It ain’t steel. How do you even get it to stand up and hold together for days on end without a frame? The process is kinda like decoupage, only with butter.
But there are only four state fairs that regularly feature a butter cow sculpture: Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Although Iowa’s butter cow sculpture is probably the most legen-dairy, Ohio was the first to do it in 1903, eight years before Iowa.
All four use a similar process: a frame of various materials, mostly wire-and-steel mesh, covered in layers of sculpted butter. Of course, the more you think about it, the more this makes sense. We’re usually talking 600-800 lbs. of butter with the frame, alone, so a solid butter heifer would probably be cowed by the laws of physics.
* We talked yesterday about how the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board had decertified Riverside police officer Zenna Ramos in April of this year. Ramos said she was enduring domestic abuse at the time she was busted for retail theft of $14.99 merchandise from JC Penney, but she eventually rehabilitated herself and became a Cicero police officer. When she got a job with the Riverside PD, the ILETSB stretched the law and decertified her.
As part of our discussion, it came out that Ramos had been placed on the Cook County State’s Attorney’s “Do Not Call List” (otherwise known as a Brady List), which was released to the public in July.
I reached out this morning to the state’s attorney’s office with some questions…
1) When was Ramos put on the Brady list?
2) Why was Ramos put on the list?
3) How many other law enforcement officers are on that list for petty crimes committed more than 10 years before they became LEOs?
4) Does the SAO intend to conduct a review of Ramos’ case? If so, will that extend to other officers who may be in a similar situation?
I also pointed out that if Kim Foxx had been state’s attorney in 2008, Ramos would never have even been charged for a $14.99 retail theft bust.
* Anyway, here’s the response I received…
Upon notification from the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) in April 2023, the officer was placed on the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) do not call list. Any police officer that is decertified is automatically placed on this list.
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* The last time we heard out of David Shestokas was in June, when the attorney and his client were sanctioned by a judge for filing a “frivolous lawsuit”…
A Will County judge ordered the losing candidate in the 2022 race for Will County clerk and her attorney who filed an election fraud lawsuit to pay $35,000 in sanctions for what he called a “frivolous lawsuit.”
Republican Gretchen Fritz filed the lawsuit Dec. 28, claiming she believes “mistakes and fraud have been committed in the casting and counting of ballots” in the race because her opponent, Democratic Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry, received more votes than Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Judge John Anderson dismissed the case March 30 and approved the $35,000 in sanctions Monday.
“It’ll be a deterrent so that these fake election lawsuits don’t get filed,” said Burt Odelson, Staley Ferry’s attorney.
Odelson filed a motion in April for Rule 137 sanctions against Fritz and her attorney, David Shestokas. Odelson petitioned for $40,047.25 in fees and costs for the case through April 10, but Anderson adjusted the fee to $35,000.
The losing candidate in the 2022 race for Will County clerk is asking a judge to order a new election in the case, citing mathematic formulas alleging the final count was fraudulent.
Republican Gretchen Fritz filed the lawsuit Dec. 28, claiming she believes “mistakes and fraud have been committed in the casting and counting of ballots” in the Will County clerk’s race because her opponent, Democratic Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry, received more votes than Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. […]
“Split ticket voting is a sign of a healthy democracy not bad elections,” [Erik Nisbet, Northwestern University associate professor of policy analysis and communication] said. “The fact that a local town clerk got more voters than the governor just means they saw the clerk race as less partisan than the governor race.” […]
Fritz’s attorney, David Shestokas, said Tuesday the lawsuit highlights a “21st Century approach to manipulating the election process.”
The allegations ignore the fact Will County uses paper ballots, [Judge John Anderson] wrote, so if Fritz believes the machine totals were inaccurate she could ask for a recount of those ballots.
* Shestokas is now representing Rev. Stephen Lee, who is accused of “participating in a plot to coerce election worker Ruby Freeman into falsely confessing election fraud,” and is “facing felony charges that include racketeering, influencing a witness and conspiracy to solicit false statements and writings.” A little background on Ruby Freeman…
Death threats from angry Trump supporters forced Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman, a 62-year-old grandmother, to flee her home of 20 years. Some messages called for her hanging; one urged people to “hunt” her. Freeman showed hundreds of menacing messages to police and called 911 three times.
But a year after Donald Trump and his allies falsely accused Freeman - along with her daughter and co-worker Wandrea “Shaye” Moss - of election fraud, the threats have not been investigated by local police or state authorities, according to a Reuters review of Georgia law enforcement records. Federal agents have monitored some of the threats, but made no arrests.
Offering the first detailed account of their ordeal, the two women told Reuters about threats of lynching and racial slurs, along with alarming visits by strangers to the homes of Freeman and her mother. The intimidation began last December, a month after the 2020 election, when the Trump campaign released surveillance video they falsely claimed showed the two women, who are Black, opening “suitcases” full of phony ballots to rig the vote count in predominantly Black Fulton County, which includes part of Atlanta.
With no one arrested for threatening them, and no police security detail, the women said their lives were thrown into chaos. Freeman told Reuters she moved from house to house out of fear for her safety.
On or about the 4th day of January 2021 STEPHEN CLIFFGARD LEE, HARRISON WILLIAM PRESCOTT FLOYD, and TREVIAN C. KUTTI committed the felony offense of SOLICITATION OF FALSE STATEMENTS AND WRITINGS, in Violation of O.C.G.A. §§ 16-4-7 & 16-10-20, in Cobb County, Georgia, by soliciting, requesting, and importuning Ruby Freeman, a Fulton County, Georgia, election worker, to engage in conduct constituting the felony offense of False Statements and Writings, O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20, by knowingly and willfully making a false statement and representation concerning events at State Farm Arena in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia, said statement and representation being within the jurisdiction of the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, departments and agencies of state government, and county and city law enforcement agencies, with intent that said person engage in said conduct. This was an act of racketeering activity under O.C.G.A. § l614-3(5)(A)(xxii) and an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
In an exclusive interview, Lee’s attorney, David Shestokas, defended his client.
“He has the full complete support of this congregation, that I can tell you for sure because I was with them,” he said.
Shestokas also said the Georgia evidence is so thin that late last year a Kendall County, Illinois judge refused to order the minister to testify in front of a grand jury there as a possible witness. […]
Shestokas also said they will vigorously fight the charges.
“We will be entering a plea of not guilty, because frankly, there’s essentially four– four counts directly relating to Reverend Lee. Two of them has him knocking on, knocking on people’s doors and two of the others have him making a couple of telephone calls,” he said.
The knocking on doors thing were acts in furtherance of the RICO conspiracy.
* This was an interesting, if horribly belated, development…
I noticed an interesting shift in the defense’s strategy yesterday during closing arguments. For the first time, Mapes’ legal team is explicitly floating the possibility that Madigan and McClain might’ve indeed been involved in criminality — but Mapes had no knowledge of it. https://t.co/xi5Y2WGl32
Earlier in the day, Schwartz said Mapes had the opportunity to be a “star witness” in the government’s investigation into Madigan and McClain’s purportedly corrupt dealings. But Porter took issue with that assertion.
“So let’s unpack that,” Porter said of Schwartz’s “star witness” comment. “Because that assumes – without evidence – that Tim Mapes knew whether Madigan and McClain were discussing these topics.”
Porter reminded the jury of testimony from former Madigan staffer-turned-lobbyist Will Cousineau, who said Madigan and McClain would often use the conference room in his downtown Springfield office to have private meetings. Other witnesses in the case testified that Madigan and McClain often dined alone together in Springfield, and that Madigan was a private person.
By the time Mapes sat for his grand jury testimony, McClain and three others had already been indicted on bribery charges in connection with ComEd, and Porter said Mapes was well aware the grand jury was interested in potential criminal activity.
But, he said, Mapes was completely ignorant of that. […]
Further, Porter said, in order to prove the charges against Mapes, the government would have to prove Mapes lied about things that were material to the grand jury’s investigation.
Saying Mapes could have been a star witness “assumes, without evidence, assumes that Tim Mapes knew whether Madigan and McClain were discussing these topics,” Porter said. “And he didn’t. … He couldn’t remember what he didn’t know.”
That’s a decent debating point, but I don’t know if it will have any impact on the jury, particularly since it came so late in the game.
* But, really, did Mapes hurt the federal government’s investigation? As I pointed out in my recent newspaper column, Mapes was never once asked during his grand jury testimony whether he’d witnessed or even suspected illegal activity. As I also noted in my column, the feds haven’t yet shared any Mapes or Mapes-related recordings or emails of him being part of any allegedly illegal act. If they had him on something, you’d think they would’ve shared that with the jury. So, how would the feds know that Mapes would’ve been a “star” prosecution witness?
* Instead, the feds asked a judge to give Mapes immunity then set what sure looked like a perjury trap. Mapes and his lawyers should’ve known this was happening and behaved accordingly. Instead, Mapes jumped right into that obvious trap like a “good soldier.” Sun-Times…
Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur at times turned and pointed toward Tim Mapes in the middle of a courtroom as she set out to shred his defense to perjury and attempted obstruction of justice charges at the end of a long day of arguments.
The veteran prosecutor told jurors in a dramatic high-energy closing that “this is the man who was loyal, who does not give any ground, who refused to give any insight or light into the world close to Michael Madigan or Michael McClain.” […]
MacArthur responded by telling the jury “the life that Mr. Mapes chose for himself was the one that he put on the table on March 31, 2021,” the day he allegedly lied to the grand jury.
* More from yesterday’s prosecution closing…
"Where it’s a safe topic, where it doesn't touch on that third rail, Mapes has great recall. But when the questions got closer and closer to (Madigan and McClain) he steps back. He acts like he doesn’t know anything," Schwartz says.
* Sun-Times | Jury begins deliberations in perjury trial of ex-top aide to Madigan after feds hammer at ‘brazen’ and ‘preposterous’ lies: Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur at times turned and pointed toward Tim Mapes in the middle of a courtroom as she set out to shred his defense to perjury and attempted obstruction of justice charges at the end of a long day of arguments. The veteran prosecutor told jurors in a dramatic high-energy closing that “this is the man who was loyal, who does not give any ground, who refused to give any insight or light into the world close to Michael Madigan or Michael McClain.”
* Capitol News Illinois | Jurors to decide whether ex-Madigan aide had memory lapse or chose ‘loyalty over truth’: The defense has relied heavily on the notion that Mapes wasn’t shown documents – save for one memo he wrote in 2019 and requested to review during his grand jury testimony – or played any recordings during that testimony or the FBI interview that preceded it in February 2021. Defense lawyers frequently questioned witnesses about events they were struggling to remember, noting that the individuals’ memories could often be jogged when they were shown related documents.
* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Biden official promote investment in female trade workers: Although the federal grant isn’t a massive amount of money, Pritzker said it is part of a large-scale infrastructure improvement plan to help spur big construction projects, including in Chicago by next year when the nation’s spotlight will be on the city as it hosts the Democrats’ presidential nominating convention.
* Center Square | Illinois lawmakers discuss pension debt measure at hearing: House Bill 4098, which has been the center of conversation during these hearings, would allow the Illinois treasurer and comptroller to transfer $500 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Pension Unfunded Liability Reduction Fund each fiscal year. Those funds would then be used to make payments into the state’s systems.
* Crain’s | Illinois closes in on $2 billion EV battery plant: Manteno Mayor Tim Nugent said his board and other local taxing bodies approved the abatement earlier this month, after being told by the state and a company agent that the facility will create 2,600 jobs and involve more than $2 billion in investment.
* Center Square | Republican primary for Illinois’ 88th House District shaping up: State Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, announced weeks ago he is not seeking reelection for the 88th House District that includes Decatur and surrounding areas. He endorsed Regan Deering for the position. Deering now has a Republican challenger in Chuck Erickson from Bloomington.
* Daily Herald | State legislators form sustainable fuels caucus: Rep. Terra Costa Howard, a Glen Ellyn Democrat, along with five other legislators formed the Sustainable Fuels Caucus to address domestic energy supply needs, offer policy solutions to air and environmental quality issues and explore alternative energies like ethanol, hydrogen and biodiesel.
* Herald-Whig | Ameren presents plans to increase Illinois network capacity: Central Illinois will be the subject of a 380-mile reconstruction of Ameren’s electric grid to increase the transmission capacity of the area to 345 kilovolts. The company is marketing the project as an opportunity for new power companies to compete in the Central Illinois market, possibly lowering the high prices that Ameren believes Illinois suffers from.
* BGA | 100 Days In, BGA Policy Reviews Mayor Johnson’s Government Ethics Campaign Promises: No legislation has been introduced to give the Inspector General independent release authority. The Johnson administration has not released any of a number of significant incident reports from prior administrations that are eligible for release under the current municipal code, such as the reports on the Hilco smokestack demolition or the botched raid on Anjanette Young. Johnson’s corporation counsel has the authority to release those reports at the administration’s discretion.
* SJ-R | Proposed CWLP storage facility draws ire of group for its proximity to 1908 race riot site: Teresa Haley, the president of the Illinois State NAACP and Springfield branch, told The State Journal-Register the group wants the adjacent land donated whether that be for parking or a park. “You don’t put a national monument on one side of the railroad tracks and on the opposite side of it, two city garages,” she said.
* Sun-Times | Chicago bakes under 116 heat index fueled by record-setting temperatures: An excessive heat warning is in effect for much of northern Illinois until 8 p.m. Thursday. The temperature is expected to again climb into the upper 90s on Thursday, according to the weather service. The heat index could also reach 115 degrees on Thursday.
* Commercial-News | DACC tree dedication to honor late Sen. Bennett: As a way of permanently remembering the late Sen. Scott Bennett, Danville Area Community College will dedicate a tree and a plaque in his honor with a ceremony set for 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4 near the Clock Tower building in the Campus Quad. All are welcome to attend.
* Bloomberg | More people call in sick on Aug. 24 than any other day: Perhaps it’s the inexplicable craving for a day off ahead of the big Labor Day holiday. Perhaps it really is a stomach bug, or that more recent fiend — the coronavirus. And of course, it might just be the blues at the end of summer.
* ScribbleLive is still down. Twitter has stopped allowing people to embed list feeds on websites. So, click here or here to follow breaking news. You can click here to follow the Tim Mapes trial.
