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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Jurors begin deliberating case against Ed Burke. Sun-Times…
- Members of the jury headed home for the night at 5 p.m. after more than 2 1/2 hours of deliberations. - To convict Burke of racketeering, jurors must be convinced he committed two “acts” as part of a larger pattern. There are five umbrella “acts” listed in Burke’s indictment, but each one contains multiple allegations that jurors will likely be allowed to choose from. * Related stories… ∙ Tribune: Jury ends Day 1 of deliberations in ex-Ald. Ed Burke corruption case without a verdict ∙ ABC Chicago: Jury gets case in trial of former Alderman Ed Burke * Isabel’s top picks… * WBEZ | As the 60-day shelter stay limit looms, a WBEZ analysis reveals most migrants stay longer: A WBEZ analysis of the lengths of their shelter stays finds that roughly 7 in 10 have stayed longer than 60 days, and that an average stay was 76 days for migrants who had exited shelter before Nov. 1. * Sun-Times | 5-year-old boy dies, 5 others hospitalized after becoming ill at Pilsen migrant shelter: Four more children and a woman were hospitalized Monday after becoming ill at the shelter. Four girls, ages 1, 4, 8 and 9, and an 18-year-old woman were taken to hospitals at different times Monday morning with fever and vomiting, Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said. * Planned Parenthood Illinois…
* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup… * Sun-Times | Sentencing delayed for ComEd bribery defendants; request to hold up Madigan corruption case also expected: Meanwhile, a defense attorney for Madigan’s co-defendant said he will be making a similar request to stay proceedings in Madigan’s case, which is set for trial in less than four months. The developments come in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to take up a corruption case out of Northwest Indiana, in which questions revolve around a law central to the ComEd and Madigan cases. * WTVO | Illinois lawmakers congregate in Rockford to preview 2024 state initiatives: Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) was just one of seven state legislators on a panel giving over 200 local government leaders a glimpse into the coming year, with budgeting, transportation, and new jobs being a few of the topics covered. “I’m optimistic about our community. We’ve had some really good things happen in the past six months to year and better things are in store for the future. So I think people need to be optimistic in our community,” Stadelman said. “There’s too much negativity at times in Rockford and the state of Illinois, and we’re having some really good announcements happening. So I think I’m primed for a really good 2024 and I want the message here that good things are happening in the Rockford area and people need to believe that that their days are ahead.” * Riverbender | Giannoulias Announces New Laws To Take Effect Jan. 1: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced several new laws initiated by his office that will take effect at the start of the new year. The initiatives were passed earlier this year by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law. * Patch | IARSS: New Executive Director Brings Valuable Experience: The Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools (IARSS) is announcing the hiring of Gary Tipsord as its first-ever executive director. Tipsord is a longtime educator in central Illinois who now will help lead this organization representing the heads of Regional Offices of Education across the state. * Tribune | New body camera footage shows Elk Grove Village man shot by police after calling 911 on himself: Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson released partial body camera footage Monday, as well as partial recordings of calls between a 911 dispatcher, Murray and Murray’s father. The officer who shot Murray has not been identified, and officers were not identified in the footage. * Sun-Times | Faceworld gang faction latest to be targeted in FBI racketeering case in Chicago: Diontae Harper and Amonti McClure, reputed members of the Faceworld faction of the Gangster Disciples, were indicted this month in federal court on charges of participating in violent racketeering activity. * Crain’s | Chicago and Cook County try bold experiments to combat economic inequity: Getting the $500 a month “keeps you from worrying, since you know that money is coming in every month,” Shaffer says. He uses the money for life and health insurance payments. “My job doesn’t offer that. They do, but it’s at a more costly fee.” So when work is slow and his paycheck is less, the $500 helps him make the payments and not lose his coverage. * SJ-R | One way or another: Changes to traffic patterns on Fourth, Adams stalled until spring: A delay in the arrival of construction materials will mean the city won’t convert a stretch of Fourth Street to two-way traffic until the spring. The delay also holds up the conversion of Adams Street where Springfield drivers will experience a first between Sixth and Ninth streets: back-in-only parking on the south side of the street. * Crain’s | The case of the $500 sandwich and the Lakeview condo board: On Jan. 1, Lakeview condo resident Bonnie Rubin will pay the first of 10 monthly payments, $50 each, to cover a fine assessed by her condo building’s board. The $500 offense was perpetrated by her brother, Wayne Miller, when he ate a Jersey Mike’s veggie sandwich on the pool deck at her building over Labor Day Weekend. * Play Illinois | Sports Betting Handle In Illinois Rises To $1.2 Billion In October: It was the second-straight month over $1 billion of total handle. October saw a 11% improvement over September’s $1.08 billion. The year-over-year rise was stark as well, 17%, compared to the $1.03 billion wagered in October 2022. * Vulture | Hilary Farr on Why She’s Leaving ‘Stale’ and ‘Formulaic’ Love It or List It: You know that saying, “If not now, when?” That’s truly it. I’ve been doing the show for years and I have loved doing it. But in the last season, which we did in Canada, it just felt too much like work. It felt very stale. It’s a very formulaic show. * Daily Beast | Moms for Liberty Wants to Usher in an American Caste System: Despite the fact that the group’s preferred local candidates did not perform well during the most recent election cycle, Moms for Liberty’s overtly anti-public school rhetoric has fully seeped into the Republican Party and its platform, making the idea of a publicly funded school system “sound a lot like public health care or public transportation, right? And that is what’s really happening here,” Gilkes Borr said on this week’s episode of The New Abnormal. * AP | WNBA to take a monthlong break for the 2024 Olympics — and Chicago Sky’s Kahleah Copper is looking to make the team: The WNBA changed the format of its in-season tournament with all Commissioner’s Cup games set to be played from June 1-13. The championship game will be on June 25. Teams now will only play the other five teams in their conference once instead of a home-and-home set. * Sun-Times | Chicago Catholics praise pope’s approval of blessings for same-sex couples: ‘This is such a huge shift’: When Pope Francis announced he formally approved letting Catholic priests bless same-sex couples, Rick Garcia, a Chicago Catholic, was stunned. “When I started work with the gay community, I never expected this to happen,” he said. Garcia, who directed Catholic Advocates for Lesbian and Gay Rights in the 1980s and ’90s, also co-founded Equality Illinois, an LGBTQ advocacy group.
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- Dirty Red - Tuesday, Dec 19, 23 @ 8:06 am:
Good of you to post that PPIL announcement, Isabel. Many of our friends in the Chicago metro may not realize the Carbondale location may be the closest facility to people in as many as five states, not including Illinois.
- Give Us Barabbas - Tuesday, Dec 19, 23 @ 9:12 am:
While I’m happy to hear about the new blessing story, it does come with many caveats about how and where it can be given. This is not literally blessing a same-sex civil marriage, for example, in the strictest sense. There’s a lot of fine print around the thing, but considering the massive push back and inertia of the US Bishops, it’s a token effort and appreciated all the same. Still; “Raindrop by raindrop, a river forms”. Let’s hope this is the start of a shower. I remember how it felt like a huge effort and eventual success it was, just to get to the point where same-sex couples could have civil unions for legal purposes. Then the next steps came relatively quickly after that, surprising me by their swiftness, after the civil unions issue faced such headwinds. I’d expected a protracted struggle over it, but it seemed to happen at a quicker tempo. And we’re glad for it. Certainly there’s more to do. But even a tiny change is welcome progress.