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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to today’s edition (Updated)

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Press release…

State Senator Win Stoller (R, Germantown Hills) and State Representative Amy Elik (R, Alton) introduced legislation to encourage small businesses to reinvest earnings in their communities.

The legislation—HB 4669 in the House and SB 3152 in the Senate—would create small-business savings accounts, allowing businesses to put aside up to $50,000 per year for future business investments.

If passed, funds contributed to these small-business savings accounts would be eligible for an income tax deduction in the year the small business contributed them. The business could then reinvest them later—as operational needs dictate—to build out its operations. […]

“This legislation will free small-business owners’ reinvestment decisions from an arbitrary tax calendar,” said Noah Finley, NFIB Illinois State Director. “Instead of having to make investments based upon the tax year, business owners will be able to choose the optimal time to reinvest in their businesses.” […]

The legislation is supported by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Technology and Manufacturing Association, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and the Illinois Trucking Association.

* Another endorsement for Congressman Bost…

* WGN…

Tiffany Henyard is the mayor of Dolton and supervisor of Thornton Township. The elected positions pay her more than $280,000 annually, according to interviews and records.

After the story aired, WGN Investigates sent a public records request to Dolton asking for, among other things, copies of additional credit card statements to check if the spending spree continued.

The village did not turn over the records, as required under state law. The records request, sent via email on Nov. 29, also asked for copies of documents showing any payments to Henyard.

WGN Investigates filed an appeal with the Illinois Attorney General. […]

“In the opinion, the Village of Dolton is directed to respond as soon as possible to the request,” a spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in an email. “The village has 35 days after the issuance of the opinion to either comply or contest the opinion in court.”

* Here’s the rest…

* Center Square | Task force to explore ranked choice voting in Illinois criticized for partisanship: State Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, and West were elected as co-chairs of the task force during the first meeting Tuesday. The law that created the task force said co-chairs would be elected from members appointed by the Senate president and the speaker of the House, both Democrats. That didn’t sit well with state Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria.

* River Bender | Gov. Pritzker Announces Lifelong Advocate For Seniors, Mary Killough, As New Director Of Illinois Department On Aging: Prior to her time at AccentCare, Killough was Chief Development Officer for Gareda Homecare in Calumet City. Killough also served as Deputy Director and as Division Manager for Home and Community Services at IDoA, and as Assistant State’s Attorney for Cook County. Killough also serves on the board of Senior Services of Will County. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame.

* Naperville Sun | OSHA fines construction contractor $264,000 for exposing workers to deadly fall hazards at Naperville job site: The federal agency issued the citation and accompanying penalties to United Custom Homes on Feb. 8. It’s the eighth time United Custom Homes’ has been cited for an OSHA infraction since 2015. In addition to penalties issued this month, United Custom Homes also currently owes $238,572 in unpaid OSHA penalties for previous violations.

* Crain’s | Some communications restored at Lurie: The children’s hospital is still using a call center to communicate with patients and their families while the restoration of its communications progresses, Julianne Bardele, director of public affairs and communications at Lurie, said in a text message to Crain’s. The primary mode of communication between families and their health care providers, the electronic portal MyChart, is still down, she said. Electronic health records are also still unavailable, she said via text.

* Tribune | Cyberattacks on hospitals are likely to increase, putting lives at risk, experts warn: Hospitals in recent years have shifted their use of online technology to support everything from telehealth to medical devices to patient records. Today, they are a favorite target for internet thieves who hold systems’ data and networks hostage for hefty ransoms, said John Riggi, the American Hospital Association’s cybersecurity adviser. “Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of the use of all this network and internet connected technology is it expanded our digital attack surface,” Riggi said. “So, many more opportunities for bad guys to penetrate our networks.”

* WGN | Illinois now 9th state to sanction girls flag football: Girls flag football is now a sanctioned sport for high schools across Illinois. That announcement was made Wednesday morning by the Illinois High School Association. The Chicago Bears have been instrumental in pushing forward and advocating for young women.

* Tribune | Uber and Lyft drivers in Chicago plan airport strikes on Valentine’s Day: The Justice for App Workers coalition, which represents over 30,000 ride-share and delivery drivers across Illinois, is leading the local effort by calling for Chicago Uber and Lyft drivers to rally at O’Hare International Airport Wednesday at 11 a.m., according to a news release from the coalition. The one-day strike means drivers would refuse rides to and from O’Hare. The strike is not planned to affect Midway Airport.

* Tribune | Museum of Contemporary Art workers become latest museum staff to launch union drive: In an open letter signed by 32 staff members —about a third of union-eligible workers at the museum — employees said they were seeking wages that kept pace with inflation and Chicago’s cost of living, guarantees that benefits including sick leave and paid time off will not be decreased and will be expanded when possible, protections from layoffs and transparency around compensation.

* Block Club | CTA Could Widen Addison Red Line Platform To Handle Overcrowding After Cubs Games, Concerts: At a public meeting earlier this month, CTA officials outlined preliminary plans to widen the platform at the Red Line’s Addison stop near Wrigley Field. The CTA is also looking to add more accessible entrances and exits at the station as well as lengthen the platform to accommodate 10-car trains, according to a slideshow from the meeting.

* Sun-Times | Jack Higgins, Pulitzer Prize-winning Sun-Times editorial cartoonist, dies at 69: “Political cartoons are meant to take the mighty and the pompous and cut them down to a more manageable size. Afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted,” he once wrote about his job. He skewered local and national politicians alike, satirized scandals and offered poignant and absurd takes on city life and ills, especially gun violence.

* Bloomberg | In Florida snowbird country, insurance rates are driving away would-be buyers: “You’ve got people that went through the storm and just want to move on, and don’t really think the affordability is here anymore because of insurance,” said Marlissa Gervasoni, president of the Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association. “From what I’m seeing, I believe they are looking for areas that might be less costly.”

* Daily Herald | Crystal Lake artist creates sculpture of Chicago settler DuSable: DuSable was a trader of African descent who arrived in what became Chicago in the late 18th century. He’s regarded as the first non-native person to settle in Chicago, whose famous Lake Shore Drive now bears his name. larger-than-life DuSable sculpture weighs over a ton and stands 8½ feet tall. It will be in Evanston until the fall of next year.

* South Side Weekly | Gassing Up Black Chicago: Englewood-born-and-bred journalist Arionne Nettles, a journalism lecturer at Northwestern University, has the receipts when it comes to what Black folks, particularly Black folks with Chicago roots, continue to offer the larger culture via her book, We Are The Culture: Black Chicago’s Influence on Everything (Lawrence Hill Books, April 2024).

* SJ-R | Celebrate Black History Month with these 4 events in Springfield: Members of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area will be hosting the Lunch and Learn session for The Underground Railroad in Springfield on Feb. 15. Guest speakers will be discussing research on local hearings in the Illinois Supreme Court related to the Underground Railroad. They will also be discussing podcast resources and their plans for future programs.

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Question of the day

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* HGOP press release…

Last week at a news conference in Springfield, Leader McCombie noted ethics reform as a priority for House Republicans this year. “We sound like a broken record with our continuous calls for ethics reform, but we will not stop until it is passed: we cannot continue to rely on federal prosecution to hold elected officials to a higher standard,” said McCombie.

McCombie is sponsoring HB 4119, which will prevent defendants from utilizing campaign contributions to fund their legal defense. To date, Madigan himself has paid millions from his campaign fund to the legal firm defending him.

* The Question: Should the state prohibit campaign funds from being used for criminal defense attorney’s fees? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.

online polls

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S&P: Chicago’s migrant spending pressure ‘could have a longer-term effect on its credit quality’

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From S&P Global Ratings…

Migrants And Asylum Seekers Pose Budgetary Challenges In New York City, Chicago, And Denver

State and local governments are shouldering the rapidly growing costs of assisting migrants and asylum seekers as their numbers increase in the U.S. In December 2023, the immigration court backlog reached 3 million pending cases, an increase of 1 million from 2022, with almost 2 million new proceedings filed in 2023 (see chart 1). If this issue remains significant enough for long enough, the increase in costs and social service requirements could affect states’ and local governments’ credit quality. Migrants and asylum seekers come to the U.S. through a variety of entry points, but many come through the U.S. southern border in Texas. To address this influx, Texas began transporting new arrivals out of the state in 2022. Since then, of the 100,000 migrants and asylum seekers Texas has transported, 83,600 were sent to three cities: New York (NYC), Chicago, and Denver. […]

Although it seems likely that [Chicago’s] 2024’s costs will exceed budgeted amounts (particularly since, on Jan. 29, 2024, the mayor extended the maximum stay time in shelters by 30-60 days for most migrants), the city has not shared contingency plans for managing unbudgeted expenditures. Given that Chicago’s $16 billion budget was balanced using $50 million in corporate fund reserves and $139 million in other one-time money, without new revenues, the overages from the $150 million might have to come, at least in part, from reserves that stood at $1.9 billion (39% of expenditures) at year-end 2022, up from $1.4 billion (27.5% of expenditures) at year-end 2021. If support from the state and federal governments does not materialize as expected, the impact on Chicago’s bottom line could be sizable. How the city manages these pressures, particularly when faced with high costs for its underfunded pension programs, could have a longer-term effect on its credit quality. […]

So far, the federal government’s support has been more limited. In December 2022, the Bipartisan Year-End Omnibus spending bill authorized an $800 million grant program through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Of those funds, NYC received more than $130 million in calendar 2023. Chicago received approximately $40 million in asylum seeker grants from FEMA in 2023, but grants often fall short of needs: for example, Chicago asked FEMA for between $39 million and $67 million, but received only $4.3 million. Given current political dynamics in Washington D.C. and the upcoming presidential election, we do not consider additional federal support likely. Therefore, cities on the front line of migrant and asylum seeker inflows will have to face the uncertainty of rising costs without a guarantee of revenues to offset the expenditures.

* The Bond Buyer talked with Justin Marlowe, research professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and director of the school’s Center for Municipal Finance about this topic…

Marlowe said he didn’t see the problem approaching the scale where it would affect bond ratings, but he acknowledged that some of the fiscal pain initially felt by Chicago is now spreading elsewhere.

* However…

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has drafted plans to release thousands of immigrants and slash its capacity to hold detainees after the failure of a Senate border bill that would have erased a $700 million budget shortfall, according to four officials at ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. […]

The supplemental bill had $7.6 billion for ICE overall, including $2.6 billion for deportation flights and $3.2 billion for detention capacity, money that would have boosted capacity by thousands of beds per day. The agency has contracts and agreements with scores of local and county jails across the United States where it can place detainees for weeks, months and sometimes longer as they await a court ruling or face deportation. About half of ICE’s $8.5 billion annual budget is used for detention and deportation operations.

* In the short term, at least, shelter population continues to fall. Numbers as of 10:30 this morning…

Yesterday’s numbers are here.

* Tribune…

Johnson’s deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas noted to reporters the progress coincided with accelerated efforts to resettle migrants in permanent housing or in other cities. But she acknowledged hard choices lie ahead for the city as the $150 million Johnson budgeted for the migrant response this year is slated to be spent by April.

“Every day we’re in meetings, on calls with the state, with the county, to figure out what the long-term plan is to get through the calendar year together,” Pacione-Zayas said.

She did not say whether closing shelters or making budget cuts mid-year was on the table.

* More from Isabel…

WaPo | Here’s which states could benefit most from migrant labor:

* NBC Chicago | Thousands of migrants in Chicago on edge as shelter evictions loom: Thousands of migrants across Chicago are on edge as the shelter eviction deadline nears. Many of the migrants who are seeking alternative housing are struggling to receive work permits, which are necessary to secure housing.

* WIFR | Capron village board organizes plans in case of migrant drop-off: The village of Capron held a board meeting to come up with a blueprint for action, in the event a busload of migrants stops in their town. Village President Steven Banks discusses two ordinances that would counter any intercity buses coming to the town. “People can get permission to drop people off and then the village will have the right to approve or deny that application and we also don’t have anything currently in our code that gives the village president emergency authority,” said Banks. “We tend to be immune from the big city problems… until they landed 300 of them in Rockford airport.”

* CBS Chicago | Suburban Chicago woman arrested for human trafficking of Mexican migrants: Olea promised housing, safety, and jobs, but after arriving, investigators said Olea took possession of their identification, money, and other items. Olea forced the two adults and the 15-year-old into jobs to pay off their “debt” for safe entry into the United States.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Roundup: Sam McCann trial

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Hannah Meisel is on the ground…

…Adding…Today’s coverage from Capitol News Illinois…

Prosecutors delved into McCann’s alleged scheme to rent out a motor home and trailer – which they also allege he purchased illegally with campaign funds – to himself on an Airbnb-style website called RV Share.

McCann registered as an owner of the camper vehicles under the name Sam McCann and then made a second account with his given name, William McCann, to rent them. The phone numbers on the two accounts were the same. […]

“We can’t wait to get on the open road,” McCann allegedly wrote to himself from his renter account.

The government is expected to rest its case by Thursday morning.

* Here’s her coverage from yesterday for Capitol News Illinois…

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Bass pulled no punches in describing former Republican state Sen. Sam McCann on the first day of his federal corruption trial on Tuesday.

“This case is about greed, fraud and arrogance,” Bass said. “Greed for a lifestyle far beyond his means…fraud in obtaining that lifestyle…and arrogance in continuing that lifestyle (even after being) confronted by law enforcement.”

McCann stands accused of illegally using campaign funds for personal expenses, including paying two mortgages, financing multiple vehicles and vacations, fraudulently cutting himself checks for work not performed, and double-dipping on reimbursement for miles driven.

The trial finally got underway Tuesday morning after a week of delays stemming from McCann’s sudden hospitalization the previous weekend. U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless ordered him arrested and detained last Friday for violating her direct orders to communicate with the federal probation office after being discharged from the hospital.

* AP…

In what Bass termed “an egregious example,” McCann bought an RV and a trailer, put them up for rent through an online service, then “split himself in two” by using two different names: Sam McCann offered the vehicles for rent while William McCann leased them with political contributions. […]

Cynthia Miller, who was hired for McCann’s successful 2010 Senate campaign and continued working in his Senate district office, testified to the friction that developed with McCann as she started seeing disbursements that didn’t seem appropriate.

There were checks to McCann’s bank labeled “rent” that made no sense. Miller testified that she wasn’t aware of a political account for McCann until a statement arrived that listed spending on jewelry and a water park in the Chicago suburb of Gurnee. When she questioned him about reimbursing himself for mileage while using a campaign debit card to buy gasoline for the same vehicles, Miller said McCann gave her the routine answer given for other expenditure inquiries.

“He basically said I didn’t need to worry about that or it wasn’t any of my business,” said Miller, who told McCann to enter such transactions himself on Illinois State Board of Elections campaign disclosure statements.

* SJ-R…

Bass blasted McCann for continuing the scheme even after he left office in 2019 and after he had twice been on notice for violations of campaign finance rules, with a complaint being filed for misidentifying travel expenses in 2016 and an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service in 2018.

[Bass] said that even after meeting with FBI and IRS officials regarding the alleged violations, he continued to do them, setting up another bank account in the name of his wife, Vicki and his mother-in-law, continuing to deposit money. […]

At the end of his opening argument, Bass pled with the court to hold McCann accountable for his alleged actions before he brought out his first of at least four witnesses to come before the court. […]

Witness testimony is scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday as the federal government continues to make its case against McCann.

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It’s just a bill

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* NBC Chicago…

The proposed legislation, SB3499, would create end-of-life options for the Terminally Ill Patients Act in Illinois.

Under the bill, which was introduced last week, a qualified patient with a terminal disease would be allowed to request that a physician prescribe them “aid-in-dying medication that will allow the patient to end the patient’s life in a peaceful manner,” the legislation states.

Requirements would include a patient needing to make two verbal requests to a qualified physician within five days of each other, along with one written request. Such requests can only be made by the patient, not by a surrogate decision-maker or health care proxy, according to the bill. […]

There would also be a series of qualifications for a patient to be considered eligible for the prescription, including being 18 years or older, an Illinois resident with a terminal diagnosis and six-month-or-less prognosis, and what a physician deems to be the mental capacity to make such a decision.

* Oops, the bill was filed by Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park). H/T Chicagobars…

* SJ-R…

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, filed House Bill 5152 which would provide a $500 tax credit for patients, their parents or guardians and health care providers starting this tax year. The same credit would be available for those seeking gender-affirming care and teachers that have moved due to educational content restrictions in their home states.

The bill is of personal importance to Cassidy, originally from Florida, where her sibling teachers have retired as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has led instruction bans on sexual orientation, gender identity and critical race theory.

“This is very much meant to provide a warm handoff for folks who have made incredibly unwelcome in their homes,” she said in an interview Monday.

Currently in the House Rules Committee, proving individuals did in-fact relocate to Illinois for these healthcare services or issues with classroom curriculum would likely be administered by the Illinois Department of Revenue. Cassidy said the process would be similar to an affidavit, where teachers would have to provide evidence that they moved from a “state that is restricting speech.”

* WGEM…

- A proposed Illinois Bill aims to repeal the Rent Control Preemption Act and allow rent control.

Quincy Housing Executive Director Jerry Gille said bills like this have been introduced before and failed, but this time it comes out at the right time to gain momentum amidst high rents and inflating prices.

He said during and following the pandemic, rent prices increased due to inflation, which pushed a lot of people out of the private market and into public housing. He said they’ve heard from clients that the private market has leveled off locally in the last three years, though rent prices have leveled off now. […]

Managing Broker for Farlow Real-Estate Experts Jeremy Farlow said for people investing in properties to rent, it would mean they wouldn’t be able to make a profit off the property or pay the mortgage of the property.

He said that could mean less money available for landlords to pay for repairs on properties, as they are the ones who pay for maintenance for tenants.

* The Coalition for Fantasy Sports…

Today, the Coalition for Fantasy Sports announced its support for Illinois Senate Bill 3710 House Bill 5648 aimed at providing a robust regulatory framework for daily fantasy sports (DFS) within the state. While Illinois legalized sports betting in 2019, the state lacked comprehensive legislation to protect the thousands of fans and the games of skill they enjoy. This proposed framework would close an essential chapter in the effort to safeguard fantasy sports fans throughout Illinois.

The proposed legislation aims to not only protect the hundreds of thousands of fantasy sports fans across Illinois but also the integrity of the games they enjoy. The framework would ensure legal clarity, responsible play, and consumer protection while promoting innovation and removing barriers to growth that threaten the fantasy sports industry. Among the bill’s provisions includes an age gate requiring players to be at least 19.

“With the popularity of daily fantasy sports soaring, now is the time to codify the industry’s legal status into state law and ensure Illinois players are best protected,” said Chief Senate Bill Sponsor Lakesia Collins. “That is why I’m incredibly excited to take the lead on legislation that would not only allow sports fans to continue playing the daily fantasy contests they love, but do so in a way that protects their best interests, puts up guardrails to keep bad actors out of the market, and generates potentially tens of millions in new tax revenue for Illinois.”

House Bill Sponsor, Representative Eva-Dina Delgado, further emphasized the importance of regulatory clarity, “Our goal is to provide a secure environment for fantasy sports fans across the state of Illinois. This legislation is a positive step toward ensuring that fantasy sports enthusiasts can continue participating in these contests with confidence.”

* Play USA…

Illinois Rep. Daniel Didech has submitted a bill (HB 5307) to amend the state’s gambling legislation to include guidelines for creating and maintaining a Problem Gambling Task Force that would “provide recommendations to the General Assembly on how the State should continue to meet its responsibility to assist those who suffer from a gambling problem or disorder,” the bill reads.

The bill calls for a 10-member task force made up of one member each from the two largest causes in the Illinois House, along with one member from the following fields and organizations:

Health care industry
Department of Public Health
Illinois Gaming Board
Department of the Lottery
Illinois Racing Board
A nonprofit organization with “experience in problem gambling treatment and recovery services”
Business or organization with a gaming license

The bill also calls for one of the task force members to be someone who has been impacted by problem gambling or a gambling disorder.

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Support The Protect Health Data Privacy Act

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

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Open thread

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s some ❤️ stories to start your day…

Daily Herald

Sun-Times

Block Club

* Isabel’s top picks…

* STLPR | Rep. Mike Bost says he’s a ‘governing conservative’ ahead of feisty GOP primary: Bost said the key difference between himself and Bailey is that he’s more pragmatic. That makes him a “governing conservative,” Bost said. “That means I am a conservative, and my voting record shows that I’m a conservative,” Bost said. “But I’m not willing to all of a sudden just keep saying no.”

* STLPR | Darren Bailey says it’s time for change in Illinois’ 12th Congressional District: Darren Bailey, the former Republican Illinois gubernatorial candidate, is banking on his deeply conservative values and unwillingness to sacrifice them to propel him to victory against U.S. Rep. Mike Bost in the 12th District primary next month. “As a Republican — and as a conservative Republican — I cannot compromise my values,” Bailey said on the Politically Speaking podcast.

* Capitol News Illinois | After week of delays, former GOP State Sen. Sam McCann’s trial finally underway: The trial finally got underway Tuesday morning after a week of delays stemming from McCann’s sudden hospitalization the previous weekend. U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless ordered him arrested and detained last Friday for violating her direct orders to communicate with the federal probation office after being discharged from the hospital.

Click here for Equality Illinois’ endorsements for the 2024 primary.

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

* WCIA | IDOT workers return to bargaining table after strike authorization vote: The union members have two key issues, including higher salaries, and attempts by the state to change health insurance plans. The union currently operates under an insurance plan that is managed by multiple groups, including the unions themselves. Fyans said the state wants them to switch to a state-sponsored health insurance plan, which would increase premium costs.

* Sun-Times | Flight attendants picket outside O’Hare, joining thousands at airports across the country: More than 150 flight attendants, joined by U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill), picketed outside O’Hare Airport on Tuesday to protest the lack of contract negotiations and demand better wages and working conditions.

* WCIA | Mayors make their pitch for more state funding, extended pension ramp: The Illinois Municipal League, which represents local governments in the Capitol, said the state should be sending local governments a 10 percent cut of income tax revenues as a part of the LGDF. But right now, that percentage is at 6.47 percent.

* Vandalia Radio | Rules for Illinois’ Paid Leave for All Workers Act on hold amid concerns: Tuesday, the Illinois Municipal League’s Brad Cole promoted legislation to exempt municipalities. Cole said the department improperly changed the law through rule making, something legislators told the department to address before next month’s JCAR hearing.

* Vandalia Radio | Rep Wilhour talks about his campaign and race in the Primary Election: Republican Voters in the 110th State Representative District have a contested race for the March 19th Primary. State Representative Blaine Wilhour is running for re-election and is challenged in the Primary by fellow Republican Matt Hall.

* Crain’s | Here’s Illinois Realtors’ first mailer against the transfer tax referendum: The mailers, which are part of a $1 million campaign by the Springfield-based group to oppose the measure, refer to the proposal as a “property tax referendum” rather than one dealing with the real estate transfer tax.

* Sun-Times | Number of migrants in Chicago shelters at lowest point in months: Down from mid- and early-January peaks of nearly 15,000, the number of migrants in shelters fell below 13,000 for the first time since Nov. 28. The number in shelters has dropped by nearly 1,000 since the start of February.

* Crain’s | Chicago’s new top doc knows what she’s up against: Aside from dealing with funding and staffing shortfalls, Ige is also tasked with establishing “Treatment Not Trauma,” a plan touted by Mayor Brandon Johnson to send therapists and social workers to some 911 calls instead of police officers and reopen city-run mental health clinics over the next several years.

* Sun-Times | Chicago among top cities seeing rising foreclosures: In January, among major metropolitan areas, Chicago had the second largest number of completed foreclosures at 194, ranking behind Detroit’s 609. New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco rounded out the top five.

* Block Club | 35 Years After Wrongful Conviction, Englewood’s Brian Beals Is Getting His Life Back: Beals returned home in December after serving more than three decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit — the second-longest wrongful incarceration in Illinois’ history.

* Daily Herald | ‘A convenient argument’: Superintendents say they’re not to blame if Bears stay downtown: “It’s been a convenient argument to keep the conversation going about looking at both areas,” Rowe said of the property tax dispute. “And we’re not surprised one bit that all the other (suburban sites) have fallen off and now it’s just down to the best possible location for all they want in their current home, and a political environment they have to navigate through. I think that it was a convenient argument. And honestly, it stinks. We don’t like it, because it’s not true. But we understand it. And it was used in the process.”

* News-Sun | Coal ash ponds the subject of Pollution Control Board hearing; ‘Waukegan residents deserve better’: Taylor said the company has refused to cooperate with the city removing the pollution its coal furnaces have spewed for nearly a century. Waukegan already has five Superfund sites from other polluters in its industrial past, much of it along the lakefront. “The residents of Waukegan cannot bear the financial cost of yet another environmental catastrophe caused by a private company,” [Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor] said “This company is failing to address its environmental mess adequately. Waukegan residents deserve better.”

* 25 News Now | Pritzker appoints Peoria’s lead crimefighter to statewide commission: Gov. JB Pritzker has appointed Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, which is assigned to identify key issues facing the justice system and come up with solutions. The governor appoints 11 of the agency’s 25 members, including a police chief. He became Peoria’s chief in July of 2021 after serving for 20 years for the Elgin Police Department.

* Route Fifty | A decade in, pedestrian deaths dip under Vision Zero: New York City’s ability to curb traffic deaths comes almost entirely from its improved record for pedestrians, according to an analysis by Transportation Alternatives, a New York advocacy group. The number of walkers who died decreased from 140 in 2014 to 100 in 2023. In other words, pedestrian deaths decreased by nearly 13% from the start of New York’s program until 2022, while pedestrian fatalities nationally increased by more than 50%.

* Herald-Review | Decatur officials propose reducing fixed bus routes, introduction of ‘micro-transit’: “By reducing the number of fixed bus routes, the city can increase the frequency of fixed route buses that remain, and focus the bus network to serve key north-south and east-west corridors with high population and more commercial activity,” City Manager Scot Wrighton and Transportation Director Lacie Elzy wrote in a memo to the city council.

* WTTW | With Monarch Butterfly Population at Near Record Low, Chicagoans Have Their Marching Orders: Every Milkweed Stem Counts: The 2023-24 count of monarch butterfly colonies wintering in Mexico has left conservationists reeling, after the recently released results of an annual survey showed the species occupies just .9 hectares (or roughly 2.2 acres) of forest — close to a 60% drop from last year and a near record low.

* Sun-Times | White Sox’ Pedro Grifol eyes a second chance to get this managing thing right: Nobody believed in White Sox manager Pedro Grifol more than former general manager Rick Hahn. At spring training last year and right up until the start of the season, Hahn absolutely gushed about Grifol, bragging to everyone that the man he had wanted to replace Tony La Russa was delivering — and then some — on every expectation.

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

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* You can click here or here to follow breaking news. It’s the best we can do unless or until Twitter gets its act together.

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