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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Aug 16, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Here you go…
* WCIA | State shuts loophole allowing tax buyers to profit off blighted properties: Decatur Deputy City Manager Jon Kindseth has a backlog of abandoned homes in his city. […] “This is probably the largest tax reform bill in Illinois in the last two decades,” Kindseth said. “It’s that significant. It not only lowered interest rates for homeowners that are delinquent on their taxes. But it ultimately reduces a lot of loopholes that tax buyers have been exploiting for the last two or three decades.” * Injustice Watch | Cook County Democrats back Illinois Supreme Court Justice Cunningham and slate of judicial candidates for 2024: The party’s stamp doesn’t guarantee election, but it’s a big leg up in heavily Democratic Cook County. Party-backed candidates get help collecting petition signatures and appear on the palm card, a boost for little-known judges listed at the bottom of the ballot. * Tribune | Amid party loyalty questions, Cook County Democrats endorse for state’s attorney and go against incumbent for court clerk: After open spats over party loyalty Tuesday, the Cook County Democratic Party voted to back Clayton Harris III in the open race to succeed Kim Foxx as Cook County state’s attorney and Mariyana Spyropoulos to take on incumbent Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez, a fellow Democrat. * Tribune | Prosecutors begin playing Tim Mapes’ 2021 grand jury testimony in Madigan probe, offering rare glimpse into normally secret proceedings: “If we want to protect and save MJM (Madigan) we cannot play punchy bags above the belt,” Michael McClain, the speaker’s longtime confidant, wrote in one email to Madigan’s inner circle of advisers. “It is time to be offensive. … We have to play hardball and quit doing this nicey-nicey stuff on the calls.” * Sun-Times | As Madigan faced threat to his power, aide said it was time to ‘play hardball and quit doing this nicey/nicey stuff.’: Prosecutors spent Tuesday moving closer to the heart of their case. Not only did they spend much of the day painting a picture of Mapes as a detail-oriented micro-manager, they introduced McClain’s February 2018 email through the testimony of former Madigan aide Will Cousineau. * SJ-R | Ready, set, go! Politicians gearing up for 2024 races descend on Illinois State Fair: Outside of the fair, the parties will hold meetings in downtown Springfield including the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association brunch at the Bank of Springfield Center. There, Illinois Democrats will be joined by guest speaker U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, starting at 9 a.m. before heading to the fairgrounds. * WGN | Politics taking main stage at Illinois State Fair: Illinois Democrats will also emphasize the state’s importance as a labor stronghold and progressive capital of the Midwest. They say the state will play a key role in President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign with the Democratic National Convention coming to Chicago a year from now. * Sun-Times | Migrants who slept in tents after being kicked out of shelter have a new home: Eight members of the Leon and Castro families had lived outdoors after being locked out of a shelter Saturday. The city has moved them to the Inn of Chicago in Streeterville. * WGN | Highland Park High School set to roll out new weapon detection system on first day of school: According to District 113 officials, the new system will be moved around to an unspecified entrance tomorrow morning, adding that the results of this phase could then help them expand to cover all entrances of the building in the future. * WMBD | Central Illinois restaurants receive $670,000 in federal grant money: A news release from Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) confirms $670,000 will be awarded to several restaurants in the Peoria and Bloomington areas as part of the Back to Business grant program. * Crain’s | Chicago Teachers Pension Fund exec on ‘do not hire’ list at prior employer: The executive director of Chicago Public School Teachers’ Pension & Retirement Fund was placed on a “do not hire” list by his former employer, Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, after he had sent himself more than 300 emails containing retirement plan beneficiaries’ Social Security numbers and internal committee meeting information. The Office of Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor found that after Carlton W. Lenoir Sr. departed from Illinois Teachers, he was placed on the pension fund’s “do not hire” list, according to the office’s report dated June 27, 2022. * Tribune | Laura Ricketts leads local group of women to buy Chicago Red Stars: ‘Unprecedented fan growth in women’s soccer globally’: Terms of the contract were not disclosed Tuesday, and the ownership group must receive approval from the NWSL Board of Governors to finalize the sale. The investor group hopes to complete the purchase this month. * Paul Sullivan | How can the White Sox get back on track? Follow the Cubs’ game plan and clean house for 2024.: The ’21 Cubs, coming off their vaunted sell-off, went into that game on the South Side with a 6-20 record in August and the third-worst record in baseball since the All-Star break, ahead of only the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers. The Sox were 19 games over .500 with a 10-game lead in the American League Central. * Tribune | Chicago stargazers find more light pollution and wildfires are obscuring the skies: ‘It’s like going deaf if you like music’: Growing up, Carhart said he learned the intricacies of the Milky Way from his suburban backyard in Naperville. But slowly, the 64-year-old said, he watched the stars disappear. If someone were to visit his childhood home today, he said, they could count the number of stars they see on their fingers.
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