Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, Sep 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Sun-Times | Library bomb threats prompt closings citywide, special police attention: Chicago Police Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott emailed the police command staff on Thursday warning of “nationwide bomb threats to libraries.” McDermott called for beat cars or Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy officers to respond to every library in each police district to let staff know they were being given “special attention” until further notice.
* WGLT | McLean County Board chair remains in Republican hands: Catherine Metsker, a Republican from a rural district, was ultimately elected chair, ousting Democrat and board vice chair Elizabeth Johnston from the position she’d been holding since McIntyre’s resignation on Sept. 5.
* Sun-Times | Cook County sewage-treatment official found pandemic’s upside: a chance to double-dip: For two and a half months during the COVID-19 pandemic, the chief information officer for Cook County’s sewage-treatment agency supplemented his $270,000-a-year government job with a second full-time gig, working for a not-for-profit that certifies doctors.
* The Telegraph | DCFS looks to hire more bilingual staff: According to the DCFS Personnel Overview, the agency’s Hispanic American employees made up 9.2% of their workforce for the fiscal year of 2023. This represents a 0.3% increase from the last fiscal year.
* Crain’s | Measure to eliminate Chicago’s tipped wage takes a step forward: The proposal would bring up the minimum wage for tipped workers to the city’s standard minimum wage, $15.80 an hour for employers with 21 or more workers and $15 for those with fewer than that. The current minimum wage for tipped workers is $9 for small employers and $9.48 for tipped workers at companies with 21 or more employees.
* Crain’s | Chicago’s ’summer of strikes’ promises to stretch on into fall: To drive home that point, the United Auto Workers union began a historic strike against all three Detroit automakers at midnight Friday after contract negotiations stalled. Never in the UAW’s 88-year history has it attempted a simultaneous strike against Ford, GM and Chrysler, now part of Stellantis.
* Capitol News Illinois | Former Illinois trooper again seeks drivers license after 2007 fatal Metro East crash: For years, former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White blocked attempts by an ex-state trooper to regain his driving privileges after a high-speed crash that caused the deaths of teenage sisters on a busy St. Clair County interstate in 2007. […] Mitchell has not applied for reinstatement of his driver’s license since 2014, when White rejected his hearing officer’s recommendation that Mitchell’s license be reinstated. White didn’t believe Mitchell made a convincing case, a spokesperson said, adding that as an elected official, it was White’s responsibility to make the decision.
* Daily Journal | ALIVE literacy program receives Illinois State Library grant: The $68,108 grant comes from Illinois State Library Grant program and is earmarked to “enhance community literacy, improve library services and upgrade current technology” according to a news release.
* Crain’s | Billionaire Ken Griffin lays out vision for philanthropy via Catalyst brand: Griffin said one of the goals of the site is to inform and motivate others who are just getting into philanthropy. “There is no class in high school on giving away your money. The best example you’re likely to have of how to help others is that set by your parents and grandparents,” he said in an interview. “Most of us want to help battle poverty and improve education, and know that the organizations we’re giving resources to are working to make this happen.”
* WGN | Will County Animal Control: Beware of missing wallaby: Will County Animal Control officials on Thursday asked Monee residents to be on the lookout for a missing wallaby. On the organization’s Facebook page, officials warned of a missing wallaby named Rupert, who stands 2 feet tall and weighs 45 pounds.
* Crain’s | Journeyman Distillery opening $40M facility in Valparaiso: The new digs will include a distillery, craft brewery, multiple restaurants and event spaces. It is set to start a phased opening in October. The move will get Journeyman closer to one of its core markets — Chicago — and help grow its standing among Midwestern distillers.
* SJ-R | Spooktacular: Handyman puts his stamp on decorating North End home for Halloween: Stark’s front yard in the 700 block of Eastman Avenue near the railroad tracks at Eighth Street, with its collection of 12-foot skeletons, tombstones, and aluminum columns topped with vultures and spider webs, is hard to miss.
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Cash bail system ends Monday
Friday, Sep 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Matthew Hendrickson at the Sun-Times has a good preview of Monday’s official elimination of cash bail. You should definitely read the whole thing…
Among the biggest unknowns is how often prosecutors will request detention and how judges will rule.
[McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally], for example, said he was planning on filing a petition for detention on every eligible case under the law.
“We think the nature of the offense itself in the vast majority of cases will indicate the dangerousness of the defendant,” he said in an interview with the Sun-Times last week. “There will of course be exceptions.”
Some prosecutors worry how the public will react if they learn they did not seek detention for someone who then commits another crime. Typically, judges have been blamed for not setting high enough bail in such cases. Now prosecutors will face more responsibility.
Good point.
* We move from an informative story to typical teevee scare tactics. Andy Banker at Fox 2 News in St. Louis…
There are big concerns in a small town in Randolph County, Illinois, about a man accused of setting someone on fire and killing them.
People in Red Bud, Illinois, about 35 miles southeast of St. Louis, fear Shawn Porter may be freed from jail on Monday while awaiting trial.
Monday is the day Illinois becomes the first state in America to ban cash bail.
Porter, 48, is charged with a single count of first-degree murder.
Court documents say he set his neighbor, Donald Steibel, 76, on fire at Steibel’s home in June. A standoff ensued at Porter’s home, a half block away, according to authorities. Porter allegedly threatened police and threatened to set his home on fire before surrendering.
Multiple Red Bud residents told FOX 2 they fear Porter’s potential release. They also asked not to be identified because of that fear.
“We don’t want him out either, and we’re going to do everything we can to keep him from getting out,” Randolph County State’s Attorney James Kelley said.
Kelley, who is prosecuting the case, wouldn’t go into specific details about pending cases, but said all 15 cash bail suspects now in the Randolph County Jail would be eligible for detention hearings on Monday. […]
They’ll be watching closely in Red Bud.
DUN DUN DUUUNN!
First degree murder is a non-probational offense, so all the judge has to do is determine whether there’s clear evidence Porter committed the crime, and that Porter either poses a real and present threat or is a flight risk and nothing can be done to mitigate that risk. According to the Randolph County inmate list, Porter had an IDOC warrant and was being held on no bail for that. He’s also been charged with Aggravated Battery/Great Bodily Harm, Obstructing Justice and Resisting a Peace Officer.
It would take a massive screwup on the state’s attorney’s part or a completely bonkers judge for that guy to get out of jail.
* KMOV…
If a judge allows a suspect to be released under pre-trial conditions, a prosecutor can request the suspect remain in jail and then the judge can grant or deny the request. Victims must be notified if a suspect is released.
“It’s a great start on the road to racial and economic dignity,” said Larita Rice-Barnes, executive director of the Metro East Organizing Coalition. A grassroots organization aimed at ending mass incarceration. “The truth is this is not about safety–this is about people’s ability to have money.”
“I think there’s potential for thefts and burglaries to increase,” Monroe County Sheriff Neal Rohlfing said. “A lot the investigative part and reports need to get done a lot quicker.”
Sheriff Rohlfing told First Alert 4 more resources are needed to keep up with new demands of ending cash bail, which means taxpayers might have to foot the bill.
* Sophie Sherry at the Sun-Times…
Over and over, a woman who lost a daughter to domestic violence talked of how the criminal justice system “just didn’t care,” repeatedly releasing a man from jail until police say he finally made good on his threats.
“I think that if they take it seriously the first time then, the people, the perpetrators won’t so easily keep doing what they do,” said the woman, who asked not to be named. “If they would have taken it seriously the first time and especially the second time… They just didn’t care enough.”
Advocates say the bail reform that takes effect Monday should make victims of domestic and sexual violence safer — if prosecutors and judges take full advantage of the law.
Under the Pretrial Fairness Act, judges no longer will be able to require people to post money in order to be released ahead of trial. But the law allows people to be jailed, possibly until their trial, if they are charged with violent crimes like sexual assault and domestic attacks.
“This prioritizes risk over money,” said Christine Raffaele of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Money never made anybody safe.”
* St. Louis NPR…
[Kyle Napp, chief criminal judge in Illinois’ 3rd Circuit] and [Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson of Illinois’ 20th Circuit] said both courthouses and jails have not been detaining defendants accused of lower level misdemeanors. With the SAFE-T Act’s implementation, that shouldn’t change.
“I would hazard a guess that there is not one person sitting in our jail right now who wouldn’t be sitting in our jail under the SAFE-T Act,” Napp said.
* WEEK TV…
Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos said her office is ready. Sheriff Chris Watkins said his office is prepared, though they will have to wait and see the effects. […]
“We will still be able to detain all those violent offenders that we detain today,” Hoos said. “Shootings, murderers, home invasions, assaults, all those cases.” […]
“People get released and then they commit new crimes,” [Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin] said of the current system. “The SAFE-T Act isn’t really going to change that.”
Karlin said his office has also purposefully asked for a high bond to keep someone detained, and then were surprised when they raised the funds to pay. In their small community, they know defendants and their histories well.
* Former Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke has taken some flak for her ties to Republicans, but the Cook County state’s attorney candidate just released this statement on the SAFE-T Act…
Days before Illinois’ SAFE-T Act goes into effect, Democratic Candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke released a video with her thoughts on the new law and the critical nature of the upcoming election to ensure its implementation furthers both safety and justice.
TRANSCRIPT — Eileen O’Neill Burke:
“The SAFE-T Act is a seminal piece of legislation. It’s also known as the Pretrial Fairness Act. What it does is it changes the way we detain people pretrial.
“Under the current system that is based on their monetary capability, and I think we can all agree that is not a just system. The SAFE-T Act rectifies that.
“What the SAFE-T Act does is it says the only criterion to be held prior to trial is, are you a danger to the community, or are you not?
“The State’s Attorney’s office role in pretrial detention has been expanded exponentially from this legislation. So what that means is, the State’s Attorney has to petition to detain someone pretrial before a court can even consider it. So if that document, that petition, is not filed, the trial court has no authority to detain someone pre-trial.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a murder, an armed robbery, a sexual assault, if the state does not file that petition to detain, the judge cannot hold someone.
“We are the first, and if we do this correctly, if we implement it correctly, then New York follows, California follows, and we have pushed the justice system into a more just and equitable future.
“We cannot fail in its implementation, and that’s why the role of the state’s attorney and this election is so vitally important.”
* From the Illinois Supreme Court…
Illinois has a long history of pretrial reform efforts starting with the abolishment of bail bondsmen in 1963. Those efforts continue as Illinois becomes the first state to abolish cash bail on Sept. 18. The Illinois Supreme Court has taken significant steps to prepare the Judicial Branch for pretrial reform. These efforts began with the formation of the Commission on Pretrial Practices in 2017, which consisted of all three branches of government and criminal justice stakeholders. The Commission issued its final report in 2020 and that led to the creation of the Pretrial Implementation Task Force (Task Force).
The Task Force worked throughout 2022 to prepare and educate the public and stakeholders on the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA). That work went right up to December when a court ruling and action by the Illinois Supreme Court paused implementation. Additional steps taken by the Supreme Court and its related bodies are detailed below ahead of Sept. 18.
Click here to read the rest. It’s pretty comprehensive.
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* Tribune…
[T]estimony came in the trial of former Department of Children and Family Services investigator Carlos Acosta and his supervisor, Andrew Polovin. Each is charged with child endangerment and reckless conduct in connection with AJ’s death, which came after he was repeatedly abused by his mother in Crystal Lake in 2019.
Almost four months before his death, on Dec. 18, 2018, police took AJ and his 3-year-old brother into protective custody, after finding what one officer called a “horrific” bruise on AJ’s hip and marks on his face, and their home in disarray, strewed with urine and feces, and with broken windows, ceiling and flooring.
When he was asked by a doctor about the bruise, AJ said, “Maybe someone hit me with a belt,” and “Maybe Mommy didn’t mean to hurt me.”
The physician was alarmed and didn’t want to release the boy to his mother, JoAnn Cunningham. But the emergency doctor wasn’t specially trained in diagnosing abuse, and Acosta released AJ from protective custody that day. “He was abandoned into the hands of his killer,” prosecutors said earlier in opening arguments.
* Patch…
[The state’s expert witness – retired DCFS area administrator Carol Ruzicka] said during her testimony on Tuesday that Acosta failed to perform inquiries regarding parts of his report after he was called to investigate a large bruise found on AJ Freund in December 2018. […]
Ruzicka testified that Acosta failed to ask numerous questions and investigate further.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally presented a text message exchange between Acosta and Polovin.
The exchange showed Acosta sent a photo of the bruise to his supervisor and said, “Kid said big dog put his paw on me. I take that to mean a scratch.”
Polovin responded and said, “That looks nasty, but if that’s what the kid says.” The pair did not seek extended protective custody and instead let AJ go home from the hospital with his father.
* Daily Herald…
Pamela Wells, an assistant state’s attorney from Winnebago County who works in the juvenile division, detailed the steps that should have been pursued when AJ was taken into protective custody that day.
Wells said anyone could have called the McHenry County state’s attorney’s office on Dec. 18, 2018, to report AJ’s bruises and the condition of his “filthy” home at 94 Dole Ave., and an investigation would have begun immediately. […]
“In your opinion had protective custody not lapsed on Dec. 18. 2018, would it have been possible (for) AJ to be murdered by his mother?” prosecutor Randi Freese asked Wells.
“No,” Wells answered. “The court involvement and the people involved with providing services would have been a disruption into their privacy and into what was going on behind closed doors.”
* Shaw Local…
On Thursday, those present in the McHenry County courtroom had heard disturbing recordings of AJ Freund’s mother made on her cell phone berating the boy in the months before she killed him.
The audio of JoAnn Cunningham abusing AJ – who died on April 15, 2019, after she beat him and made him stand in a cold shower – was heard during the trial of two former Department of Children and Family Services employees. […]
Audio from three more videos with similar content were played in which she is heard berating him for wetting himself and accusing him of being a manipulator. In one video, AJ told her he wanted to live alone, without his family, and that he was going to get her in trouble, only angering her more. […]
Julia Almeda, a former McHenry County assistant state’s attorney who worked in the juvenile courts and on AJ’s case in 2013, testified that she too never got a call about the December 2018 incident.
Had she, Almeda said, she “absolutely” would have immediately assigned an investigator, filed a petition to take AJ into protective custody, searched court systems, obtained police reports, cross referenced civil and criminal cases, assigned a forensic interviewer “and anything else that helps fill in that picture.”
* WGN…
During trial this week, case worker Carlos Acosta was criticized by [Ruzicka] for not thoroughly reviewing past DCFS contacts, police reports, or medical records for Cunningham.
Defense attorneys say Acosta juggled 20-plus cases at a time, over the 12-15 mandated in a DCFS consent decree.
The defense argued the goal and/or motivation of DCFS was to keep children with their parents, adding that Acosta and Polovin, his supervisor, shouldn’t be held criminally liable for Freund’s murder.
Two child abuse experts with the Children’s Advocacy Center in McHenry County also testified on Wednesday but were not allowed to be filmed. Experts said that the bruise seen on Freund’s hip was unlikely to have been caused by a dog, also noting four bruises on his torso.
* CBS Chicago…
Former Illinois Department of Children and Family Services employees Carlos Acosta and Andrew Polovin both chose not to testify in their own defense, leading to defense attorneys resting their case on Friday without calling any witnesses.
The judge handling the bench trial said he would like to have closing arguments sometime during the first two weeks of October. Since it is a bench trial, it will be a judge instead of a jury determining the verdict. […]
But defense attorneys maintain that the former DCFS workers followed procedures, and both had limited information at the time protective custody of the child lapsed, resulting in him returning to his mother’s custody.
Both sides are due back in court on Tuesday to discuss scheduling of closing arguments. It’s unclear how soon the judge could rule after hearing closing arguments.
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Highly unlikely
Friday, Sep 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Background is here if you need it. David Greising has another pension idea…
Both the CTBA and the Civic Committee have stressed the efficacy of front-loading pension payments, but with the administration opposed to a tax increase levied on low- and middle-income people, the Civic Committee may need to find a different idea.
Might there be a way, say, to add a new pension tax, levied only on individuals and companies earning above a certain amount? Even in a flat-tax state, such a plan might pass constitutional review.
* From the Illinois Constitution…
SECTION 3. LIMITATIONS ON INCOME TAXATION
(a) A tax on or measured by income shall be at a non-graduated rate. At any one time there may be no more than one such tax imposed by the State for State purposes on individuals and one such tax so imposed on corporations.
It seems pretty clear you can’t add a new, second tax on top of an existing tax for only a relative handful of people and companies because that would likely violate the “no more than one such tax” sentence of that paragraph. That’s basically why the second sentence was included.
* From the same column…
Even [Andy Manar, deputy governor for budget and economy] didn’t completely slam the door on the Civic Committee plan. “The governor is open to ideas,” he said. It would help if the group can build political support for its plan, he added.
Manar didn’t get specific, but the administration has made clear to supporters of pension reform that this plan, with its call for a tax hike, will not move forward without at least some Republican support. Pritzker and fellow Democrats in the General Assembly will not raise taxes in an election year unless Republicans join the effort.
And if that happens, a source close to Pritzker told me, the governor could well sign on to the Civic Committee’s plan.
Please name the Republicans who will vote for a likely unconstitutional special income tax surcharge (or a service tax) focused solely on upper-income people and big corporations to fund government pensions.
Not to mention that years of anti-pension hype from the Better Government Association and their ilk helped bake that cake.
60-30-1.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Maybe, maybe not
Friday, Sep 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Capitol News Illinois…
“It’s in the Constitution. We have a right to organize,” [Brady Burden, a staffer in the speaker’s office who is part of the organizing committee of the Illinois Legislative Staff Association] said. “The only issue that we need, is that the speaker recognize the union.”
[Michael LeRoy, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and the School of Labor and Employment Relations], however, said the Worker’s Rights Amendment is actually vague on that issue because it’s written in prospective terms, referring to future enactments by the state or local governments.
He said that although the first sentence of the amendment says employees have a fundamental right to organize, the next sentence says, “No law shall be passed that interferes with, negates, or diminishes” collective bargaining rights.
“They use the term ‘shall be.’ That’s future tense,” he said. “It doesn’t reach back. It doesn’t say any law that has been enacted that interferes with collective bargaining is hereby nullified. It doesn’t say that.”
LeRoy said the purpose of the amendment was to prevent the enactment of so-called “right-to-work” laws at either the state or local level. Those are laws that say employers cannot require someone to be a member of a union as a condition of employment.
* Professor LeRoy’s analysis, however, skims over the very first sentence of the constitutional amendment…
Employees shall have the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work.
You can’t just disregard that text.
*** UPDATE *** Illinois Legislative Staff Association…
Following their Labor Day weekend statement urging Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch to acknowledge and engage with them, the Illinois Legislative Staff Association (ILSA) issued the following statement:
“We are the Organizing Committee of the Illinois Legislative Staff Association. Two weeks ago, as workers across Illinois began their Labor Day weekend, we issued a statement calling on House Speaker Welch to ‘practice what he preaches’ by coming to the table. We want him to meet with us about our concerns, a timeline for recognition of our union, and the negotiation of a contract. We waited a full calendar week following the Speaker’s return from his trip overseas to ensure that he and his aides had sufficient time to review our concerns and issue a full response. Despite this, we are still waiting for any communication or even an indication that they are willing to come out of hiding and confront reality.
Today is the 290th day since we first collected signed cards from more than 50% of our bargaining unit and asked the Speaker to voluntarily recognize our union. It is also the 136th day since we announced ourselves in the press. That announcement came after five months of attempting to handle this issue internally. Despite that, Speaker Welch continues to pretend we do not exist.
Gov. Pritzker has gone on the record to say that he supports our right to organize. And yet, Speaker Welch has refused to make any public remarks regarding our union.
Not only that, the Speaker and his senior aides have insisted that we ‘follow the established process’ when they know full well that there is no established process for legislative employees. This is not just our opinion; this is the opinion of the Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB). In the ILRB ruling from over five and a half months ago, they stated their Board has no jurisdiction over legislative employees barring a ruling over the application of the Workers Rights Amendment from the Courts or through legislative action, powers which the ILRB does not possess.
Following this, we asked the Speaker and his aides repeatedly to lay out a path to recognition. In response, we received disingenuous evasions or were ignored outright. This is despite the Speaker having the right to voluntarily recognize our union at any time without needing a framework.
The Speaker and his aides have erroneously implied that we are demanding voluntary recognition because we are unwilling to hold an election. In reality, we have said repeatedly that we would welcome one, including explicitly in our Labor Day weekend statement. Over the last nine and a half months, we have suggested to the Speaker’s aides that an election be arranged, only to be brushed off. They have yet to explain this behavior on the record.
Once again, whenever the Speaker is prepared to come to the table, we are ready to meet with him. If he wants an election, let’s arrange it. If he wants to use another process, let’s sit down and establish that process. ILSA is ready and has been ready since we first brought our organizing efforts to his attention on November 29th. Our goal has been and will continue to be to collaborate in good faith in
order to move forward.
It is Speaker Welch and his aides who are refusing to allow that to happen.
It appears fruitless to continue waiting for the Speaker and his aides to do the right thing on their own. That’s why ILSA now intends to adopt a more proactive posture. From now, until we hear from the Speaker, we will seek to make our case more clearly and emphatically. Speaker Welch can continue to delay and hope that attrition will solve his problems before he is forced to address them. However, as we have said before, we are not going away.
We demand that the Speaker and his aides meet with us and meaningfully address our many concerns. They must cooperate with us to establish a process and timeline for the recognition of our union and the negotiation of a contract. Until this happens, we will continue to promote transparency regarding our working conditions. We will highlight the insulting manner in which Speaker Welch and his aides continue to treat his staff, as well as our constitutional right to organize.
The people of Illinois deserve a Speaker of the House who lives up to his principles every bit as much as his staff deserves pay and working conditions that are sustainable, fair, and non-exploitative.
ILSA will not stop until the Speaker’s office chooses to meet these standards.”
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Florida man tries poaching Illinois police
Friday, Sep 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We posted this Bloomberg story yesterday…
Ron DeSantis has taken his feud with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to the billboards of Chicago.
The Republican Governor is funding an advertising campaign in the Greater Chicago area to recruit Illinois law enforcement to his home state of Florida, offering a $5,000 signing bonus to relocate, according to a statement. The effort is part of a broader 2022 recruitment law signed by DeSantis that so far has lured 2,700 officers to Florida — though only about 37 from Illinois.
* Maybe the coppers aren’t rushing to flee Illinois because they don’t want to take a pay and pension cut. From Indeed.com…
And then there’s overtime pay, comp time and, of course, pensions.
* There are definite benefits to living in Florida. I personally love Southwest Florida in the late fall through early spring. I may even join dozens of my friends and end up down there half the year or so if I ever retire (if, that is, the area hasn’t already been consumed by the Gulf). Florida has no income tax, but the state and locals hit you pretty much everywhere else, and homeowners insurance is becoming much more difficult to find, if you can afford it.
But, hey, it’s a cheap and fun little stunt. Go for it.
* And as noted above, just 37 officers from Illinois have fled to Florida so far. Keep that in mind when reading this story from June…
The dream of owning a home seems out of reach for millions of Americans, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community. But in Peoria, Illinois, Alex Martin owns a home at age 30 — something she never thought would be possible.
“I’m black. I’m trans, and I’m visibly so, and so having a space that, like, I made that I can just come in and recharge, I’m ready to face the world again,” she said. […]
Angie Ostaszewski says she has almost single-handedly grown Peoria’s population by about 360 in three years thanks to TikTok.
“When I first started making TikToks about Peoria, it was about ‘improve your quality of life,’” she said. “But in the last six months especially, people are relocating here more for survival, and that’s such a different conversation.”
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
…Adding… Some commenters are making a decent point that the billboards, most of which are near the Loop and not where many cops live, are perhaps more about promoting the governor’s name in a presidential contest than actually luring police to Florida. Something to consider, anyway.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, Sep 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Sun-Times | Illinois child care centers face crisis with loss of federal dollars: ‘They’re setting us up for failure’: That nightmare could become a reality for many Chicago parents as pandemic-era federal funding that helped stabilize the child care industry expires Sept. 30, triggering a crisis for providers and the families who depend on them. For Illinois, that could mean nearly 130,000 kids without child care, about 2,800 shuttered centers and over 11,300 child care providers without jobs, according to a study from the Century Foundation, a think tank headquartered in New York.
* Sun-Times | Police pledge ‘special attention’ after bomb threats force public libraries in city and suburbs to close: All city libraries closed after “unfounded” bomb threats Thursday. “The disturbing rash of threats against libraries in Chicago and elsewhere and against all who work in or visit them are nothing less than a cowardly attempt to silence our democracy,” said Roberta Lynch of AFSCME Council 31.
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois House Speaker’s staff could test limits of Workers’ Rights Amendment: Brady Burden, a staffer in the speaker’s office who is part of the organizing committee of the Illinois Legislative Staff Association, said efforts to unionize have thus far been stymied by a provision in state law that specifically exempts the General Assembly from the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. […] But at least one expert in Illinois labor law says relying on that amendment may be more difficult legally for the workers than it might first appear.
* WGN | City Club of Chicago: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul: Attorney General Raoul launched his legal career as a Cook County prosecutor and went on to be a partner at two national corporate law firms. He also served as an Illinois State Senator for 14 years, leading to this “dream job.”
* Capitol News Illinois | ‘Thunderdomes of controversy and strife:’ Giannoulias testifies before U.S. Senate committee: “We want our schools and libraries to be open and welcoming settings for education, not cultural battlefields,” he said during his testimony. “This legislation aims to unify our communities and seeks to restore a right that some of us may have grown to take for granted – the freedom to think for ourselves.”
* Jim Dey | Is state preparing to make another go at pension fix? But serious people are trying. Three legislators — state representatives Stephanie Kifowit, Steve Reick and Mark Walker — have been holding hearings and proposed legislation calling for contributing an additional $500 million a year on top of the state’s regular contributions to pensions for teachers, state employees, university employees, judges and legislators.
* Fox News | DeSantis launches billboards in Illinois urging law enforcement to ‘make the smart move’ to Florida: The billboards tout a $5,000 signing bonus for out-of-state police officers who relocate to the Sunshine State as part of its law enforcement recruitment bonus payment program signed into law by the Republican governor in 2022.
* WBEZ | How Thursday’s Chicago City Council was a big moment for progressives: Proposals that hit City Hall Thursday run the gamut from efforts to fund homeless prevention to increasing the minimum wage for tipped workers to a working group to explore the so-called Treatment Not Trauma mental health initiative.
* Sun-Times | City Council OKs spending another $34.5 million on burgeoning migrant crisis: In companion votes that rubbed the same old wounds, alderpersons authorized a $33 million federal Homeland Security grant for the care and feeding of asylum-seekers and agreed to spend $1.5 million in tax increment financing funds to buy a 10.7-acre property at 3034 W. Foster Ave. formerly used by the U.S. Marine Corps and convert it into a shelter for up to 550 migrants.
* CBS Chicago | Roseland residents express concerns over plan to house migrants in tents nearby: The priority is to relocate people who are sleeping on the floors of Chicago police stations, but Roseland residents said the community is already in a crisis and adding migrants into their neighborhood would make things worse.
* NBC Chicago | You and AI: The use of AI in political campaigns: With the 2024 U.S. presidential election just over a year away, NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern dives into why voters should think twice about what they may hear or see online due to advances in artificial intelligence.
* Tribune | Only 9.6% of Chicago’s waste was recycled last year. A new facility could improve rates, but stumbling blocks remain.: The majority of other large U.S. cities have not released their most recent rates, but Minneapolis reported it recycled 19% of its waste last year. In past years, several West Coast cities have reported recycling rates above 70%, with San Francisco leading the way with more than 80% recycled since 2008, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Even New York City recycled about 20% in 2020, The New York Times reported.
* Crain’s | What dollar stores cost Chicago’s South and West side communities: From an economic standpoint, South Shore is not oversaturated with these types of businesses. The stores would go under if it were, community development experts say. South Shore’s 54,000 residents spend their money there. But from a community health standpoint, some say these businesses number far too many. They are also more likely to be owned by non-residents.
* AP | About 13,000 workers go on strike seeking better wages and benefits from Detroit’s three automakers: The strikes will likely chart the future of the union and of America’s homegrown auto industry at a time when U.S. labor is flexing its might and the companies face a historic transition from building internal combustion automobiles to making electric vehicles.
* AP | Wisconsin Senate votes to fire official targeted by 2020 election skeptics: The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate voted Thursday to fire the battleground state’s nonpartisan top elections official, prompting a legal challenge from Democrats who say the vote was illegitimate. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a lawsuit that Senate Republicans don’t have the authority to oust Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe and accused them of attacking the state’s elections.
* SJ-R | Closing time: Sportsman’s Lounge calls it a day Friday: Sportsman’s Lounge, 229 W. Mason St., will close to make way for a 24-unit apartment complex. Although a bar has operated at the address since 1935, the building dates to before the Civil War. The Sportsman’s Lounge name has been on the building since 1957.
* AP | Egon Schiele work seized from Art Institute of Chicago, believed stolen from Jewish art collector during Holocaust: The art was seized Wednesday from the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio. […] The three works and several others from the collection, which Grünbaum began assembling in the 1920s, are already the subject of civil litigation on behalf of his heirs. They believe the entertainer was forced to cede ownership of his artworks under duress.
* WAND | Stratton says Japanese businesses find Illinois workforce, infrastructure attractive: “Over 1,000 Japanese companies are in the state of Illinois,” Stratton told reporters Thursday. “We have over 42,000 Japanese employees here in the state of Illinois.”Stratton’s delegation spoke with other U.S. leaders, Japanese governors, and business executives about the state’s recent investments in manufacturing, technology, and other emerging industries. Japanese companies were also very interested in learning more about investments from the state’s monumental Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.
* Tribune | Netflix documentary on Mike Veeck’s life is a balm for angst-ridden Chicago White Sox fans: Mike Veeck had a documentary to promote, but he couldn’t start without getting one thing off his chest. “What’s going on with my White Sox?” he asked. “Man, they are killing me.”
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Live coverage
Friday, Sep 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* ScribbleLive is still down. Twitter has stopped allowing people to embed list feeds on websites. So, click here or here to follow breaking news.
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Afternoon roundup
Thursday, Sep 14, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* IDES…
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate increased +0.1 percentage point to 4.1 percent, while nonfarm payrolls were almost unchanged, down -100, in August, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. August total nonfarm payrolls remained above the pre-pandemic number of total nonfarm payroll jobs. The July revised unemployment rate was 4.0 percent, unchanged from the preliminary July unemployment rate. The July monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +11,200 to +3,400 jobs. The August unemployment rate and payroll jobs estimate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.
In August, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month job gains included: Educational and Health Services (+4,400), Leisure and Hospitality (+800), and Manufacturing (+400). The industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll job declines included: Professional and Business Services (-3,300), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-1,100), and Other Services (-700). […]
The state’s unemployment rate was +0.3 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate reported for August. The national unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in August, up +0.3 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was down -0.4 percentage point from a year ago when it was at 4.5 percent.
Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll jobs increased by +75,600 jobs, with gains across most major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases included: Educational and Health Services (+39,900), Government (+28,400), and Leisure and Hospitality (+25,200). Professional and Business Services (-15,300), Manufacturing (-9,400), and Information (-5,200) reported the largest declines in payroll jobs. In August, total nonfarm payrolls were up +1.2 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +2.0 percent in the nation.
The number of unemployed workers was 266,200, up +4.4 percent from the prior month, and down -8.0 percent over the same month one year ago. The labor force was almost unchanged (0.0 percent) over-the-month and down -0.2 percent over-the-year.
* Crain’s…
Chicago will be home to a new math and biology research institute funded by a $50 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation.
Northwestern University will lead the research institute in partnership with the University of Chicago that will involve 80 faculty and 120 graduate and post-doctoral students from the two schools. The National Institute for Theory & Mathematics in Biology will be focused on basic research and will be housed in Streeterville near Northwestern’s medical campus.
It’s the second major new biomedical research facility announced in Chicago in less than a year, joining the Chan Zuckerberg Institute that will be located in Fulton Market. The NSF grant is a prestigious win for Northwestern and U of C.
* The Tribune on some legislative react to the Chicago Bears’ announcement that it won’t try to move a bill during veto session…
[ Rep. Marty Moylan] on Wednesday said that “obviously, our bill wasn’t ready yet and they want to explore other options.
“And good for them. And I say, ‘Let’s go Bears.’”
State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, an Arlington Heights Democrat who worked with Moylan on the legislation, emphasized that “megadevelopment” projects should benefit local governments and not just the team and its stadium. She said Wednesday’s announcement was “not a terrible position for the Bears to take.”
“I didn’t see much interest in Bears-specific legislation in Springfield in the spring and it seems unlikely that support for Bears-specific legislation would grow over time,” Canty said. “So, I think that’s right for them to stay focused on what they’re trying to do, what they’re trying to accomplish and what they can control.”
* Gaming Board…
The Illinois Gaming Board (the “IGB” or “Board”) marked an historic summer overseeing the opening of three newly authorized casinos and a new sportsbook, among other significant actions as reported during today’s September meeting.
The summer began with the IGB conducting pre-opening operations assessment/audit and practice gaming sessions under IGB Rules 3000.230(e) and (f) at the new Golden Nugget Casino in Danville from May 22 through May 25. Based on the results, IGB Administrator Marcus Fruchter issued a temporary operating permit (“TOP”) and on May 27, Golden Nugget Danville opened to the public as Illinois’ 13th casino. Golden Nugget Danville paid $25.3 million in upfront fees that were deposited into the Rebuild Illinois Projects Fund for use on capital and infrastructure projects throughout the state.
Following the June and July public Board meetings, the IGB conducted the pre-opening operations assessment/audit and practice gaming sessions at Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort in Carterville from August 21 through August 24. After the successful testing at Walker’s Bluff, Administrator Fruchter issued a TOP and on August 25, the casino commenced operations as Illinois’ 14th casino. Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort will pay approximately $28.3 million in upfront fees into the Rebuild Illinois Fund.
After the Labor Day holiday, the IGB conducted the pre-opening operations assessment/audit and practice gaming sessions at Bally’s Chicago temporary casino at Medinah Temple from September 5 through September 8. Administrator Fruchter issued Bally’s Chicago a TOP and on September 9, Bally’s Chicago opened as Illinois’ 15th casino. Bally’s Chicago will pay $135.5 million in upfront fees into the Rebuild Illinois Fund.
Following enactment of the 2019 gaming expansion law, five newly authorized casinos have opened in Rockford, Waukegan, Danville, Carterville, and Chicago since November 2021.
* Press release…
Today, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) announced it will resume offering abortion care on Monday, September 18. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) saw a 600% increase in patients from Wisconsin. Starting in July of 2022, PPWI and PPIL shared a unique partnership where PPWI clinicians traveled to the PPIL Waukegan health center to provide care.
“Today we celebrate with Wisconsinites as they regain access to essential abortion care.” Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois. “More access to care benefits everyone. We are thrilled Wisconsin patients have a choice and are not forced to flee their state for health care and clinicians can provide care in their home state. We are proud to serve patients from Wisconsin and look forward to continuing our partnership in a meaningful way. Our doors are open as we continue to fight for everyone to have access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care.”
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…
* WBEZ | Downstate leaders say they will need help handling the historic end to cash bail: “Our state might as well be in two different countries,” Cass County Sheriff Devron Ohrn said. “I think this would have been a great [law], if this is what Cook County wants. But don’t do it down here. The views and the needs of the people here are so much more different.” But backers of the law said concerns are overblown, and any implementation challenges are a worthwhile trade-off for a more just system. Ben Ruddell, an attorney at the ACLU of Illinois, said much of the opposition is because county officials are worried about losing out on revenue. “I think what they’re really concerned about are their own budgets, in terms of sheriffs, and people like that, who have concerns that perhaps their jails aren’t going to be as full as they’d like them to be,” Ruddell said.
* Bloomberg | DeSantis offers $5,000 bonus for Chicago cops to relocate to Florida: The Republican Governor is funding an advertising campaign in the Greater Chicago area to recruit Illinois law enforcement to his home state of Florida, offering a $5,000 signing bonus to relocate, according to a statement. The effort is part of a broader 2022 recruitment law signed by DeSantis that so far has lured 2,700 officers to Florida — though only about 37 from Illinois.
* Chicago Law Bulletin | Lea Gutierrez named new ARDC administrator: The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Lea S. Gutierrez as the new administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), making her the first person of color to lead the agency. The appointment marks a return to the ARDC for Gutierrez, who previously served as the founding director of diversity and inclusion. She will take the administrator role effective Oct. 23, the ARDC said Thursday. Jerome Larkin, who joined the agency in 1978 and was named administrator in 2007, is retiring.
* SJ-R | Springfield postal workers among 19 indicted on fraud charges related to COVID-19 loans: A federal grand jury has indicted 19 U.S. Postal Service workers, including 10 from Springfield, on wire fraud charges. All are accused of defrauding people through various COVID-19 relief programs in 2020 and 2021. Shawntelle Lynn, 31, was indicted in October in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois on two counts of wire fraud. Patrice Green, 47, and Diamond Vinson, 29, were charged in August on four counts of wire fraud.
* Crain’s | No-show workers add wrinkle to Stellantis-UAW union contract talks: Stellantis has made fixing absenteeism a priority in contract talks with the UAW for its 43,000 unionized workers. The absentee rate at its US plants was 23% last year, according to a copy of the company’s initial contract proposal reviewed by Bloomberg. Absent workers led to $217 million in lost sales in 2021 and 2022, the company estimated.
* Sun-Times | Far South Side residents divided on migrant camp landing on their turf: Many residents at the often tense meeting said they were sympathetic to the migrants’ plight, but were opposed to the idea of a tent city in the area. They raised concerns about whether the migrants had been vaccinated, if they had background checks, where they would learn English, how the tent city would be kept clean and if it would affect property values.
* Sun-Times | Nearly 65% of homeless population in Chicago lives in doubled-up, temporary housing: “These doubled-up families are not in typical home-sharing situations,” said Paler-Ponce. “It’s situations of poor Chicagoans that can’t afford to live on their own or formerly contributed to household costs. These are precarious, often overcrowded, always temporary situations that are often missing in data.”
* Tribune | Revised property transfer tax plan, a hallmark of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign to address Chicago homelessness, takes a step forward: Johnson’s team this summer hammered out a new version that offers a tiered tax rate system designed to hit the most expensive properties hardest. The measure applies to all sales of homes, commercial and apartment buildings in Chicago, though it decreases the tax rate on buildings priced below $1 million and increases it on those above that threshold.
* Tribune | South Shore affordable housing protections to be proposed at City Council amid fears of Obama center gentrification: A group of community advocates and residents, along with Aldermen Desmon Yancy, 5th, and Jeanette Taylor, 20th, plan to introduce an ordinance Thursday at the City Council in an effort to preserve and create more affordable housing in the South Shore and Woodlawn neighborhoods, two communities where fears of gentrification and displacement from people like Robinson run high as the Obama Presidential Center takes shapes in nearby Jackson Park.
* NBC Chicago | Can’t remember when your last COVID shot was? Use your Illinois digital vaccine card: If you don’t remember when your last COVID shot was — or you’ve misplaced your original COVID vaccine card, you can check your Illinois vaccine record using the Illinois Department of Health’s “Vax Verify” system. Following a registration and verification process, Illinois residents through the “Verify Vax” portal can check their immunization record, including their most recent COVID shots.
* AP | Planned Parenthood to resume offering abortions next week in Wisconsin, citing court ruling: Planned Parenthood announced Thursday that it will resume offering abortions in Wisconsin next week after a judge ruled that an 1849 law that seemingly banned the procedure actually didn’t apply to abortions.
* Daily-Journal | Former NFL player to take over strength training for Kankakee High School: On Monday, the Kankakee School Board approved a contract with Johnson Training LLC, owned by retired NFL player Charles Johnson. Johnson spent seven years as a wide receiver for teams including the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers.
* Block Club Chicago | Gilligan The Pig Is Living His Best Life At Belmont Harbor: The portly swine is named after the lead character in the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island.” He spends plenty of time on The Penalty Box while Tom Serbin gets people out on the water with his charter boat company, S.S. Charters Chicago, 2 W. Belmont Harbor Dr. Michele Serbin is a graphic designer who has made merch featuring their pet.
* Sun-Times | Ken Griffin, a character in ‘Dumb Money,’ slams movie’s ‘false implications and inaccuracies’: “The original script contained numerous fabrications, and Citadel felt an obligation to flag those to Sony. Thanks to our letter, Sony corrected them and the final film did not include a number of falsehoods that would have been blatantly misleading to the audience,” said a statement from Tom A. Clare, an attorney representing Citadel.
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Caption contest!
Thursday, Sep 14, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WCIA…
Clearview Farm, Mahomet-Seymour High School’s Future Farmers of America and others took on a big planting project on Wednesday. But most may need a bird’s-eye view to take in the full picture.
They all joined together to create an Illinois-shaped pollinator garden, located at Clearview Farm in Champaign. The farm got the idea from a garden in Kane County, then started making their own plans last fall. They started planting with help from students and the community. […]
The garden is called a native pollinator garden, and it contain plants native to the region. It’s meant to be a better food source and habitat to reproduce. […]
The native pollinator garden is 500,000 square feet with over 900 plants.
Here it is…
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* WGN…
Theauntae Jones says he hopes to head to college next year in Ohio but the road there hasn’t been easy.
“My mom was struggling really hard and this helped her a lot,” the Leo Catholic high schooler said of the ‘Invest in Kids’ program. “Mom came into my room and she was really happy (and) said, ‘We got the scholarship.’ It gave her $8,000.”
The Illinois Invest in Kids Scholarship Program allows taxpayers a 75% credit for every dollar donated towards the funding of scholarships that help send students from low-income families to private schools. The program is due to sunset by the end of the year, however, and will go away entirely by January 2025 unless lawmakers step in to save it.
More than 9,000 kids are on scholarship, with about 26,000 more on the waiting list. It’s why hundreds, including Rev. Michael Pfleger, gathered at St. Sabina on Wednesday, demanding action from officials in Springfield.
“We can’t keep talking about children reaching their purpose and then block them from the education they deserve,” Pfleger said. “I fight for this school cause I want the best thing for the kids in this neighborhood and the opportunity for them to achieve their goals and dreams.”
* NBC 5…
Stacy Davis gates is certainly not the only member of the CTU who sends her child to a private school. In fact, NBC 5 has learned a key member of the Illinois Education Association also sends his children to Catholic schools. So how might these decisions change the union’s fight right now to end those tax credit programs?
The pressure is on from these students and parents and educators for why they believe the Illinois General Assembly should continue to fund the Illinois Invest in Kids program. […]
NBC 5 has also learned IEA Government Relations Director Sean Denny, seen here in an IEA Facebook posting, sends his children to a Catholic school in Springfield. Both unions strongly oppose the tax credits basis. This IEA video calls the scholarships ‘a scheme.’ […]
This afternoon the IEA responded to our questions saying it will continue to fight against what it calls a voucher program until it ends because public dollars belong in public schools, according to the IEA.
* Illinois Times…
Three of Jasmine Bland’s five children have been able to attend St. Patrick’s Catholic School, and she hopes state lawmakers continue to help low-income families like hers afford high-quality educational options.
“The culture there is more like family, which I prefer,” said Bland, a single parent who lives with her children on Springfield’s east side, works a minimum-wage job and recently began a second job waiting tables.
Bland, 41, said she wants to make sure her children have access to Catholic schools even though she and her kids aren’t Catholic because she has seen her children face more distractions in public schools.
Officials from St. Patrick’s – a prekindergarten through fifth-grade school and a stable presence in its east side Springfield neighborhood since 1910 – hope the Illinois General Assembly listens to Bland and other parents like her.
* Journal & Topics…
Northfield Township Republicans will host a discussion on education from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13 on Invest In Kids, an Illinois State Board of Education school voucher program.
The scheduled program speakers are Dan Vosnos, executive director of One Chance Illinois, and Nathan Hoffman, director of state policy and legislation for ExcelinEd.
A press release on the event, to be held at the Glenview Public Library, said the two speakers would also be, “shedding light on the educational reform movement that has been gaining momentum around the country.”
* Center Square…
Anthony Holter of scholarship granting organization Empower Illinois said the program being shut down would create problems for parents and students alike.
“So many of these families do not have the financial resources to continue without these scholarships and would be forced to face this really impossible choice,” Holter said. “They would have to try and find a way to keep their child there, knowing very well that they can not afford it and that it is best for them.”
Lawmakers return to session on Oct. 24 and could discuss a possible extension of the act.
* Sun-Times…
Theantae Jones, a senior at Leo Catholic High School, said the scholarship gave him the opportunity to attend a better school than the public school near him. Jones said he commutes from the West Side to the South Side during the week.
“Every morning I start my day at 5 a.m., and I leave the house at 6 a.m. for an hour and half commute,” Jones said. “I do my homework on the bus, miss out on sleep. I make the sacrifices to attend Leo [High School] because it’s the best place for me.” […]
“I’m willing to work with the program if it gets extended or to figure out how we would wind down the program if it doesn’t get extended,” Pritzker told reporters in July.
Pritzker’s noncommittal statement means he won’t be actively working to kill or support the program. In the past, it had been used as leverage during bill negotiations.
But teachers unions this year requested that Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch carry the program in a standalone bill and not include it in a budget bill, making its passage even more difficult. That would have been a risky move, with primary elections approaching and lawmakers’ votes being picked apart, according to a Democratic lawmaker with direct knowledge of the bill.
There have been discussions about enacting a wind-down period so as not to negatively affect the children already enrolled in the program, the lawmaker said.
It’s definitely an uphill legislative climb, and attacking Democrats’ friends and allies in the teachers’ unions likely won’t help much.
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* The basic crux of the matter from the Tribune…
(T)he suit alleges that the Sox do not currently offer season tickets for accessible seats online. It also alleges that not all accessible seats in the stadium are offered at every game.
Forty-four of the 63 sections on the lower deck of Guaranteed Rate Field have wheelchair-accessible seats. Of 36 upper-deck sections, six include accessible seating.
This is also allegedly an abrupt change from Sox policy of past years.
* The lawsuit is here. Press release…
Access Living, a leading disability service and advocacy center, and Much Shelist, P.C., a Chicago law firm with a history of advancing disability rights, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Sept. 13, 2023, alleging the Chicago White Sox, LTD have discriminatory ticket sales practices and that the organization refuses to offer equal benefits to people with disabilities as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The suit alleges that the White Sox refuse to sell ADA accessible season tickets on their website. This forces people with disabilities who want season tickets to call to make a purchase, limiting the seats they can purchase to the few offered over the phone instead of allowing them to choose from all unsold accessible seats like standard season ticket purchasers can do on the website.
The suit also alleges the White Sox have discriminatory restrictions on the website sale of accessible single game tickets, only offering a small percentage of accessible seats for sale, and frequently limiting them to only certain areas of the stadium or certain games during the year. For the majority of this season, the suit alleges that the White Sox website primarily offered accessible seating in the outfield or upper deck. Only after the White Sox were assured of not making the playoffs did the Sox release some accessible seats for sale closer to the infield on the main level.
Access Living brings the suit on behalf of two plaintiffs with disabilities: Ralph Yaniz, a former regional vice president for the AARP and counselor, and Douglas McCormick, a longtime season ticket holder who worked for the scaffolding company that was part of the construction of Guaranteed Rate Field where the White Sox play.
McCormick, who now needs mobility assistance, tried to change his season ticket seats to accessible seats and was told no.
“Imagine helping in the construction of the home stadium for your team and being told you can’t buy season tickets to go to games there,” said McCormick. “Well, that’s exactly what the White Sox told me after decades of supporting them.”
Yaniz, who also has mobility needs, was turned away when he tried to buy season tickets online, and he’s struggled to find appropriate accessible seating for individual games for sale online as well, describing the options as limited. […]
The suit asks the court to:
• Declare that the White Sox current practice of not offering for sale all unsold wheelchair accessible seats in White Sox Park for season tickets and individuals game tickets violates the Americans with Disabilities Act;
• Declare that the White Sox current practice of limiting single game tickets for wheelchair accessible seats to only certain areas of the White Sox Park despite the wide availability of wheelchair accessible seating in the Park itself violates the Americans with Disabilities Act; with initiating a preliminary and permanent injunction against the Defendant ordering them to:
o offer season tickets for wheelchair accessible seats on its website and through all other methods of ticket purchase.
o offer all unsold wheelchair accessible seats for sale on its website and through all other methods of ticket purchase during the same stages of ticket sales as are available to purchasers who do not require accessible seats.
o offer all unsold wheelchair accessible seats for sale on its website and other methods of ticket purchase for all areas of White Sox Park that have accessible seating.
* ABC 7…
“Go back to the old system. Where you could go online,” McCormick said. “I would be able to go online a couple hours before the game, you hit the filter button, you could see what’s accessible, you could buy your ticket and you go to the game. It was an easy system. Don’t know what changed or why they changed it. But it has changed.”
The two said even single game tickets were impacted, with only a small percentage of accessible seats listed for sale.
“Last year I went to 40 games,” McCormick said. “This year, I think I went to ten games.”
* Fox 32…
“They do have in the stadium, a lot of accessible seating,” said Charles Petrof, senior attorney for Access Living. “But that’s not what this is about. This is about them actually selling the seating.”
“Starting back in November of last year, I really attempted to buy season tickets for my second year and what happened is they had blacked out all season tickets for wheelchairs online,” said Ralph Yaniz, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “So I had an email conversation with them at that time, and basically they said no they weren’t going to put them online.”
* Daily Herald…
“We are disappointed by this lawsuit as the White Sox always hope to accommodate the needs of all our fans at the ballpark,” the Sox said. “The White Sox comply with all legal requirements and provide significant accessible seating at our games for our guests. We strongly believe that White Sox baseball is for everyone. While litigation is pending, we will not have any additional comment.”
Discuss.
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* Research consultant Mari Gallagher writing in Crain’s…
Retail attracts retail, and like attracts like, in either a positive or negative direction. The conundrum is that quality retail typically goes where quality retail is already. With a more careful and granular data analysis, we see that there are way more hundred-dollar bills than imagined. Not everyone is poor where retail choices are lacking.
In 2006, our firm released “Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in Chicago.” Efforts in Chicago and across Illinois enjoyed some short-term success in opening needed stores. But over time, many communities suffered severe and disappointing setbacks, with newly built, subsidized stores closing while other areas were unable to recruit any quality food stores at all.
We and many others have always stressed that plopping down a grocery store and cutting the ribbon in front of the cameras does not mean the problem is solved. In fact, over the long run, opening stores without a sustainable plan does more harm than good. We could pin these failures on the “local economy,” but that would be disingenuous. Markets are complicated. So are people and their food choices. People just want at least the basics of living and shopping like everyone else. […]
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration should consider a few municipally owned or nonprofit grocery options and a community engagement effort that uses existing carrots and sticks to set a new commercial tone that, over time, other retailers match. Some local independent food stores aspire to step up, but they don’t have the purchasing power of dollar and convenience store chains. Why not help them with a collective purchasing initiative? Good grocers go where good grocers are already, and they, in turn, will attract other types of quality stores that people want and need. Leading by example will begin the long, hard work of market repair.
That’s not a bad idea at all, and the mayor is showing interest…
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is exploring a city-owned grocery store, hoping to promote food equity. […]
The exploration is being done in partnership with the Economic Security Project, a nonprofit dedicated to building economic power for Americans. Senior adviser Ameya Pawar said in a news release that a municipally owned grocery store would operate similarly to a library or post office, offering “economic choice and power to communities.”
But I hope they’re not just thinking about plopping down another grocery store without considering some other factors. Crain’s has been focusing on this topic lately.
* Here, for example, is William Towns, “an adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and national market president for community revitalization and public housing at Gorman & Company”…
Retail isn’t merely a place to buy goods and services; it’s a social epicenter. Local shops, markets, and restaurants serve as gathering spots where friends and neighbors convene to exchange stories, celebrate milestones and, increasingly, provide flexible working environments for remote professionals. These establishments form the lifeblood of a community, fostering a sense of belonging and local pride. […]
Simultaneously, housing serves as the fuel upon which the retail social epicenter thrives. Affordable housing attracts residents who, in turn, become patrons of local businesses. This symbiotic relationship between housing and retail creates a feedback loop where the prosperity of one bolsters the other. […]
When redevelopment prioritizes retail without housing, businesses often lack the density necessary for sustained profitability. Conversely, when housing leads the way, it may lack the amenities that homeowners and renters seek, making the area less attractive. By recognizing the essential interplay between retail and housing, communities can harness this synergy to nurture inclusive, vibrant, and resilient places for people to live and prosper.
By ensuring no housing plans exist without considering a retail strategy and no retail strategy moves forward without considering its contribution to a housing plan, we can weave stronger, more connected communities that benefit everyone. It’s a model that safeguards the essence of neighborhoods and enriches the lives of those who call them home.
* Crain’s reporters Ally Marotti and Corli Jay…
Chicago TREND, a commercial real estate developer, is deploying a strategy that allows residents to invest in commercial retail properties. A social enterprise formed in 2016, it focuses on transforming retail economics in communities of color. It owns three neighborhood shopping centers in the city and one in south suburban Olympia Fields, with plans to buy two more Chicago properties in the next year.
Chicago TREND hired local property managers and local leasing agents who put equity into the properties. It identifies, acquires and improves service-oriented community shopping centers in urban neighborhoods by partnering with entrepreneurs and residents. The enterprise has deployed this model at two properties in Baltimore. […]
South Shore, too, with its oversaturation of fried food joints, beauty shops and dollar stores, is looking to take a similar approach. The Chamber of Commerce is set to launch a model in late 2024 that would allow residents to invest in commercial properties. Trice, of the South Shore Chamber, says allowing residents to take ownership is one of the only ways to really control which businesses open in a community.
* More on Chicago TREND from Andrew Beideman, chief strategy officer for the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, writing in Crain’s about revitalizing strip malls…
What if we were more intentional in harnessing the potential of these familiar sites to create community assets? What if this type of overlooked real estate could improve access to healthy food and needed retail? What if the properties themselves could be a vehicle to build wealth for nearby residents? […]
Led by entrepreneur Lyneir Richardson, Chicago TREND will leverage impact investment capital to buy overlooked commercial centers in underserved communities. It will then partner with entrepreneurs of color to upgrade the properties and improve each center’s retail offerings to meet community needs. Most exciting, an innovative crowdfunding structure will enable nearby residents to participate in each purchase for as little as $1,000 and benefit from future appreciation.
This comprehensive approach can turn everyday strip malls into drivers of community change — improving access to quality retail like restaurants and pharmacies, turning eyesore properties into community assets and creating pathways for nearby residents to generate wealth.
The Pritzker Traubert Foundation believes that Chicago succeeds when its residents live in strong, supportive and vibrant neighborhoods. We are partners with the Kresge Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Surdna Foundation and others to launch the TREND fund, which we believe is an important step toward this goal.
Many smaller strip malls already serve as de facto business incubators. This particular plan appears to be upping the game.
Your thoughts?
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* From the FDA last November…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed its first pre-market consultation for a human food made from cultured animal cells. We evaluated the information UPSIDE Foods submitted to the agency and have no further questions at this time about the firm’s safety conclusion. The firm will use animal cell culture technology to take living cells from chickens and grow the cells in a controlled environment to make the cultured animal cell food.
* CNN…
In a nutshell, lab-grown meat — or cultivated or cell-based meat — is meat that is developed from animal cells and grown, with the help of nutrients like amino acids, in massive bioreactors.
This happens in a production facility that looks a lot like a brewery: When you picture it, don’t think of people in white coats and hairnets peering through microscopes into petri dishes, but instead people in white coats and hairnets wandering between giant vats.
* From UPSIDE Foods…
Saturday, July 1st, 2023, marked an epic milestone as UPSIDE Foods made its mark in history books as the first-ever cell-cultivated meat company to sell its product in America.
Food pics are here.
* Today…
Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced today that UPSIDE Foods – a leading cultivated meat, poultry and seafood company will locate its first commercial-scale production facility in Glenview. As the first cultivated meat company to receive FDA approval, UPSIDE’s new Glenview facility marks a major milestone for cultivated meat production – supporting Illinois’ ecosystem and adding to the state’s dominance in the food processing industry. Bolstered by one of the first EDGE for Start Ups agreements, the company will invest at least $141 million and create a minimum of 75 new jobs. […]
“We’re excited that the next chapter of our journey towards building a more sustainable, humane, and abundant future will be in Illinois,” said Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and Founder of UPSIDE Foods. “Establishing our plant in this region allows us to tap into a remarkable talent pool, a thriving innovation ecosystem, and a notable history of meat production. We are grateful for the collaboration and partnership that we have built at the state, county, and local levels in our site selection process.” […]
The 187,000-square-foot facility in Glenview will open with production of ground cultivated chicken products, with plans to expand to other species and whole-textured formats in the future. Millions of pounds of cultivated meat products will be produced at the new facility, with the potential to expand to over 30 million pounds – a significant step toward creating a more humane, sustainable, and resilient food system. Cultivated meat is an innovative solution to helping solve the climate crisis by ensuring animals aren’t harmed while using less land, water, and emissions during production.
As one of the world’s largest and most advanced commercial cultivated meat facilities, the state-of-the-art facility in Glenview will house cultivators with capacities of up to 100,000 liters. UPSIDE Foods’ cultivated meat is already being served to diners in California.
As part of the State’s comprehensive incentive package, the company received one of the first Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) for Startups tax credits, which stipulates a goal of making a $141 million investment and creating 75 new full-time jobs. A link to the full agreement can be found here.
The EDGE program was expanded to include startups in 2022 to spur additional investment for newer companies that are in their growth stage. In order to do this, EDGE for Start Ups provides a benefit that allow companies to reduce their payroll withholding instead of their Illinois corporate income tax credit. This enables start-up companies without corporate income tax liabilities to maximize their incentive to reinvest into their expansion project.
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Today’s quotable
Thursday, Sep 14, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Let’s revisit yesterday’s NPR story about Anita Dunn’s firm consulting for Speaker Madigan while assisting Alaina Hampton…
Friends of Madigan continued to pay SKDK for “media consulting” through the end of September 2019. A review of campaign records show that Madigan’s committee paid SKDK more than $200,000.
NPR asked Madigan’s attorneys whether they were aware of SKDK’s connection to Hampton’s case. They declined to comment.
Former Madigan chief of staff Timothy Mapes said in an email, “Sorry I can’t answer your questions as I wasn’t involved in those discussions.” (The evidence from Mapes’ trial showed that he was recorded on the wiretap discussing Dunn’s representation, and was also sent emails discussing SKDK’s work for Madigan in 2018.)
Click here for a phone conversation and here for an email.
Give him credit. Mapes is living up to his reputation as a convicted liar.
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Open thread
Thursday, Sep 14, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Sep 14, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Tribune | Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan’s work with DC public relations firm sparks #MeToo anger, apology: In 2018, as the #MeToo movement was sweeping the nation and the speaker was facing accusations he ran an office for years plagued by sexual harassment, Madigan employed the Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm SKDK for guidance. The speaker met with Anita Dunn, a Democratic PR guru who helped found SKDK and currently advises President Joe Biden, and Madigan paid the firm more than $200,000 through his campaign fund, court documents and state records showed. At the same time, however, SKDK was working with the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, a women’s advocacy group, to help arrange local public relations support for a former Madigan campaign worker who was the first to call out the mistreatment of women inside Madigan’s state and political organizations.
* Sun-Times | Top Biden adviser was advising Madigan on #MeToo crisis while her firm was helping woman suing former speaker: While Dunn was advising Madigan, Hampton received support in her case from Dunn’s firm, which partnered with the anti-harassment charity Time’s Up. Dunn’s work for Madigan was specifically focused on responding to allegations stemming from Hampton’s lawsuit. As a result, SKDK (the D stands for “Dunn”) was on the one hand supporting Hampton in her harassment and retaliation case through its partnership with Time’s Up, and on the other getting paid by a defendant in that very lawsuit.
* Crain’s | Bears hold off stadium-subsidy efforts in Springfield — for now: Bears CEO Kevin Warren issued a statement Wednesday afternoon declaring that the franchise won’t pursue such support from Springfield during the legislature’s upcoming fall session as the team continues to explore the possibility of continuing to play its home games in Chicago or pursuing a stadium project in another suburb.
* WAND | DCFS grilled by Illinois lawmakers for enforcing nonexistent daycare policy: DCFS allowed assistants at daycare centers to watch children under two for up to three hours per day over the past few years to help address the worker shortage throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency tried to cut that time frame down to 90 minutes per day, but state lawmakers rejected that rule in July.
* Shaw Local | State Rep. Jeff Keicher to seek reelection in 2024 for Illinois House 70th District: State Rep. Jeff Keicher, a Republican lawmaker who lives in Sycamore, announced Wednesday he’ll seek reelection in 2024 to represent the 70th District which includes portions of DeKalb, Kane and McHenry counties.
* Pantagraph | Sharon Chung announces run for 2nd term in Illinois House: During a campaign announcement on Wednesday at Miller Park, the former McLean County Board member said she is working to invest more in schools, job training and infrastructure, and that Illinois can be both a fiscally responsible state and a compassionate one.
* Tribune | Supervisor denies DCFS workers were ‘lazy’ at endangerment trial in death of 5-year-old AJ Freund: [ Polovin’s attorney, Matthew McQuaid, Ruzicka] said Polovin had a reputation and history of closing cases hastily without being thorough, and she counseled him about it — but when asked if the defendants were “lazy,” Ruzicka replied, “Oh, no.”
* Tribune | Fermilab’s $1 billion accelerator project remains on hold during investigation into May accident that injured construction worker: James Daniels, 46, fell from the top of a two-story wall during his first day on the job. Hospitalized for several months, he has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Fermi Research Alliance, which operates the site, as well as the contractor and subcontractors in charge of the construction project.
* Sun-Times | Delta-8, other mind-altering hemp products would be tightly restricted in Chicago under new proposal: Downtown Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said he plans to introduce an ordinance at Thursday’s City Council meeting to address “a public health crisis” that has emerged as sales of the trendy substances have ramped up.
* The Southern | What are STAR bonds and how are they used?: STAR bonds are an incentive that use the state’s incremental sales tax and local incremental sales tax within a STAR bond district to encourage a developer to transform the area into a retail and entertainment destination. STAR bonds mature in 23 years. They are paid from the incremental sales tax, or the part of the tax that grows with development. Risk is assumed by the purchaser or the bonds. The city and its taxpayers assume no risk.
* Center Square | Some parents would quit job to home school if Invest in Kids not extended: Sabrina Sibby of southside Chicago has four boys involved in the program. She said if the program is cut, she may have to quit her job to home school her children to avoid placing them back into Chicago Public Schools. “I probably would opt for homeschooling,” Sibby told The Center Square. “That would be difficult for me because then I would have to quit my job and work on making sure he gets the things he needs to get. I’m still sure it would be a financial burden on me because I would have to purchase certain things.”
* Sun-Times | Private school leaders fight to save Invest in Kids Act scholarships: Backed by Republican lawmakers and local religious leaders, the program was ultimately slipped into what became the school funding bill in 2017 — which was intended to put new money for education into the state’s poorest and neediest districts. The Invest in Kids Act provides a tax credit of 75 cents for every dollar donated to fund scholarships for Illinois students from low-income families to attend private schools.
* Vox | The unconstitutional plan to stop women from traveling out of state for an abortion, explained: Notably, this list of anti-abortion localities includes Mitchell County, Texas, a sparse community of about 9,000 people. This matters because Interstate 20, the route that many people traveling from Dallas to New Mexico to receive an abortion will take, passes through Mitchell County. Several other counties with major highways or airports are also considering similar laws.
* Crain’s | Arwady visits Lori Lightfoot at Harvard: In a statement to Crain’s late Wednesday, Lightfoot said Arwady participated in a discussion with students about her experience leading Chicago through the COVID-19 pandemic. “Dr. Arwady used her experience leading a big city health department during the height of COVID as a backdrop for a discussion about macro and micro public health questions around preparedness, establishing a single point of truth to help people cut through misinformation and disinformation, and the importance of developing strong internal and external communication and collaboration systems, all with an eye toward equity, among other topics,” Lightfoot said in the statement. “Students were thrilled to hear from and be in dialogue with such a nationally recognized public health leader.”
* AP | Federal judge declares DACA is illegal; issue likely to be decided by US Supreme Court: “While sympathetic to the predicament of DACA recipients and their families, this Court has expressed its concerns about the legality of the program for some time,” Hanen wrote in his 40-page ruling. “The solution for these deficiencies lies with the legislature, not the executive or judicial branches. Congress, for any number of reasons, has decided not to pass DACA-like legislation … The Executive Branch cannot usurp the power bestowed on Congress by the Constitution - even to fill a void.”
* Capitol News Illinois | State Fair reports nine-year attendance high: The state Department of Agriculture, which hosts the fair each year, reported on Tuesday that about 708,000 people attended the fair, an 11 percent increase from 2022. Department officials attributed the increase to good weather, renovations of fairgrounds facilities and a discounted admission fee for one of the fair days.
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Live coverage
Thursday, Sep 14, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* ScribbleLive is still down. Twitter has stopped allowing people to embed list feeds on websites. So, click here or here to follow breaking news.
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