Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » Isabel’s afternoon roundup
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Some stories of interest

    * Capitol News Illinois | Chicago utility pushes back against state oversight, asks for further rate increase: In November, the Illinois Commerce Commission forced a yearlong pause on the company’s controversial pipeline replacement program while it investigates whether the program adequately prioritizes replacing high-risk natural gas pipes throughout Chicago, where the utility serves about 875,000 customers. The company alleged in a filing with the ICC last week that a “misunderstanding” in last month’s ruling will prevent the company from conducting emergency repairs and other “critical” work.

    * Sun-Times | Chicago police Sgt. John Poulos, whose fatal shootings of 2 men led to about $2 million in City Hall payouts, now running for judge: Sgt. John Poulos — whose career as a Chicago cop has been marked by two controversial fatal shootings and a push by the police superintendent to fire him in a misconduct case — is now running for judge in Cook County with the help of a Democratic Party insider and $500,000 in loans from his wife. … Poulos’ campaign committee is chaired by Tim Egan, the chief executive officer of Roseland Community Hospital, who ran two unsuccessful campaigns for the Chicago City Council from the 43rd Ward and now is the 2nd Ward Democratic committeeperson.

    * Shaw Local | McHenry County sheriff addresses deaths of 4 jail inmates this year: In acknowledging the inmate deaths, the statement said the office “has been fully transparent in providing information in conjunction with McHenry County Sheriff’s Office General Orders, policy and procedures, state laws and the consideration of affected families.” […] Despite its assertions of transparency, the office, led by Sheriff Robb Tadelman, did not proactively release any information about Sabo’s death or his identity at the time it occurred and confirmed it months later only after multiple inquiries by the Northwest Herald. It also remains unclear which agency is heading up that investigation. The McHenry County Major Investigation Assistance Team, or MIAT, is the agency the sheriff’s office cited in its Thursday release as handling the probes into the recent inmate deaths.

* IDHS press release

The Illinois Department of Human Services’ (IDHS) State-Operated Developmental Centers (SODCs) are amplifying COVID-19 testing and infection-prevention policies as a response to increased cases among residents and staff.

SODCs provide residential programs to people with intellectual/developmental disabilities who have severe medical and/or behavioral needs. IDHS operates seven developmental centers in the state.

Across the state, COVID-19 laboratory confirmed cases and COVID-19 related hospitalizations have increased by nearly 50% since early November, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  

As of December 6, there were 58 residents, out of approximately 1,650 total, and 35 staff, out of approximately 3,500 total, who have tested positive for COVID-19 since November 20, with nearly all presenting mild symptoms.

SODC staff have provided positive residents and patients with treatment, including antiviral medication as appropriate. Only one resident is hospitalized, and they are in stable condition.

According to the release, 30 residents and 10 staff were infected at Waukegan’s Kiley Developmental Center. Another 15 residents and 10 staff were infected at Park Forest’s Ludeman Developmental Center. And 12 residents and 12 staff were infect at Kankakee’s Shapiro Developmental Center. More at the link.

* Meanwhile…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced that with the holidays approaching, data indicate that the impact of respiratory viruses is being felt across the state with 44 counties now at an elevated level for COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to the CDC’s national COVID Data Tracker, as of the week ending November 25. COVID-19 hospitalization data indicate that 39 counties are at medium level and five are at high level, while statewide, there were 1,039 new hospitalizations reported, an increase of 20% over the previous week.

Data also show that broad acute respiratory hospitalizations are increasing across Illinois including COVID-19, flu and RSV. IDPH officials are especially concerned about pediatric ICU (PICU) capacity which is limited in many areas of the state. [Emphasis added.]

What’s going on in the Windy City?

City Council shared its new seating policy for public meetings which include neededing an ID and a reservation to sit in the main chamber. WBEZ reporter Mariah Woelfel has the story.

The city is adding impoundment to the list of penalties on bus companies bringing in asylum seekers. Crain’s reports that this applies to bus operators that don’t obey rules on where and when to drop off migrants they’re bringing to Chicago.

Rest of the roundup

    * NBC Chicago | Hourly minimum wage in Illinois set to increase on Jan. 1: For Illinois residents, the new year will once again bring an increase in the state’s hourly minimum wage as part of a three-year gradual increase to a statewide $15 minimum wage for non-tipped workers.

    * Press release | Illinois Collaboration on Youth Partners with Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s All Children-All Families Initiative: With 1 in every 3 youth in foster and adoption care identifying as LGBTQ+, it has never been more dire for all foster care and adoption agencies to tend to the specific needs of LGBTQ+ youth. Apart from working closely with ICOY, our ACAF program works with over 135 agencies across the country to help them better implement LGBTQ+ inclusive practices and policies. Collectively, these agencies serve more than 1 million clients annually in 36 states and employ more than 26,000 employees.

    * WGEM | Quincy housing problems described as ‘not good’: The Great Plains Action Society’s itinerary concluded Thursday by attending Quincy’s Human Rights Commission meeting. That’s where they heard about the status of affordable housing in Quincy. Commissioners received updates from both the YWCA and Safe and Livable Housing committee. Representatives from both organizations described the status of affordable, livable and available housing as “not good.”

    * Daily Herald | Election season is here: Races to watch in Kane and DuPage counties: A three-way race will decide who becomes the Democratic nominee for the recorder position in DuPage. Meanwhile, Democrats in Kane will determine which of the two candidates for recorder moves on to the general election.

    * Sun-Times | Why youth homelessness is a big problem in Cook County: Young Black men are disproportionately affected by housing instability, and youth in foster care or who have experienced the death of a parent or caregiver are also at high risk, a recent Chapin Hall study found.

    * Chalkbeat | New data shows hundreds of Chicago Public Schools bus routes with fewer than 10 students: However, the data does not include students who have 504 plans — another type of legal document for students with disabilities — or homeless students, who are also entitled to transportation. District officials said the routes may include those students. One week before the data was captured, the district said it had routed a total of 8,105 students. […] Chalkbeat’s analysis of the route data for 7,350 students with IEPs found: There are an average 6.9 students with IEPs per route. 785 of the more than 1,000 routes have. 10 or fewer children with IEPs. 59 routes — or 5.4% — transport one child with an IEP.

    * WAND | 240 volunteers needed urgently for Sangamon County Toys for Tots program: Over 200 volunteers are urgently needed for Sangamon County Toys for Tots program. The Toys for Tots warehouse at White Oaks Mall is set up as a store for one day (Dec 15). There are ten tables, five for boys and five for girls, ages 0-2, 3-5, 6-7, 8-10, 11-18. Families who apply and are approved show up at an assigned time slot and get to pick out what toys they want for their children.

    * Crain’s | Wrigleyville’s oldest dive bar to Malört: Quit stealing our mixology ideas: Nisei’s Malört infusions date back to 2016 when a few employees stumbled upon an old box of candy canes behind the bar and decided it best not to let them go to waste. As any bartender would do, they dropped the peppermints into their favorite bottles of liquor — and so candy cane Malört was born. “It became a bar sensation for us,” Capone said.

    * Tribune | University of Chicago buys Hyde Park mansion once owned by late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for $3.4M: Built around 1900, the 5,112-square-foot brick house, at 5725 S. Woodlawn Ave., was designed by the Rapp & Rapp architectural firm, which was widely known for designing movie palaces. The mansion was built for Cora Howland, who was the daughter of onetime Chicago Mayor John A. Roche, and her husband, lawyer and professor George C. Howland, who was part of U. of C.’s original teaching staff and who also wrote editorials for a time for the Tribune, according to Susan O’Connor Davis’ book “Chicago’s Historic Hyde Park.”

    * NYT | Amazon Is Cracking Down on Union Organizing, Workers Say: In disciplining the employees, Amazon has raised questions about the extent to which they are free to approach co-workers to persuade them to join a union, a federally protected right. The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board has said Amazon is breaking the law through a policy governing the access that off-duty workers have to its facilities, which Amazon invoked in the recent firing. The board is seeking to overturn the policy at an upcoming trial.

    * NYT | How Much Can Forests Fight Climate Change? A Sensor in Space Has Answers: Now, high in orbit, a new way of seeing forests is making it clear that, even when under assault, protected areas can still be a crucial buffer against climate change. Scientists are using laser technology to gauge the biomass of forests all around the world, which lets them calculate how much planet-warming carbon the trees are keeping out of Earth’s atmosphere.

    * AP | FDA approves 2 gene editing therapies that may cure sickle cell disease: In the U.S., an estimated 100,000 people have the disease and about a fifth of them have the severe form. Sickle cell is most common among Black people and 1 in 365 Black babies are born with the disease nationally. Scientists believe being a carrier of the sickle cell trait helps protect against severe malaria, so the disease occurs more often in mosquito-prone regions such as Africa or in people whose ancestors lived in those places.

       

5 Comments
  1. - Big Dipper - Friday, Dec 8, 23 @ 2:42 pm:

    ==Poulos . . . is assigned to the police department’s records inquiry section, with a salary of nearly $130,000 a year.==

    Because he can’t be trusted on the street?


  2. - Three Dimensional Checkers - Friday, Dec 8, 23 @ 2:49 pm:

    Sgt. Poulos was a central figure in the below story. The big brains at the CST must have forgotten:

    https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/immigration/2022/chicago-police-u-visa-denials/


  3. - DuPage Saint - Friday, Dec 8, 23 @ 3:10 pm:

    I would bet that that police officer is on Kim Foxx’s do not call as a witness list so it is sort of ironic that he wants to be a judge.


  4. - Rich Miller - Friday, Dec 8, 23 @ 3:19 pm:

    ===I would bet that that police officer is on Kim Foxx’s do not call as a witness list ===

    Nope. Try using the Google before you make “bets” like that. C’mon. It’s free, for crying out loud.

    https://www.cookcountystatesattorney.org/sites/default/files/files/documents/brady_giglio_do_not_call_list_11.14.23.pdf


  5. - Blitz - Friday, Dec 8, 23 @ 3:44 pm:

    I think way too many people skipped the updated vaccines this year and it could be a potentially rough winter (again) on that front.


Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


* Sunday roundup: Rep. Williams says no takeover; 'Guardrail' bill floated; More alderpersons sign letter; Biz weighs in; CTU president claims city pays the bills for 'every municipality in this state'; Progressive Caucus supports letter
* News coverage roundup: Entire Chicago Board of Education to resign (Updated x2)
* Mayor to announce school board appointments on Monday
* Reader comments closed for the weekend
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* Question of the day (Updated)
* Ahead of mass school board resignation, some mayoral opponents ask Pritzker to step in, but he says he has no legal authority (Updated x5)
* Governor’s office says Senate Republicans are “spreading falsehoods” with their calls for DCFS audit (Updated)
* Meanwhile… In Opposite Land
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and some campaign and court-related stuff
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Live coverage
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............


Loading


Main Menu
Home
Illinois
YouTube
Pundit rankings
Obama
Subscriber Content
Durbin
Burris
Blagojevich Trial
Advertising
Updated Posts
Polls

Archives
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004

Blog*Spot Archives
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005

Syndication

RSS Feed 2.0
Comments RSS 2.0




Hosted by MCS SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax Advertise Here Mobile Version Contact Rich Miller