* Second District Appellate Court ruling via the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin…

* Belleville News Democrat…

Michelle L. Laux was 31 when she was found beaten to death along a rural Clinton County road in 1993. One of the men convicted in her death, Robert Nail, was given an 80-year prison sentence that he began serving in May 1994.

But as part of a new state law that requires the Illinois Department of Corrections to recalculate the credit inmates have earned to reduce their time in prison, Nail, now 50, was released in February, nearly 50 years before the end of his full sentence. […]

In wake of [Clinton County Sheriff Dan Travous’] criticism of the law, the Belleville News-Democrat asked the Illinois Department of Corrections for information about how many persons have been released like Nail. As of March 21, 409 inmates received their early release, according to the latest available statistics.

The Department of Corrections told the BND that about 1,750 convicted individuals had their sentencing credits recalculated under the new law. This means 1,341 other inmates still in custody also received additional credits against their sentences which may eventually lead to an earlier release. […]

The release of 409 prisoners would represent 1.37% of the statewide prison population of 29,828 that was listed as of Dec. 31.

The enabling legislation passed the House without opposition and passed the Senate with just one “No” vote.

* WBEZ…

Suburbs are not taking advantage of $20 million Cook County is offering to provide services for migrants being dropped off or making their way to their towns.

As of now, only Oak Park and Ford Heights applied for the fund Cook County created last fall. The lack of effort is frustrating some non-profit leaders who see the need in their communities.

“Whether or not municipalities have the appetite, the agencies on the ground have the appetite,” said Carl Wolf, executive director of Respond Now, a nonprofit in the south suburbs that runs a food pantry, offers rental assistance and works with the homeless population. “This is very important. We want to see this money in the community so that the families that we serve will not end up on the streets.” […]

Wolf said Respond Now would use the money to help migrants in the area pay rent. Some are soon going to run out of the few months of rental assistance they got from the state.

* A swing and a miss…

The Brian Timpone/@DanProft fake news machine is out with a completely false story about a Deputy Chief Administrator at COPA.

They claim she took a PPP loan for a side gig—but the person with the loan just happens to have the same name🤡 pic.twitter.com/EMA7Ap6tn5

— The People’s Fabric (@peoplesfabric) April 16, 2024

* Press release…

Harmful additives take up a vast amount of space in modern food – leading State Senator Willie Preston to tackle the issue head on.

At a press conference Wednesday, he will discuss his proposal to ban dangerous food additives.

WHO: State Senator Willie Preston (D-Chicago), State Representative Anne Stava-Murray (D-Downers Grove) and a number of their colleagues

WHAT: Press conference on measure to address consumer food safety

WHEN: Wednesday, April 17 at 9:30 a.m.

WHERE: Blue Room, Illinois State Capitol and live on BlueRoomStream.com

Sen. Preston’s bill is on Third Reading it has Friday deadline to leave the Senate.

* NECANN…

Actor/Comedian and cannabis farmer Jim Belushi will be among the 50+ cannabis industry expert speakers at NECANN’s 2024 Illinois Convention May 31-June 1st at the Schaumburg Convention Center. Illinois native Belushi will be sharing experiences and insights from his journey on becoming a commercial cannabis grower and multi-state brand.

Since its first event with 70 exhibitors and 1,200 attendees in 2021, The Illinois Cannabis Convention has grown into the largest cannabis industry B2B event in the state, with over 150 exhibitors and an expected 3,000 total attendees over two days.

“This event continues to grow alongside the local cannabis industry,” said NECANN Founder and President, Marc Shepard. “We’re incredibly grateful to the local cannabis community for all of the support they’ve given us over past four years”

NECANN’s 2024 Illinois Convention will take place on May 31-June 1st at the Schaumburg Convention Center. The show will be open from 10am to 3pm on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $45 for a 2-day full access pass including all speaker sessions. 21+ to attend, no THC cannabis on site. For more information about the convention, visit necann.com.

* Here’s the rest…

* WTTW | Official Who Greenlighted Botched Little Village Smokestack Implosion Set to Lead Buildings Department: During the more than hourlong confirmation hearing, Hopkins was not asked about what she did as the top official from the city’s Buildings Department charged with overseeing the implosion of the smokestack at the former Crawford Power Plant in Little Village.

* Tribune | Unionized staff at Columbia College urge president to halt scheduled layoffs: Union representatives say the layoffs will most affect the roughly 6,000 students at Columbia in the South Loop, potentially creating longer wait times to meet with academic advisors, difficulty meeting with campus therapist and reduced support in the Department of Equity and Inclusion.

* Tribune | Oberweis Dairy to lay off 127 workers in wake of bankruptcy filing: In its bankruptcy filing, Oberweis Dairy said it had 1,149 employees, of which 933 work part-time, mostly in the dairy stores. Its ranks often swell to more than 1,500 employees during the summer months during peak demand for ice cream at its stores, Kraber said in a declaration filed Monday. Oberweis filed a motion Monday requesting to pay $340,000 in outstanding wages owed to employees. Payroll averaged about $891,000 every two weeks from January through March this year, according to the filing.

* Tribune | After son’s suicide, Lincoln Park couple push measure for greater scrutiny of social media use: The Bronsteins are suing the Latin School and current and former board members and staff for wrongful death, alleging Nate notified the school that he felt the messages about him constituted bullying. According to the lawsuit, students sent messages saying “kill yourself” and spread a “death threat involving smoking Nate’s ashes.” A Latin School representative has said the school acted responsibly and that the allegations in the lawsuit are “incomplete and misleading.”

* Sun-Times | Chicago Pride Parade denies all previous year’s school participants: When making decisions on which organizations to accept, the parade’s committee is prioritizing “LGBTQ+ groups and organizations, LGBTQ+-owned businesses and those businesses with LGBTQ+ ERGs (Employee Resource Groups),” PRIDEChicago, which produces the event, said last week in a statement.

* WTTW | Chicago Teachers Union Leaders Hopeful for ‘New Chapter’ in Contract Negotiations as Bargaining Set to Begin: “Every contract that we have been a part of since 2012 has been hard fought and hard won,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said at a press conference Tuesday morning. “We are OK with the struggle, we are OK with making it work. And this time, though, we want to make it work with everyone at the same time.”

* Daily Southtown | Lockport High School officials look to bonding authority after failed $85 million referendum: The board met Monday for the first time since 53.43% of voters March 19 opposed funding Central Campus improvements. “Whether you voted yes or you voted no, there is still work to do,” Superintendent Robert McBride said. McBride said the board has researched improvements to its Central Campus, built in 1909, well before the ceiling collapsed in Room 310 last fall and closed the school, causing the district’s freshmen to be bused to the former Lincoln-Way North High School.

* SJ-R | Buildings ready to be demolished as reconstruction of 3 Springfield High Schools rolls on: Meanwhile, the $93 million reconstruction of Lanphier High School will move into its final phase with the demolition of the Edison Wing in the coming weeks that will allow for the construction of the school’s first-ever auditorium. Funding for both projects comes from the 1% sales tax increase that Sangamon County voters approved in November 2018, netting District 186 an average of $13 million per year.

* Daily Herald | Arlington Heights using budget surplus to replace lead pipes: Village officials predict it could cost $40 million to replace all of the town’s old lead pipes, which represent nearly a quarter of all service lines on public and private property. And because it is an established community, Arlington Heights is among the suburbs with the most lead pipes, in a state that has the most lead pipes per capita in the country, according to a 2023 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report.

* Daily Herald | Barrington considering TIF district for downtown redevelopment: Officials said several steps are needed to start the legal machinery leading to the creation of a TIF district. The first is an Interested Parties Registry, through which any resident or village-based organization can apply to receive information should officials move forward with establishing the district.

* PJ Star | ‘Lies and deceit’: Hotel Pere Marquette developers sentenced to prison for fraud scheme: A federal judge said Monday that Monte Brannan and Gary Matthews engaged in “lies and deceit” when they defrauded investors in a scheme to line their own pockets with money that was supposed to go toward a redevelopment of the Hotel Pere Marquette. Brannan, 71, of Peoria and Matthews, 81, of East Peoria were sentenced to prison on Monday and ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution for defrauding investors, including the city of Peoria, during their time as the developers of the downtown Peoria hotel.

* Crain’s | Pullback in warehouse-building spree keeps vacancy in check: Despite fears of a possible vacancy problem from a record year for industrial real estate development, the share of available warehouse space in the Chicago area only inched up during the first quarter to 5.29% from 5.25% at the end of 2023, according to data from real estate services firm Colliers. The industrial vacancy rate is up from a record-low 4.5% in late 2022 after five straight quarters of increases, though, it continues to hover at one of the lowest levels it has been over the past 25 years.

* Sun-Times | GI Bill case sees Supreme Court rule against VA, giving decorated Army vet James Rudisill full benefits: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Tuesday in favor of decorated Army veteran James Rudisill in a case that questioned whether the federal government could limit college money for veterans who’d earned benefits under more than one version of the GI Bill. The case could unlock greater educational benefits for veterans nationwide who, like Rudisill, had earned college benefits under both the Montgomery GI Bill, which covers tuition, and the newer, more generous Post-9/11 GI Bill, which pays for tuition, fees, housing and books. Federal law allows veterans to tap both plans up to a maximum of 48 months.

* CNN | Antisemitic incidents in US hit all-time high, Anti-Defamation League report shows: The majority of the incidents documented by the ADL - 6,535 - were cases of harassment, which the group describes as instances when either one or more Jewish people, or people perceived as Jewish, are harassed with antisemitic slurs, stereotypes or conspiracy theories. This category includes online and in-person incidents. The group also tracked 2,177 cases of vandalism and 161 assault incidents.

* NBC | Verified pro-Nazi X accounts flourish under Elon Musk: The pro-Nazi content is not confined to the fringes of the platform. During one seven-day period in March, seven of the most widely shared pro-Nazi posts on X accrued 4.5 million views in total. One post with 1.9 million views promoted a false and long-debunked conspiracy theory that 6 million Jews did not die in the Holocaust. More than 5,300 verified and unverified accounts reshared that post, and other popular posts were reshared hundreds of times apiece.

* PJ Star | Illinois basketball loses another player to NCAA transfer portal: Illinois basketball is once again dealing with the NCAA college basketball transfer portal. Redshirt sophomore Sencire Harris has entered his name into the portal, he announced Monday on social media. This comes a day after Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell announced his commitment to the Fighting Illini.

* Crain’s | Hewn Bread, named one of America’s best bakeries, to open new North Shore location: The Hewn name is a regular on “best bakery” lists. Food & Wine magazine declared the Evanston shop one of the 100 best bakeries in America in 2020. Two years later, the magazine reiterated its praise, listing the bakery’s bread as the best in Illinois. Similarly, Thrillist recognized Hewn as one of the “absolute best bakeries in Chicago” in 2021.