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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* WICS | ALPLM earns national accreditation for “exemplary practices”: Only 3 percent of America’s museums are accredited. Those that earn accreditation usually apply several times over many years before demonstrating they qualify. Accreditation is a rigorous process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation, a museum first must conduct a year of self-study and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers.

* ABC Chicago | Migrants in Chicago: Crews begin construction of Brighton Park migrant camp: After six weeks of speculation and controversy, construction has officially begun in the city’s first migrant tent camp in Brighton Park. Once the winterized base camp is complete, it could house anywhere from 500 to 2,000 migrants. The mayor’s office telling us framing of one to two of the structures will take place Wednesday.

* WBEZ | Chicago’s City Council is tightening public access amid a slew of chaotic meetings: Under new protocols outlined to WBEZ by the committee, only people who have been invited by a public official or have otherwise coordinated a special visit to a City Council meeting — such as a school field trip — will be allowed in the open, second floor gallery of the council.

* Axios | Chicago’s DNC host committee announces key staffers: Maurice (Mo) Green is the new senior director of civic and community engagement. Green was most recently the political director for SEIU Local 73, but before that he worked in Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration. Natalie Edelstein is the new communications director. Edelstein joined Pritzker’s communication staff for his 2022 reelection campaign.

* WBEZ | Her family called police for help, then her lease was terminated: A series of events tied to Jones’ lease termination notice started June 24, 2022, when a shooting occurred on her block. Jones was not home, but her mother, who was watching her daughters, went out to help the shooting victim, according to the lawsuit. The next day, Jones and her family received threats via social media accusing the family of calling police. The family called 911 and reported the threats, according to the lawsuit.

* WCIA | IDOT making progress on massive I-57, I-74 construction project: “Once the dirt freezes to a certain level, then the contractor would have to spend more time unfreezing it, if you will, than actually making progress on the dirt,” IDOT Engineer Jason Smith said. “So, they tend to shut down sometime, probably around Christmas.” I-57 is sometimes closed at night so IDOT can install beams for the flyover, and that work will carry over to I-74 in the coming weeks.

* WCIA | New Illinois law protects drivers with communication disabilities: By filling out a form on the Illinois Secretary of State’s website, drivers with autism or other communication disabilities can feel more comfortable in the face of routine traffic stops. Information from the form will then get printed on the person’s vehicle registration and put in the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System.

* Crain’s | Opinion: The ICC needs to restart Peoples Gas’ pipeline replacement immediately: The existing iron infrastructure, some of which dates back to the mid-19th century, is not equipped to handle the current demands placed upon it. In fact, a recent independent report found 83% of the iron pipes still in use have a remaining average life span of less than 15 years. Upgrading these pipelines is not merely a matter of necessity; it is a strategic investment in the city’s future.

* KSDK | US Steel idles steelmaking at Granite City plant indefinitely, will likely lead to hundreds of layoffs: Workers learned of the decision in an email from U.S. Steel Senior Vice President & Chief Manufacturing Officer Scott Buckiso that was sent out Tuesday morning. As part of the decision, U.S. Steel issued approximately 1,000 employees a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice that they might be laid off and said they anticipated about 60 percent of those workers would likely lose their jobs.

* KHQA | McCann trial delayed until February: The trial has been delayed to February 5th, after McCann filed a motion asking that he represent himself at trial. He had already waived his right to a jury trial at a hearing in mid-November. McCann was indicted in February 2021 on nine counts of wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

* Daily Herald | Two new pop-up DMVs opening in Addison and Westchester: The additional facilities are located in Addison and Westchester, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced Tuesday. The Westchester office is a walk-in “seniors-only” center to handle tests, license renewals and REAL ID needs, officials said.

* Patch | Elmhurst May Hire $50K Lobbyist: This week, City Manager Jim Grabowski told the City Council that he and the mayor had been discussing the possibility of hiring a lobbyist. A number of DuPage County towns use lobbyists to help get state grants, he said. He said the hiring of a lobbyist would go through a council committee and that the city would issue a request for proposals for those interested.

* Rockford Register Star | Rockford teachers air grievances, superintendent contract pulled from agenda: Hand said teachers are choosing other careers because of compensation levels, unrealistic expectations, student behaviors and the inability to protect their mental and physical well-being. “Students have become physically and verbally more aggressive,” she said. “I know not one other profession where being sworn at, hit, bit, kicked, pushed and spit on is accepted or tolerated.”

* The Pantagraph | Illinois State University interim president eyeing Indiana University leadership role: An ISU media relations representative said Tarhule is a finalist for the the role of executive vice president and chancellor at Indiana University Indianapolis (IUI). That’s a rebranded Indiana University (IU) campus, which is in in the process of severing its partnership with Purdue University.

* South Side Weekly | Activists Ask Congress to Treat Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis: “There are proactive ways we can respond to get in front of the problem,” said Franklin Cosey-Gay, director of the University of Chicago Violence Recovery Program and public health professional. Cosey-Gay shared with lawmakers his experience in treating a twelve-year-old patient with a gunshot wound. The response did not merely involve the medical care involved with taking out the bullet and sending him home to heal. Rather, his team included child life specialists, social workers, and mental health counselors.

* Pioneer Press | Defying fate, woman with early-onset Alzheimer’s gene joins new drug trial at Park Ridge hospital: Advocate Lutheran General is the first Illinois site of the trial, which is sponsored by the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit at Washington University in St. Louis. The randomized, double-blind study has 168 participants in many states and throughout the world, according to information from Advocate.

* Tribune | As Chicago considers city-run grocery, officials say all options are on the table. But the challenges are steep: Over the last two years, major grocers have shuttered at least six stores on the city’s South and West sides, making it harder for residents of neighborhoods like Englewood to access fresh and affordable groceries. U.S Department of Agriculture data shows 63.5% of residents in West Englewood live more than a half mile from their nearest grocery store, according to the mayor’s office. Eight miles due north, fewer than 1% of West Town residents live that far from their nearest grocery.

* Sun-Times | Paul DeJong hopes turning page with simpler approach makes difference with White Sox: New White Sox shortstop Paul DeJong hopes it starts with a fresh start with a new team going into spring training and a different, simpler hitting mindset of less video and swing analysis and more see the ball, hit the ball — with an emphasis on the opposite field and up the middle. “I want to feel it, I want to see the pitcher and let my natural ability shine with that,” said DeJong, who hit 74 home runs and 82 doubles for the Cardinals from 2017-19, his first three seasons.

* ESPN | Andre Dawson wants HOF plaque cap changed from Expos to Cubs: “I respect the Hall of Fame’s decision to put an Expos logo on my cap, and I understand their responsibility to make sure the logo represents the greatest impact in my career,” Dawson said then in a statement issued by the hall. “Cubs fans will always be incredibly important in my heart, and I owe them so much for making my time in Chicago memorable, as did the fans in Montreal, Boston and South Florida, my home. But knowing that I’m on the Hall of Fame team is what’s most important, as it is the highest honor I could imagine.”

* WICS | Chicago Cubs legend Fergie Jenkins to headline Springfield Lucky Horseshoes’ Dinner on the Diamond charity event: Chicago Cubs legend and Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins will be the distinguished guest of honor for this unforgettable experience that combines a night of elegance and the rich history of America’s favorite pastime. During Dinner on the Diamond, you’ll be able to enjoy hearing Ferguson Jenkins speak about his Hall of Fame baseball career and much more while the event is hosted on the actual playing field at Robin Roberts Stadium.

* PJ Star | IHSA schools will vote to change the football scheduling process. Here’s what it means: Programs would no longer set their own schedules or play within a conference, they instead would be placed in one of 64 districts and play a round-robin schedule of seven opponents with similar enrollments. The multiplier and success factor both would be applied. The top half of teams, four in each district, would make the playoffs, which will be seeded similarly to how they are now. Teams in the same district cannot meet in the first round.

* NYT | U.S. Life Expectancy Creeps Up as Covid Deaths Fall: “We’re halfway back to what we lost,” said Eileen Crimmins an expert on gerontology and demography at the University of Southern California. “But we certainly have a very long ways to go before we get to where life expectancy should be.” In 2022, life expectancy at birth was 77.5 years, compared with 76.4 years in 2021. A fall in Covid-19 deaths accounts for more than 80 percent of that increase. In 2019, before the pandemic, life expectancy at birth was 78.8. Drops in deaths from heart disease, unintentional injuries (a category that includes traffic deaths and drug overdoses), cancer and homicide also contributed to the rise in life expectancy, the C.D.C. reported.

* AP | Inheritance money in dispute after death of woman who made millions off sale of Sue the T-rex remains: At the center of the dispute: Darlene Williams had two wills, according to records filed in Lincoln County, South Dakota. The first one, signed in 2017, included all of her children and grandchildren, and listed daughter Sandra Williams Luther as the person in charge of settling the estate and making sure the will was carried out. But a second will dated Nov. 25, 2020 — less than three weeks before Darlene Williams died — designated Luther as the sole heir and executor. The document also cited Darlene Williams as saying that she had lived with her children at odds for too long, and she hoped that in her death they would find peace and become a family again.

* Sun-Times | No longer a traveling troupe, American Blues Theater unveils its first permanent home: “I don’t look at anything as a difficulty,” said Gwendolyn Whiteside, 49, the company’s executive artistic director. “I’m looking at it as opportunities. The fact that this is our first home, everything is a blessing. So if there is a challenge, right now we still are looking at it like this is the best thing that ever happened to us.”

* Crain’s | Rivian launches leasing program for its R1T pickup: Rivian, of Irvine, Calif., is starting its lease offers in 14 states, including California and Texas, with inventory models of the R1T, the company said in an email to Automotive News. The other launch states are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Washington.

* WICS | Illinois hunters harvest more than 53,000 deer first weekend of firearm season: Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 53,348 deer during the first weekend of the Illinois firearm deer season between Nov. 17-19. Comparatively, hunters took 52,354 deer during the first firearm weekend in 2022.

* Tribune | ‘Devastated’: 160-year-old covered bridge, one of few left in Illinois, severely damaged by truck: Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the Red Covered Bridge has undergone several upgrades over the last three decades. But a fair portion dates to its construction in 1863. Nelson, who serves as Princeton’s city clerk as well as the town’s planning and zoning administrator, said the truck destroyed several overhead support beams, which caused the roof to partially collapse at the northern end of the bridge. As a result, the walls at the northern end bow outward.

* Center Square | IDOT looking for snow plow drivers: A national shortage of licensed truck drivers means fewer snow plows on the roads this winter. Maria Casteneda of the Illinois Department of Transportation said staffing levels for the winter response team have been down approximately 10-15% since the start of the pandemic. IDOT has openings for both full and part-time snow plow drivers.

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Concerns growing over O’Hare expansion costs

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I told subscribers about how United was signaling a threat to move its headquarters out of state a few weeks ago. Here’s the Sun-Times

O’Hare Airport’s two largest carriers want to slow down, dramatically scale back or indefinitely ground the airport’s massive expansion project, including a global terminal and two satellite concourses now $1.5 billion over budget.

Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th), chairman of the City Council’s Aviation Committee, said high-stakes negotiations with hometown United and Dallas-based American Airlines have gone on for months. Those rival carriers — at loggerheads when the original agreement was signed in 2018 — are now joining forces.

“The two major carriers, United and American, want to see this project to be scaled back, to slow down,” O’Shea told the Sun-Times. Another meeting between the mayor’s office and both airlines was held Monday. […]

O’Shea said it is particularly “concerning” that United has revived a 2018 threat to move its corporate headquarters at Willis Tower out of Chicago. […]

Johnson’s chief operating officer, John Roberson, who served as aviation commissioner under Mayor Richard M. Daley, told the Sun-Times he “can’t say anything just yet” about the sensitive talks.

United’s CEO is from Texas. He does not have strong ties to Illinois.

Needless to say, losing that company’s headquarters would be one of the biggest reputational blows imaginable to Chicago and to the state. The governor’s office has been working to smooth things over, but the city really needs to get this project on track.

Mayor Johnson may have inherited the problem from his predecessor, but he needs to solve it. No excuses.

  29 Comments      


Ed Burke trial coverage roundup

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Crain’s

Whether [former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis] takes the witness stand himself still remains up in the air. The prosecution has said they will not call him as a witness, but Burke’s defense team says they could.

Instead, the prosecution relied on the testimony of FBI agent Ryan McDonald to walk the jury through how Solis became a government witness and provide context for the series of recordings they watched.

Solis’ path from chair of the Zoning Committee to government informant began at 7:55 a.m. on June 1, 2016, when McDonald and another agent knocked on the door of his Southwest Side home and told him the feds had been listening to his phone for years, provided evidence of his crimes and let him know he “was in trouble,” according to testimony on Tuesday.

The next day, Solis decided to cooperate, including wearing the wiretaps against his colleagues, and set in motion the sprawling government corruption investigations that have thus far snared Burke and former House Speaker Michael Madigan, whom Solis also secretly recorded.

* Tribune

Prosecutors on Tuesday displayed some of the centerpiece evidence against Burke: wiretapped conversations and secretly recorded video from ex-Ald. Daniel Solis, who cooperated extensively with the government against Burke and others after authorities presented him with evidence of his own misdeeds.

In a shaky video apparently captured from somewhere on Solis’s chest, Burke and Solis talked about the Post Office’s New York-based developers — then Burke made an unsolicited comment that surely perked up the ears of the FBI agents listening in the wire room.

“Well, while you’re at it, recommend the good firm of Klafter & Burke to do the tax work,” Burke told Solis said on the Aug. 26, 2016, recording.

Solis laughed on the recording and agreed to mention Burke’s law firm, which did property tax appeals for a roster of wealthy clients, to the Old Post Office developers at their next meeting.

“And then we can certainly talk about a marketing arrangement for you,” Burke said, which prosecutors allege was an illegal offer by Burke to pay Solis an under-the-table referral fee for any law business he brought in.

Click here to listen to the recorded conversation between Ed Burke and Daniel Solis.

From Rich Miller: This looks like Burke was trying to put the chair of the city council’s Zoning Committee on the payroll, which would’ve been mighty sweet for a property tax appeals lawyer.

* WTTW

In one phone call, recorded on Aug. 26, 2016, Solis and Burke were discussing the redevelopment plans when Burke told his colleague: “While you’re at it, recommend the good firm of Klafter & Burke to do the tax work,” adding that “we can certainly talk about a marketing arraignment” for Solis as a part of that deal.

“Alright I certainly will,” Solis replied.

A month later, Solis made a video recording of a face-to-face meetup with Burke inside his office. In clips played in court Tuesday, Burke — who can be seen wearing glasses, a pinstripe suit and an American flag pin — asked for Solis to set up a meeting between Burke and the developers.

Solis then brought up the marketing arrangement Burke previously mentioned.

Burke can be heard replying: “I’m of the belief that if you get help from somebody to get some work, that they’re entitled to share in it, and it’s just up to us to figure out a way that it can be done so that there’s no pitfalls, legally.

“Listen,” he added, “it wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last time. I’m a believer in sharing the wealth.”

* WGN

Prosecutors alleged that was a promise for kickbacks to be made to Solis. But on tape, Burke said that agreement would have to be above board.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Joe Duffy hammered [F.B.I. special agent Ryan McDonald] on the FBI’s tactic of using ruses to try to determine Burke’s motivations, telling the jury that what Solis said on tape wasn’t true.

“Is it fair to describe that as an act of deception designed to mislead someone?” Duffy asked McDonald on the stand.

“It can be,” McDonald replied.

* More…

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C’mon, people

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The governor was in the Quad Cities today…

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) were joined today by local officials and community leaders to announce the completion of a multiyear project to install a new deck on the Interstate 280 Sgt. John F. Baker Jr. Mississippi River Bridge in Rock Island County, an improvement that will result in a smoother, safer ride on one of the state’s key travel corridors. Made possible by Gov. Pritzker’s historic, bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program and a partnership with Iowa, the project included patching and resurfacing east of the bridge for a combined investment of $65.7 million.

“This is exactly what Rebuild Illinois, our state’s massive infrastructure modernization program, is all about: to make life better and easier for our people,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “When we make smart investments in the roadways that working families and businesses rely on, we’re constructing a better future for the entire region — one where parents and their children can commute with confidence and where new factories and distribution centers are choosing to locate in Illinois, so they can reliably ship their products across the nation.”

The Baker Bridge opened in 1973 and today carries more than 28,000 vehicles a day, almost 20% of which are trucks. The new deck is the first replacement since the bridge opened.

* Pritzker then asked if anyone in the news media had any questions. Nobody did

It’s kinda difficult to encourage people to support local journalism when this sort of thing happens.

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Mayor’s office refuses to acknowledge federal claims of city’s discriminatory housing process

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Sun-Times

The city of Chicago wrongly limited affordable housing by allowing City Council members to reject developments in their wards through the use of their aldermanic prerogative, federal investigators say.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is being asked to enter talks for an “informal resolution” of an almost five-year civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a letter obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

“The department’s investigation indicates that the city affords each of its 50 wards a local veto over proposals to build affordable housing and that many majority-white wards use the local veto to block, deter or downsize such proposals,” wrote Lon Meltesen, regional director of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “As a result, new affordable housing is rarely, if ever, constructed in the majority-white wards that have the least affordable housing.” […]

In response to the recent concern from HUD, city lawyer John Hendricks said in a letter earlier this month that the complainants “fail to establish a violation of fair housing and civil rights laws” but that the city is “open to voluntary resolution.”

I would’ve never imagined a progressive mayor from the CTU authorizing a response like that one.

* From HUD’s letter

The Department’s investigation indicates that the City affords each of its fifty wards a local veto over proposals to build affordable housing, and that many majority-White wards use the local veto to block, deter, or downsize such proposals. As a result, new affordable housing is rarely, if ever, constructed in the majority-White wards that already have the least affordable housing. The City acknowledges this effect of the practice, its historical use for the purpose of creating and maintaining patterns of racial segregation, and its continued use as a tool that effectuates racially motivated opposition to affordable housing. The City’s use of the local veto despite understanding its effects raises serious concerns about the City’s compliance with Title VI and Section 109.

The Department understands that the local veto over affordable housing proposals is not a law or formal policy, but a practice arising from (1) the requirement that City Council approve all such proposals,” and (2) the custom of only approving those proposals which have the affirmative support of the alderman for the ward in which the development is proposed. This investigation identified three ways in which aldermen wield the local veto to block, deter, or downsize proposals to build affordable housing:

    1. The local veto allows aldermen to block or downsize affordable housing proposals in Council. This investigation identified examples of aldermen blocking projects that would have created integrative affordable housing — even where such projects are otherwise consistent with citywide plans and policies — by explicitly voting down a proposal, or by withholding their affirmative support for land use or finance approvals, resulting in the expiration or withdrawal of the proposal.

    2. The local veto allows aldermen to deter or downsize affordable housing proposals before they are formally proposed to the City. Interviews with developers of affordable housing revealed that the existence of the local veto deters them from proposing projects in predominantly white wards, and this investigation identified examples of developers significantly downsizing affordable housing proposals or shelving them altogether during informal, pre-application processes through which aldermen wield the threat of the local veto to influence development.

    3. Aldermen preemptively veto integrative affordable housing by downzoning. This investigation identified examples of aldermen downzoning, or applying more restrictive zoning designations, in a manner that limits opportunities for the development of affordable housing and ensures that any such proposals would be subject to the processes that give rise to the local veto. Evidence suggests that the effect — and sometimes the purpose — of such downzoning is to make the development of integrative affordable housing more costly, time consuming, or otherwise less feasible.

Consistent with the City’s own analysis of this practice, the Department’s investigation indicates that the local veto over affordable housing proposals has the following effects:

    1. By limiting the availability of affordable housing, the local veto disproportionately harms Black and Hispanic households, who are far more likely than White households to need and qualify for affordable housing. These groups are already disproportionately impacted by the City’s on-going affordable housing shortage, and the further loss of affordable rental units due to the local veto is three to four times more likely to affect Black households — and two times more likely to affect Hispanic households — than White households.

    2. The local veto perpetuates segregation. As noted in City planning documents, the local veto was instrumental in creating Chicago’s patterns of segregation and is a significant reason for the perpetuation of those patterns. This investigation indicates the continued use of the local veto to block affordable housing units in White areas is a key driver of segregation. For example, this investigation’s non-exhaustive review of Council decisions between 2019 and 2022 identified several hundred affordable housing units approved by the Department of Housing for construction in majority- White areas that were blocked at the request of the local alderman.

    3. The local veto effectuates opposition to affordable housing based on racial animus. The continued existence of racially motivated opposition to affordable housing in majority-White areas is widely acknowledged in Chicago, yet aldermen interviewed during this investigation reported deferring to local opinion with no consideration of whether racial animus played a role. Indeed, this investigation identified several instances of opposition replete with coded racial animus informing aldermen’s decisions to veto affordable housing proposals.

The City’s prior administrations did not proffer a justification for the continued existence of this practice. Aldermen interviewed during this investigation asserted that the practice is necessary to ensure that local concerns are considered in development decisions. This investigation indicates, however, that Council routinely shows unquestioning deference to local aldermen even in the absence of any articulated local concern, and even where concerns are clearly invoked as pretext to block integrative affordable housing. In other cases, legitimate but minor local concerns were invoked to block or significantly delay integrative affordable housing proposals, even where those concerns contradicted fact-based analyses and well-considered City plans on the same topics. The practice appears to be a blunt tool that blocks and deters integrative affordable housing while going well beyond what is necessary to provide a forum for local concerns — in other words, precisely the sort of “artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barrier” discussed by the Supreme Court under the Fair Housing Act in Inclusive Communities.

* Meanwhile

An investigation by Block Club Chicago and the Illinois Answers Project has found the CHA is sitting on nearly 500 empty homes that are part of its scattered-site program — even as Chicago struggles to address housing crises on multiple fronts, from historically high rents that many families can’t afford to a surge in homelessness to a stream of migrants who need shelter.

In all, the CHA owns about 2,900 scattered-site residences dispersed through dozens of neighborhoods. But one out of every six of the homes is empty, and dozens of them have been unoccupied for years, records show.

The CHA’s neglected scattered sites can be found on every side of town. For example, on the North Side, a handsome yellow-brick apartment building in Lakeview was renovated for $1.5 million in the mid-2010s, yet the building was never completely filled. On the West Side, several multifamily buildings in North Lawndale have been vacant and boarded up for years. And in South Shore, blocks from where the Obama Presidential Center is being built, more than a third of a 51-unit apartment building is vacant. The CHA says it will soon rent out most of those South Shore apartments.

  13 Comments      


*** UPDATED x3 - $10,000 matching contribution received - Match level met and exceeded - Donor will match up to $10,000 for contributions made today *** Please help these kids

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I cannot imagine what it’s like being a foster child. Their lives weren’t good before they were put into the system, but those were the only lives they had. And now everything these children have known has been turned upside-down and they have no idea at all if they will ever have any sense of normalcy in their lives. It must be impossible to comprehend and so incredibly frustrating.

Luckily, we have people in our society who want to help these kids. And we also have a way for everyone to pitch in.

Our longtime commenter OneMan said this yesterday when we kicked off our annual fundraiser to help Lutheran Social Services of Illinois buy Christmas presents for foster children

You would be amazed by the impact of a gift when a kid is in a challenging situation. I work with a children’s charity that does stuff with pediatric hospital patients and a gift makes a world of difference.

Your contribution can bring some joy to a child who is in need and likely in pain at no fault of their own. For some of us, holiday gifts can be frivolous, even sometimes meaningless. But giving a gift to those kids shows them that somebody actually cares about them during a time of life-altering trauma. It also helps ease a burden on their foster parents.

So, please, click here and contribute whatever you can. We have 2,530 foster children to help this year. Gifts average $25 each, so that’s a total need of $63,250. We raised $7,000 yesterday. Thanks to your loving generosity, 280 children will receive presents. But there’s more to do, so, again, please click here.

Thank you.

*** UPDATE 1 *** I was just informed that an anonymous donor will match whatever we raise today up to $10,000.

Wow.

Let’s get on it.

…Adding… As noted above, we ended yesterday at about $7,000. So, when you go to the site, subtract $7K from the amount listed in the upper right-hand corner to see where we stand today. At 10:13 this morning, we had raised $3,575 today. That’s what will be matched.

*** UPDATE 2 *** As of 12:08 pm, we have raised more than $11,300 today alone! So, we’ve hit and then surpassed the match amount. You folks are awesome! Not including the match, we’ve raised enough money since yesterday to buy toys for 736 foster kids, or 29 percent of all the kids in LSSI’s program. With the match, we’ll have raised enough money to bring a little joy to 1,136 kids’ lives. Click here to keep it going!. Thanks!

*** UPDATE 3 *** The $10,000 matching contribution has been received! From the donor

Thank you to Rich Miller and all of the readers who give this holiday season to help provide for children in need.

Wow.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password) (Updated)

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Open thread

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* How’re y’all doing today?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Chicago could break ground on Brighton Park lot migrant camp today, Block Club reports

    - Crews for GardaWorld — a multinational private security firm hired to build the “winterized base camp” for migrants — began staging equipment and materials Monday at the future migrant shelter.

    - The city has yet to share an environmental impact study. Toxic heavy metals had been found at the site, which has a long history of industrial use.

    - If the site clears all its assessments, it would take at least four days to set up the physical camp and several more days before welcoming residents, according to a city fact sheet.

* Related stories…

* Isabel’s top picks…

    * Sun-Times | Chicago wrongly limited affordable housing with aldermanic prerogative, HUD says: “The department’s investigation indicates that the city affords each of its 50 wards a local veto over proposals to build affordable housing and that many majority-white wards use the local veto to block, deter or downsize such proposals,” wrote Lon Meltesen, regional director of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “As a result, new affordable housing is rarely, if ever, constructed in the majority-white wards that have the least affordable housing.”

    * Block Club | As City Battles Housing Shortage, CHA Lets Hundreds Of Empty Homes Decay: An investigation by Block Club Chicago and the Illinois Answers Project has found the CHA is sitting on nearly 500 empty homes that are part of its scattered-site program — even as Chicago struggles to address housing crises on multiple fronts, from historically high rents that many families can’t afford to a surge in homelessness to a stream of migrants who need shelter. In all, the CHA owns about 2,900 scattered-site residences dispersed through dozens of neighborhoods. But one out of every six of the homes is empty, and dozens of them have been unoccupied for years, records show.

    * Daily Herald | Schaumburg follows Rosemont’s lead with tax to deter long-term migrant housing at hotels: Schaumburg trustees on Tuesday followed Rosemont’s example of imposing a tax of $1,000 per month on hotel stays of 30 days or more to deter the village’s room inventory from being chosen as a long-term solution for the temporary housing of migrants. […] Schaumburg Village Manager Brian Townsend said he knows migrants who had arrived earlier already have found longer-term housing in the community, and the goal of the hotel tax is not to keep them from coming to Schaumburg.

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

    * Sun-Times | As O’Hare expansion price tag climbs, airport’s two biggest carriers want project scaled back – or grounded: Their concern is “certainly, the cost,” O’Shea said. “Everything is significantly more expensive now than it was before the pandemic. They have stated that air travel, whether it be a combination of business, international, leisure travel — is not where it was in 2019. They’ve been vocal about that, particularly over the last several months.”

    * Crain’s | Pritzker family office launches $190 million venture capital fund:
    The idea to launch a venture fund came up at a corporate strategic retreat a few years ago, Jason Pritzker says. “We’re good at late-stage investing, and if we could get good at early-stage investing, that would be differentiated and allow us to participate in the full life cycle of a company from seed to scale,” he says.

    * Capitol News Illinois | Temporary staffing agencies seek to block new state labor law: A group of temporary staffing agencies and their trade associations are asking a federal court to block enforcement of a new state law that governs how day laborers and temp workers are managed and paid. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Chicago, challenges several changes enacted this year to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, a law originally passed in 2006 to bring those staffing agencies under state regulation.

    * Tribune | Citing Trump factor, former House GOP leader Jim Durkin takes himself out of Cook County state’s attorney race: “One, it’s difficult enough as a Republican. But more importantly, having Trump, who seems like he is the probable nominee of the party, is going to be even more, I would say, destructive on any Republican running in Cook County based on his performance four years ago,” Durkin said.“If I’m gonna get in the race, I have to know I can win it. I can’t run to compete. I can’t run to make a statement. And I just see no pathway to success under the circumstances in this environment in Cook County,” he said.

    * Daily Herald | Pritzker promises transit fix, talks migrant housing and praises Biden at forum: The issue is “how to manage what is a humanitarian crisis as you’re heading toward potentially a very cold winter,” he said. “This is a bipartisan problem … the challenge of immigration. There ought to be comprehensive immigration reform, there needs to be border security, too. And those things together — it seems like you could get agreement across two parties (in Congress). It hasn’t happened,” Pritzker said.

    * Crain’s | Old Post Office deal takes over Burke trial as ex-planning chief testifies: The Old Post Office had fallen into disrepair by the time Reifman was appointed to the city position by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The building’s rehabilitation was so important to Emanuel that the city had initially moved to seize it through eminent domain to find a new owner capable of major renovations. But after development firm 601W, whose owners Burke is accused of shaking down to drive business to his property tax firm, Klafter & Burke, agreed to buy the property, the city ended the eminent domain proceedings and worked with the company to obtain tax credits that both parties thought were necessary to make the $800 million project feasible.

    * CBS Chicago | Jurors hear wiretapped conversations between former Ald. Ed Burke, government mole Danny Solis: In a video clip, Burke is seen and heard saying in his office, “Give Danny a call - I think he’s going to be a main player in this whole process.” The 2016 video is shaky and does not catch Burke’s every move. But his words were clear. “I’m sitting here with Danny Solis,” Burke says. “Are you hearing anything from the GC on the Post Office deal?”

    * Tribune | ‘While you’re at it, recommend the good firm of Klafter & Burke’: Jurors in ex-Ald. Ed Burke corruption trial hear first secret recordings by FBI mole Daniel Solis: After some seemingly innocuous conversation about the project’s New York-based developers and local contractors who’d be vying for work, Burke made an unsolicited comment that surely perked up the ears of the FBI agents listening in the wire room. “Well, while you’re at it, recommend the good firm of Klafter & Burke to do the tax work,” Burke told Solis on the Aug. 26, 2016, recording, which was played for the jury in Burke’s corruption trial Tuesday.

    * Sun-Times | FBI agent tells how morning visit led to ex-Ald. Danny Solis wearing a wire on longtime colleague Ed Burke: The look-back at the origins of the Burke probe came on the eve of the five-year anniversary of the FBI raid that eventually went down on Burke’s offices on Nov. 29, 2018. But McDonald also made clear that Burke was not the target the feds originally had in their sights when they flipped Solis in June 2016. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur asked McDonald if there was “any expectation at the outset of [Solis’] cooperation that it would have anything to do with Edward Burke?” McDonald answered, “no.”

    * Shaw Local | Morgan Phillips to run for 105th District state rep seat: “I am running for office because I think young people must be more involved in politics,” Phillips said in a news release. “I want to be a voice for the future in Springfield to help assure that even 60 years into the future, we have access to the same or better resources as previous generations.” Phillips grew up in rural Lostant. She attended Lostant Grade School, Putnam County High School and graduated from the Illinois Math and Science Academy. She continued her education at Illinois Valley Community College and earned her bachelor’s degree at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

    * WLPO | Race To Replace Yednock Heating Up With Five Candidates Filing Paperwork: Five candidates on Monday turned in paperwork to replace Democrat State Representative Lance Yednock in the 76th District. Democrats vying for the seat are: Amy Briel of Ottawa and Cohen Barnes and Carolyn Zasada both of DeKalb. Republicans going after the House seat are Crystal Loughran of Peru and Liz Bishop of La Salle. Also in the House, Democrat Morgan Phillips of Lostant is seeking the 105th District seat. She will oppose either Republican Incumbent Dennis Tipsword of Metamora or Donald Rients of Benson. Both of those men filed petitions on Monday.

    * Sun-Times | Chicago CRED receives ‘transformational’ $21 million grant from Sue Ling Gin Foundation to fight gun violence: Chicago CRED, founded by former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, works primarily on the South and West sides to reduce violence through a holistic approach, including life coaching, outreach and job training. Duncan said the grant will allow Chicago CRED to scale its work in North Lawndale and Roseland and expand to more neighborhoods.

    * AP | Sports Illustrated is the latest media company damaged by an AI experiment gone wrong: On Monday, the Futurism website reported that Sports Illustrated used stories for product reviews that had authors it could not identify. Futurism found a picture of one author listed, Drew Ortiz, on a website that sells AI-generated portraits. […] Upon questioning Sports Illustrated, Futurism said all of the authors with AI-generated portraits disappeared from the magazine’s website. No explanation was offered.

    * Crain’s | With attendance up, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has reason to toot its horn : The pandemic was daunting for all performing arts organizations, but the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has bounced back better than most. It helps to be one of the premier orchestras in the world. With $22.1 million in ticket sales for the 2023 fiscal year that ended June 30, the organization is close to pre-pandemic levels. Paid attendance of 270,000 was up 29% from 2022, but is slightly below 2019. As is the case with other arts organizations, annual fundraising is not all the way back, while inflation has boosted expenses.

    * Sun-Times | Postal police would return to the street to help stamp out mail carrier assaults under new bill in Congress: The Postal Police Reform Act will be introduced to the U.S. Senate on Wednesday by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. They hope the bill will be more successful than a House-sponsored one with the same name. That bill, also bipartisan, was first introduced in 2021, stalled, and then was reintroduced earlier this year.

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Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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