Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2024

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

The Illinois Department of Corrections has indicated it wants to rebuild [the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln] near Stateville prison in the Joliet area. The department said the current women’s prison is outdated and need of costly repairs. It also said a new prison and new location would expand program options and improve employee recruitment. […]

But local officials worry about the economic impact. Logan employs 454 people, mostly in security roles. If Logan were to close, IDOC says there are expected to be enough vacancies in other prisons to offer everyone a job, albeit in other communities that may require relocation. IDOC says there will be about 850 positions available in these other IDOC facilities “within a 90-mile radius of Logan.”

The town hall will feature Sen. Sally Turner (R-Beason), Rep. Bill Hauter (R-Morton), Logan County Board Chairman Emily Davenport, Lincoln Economic Advancement & Development CEO Andrea Runge and Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch. It is scheduled for May 15 at 6:30 p.m.

It will be streamed on Sen. Turner’s Facebook Page at www.Facebook.com/SenatorSallyTurner

* An interesting comparison fom ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark. Politico…

Have you talked to the mayor about him wanting to stick to his campaign promise?

“We’ve had some conversations. I understand the honor of that [campaign promise]. And I’m reminded of Barack Obama [who] campaigned on closing Guantanamo Bay when he was a candidate. Then he became president, and he probably had his first briefing, security briefing, and thought, ‘OK, I might be looking at this thing a little bit differently than when I made this campaign promise. I had a certain facts and a certain set of facts and assumptions I had campaigned for. It certainly sounded good. But now I’m elected my higher duty is not to a campaign promise, but to my sworn obligation to serve and protect.’”

* The American Cancer Society Action Network….

State legislators will hear firsthand from cancer patients and survivors during Cancer Action Day next week. The day-long gathering draws advocates from across the state who will ask lawmakers to prioritize legislation that will reduce the burden of cancer in Illinois. Cancer patients, survivors, their families and caregivers will wear their “suits and sneakers” to ask lawmakers to hit the ground running to make cancer a policy priority.

This year, advocates will ask lawmakers to reduce the burden of cancer in Illinois by improving access to care through increasing funding for the state’s colorectal cancer screening program and improving access to recommended genetic testing. They will also ask lawmakers to support legislation increasing diversity in clinical trials.

Who: Maggie Powell, breast cancer survivor and ACS CAN volunteer
Ally Lopshire, ACS CAN government relations director

When: Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 10 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

An estimated 78,200 Illinoisans will be diagnosed with cancer, and 23,280 are expected to die from the devastating disease. The legislature can and must do better to prevent and treat cancer in our state.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | For Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, federal recognition at last: The designation marks a long-awaited victory in the tribal nation’s fight to recover its ancestral home. When the land is placed in trust, the legal title is transferred to the U.S. government, which will hold it on behalf of Prairie Band and establish tribal governance. It opens up a string of benefits including tax credits and land use exemptions. […] At the state level, a bill would immediately turn over Shabbona Lake State Park, around 1,500 acres adjacent to the reservation. If passed, Prairie Band would assume ownership but continue to operate the property as a public space. The bill is still in committee, but Rep. Mark Walker, a Democrat from the Northwest suburbs and one of the co-sponsors, is optimistic that it will go forward.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Bally’s Profits Continue To Lag At Medinah Temple, Executives Say: The budget anticipates $35 million in local tax revenue from Bally’s, averaging out to $3 million a month. As of the end of March, Medinah Temple has generated about $3 million in tax revenue this year for Chicago. A revenue report for April is expected to be released this week, according to a company spokesperson.

* WBEZ | Faced with cuts under a new funding formula, several CPS schools are rejecting their budgets: “The budget that we have does not meet the need,” said Sequoiah Brown, a member of the Local School Council at Poe Classical School in Pullman on the Far South Side. “Our parents are adamant about the needs of our students. You should be trying to bring up the others to that standard, not taking from one to give to the other. That is not how equity works.” […] School district officials say they are aware that some councils rejected their budget, but they will not have a tally until later this month. The schools confirmed by WBEZ include Poe, another selective enrollment elementary school, one neighborhood high school and one neighborhood elementary school. Selective enrollment and magnet schools have been speaking out about being hurt by a new budgeting formula in use by the school district for next school year that prioritizes schools with the neediest students.

* WTTW | Probe Into 8 CPD Officers Found No Evidence They Were Active Members of Oath Keepers — But Investigators Only Asked Them: However, investigators with CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs did not interview anyone other than the eight officers accused of belonging to the Oath Keepers, according to the 30-page report. Interviewing the officers appears to be the most significant investigative step taken by investigators during the probe, which was completed in less than six months. The eight officers were each questioned by investigators for an average of 29 minutes, according to the summary of those interviews included in the report. The longest interview lasted 48 minutes, the shortest just 17 minutes, according to the probe.

* Tribune | Johnson pulls plans to place migrant shelter site in 11th Ward after stiff opposition from alderman, property owners: The change came after the owners of the property said Johnson never informed them of his plans to use the building at 3951 S. Canal St. for a shelter. When the Tribune asked the city about that apparent disconnect, the Department of Family and Support Services released a Monday statement saying the city is “no longer considering” housing migrants there.

* Block Club | For 2 Decades, A Historic Pullman Home Has Been Vacant Under CHA’s Watch: The CHA acquired the Corliss home to house people in need. But after letting the house sit empty for nearly two decades and racking up violations with the city’s Department of Buildings, the CHA announced this fall the home was one of more than 40 scattered site properties the agency would rehab, restore and sell so families can live in them. But now CHA officials say they’ll move forward with “alternative plans” for the home they let sit empty for years after an assessment found needed repairs could total nearly $500,000, records show.

* Chicago Reader | Publisher’s note: why the Reader is returning to weekly publishing: First, because Chicago’s creative, civic, and cultural concerns don’t reproduce on a biweekly basis, nor do they circulate equitably from behind an online paywall. From Portage Park to Pullman, Chicago is a living conversation. For the tens of thousands of people who use our printed paper, that conversation doesn’t pause for two weeks so we can recapitulate it. It’s time for the Reader to get back on beat, back in rhythm with the verses and views, pictures and sounds, tastes and takes that make this the best city in the world.

*** Downstate ***

* Daily-Journal | Alliance grows with Gotion as members visit China sites: The cross-cultural awareness presentations which Gotion officials extended to the Kankakee County contingent was most impressive to Michael Boyd, president of Kankakee Community College. […] Boyd was part of the group that made the trip to China — paid for by Gotion — that also included Angela Morrey, vice president of business development for the Economic Alliance; Jeff Bennett, of McColly Bennett Real Estate and vice chairman of the Economic Alliance board; Theodis Pace, an alliance board member and also president of the Kankakee County Branch of the NAACP; Pat Martin, former past chairman of the board for the Economic Alliance and executive vice president with Iroquois Federal; and Ryan Marion, building official for the village of Manteno.

* WSIL | SIU wraps Saluki Takeover Tour: Saturday’s event concluded the tour aimed at recruiting more Southern Illinois students to SIU. SIU Chancellor Austin Lane appeared alongside the school’s athletic director and new basketball coach. SIU officials told News 3 the tour covering all 17 counties in the Southern Illinois was a success and plan to make the events bigger and better in coming years.

* WSIL | One Sent to Hospital After Crashing into Sinkhole in Jackson County, Sheriff’s Office Says: News 3 previously reported a sinkhole forming along Highway 51, just north of De Soto on Thursday. A section of highway surrounding this sinkhole was reportedly closed by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to all traffic on Friday morning. IDOT also then said an assessment of the damage will take place the following week.

*** Sports ***

* Chicago Mag | Best Seats in Sox Park: One upside to the White Sox’s dismal start to the season: You can have your pick of seats. For cheap. And while Guaranteed Rate Field will never get the love Wrigley does, it’s still an enjoyable place to watch a Major League Baseball game. As long as you can stomach seeing the home team lose. So where should you sit? We offer these three (highly specific) suggestions.

* Daily Herald | From promises of no new taxes to Burnham, Bears’ latest stadium presentation sounded familiar: As Chicago Bears executives last week presented glossy renderings and extolled the virtues of building a new stadium on the city’s lakefront, one could hear echoes of similar remarks some of those same leaders made a year-and-a-half before to a suburban audience at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights. While the intended location for a new Bears stadium might have been different, officials from the NFL franchise came to both events with Power Point presentations and talking points in hand, as they made pitches for public subsides to help bankroll the envisioned megaprojects.

* STL Today | Busch Stadium needs renovations. Should St. Louis taxpayers kick in?: DeWitt says he is not “fishing” for public money now. He might in the next few years. The club, he says, is just starting to study the stadium’s needs. If the Cardinals ask for taxpayer help, however, it could be a fight. New leaders have taken over City Hall, vowing to do more for the poor and neglected. They are pushing to improve services for the homeless, rebuild north St. Louis and dig into longstanding inequalities. They have begun to take a harder line on subsidies for developers, forcing some concessions to city schools, affordable housing and workers.

*** Cicada-geddon ***

* Tribune | Illinois cicadas, loud but harmless, to make historic emergence in mid- to late May: Yet despite recent reports of cicadas coming out, experts say the insects probably won’t do so en masse in Illinois for another few weeks, as early as mid-May, but more likely toward the end of the month. Reports of sightings are likely individual “stragglers” that have come out too early or from people who have taken a shovel to the ground.

* Here’s the DuPage Forest Preserve District on the life cycle of a 17-year cicada…

* Block Club | Cicada Parade-A Art Project Raising Money For Insect Asylum’s Rooftop Garden: Inside the basement of the Avondale museum at 2870 N. Milwaukee Ave., volunteers and employees are hard at work making over 1,000 cicada plaster molds for a spectacular community-wide art project that will celebrate the convergence of two cicada broods while raising money for its rooftop garden project. Last month, The Insect Asylum launched the Cicada Parade-a 2024, an art initiative organized by the museum and Baltimore-based Formstone Castle Collective artist Michael Bowman to bring awareness to the double cicada emergence through collaborative art. The idea was birthed by Roger McMullan, of Salt Lake City, a lifelong enthusiast of the periodical cicada and author and illustrator of the new graphic novel “Cicadapocalypse.”

* PJ Star | Do cicadas destroy crops? What farmers in Illinois need to know: “Periodical cicadas don’t pose a risk to any of the major crops in Illinois,” said Illinois State Entomologist Christopher Dietrich. “They are restricted to areas with mature natural forest, and they don’t move around much so we’ll see few, if any, in areas dominated by row crops.”

* PJ Star | What animals eat cicadas?: When periodical cicadas emerge, they’re consumed by just about anything that eats insects. Mammals and birds, amphibians and reptiles, and fish all eat cicadas — and benefit from the glut of them. […] Yes, and eagerly, reports the University of Maryland Extension. “If you have free-range chickens, they will happily scratch up the cicadas and eat them. The cicadas aren’t poisonous.”

*** National ***

* AP | Dozens of deaths reveal risks of injecting sedatives into people restrained by police: At least 94 people died after they were given sedatives and restrained by police from 2012 through 2021, according to findings by the AP in collaboration with FRONTLINE (PBS) and the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism. That’s nearly 10% of the more than 1,000 deaths identified during the investigation of people subdued by police in ways that are not supposed to be fatal. About half of the 94 who died were Black, including Jackson.

* Axios | More women are working now than at any time in U.S. history: The rise in flexible work arrangements is likely helping, in addition to the strong labor market. […] The employment numbers — technically the employment-to-population ratio — include part-time workers. So it would include women who want to work full-time but can’t due to child care issues. Women overall are working less now than in 2019, as ADP research found earlier this year.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Fundraiser list

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Behind the CMS cost projections

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a recent Sun-Times editorial…

The country’s obesity rates have been scaling up over the past two decades. Nearly 42% percent of adults in the U.S. qualified as obese in 2023, data collected by nonprofit Trust for America’s Health show.

Children haven’t been faring much better. Roughly 20% of boys and girls ages 2 to 19 were obese between 2017 and 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The numbers for Black and Hispanic populations are even worse, due to a lack of nutritious food options, poor access to health care and other structural barriers. […]

The initiative is estimated to cost taxpayers $210 million the first year, although Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said the price tag could end up being less. […]

The Pritzker administration needs to lay out the exact math for how much taxpayers will have to shell out for the weight-loss drugs as soon as it can. Or explain further why its estimate is more accurate than the other. Taxpayers deserve to know the final price of what they’re paying for.

Let’s take a look.

* Seven out of nine state health insurance policies were already covering these drugs. This was an expansion, mainly to Downstate areas that aren’t covered by Health Alliance and Aetna HMO. Those two state plans cover about 72,000 employees and dependents out of a total of 350,000 or so, about 21 percent.

Of those seven which already did cover the weight-loss drugs, Blue Cross’ HMO IL and its Blue Advantage plans don’t break out individual costs. Those two plans cover about 41,000 employees and dependents out of about 350,000 employees and dependents, or about 12 percent of all covered people.

* Five of those seven plans which were already covering the drugs, Aetna OAP, Aetna PPO, Aetna High Deductible Health Plan, HealthLink OAP, Blue Cross Blue Shield OAP, do have trackable expenditures because their prescriptions are administered by the state’s Pharmacy Benefit Manager, CVS Caremark. Those five plans cover almost 154,000 employees and dependents, about 44 percent of the total in all nine plans.

From the state…

According to CVS Caremark, in Fiscal Year 23 the following coverage was provided member and dependents covered under the State Employees Group Insurance Program for weight loss medication:

• Injectable weight loss prescriptions

o Total Rx claims: 7,580
o Total Users: 2,325 (up from FY22 total users of 993)
o Total Cost to the State: $10,620,147.72

• Oral weight loss prescriptions

o Total RX claims: 427
o Total Users: 233 (down from FY22 total users of 236)
o Total Cost to the State: $28,725.35

So, that’s a total of about $10.649 million last fiscal year for about 44 percent of all covered employees and their dependents. That would be around $23 million for everybody in the system if you extrapolated it out and everything else is even.

We don’t know yet what the FY2024 numbers are.

* However, CMS is projecting usage will rise to about ~~20,000~~ 16,000 people in FY25, from about 2,300 in FY23 - a 770 percent increase.

Plausible? I guess we’ll see. But the thing to remember is that the recent expansion will only account for a fraction of the total new cost increase.

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The Field Museum unveils earliest bird fossil known to science

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Chicago Tribune…

The Field Museum has added a new fossil to its collection, calling it the museum’s most important fossil acquisition since Sue the T. rex. An Archaeopteryx, it has feathers, hollow bones, a long tail and 50 teeth — and is the earliest known avian dinosaur, a link between dinosaurs and modern birds.

The fossil was unveiled at an event Monday attended by Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. It will go on display to the public on Tuesday, accompanied by a hologram-like projection showing how the Archaeopteryx would have looked in life.

It’s one of two Archaeopteryx specimens in the United States — and only a dozen others have been found. This fossil was discovered in southern Germany before 1990 and arrived at the museum in 2022. For those wondering if the fossil will be given a name, like Sue (maybe Archie?), the Field says it already has one: All Archaeopteryx specimens are named after the city in which they reside, so this one is called the Chicago Archaeopteryx. […]

It will be on view until the Museum’s Dinopalooza event on June 8. Then it will be removed to prepare a permanent, immersive exhibition, due to open in the fall.

Click here to watch the unveiling.

* Sun-Times…

Archaeopteryx lived about 150 million years ago, a dinosaur with feathers, hollow bones, tiny teeth and clawed wings. Much about its lifestyle remains unknown. Could it fly? Perhaps, but not very well, Field scientists say. And it was small too — the Field’s specimen is about the size of a pigeon.

In the 19th century, some saw Archaeopteryx remains and couldn’t figure out what it was, with some thinking it might be an angel, according to London’s Natural History Museum.

The first specimen was discovered just two years after the publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species.” A lot of people at the time didn’t believe that animals could evolve. The Archaeopteryx appeared to prove otherwise — that dinosaurs had evolved into birds.

* More…

* WTTW | The Field Museum Now Has an Incredibly Rare Fossil Proving Birds Are Dinosaurs. Here’s a Behind-the-Scenes Look at How They Got It: After pulling back one last flap of tissue paper, O’Connor finally had her “ta-da” moment, introducing the “Chicago Archaeopteryx … the most important fossil ever.” That’s quite a statement coming from a curator at the Field, home of the mighty T. Rex, Sue. But what Archaeopteryx lacks in size, it makes up for in significance as a “transitional” species that essentially proved Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. … In front of gathered dignitaries and the press, the Field formally announced to the world what had become a not-so-well-kept secret: The museum had acquired just the 13th specimen known to exist of Archaeopteryx (ar-key-AHP-ter-icks), a fossil often described as the “missing link” between dinosaurs and birds. “It’s a spectacular example … teeth like a dinosaur, a tail like a dinosaur, but it’s a bird,” said Julian Siggers, Field Museum president and CEO. “The top-level message is that dinosaurs didn’t go extinct, they actually evolved into birds.” The Field Museum has acquired the 13th known specimen of Archaeopteryx, often called the “missing link” fossil between dinosaurs and birds. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

* WTTW | Meet Jingmai O’Connor, the Punk Rock Paleontologist Who Leads the Field Museum’s Archaeopteryx Team: Dead Bird Nerd alert! WTTW News sat down with paleornithologist Jingmai O’Connor and talked about dinosaurs, birds, the Chicago Archaeopteryx, evolution and why studying fossil birds is more important now than ever. O’Connor is associate curator of fossil reptiles at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History.

* WGN | Field Museum acquires fossil of earliest known bird: “Archaeopteryx is arguably the most important fossil ever discovered. It transformed how scientists see the world, by providing strong support for Darwin’s theory of evolution,” said Field Museum President and CEO Julian Siggers. “This is the Field Museum’s most significant fossil acquisition since SUE the T. rex, and we’re thrilled to be able to study ‘the Chicago Archaeopteryx’ and to share it with our visitors.”

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Today’s must-read

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* A commenter recommended this piece from the New York Times…

Markus Johnson slumped naked against the wall of his cell, skin flecked with pepper spray, his face a mask of puzzlement, exhaustion and resignation. Four men in black tactical gear pinned him, his face to the concrete, to cuff his hands behind his back.

He did not resist. He couldn’t. He was so gravely dehydrated he would be dead by their next shift change. […]

It was 1:19 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2019, in the Danville Correctional Center, a medium-security prison a few hours south of Chicago. Mr. Johnson, 21 and serving a short sentence for gun possession, was in the throes of a mental collapse that had gone largely untreated, but hardly unwatched. […]

The country’s jails and prisons have become its largest provider of inpatient mental health treatment, with 10 times as many seriously mentally ill people now held behind bars as in hospitals. Estimating the population of incarcerated people with major psychological problems is difficult, but the number is likely 200,000 to 300,000, experts say. […]

Mr. Johnson’s mother has filed a wrongful-death suit against the state and Wexford Health Sources, a for-profit health care contractor in Illinois prisons. The New York Times reviewed more than 1,500 pages of reports, along with depositions taken from those involved. Together, they reveal a cascade of missteps, missed opportunities, potential breaches of protocol and, at times, lapses in common sense.

Prison officials and Wexford staff took few steps to intervene even after it became clear that Mr. Johnson, who had been hospitalized repeatedly for similar episodes and recovered, had refused to take medication. Most notably, they did not transfer him to a state prison facility that provides more intensive mental health treatment than is available at regular prisons, records show.

The quality of medical care was also questionable, said Mr. Johnson’s lawyers, Sarah Grady and Howard Kaplan, a married legal team in Chicago. Mr. Johnson lost 50 to 60 pounds during three weeks in solitary confinement, but officials did not initiate interventions like intravenous feedings or transfer him to a non-prison hospital.

And they did not take the most basic step — dialing 911 — until it was too late. […]

The paradox is that prison is often the only place where sick people have access to even minimal care.

But the harsh work environment, remote location of many prisons, and low pay have led to severe shortages of corrections staff and the unwillingness of doctors, nurses and counselors to work with the incarcerated mentally ill.

In the early 2000s, prisoners’ rights lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit against Illinois claiming “deliberate indifference” to the plight of about 5,000 mentally ill prisoners locked in segregated units and denied treatment and medication.

Go read the whole thing.

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Uber Partners With Cities To Expand Urban Transportation

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Uber is leading the charge to close critical transportation gaps, ensuring reliable access to its services in places that need it most, such as underserved areas like Englewood. This is a part of Uber’s broader commitment to augment and expand the reach of Chicago’s transportation ecosystem, focusing on overcoming the first-mile/ last-mile hurdles that have long plagued residents in farther afield neighborhoods. Uber aims to extend the public transit network’s reach, making urban transportation more accessible and efficient for everyone. Discover the full story on how Uber is transforming city transportation for the better.

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It’s that time of year again

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* As we head into the final weeks of session, it’s important to always keep in mind the Statehouse adage, “Watch the rollercoaster, don’t ride it” Here’s a new twist on that admonition…

[Stolen from the Internet.]

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It’s just a bill

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Chalkbeat…

Here are some education bills we’re continuing to follow.

Moratorium on Chicago school closures until 2027: House Bill 303 was initially filed to prevent the Chicago Board of Education from making any changes to selective enrollment schools until 2027 when the board will be fully elected. The bill is a direct response to a resolution passed by the current school board, which is appointed by the mayor, that calls for a new strategic plan that would invest in neighborhood schools and move away from school choice. The latest change to the bill included a closure moratorium on all Chicago schools until 2027. The bill is currently in the Senate’s executive committee.

Early Childhood Department: Illinois is currently in the process of merging early childhood education programs currently housed under the state’s Department of Human Services, Illinois State Board of Education, and the state’s Department of Children and Family Services. Pritzker unveiled the plan last October. He said the current system is an “impossible bureaucracy” for parents and providers to navigate and hopes that one department will make it easier. Senate Bill 1, which would create the new department, has passed the Senate and is currently in the House.

State license for Montessori teachers: Illinois lawmakers are trying to figure out ways to deal with the current teacher shortage. One proposal, Senate Bill 2689, would make it easier for Montessori-trained educators to teach in public schools by creating the Montessori Educator Licensure. Teachers are eligible if they have graduated from a college or university with a bachelor’s degree, received a credential from an institution accredited by the Montessori Council for Teacher Education, the American Montessori Society, or the Association Montessori International, and completed state licensure testing. The Senate’s proposal, which passed, is currently in the House’s Rules Committee.

Police in Chicago Public Schools: The Chicago Board of Education voted in February on a measure to remove Chicago Police Department officers from schools. Currently, 57 officers are spread across 39 high schools. Some community leaders rallied against the board’s decision and said they wanted to keep their schools’ police officers, often referred to as school resource officers, or SROs. House Bill 5008, would allow Local School Councils to contract directly with the Chicago Police Department for school resource officers. The bill is currently in the House’s Rules Committee.

* Shaw Local…

State Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, is pushing for a trucking fee that could generate $38 million a year for local road repairs.

The bill proposed by Ventura would empower municipalities and counties to impose fees that would range between 50 cents and $8 per semitrailer carrying goods from an intermodal yard.

Senate Bill 2784 originally applied to trucks carrying goods from intermodal yards of more than 3,500 acres, which would have specifically applied to the CenterPoint Intermodal Center yards in Joliet and Elwood.

The bill has since been amended so it would apply to smaller intermodal yards around Illinois as well, Ventura said Wednesday.

SB2784 was re-referred to Senate Assignments last week.

* State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally…

Today, the Illinois Medical Society mustered its public relations arm and furiously responded to Patrick Kenneally’s opposition to SB 3136. As discussed, SB 3136 prevents a state’s attorney’s office (“SAO”) from immediately being notified of an infant born drug positive so that it can file a petition to begin a non-punitive court process wherein all county and substance abuse service agencies collaborate in making sure the baby is safe and mother recovers.

The Illinois Medical Society, in response, stated that “nothing in SB 3136 diminishes the role of the state’s attorney.” It assured further that “to suggest that the Illinois Medical Society would ever support legislation that would put a child in harm’s way is absurd.”

“Representative Mary Beth Canty accused Kenneally of “casting aspersions on physicians,” by voicing his opposition.

Senator Castro was “appalled” at Kenneally’s opposition, claiming that he was attack[ing] and blam[ing] vulnerable new mothers who are struggling to get the treatment they need.

Kenneally responds:

Stating that SB 3136 does not diminish the role of the state’s attorney’s office is flat wrong. The bill makes our knowledge of a drug positive infant contingent upon DCFS, which, if past experience is any guide, will notify an SAO only in rare circumstances. If the SAO is not notified, it cannot file a petition, which means that the court system has no role. The abuse and neglect court system should have a role, in fact, it was designed for exactly these types of circumstances.

With respect to the Illinois Medical Society, I regret the umbrage you have clearly taken at the idea that somebody is contesting your legislation. However, I am judging this legislation by its provisions, not your intentions. While I have high regard for doctors, I think the days of the public reflexively trusting that doctors always know best in multi-disciplinary areas of public policy that are far afield from diagnosing and treating are and should be over.

This is an area that involves community safety and child well-being. Respectfully, we as state’s attorneys have some experience in this area and should have been consulted when this bill was being drafted. We were not. While I see that many health-related organizations support this bill, I see that only one of the 102 state’s attorney’s offices support this bill, and I see no support from a single law enforcement agency.

With respect to Representative Canty, if me saying that doctors overprescribing opioid medication was the cause of the opioid epidemic is me “casting aspersions,” I am happy to refer you or a member of your staff to any number of medical journals, books, articles, and lawsuits that have definitively proven and concluded just that.

Doctors are, for the most part, wonderful, accomplished, and honorable people. The point, which you artfully misinterpret, is that when we are operating in the incredibly complex field of public policy with all its potential ramifications, we should not merely take the word, no matter how earnestly declared, of a group of people who happen to claim the same profession absent sufficient evidence.

As to Senator Castro being “appalled,” okay, but if substance abusing mothers are “vulnerable” and are “struggling,” why would we not direct them to a court that can provide them with the long-term support through services and structure that they may need. Keep in mind too, Senator, it is not just the mother’s well-being that is at issue here.

* SJ-R…

Under the Pretrial Fairness Act, the prosecution can seek pretrial detention of an individual accused of domestic violence. Yet, analysis conducted by Loyola University found that prosecutors do not file petitions in the majority of these cases. Those that do file petitions, claiming an individual poses a threat to a person or is liable to flee, are similarly unsuccessful.

The Loyola study looked at four counties — Cook, DuPage, Kane and McHenry — that have made their data public and determined petitions were filed between 16% and 53% of cases. Pretrial detention ranged from 4% to 13%. […]

Both DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin Senate Minority Leader John Curran claim the law as currently written limits the prosecution’s ability to pursue petitions. Curran, R-Downers Grove, said he plans on filing legislation that will “flip” the burden on the alleged abuser to file a petition to prove they are not an imminent threat. […]

Democrats have in-turn said increased urgency is needed to pass Karina’s Bill, legislation requiring law enforcement to remove any guns from a person who is facing an order of protection. Balancing the safety concerns of domestic violence victims and police attempting to remove these firearms has proven difficult, as the legislation waits in committee. […]

Under the current system, the prosecution is required to file a motion if they believe an individual should be detained pretrial. New legislation from Senate Minority Leader John Curran would “flip” that burden onto the alleged abuser to file a petition to prove they are not an imminent threat.

“This is going to protect more women and children who are the victims of domestic violence, but also it’s going to increase the number of abusers that are actually detained,” Curran, R-Downers Grove, said during a news conference last week.

* NBC Chicago…

A new bill under consideration by the Illinois General Assembly would aim to discourage the theft and resale of catalytic converters, with the state having one of the worst rates of such thefts in the country.

According to research cited by bill sponsor Sen. Michael Hastings, more than 2,000 insurance claims were filed between 2020-2022 after devices were stolen from vehicles, the fourth-highest rate in the U.S. during that time according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. […]

The proposed bill, under consideration by the Senate, would require dealers to keep records of vehicle identification numbers of the vehicles from which the converter was removed, and to note any numbers, bar codes, stickers or other unique markings of the devices.

The bill would require recycling facilities to obtain a copy of the certificate of title or uniform invoice showing the seller’s ownership of the vehicle in transactions involving converters.

* WGN…

A bill pending before the Illinois Senate would make it illegal in the state for a teacher to have a sexual relationship with an adult student.

Right now, educators in Illinois can be fired if they’re involved sexually with a student, but there’s no option for criminal charges if the student is 18 or older.

However, a bill that passed unanimously in the Illinois House would criminalize relationships with students ages 18 to 23, if the educator is at least four years older than the student.

Charges would range from misdemeanor to felony, depending on the number of students and the nature of the misconduct.

* Pantagraph…

State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, is looking to pass legislation that would make sexual assault by deception a Class 3 felony.

Sexual assault by deception occurs when a victim only consents to sexual activity under the belief the other person is someone else. Stuart said Illinois does not have this coverage coded into law, but if House Bill 2093 passes, it would close that gap. […]

While lawmakers have been trying to push this kind of legislation through for the past few years, a case where a college student in Indiana unknowingly slept with someone who was pretending to be her boyfriend renewed efforts to reintroduce the bill this session.

Stuart said she has been trying to pass this bill since 2019. It has passed out of various committees and the House a few times since then, but there’s always been a holdup when trying to pass it through the Senate, she said. […]

The bill passed out of the House unanimously in mid-April and is waiting to be assigned to a committee in the Senate.

* Journal Courier…

A group of lawmakers and influential environmental advocates are calling for broad changes to the state’s energy industry. […]

The proposals, unlikely to be passed in their current form this year, reveal how influential lawmakers – including the chairs of the Senate Transportation Committee and House Energy and Environment Committee – are navigating the state’s energy transition. […]

The second piece of legislation in the environmentalists’ package, Senate Bill 3935, would institute a “heat decarbonization standard,” requiring gas utilities to reduce their carbon emissions each year, beginning with a 24% reduction in 2031 and 100% by 2050. [..]

The legislation also puts new emissions standards on natural gas building heaters and would require all water heaters sold in the state after 2030 to emit no nitrogen oxide gases. That pollutant can cause harmful health effects and can contribute to the formation of greenhouse gases. […]

The final portion of the policy package is Senate Bill 3636, which would place a suite of new requirements on the Illinois Power Agency and require the state to purchase “energy storage credit,” a financial instrument used when purchasing energy from energy storage facilities. It would be similar to the “renewable energy credits” that the state uses to manage buying electricity from wind and solar installations.

* WAND…

A bill moving in Springfield would allow more people to get help from the Illinois Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

The plan would expand LIHEAP eligibility to people living in subsidized housing and individuals spending no more than 30% of their household income on rent.

This change could also apply to anyone who is not an energy customer but pays for energy services through their monthly rent. […]

House Bill 4141 passed unanimously out of the Senate Energy & Public Utilities Committee Thursday morning. The proposal now moves to the Senate floor for further consideration. State representatives unanimously approved the measure on April 15.

* Patch…

Senator Lakesia Collins and Rep. Yolonda Morris, both Chicago Democrats, have introduced new legislation to help keep Illinois data within the State of Illinois and to create jobs by providing incentives to locate data centers in underserved areas.

The “Keep Illinois Data in Illinois” Tax Credit legislation (Senate Bill 3939, House Bill 5827) will help minority business owners to develop these data storage facilities. The legislation will also help underserved areas of Illinois by giving tax benefits to data centers that are located in “disproportionately impacted areas” of the state. […]

Data centers are one of the best economic investments for municipalities. That’s why Illinois passed a data center tax credit bill in 2021, and the new legislation from Collins and Morris would offer an additional 5 percent credit for minority and women-owned companies that are invested in traditional disinvested areas.

According to a February 2023 report commissioned in part by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the 13 Chicago-area data center projects approved since 2020 have created more than 8,000 jobs for construction workers and $4.2 billion of direct investment into Chicago-area communities.

* Journal Courier…

For more than a decade, farmers like Lieb haven’t been able to fix their high-tech equipment. Until recently, manufacturer restrictions meant only company-authorized representatives could own and use diagnostic tools, and make fixes when needed. […]

[A]dvocates for repair legislation say that the non-binding agreement and the customer versions of tools provided by the companies fall short of needed protections that legislation would ensure. These same advocates are supporting bills across the country, including one introduced this year in the Illinois Senate.

The Illinois bill, Senate Bill 2669, proposes to establish an agricultural equipment bill of rights. It would require manufacturers to make software, firmware and all other tools needed to repair machines accessible to independent repair shops and owners throughout the state at a reasonable cost.

The bill directly addresses the memorandum of understanding, and says that agricultural equipment owners are entitled to any tools or software not covered by the memorandum of understanding. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, declined to comment after multiple attempts by email and in person to reach her. Deere and the other farm equipment manufacturers also did not return multiple requests for comment.

The bill is languishing at the statehouse. According to a spokesperson from the Illinois Corn Growers Association in an email to Investigate Midwest, there’s no chance the bill will pass this year.

* Gambling News…

The Illinois legislative session has failed to advance the state’s iGaming efforts so far but not all hope is lost. With three weeks left in the session, there is still time for HB2239 to make progress.

Sponsored by Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, the bill seeks to legalize online casino gaming and allow the state to capitalize on the opportunities offered by the vertical. The bill would create a state Internet Gaming Act, allow three skins per iGaming license and introduce a 15% tax on online gaming.

However, Illinois lawmakers seem to be in no rush to regulate iGaming and have not held a public discussion on the matter yet.

Rep. Dan Didech doubted that the Illinois online casino bill will advance this session but didn’t rule out the possibility completely. In an interview with PlayUSA, the representative said that the measure is a “long shot” because of a lack of momentum.

* Pantagraph…

As artificial intelligence’s global popularity continues to skyrocket, Illinois lawmakers are trying to ensure that the state’s laws keep up.

State Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, D-Grayslake, and state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, are leading the efforts for the legislation filed this session. Gong-Gershowitz and Edly-Allen have tag-teamed on many of them, with Gong-Gershowitz championing them through the House and Edly-Allen championing them through the Senate. […]

House Bill 4875 would protect artists and their work from being used and artificially reproduced for another song or piece of work without their consent. It passed through the House earlier this month with a 79-24 vote. It was assigned to the Senate’s judiciary committee.

House Bill 4762 would add protections to a person’s digital voice and likeness, and passed through the House with a 108-0 vote. It was assigned to the Senate’s judiciary committee.

House Bill 4623 protects children from pornographic content and exploitation. It also passed through the House earlier this month with a 113-0 vote. Edly-Allen said Attorney General Kwame Raoul approached her and Gong-Gershowitz to carry this bill through the legislature. It is currently sitting in the Senate Assignments Committee.

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Pritzker unexpectedly won’t rule out service tax for mass transit

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…

Gov. JB Pritzker unexpectedly moved away last week from his longstanding opposition to taxing services, saying he didn’t want to start taking ideas off the table as lawmakers search for ways to fund and reform the Chicago region’s mass transit system.

As you may know, the Chicago area’s mass transit agencies are facing a $730 million “fiscal cliff” in 2026. The federal government’s COVID-era subsidies will expire that year. While ridership has declined as service worsens, operating costs have increased and average fare prices have fallen.

According to a report last year from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, imposing a service tax could be part of the solution. The CMAP report said adding a service tax to the state’s existing 6.25% state tax rate could generate $1.1 to $1.9 billion in 2026. Some legislators are proposing a $1.5 billion annual funding increase for transit, as part of a consolidation effort.

So, my associate Isabel Miller (who contributed to this column) asked Pritzker during an unrelated media event if he wanted to take any state taxes off the table before the talks heat up, including the service tax.

“I have never been in favor of that before,” Pritzker said of the service tax. He has indeed opposed the tax all the way back to his first 2018 gubernatorial campaign, often calling it regressive.

“There may need to be a source of revenue here,” Pritzker said, “but that’s not something that I have favored in the past.”

As far as specifically ruling out a service tax, however, the governor said: “I really don’t want to start saying, ‘We’re not going to do this, we’re not going to do that.’ At this point, there are just so many pieces of this that we have to look at before we’re going to pay for what’s necessary here as we come off of support from the federal government and making sure we’re restoring transit services.”

Some legislative Democrats pushing transit agency consolidation and reform welcomed the news of the governor’s new openness to a service tax, which seems to be evidence the governor is serious about finding a fix.

“I appreciate the governor being open to it, and I appreciate him recognizing this is a complicated matter,” Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, told me. Delgado introduced House Bill 5828 last week to provide the systems an annual $1.5 billion state appropriation once the mass transit system is consolidated.

Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, whose House Bill 5823 would create a consolidated transit agency, told me he’s also opposed a service tax in the past. But Buckner said he is open to it now, and he appreciates the governor is keeping an open mind.

Pritzker also reiterated last week he’s not yet endorsing any particular mass transit reform proposal but insisted “change is going to have to come.”

“We just know that we’re going to have to upgrade service, make sure that we’re dealing with the transit funding challenge that’s coming up,” Pritzker said. “I hope to see several proposals so that we can consider what direction to take.”

That change in direction will be a complex endeavor, the governor said.

“We’ve got to look at cuts that need to be made, along with, you know, are there changes in fares for certain types of riders that need to be made,” Pritzker said.

A Pritzker spokesperson later explained when the governor said “cuts,” he meant efficiencies to save money, like consolidating the regional transit system but not service cuts.

Most transit agencies hotly oppose consolidation, including the Chicago Transit Authority.

A spokesperson for the Illinois Chamber told me the organization hopes the governor remains ambivalent about a service tax.

“From our position, taxing Illinois’ service businesses — especially our smallest businesses — to close a budget gap is a non-starter. The tax would negatively impact the smallest of businesses: service-based small businesses and startups — especially businesses in counties that border other states as customers can save just by crossing the state line,” the Chamber spokesperson said.

One issue with a service tax is implementing it would take time. Many of the businesses that would be covered are not currently set up to pay sales taxes, for example. The Chamber predicted it could take “several years” to implement a service tax, so it won’t solve “short-term gaps.”

“As the voice of Illinois business, we would welcome sitting down with the governor’s team to discuss pragmatic ways to address the budget gap, but taxing services is not one of them,” the Chamber spokesperson said.

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Open thread

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Hope you all had a great weekend! What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Pritzker eyes a $20 billion quantum-computing campus. Crain’s…

Governor Pritzker will be at the Field Museum at 10 a.m. to celebrate a new acquisition. At 2:30, the governor will give remarks at the Thompson Center redevelopment groundbreaking. Click here to watch.

* The letter is signed by Reps. Jimenez, Rashid, Guzzardi, Mah and Gonzalez…

Progressive elected officials across Chicago stand in solidarity with students and their constitutional right to protest. University administrations should negotiate in good faith and refrain from police intervention. Statement below: pic.twitter.com/zBIoEkdfNu

— United Working Families (@UWFIllinois) May 6, 2024

*** Isabel’s top picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Lawmakers pitch sweeping changes to energy industry and Chicagoland transit system: A group of lawmakers and influential environmental advocates are calling for broad changes to the state’s energy industry and a massive increase in state oversight of Chicagoland’s transit system – which faces a projected $730 million budget shortfall. Advocates for the policy platform, which is broken up into three bills, describe much of it as a follow-up to the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, a landmark energy policy that set emissions goals for the state and massively altered the state’s energy sector. The proposals [are] unlikely to be passed in their current form this year.

* WMAY | Governor makes the case for Illinois, promises growth for Springfield: Another facet of Springfield which deserved attention, the Governor said, is the Illinois State Fairgrounds. “That fairgrounds is a phenomenal piece of property — but it’s been neglected, like so many other things in the State government… I said in my first year in office to my staff, I want our Fair to –– first of all be profitable, and I want it to be something that people love going to.” Pritzker told the Citizen’s Club that money from the Rebuild Illinois plan is being dedicated to renovating and improving the fairgrounds. “This is an investment in the Fairgrounds here, in Springfield. It is an investment for a lifetime: we want to be able to show off what Springfield is.”

*** Statewide ***

* J.B. Pritzker, et al | Clean water is our moonshot moment for Midwest climate leadership: One-fifth of the planet’s surface freshwater sits in our Great Lakes. Demand for it will only grow, which gives us both an opportunity and a responsibility to speed the pace of water innovation. We must manage and conserve our finite fresh water as if it were a sea of diamonds. Even our “waste” water is precious. Over the next 10 years, a bipartisan coalition called Great Lakes ReNEW will invest millions of dollars in new technologies to recover and recycle valuable minerals, such as nickel, cobalt and lithium, from our water, and remove toxic chemicals such as per- and polyfluorinated substances, known as PFAS. The goal is to destroy what’s toxic and reuse what’s valuable.

* Herald-Whig | Illinois monitoring H5N1 influenza in dairy cattle: While no cases have been reported in Illinois, federal agencies confirmed the H5N1 influenza virus in dairy herds in eight states across the U.S. The Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Department of Public Health are working closely to monitor the situation and are jointly coordinating prevention and response measures including working with producer groups and partner organizations to promote education to veterinarians and cattle farmers on the clinical signs of H5N1 so that potential infections quickly can be identified and contained.

* Crain’s | Illinois awards 35 new pot-shop licenses: The licensees announced today are the third round of applicants chosen by lottery and will join 200 other licensees chosen in two previous lotteries. The new licenses are conditional until applicants open stores and receive final certification from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The state originally had authorized 55 licenses in the latest round. Thirteen applications are still under review, and seven others chosen in the lottery did not meet the state’s social-equity criteria. Seven new potential licensees will be chosen from the lottery pool.

* WTAX | Boyd succeeds Neely as IL National Guard adjutant general: Gen. Rodney Boyd, installed Saturday at Glenwood High School, is proud to break the glass ceiling. “It’s also a way of showing how far we’ve come as an organization and as a state,” Boyd said in an interview before the ceremony, “that we are preparing people of color to take these very important roles within our organization and the other organizations within our state.” Boyd, the product of Chicago public housing and son of a single mother, urged today’s young people who believe they have been given lemons to squeeze them and get an education.

*** Chicago ***

* WBBM | City’s plan to replace downtown migrant shelter with one in Bridgeport getting some pushback: The City of Chicago notified Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) this past week of plans to move migrants from downtown to Bridgeport ahead of the Democratic National Convention. […] In an update to her constituents, Lee said the city has not signed a lease for the property yet and that she met with Mayor Brandon Johnson to express her opposition.

* Tribune | Optimism, doubt ahead of Johnson’s Treatment Not Trauma mental health plan: Johnson quickly passed an ordinance to launch the city’s working group once in office, but to move forward, the policy needs “active leadership” from City Hall, not “infinite working groups, infinite consensus buildings and no movement,” said Eric Reinhart, a public health, law and psychiatry anthropologist and physician who co-drafted the “white paper” report published by the activist coalition that pushed for the policy. “I think it’s quite disappointing to all of us that a year into this administration, that even on the campaign stage held up Treatment Not Trauma as one of its core priorities, we still haven’t made any steps forward,” he said. “Everybody’s getting a working group, but where are we seeing implementation?”

* Crain’s | Airlines and City Hall reach agreement on O’Hare revamp: However, key details were not immediately available. Included on the list of unanswered questions are under what conditions the second satellite, which would add most of the expansion gates, would begin construction; when construction of the first two terminals will begin; and how the city intends to cut billions of dollars in cost overruns to bring the project back to its original budget.

* Crain’s | Offices near O’Hare with little vacancy hit the market: A joint venture of Calgary, Alberta-based MDC Realty Advisors and Vancouver, British Columbia-based Nicola Wealth Management has hired brokerage Cushman & Wakefield to sell the One O’Hare office building at 6250 N. River Road, according to a marketing flyer. The offering comes more than eight years after the pair of investors bought the 12-story building for $83 million. Amid weak demand for offices and higher interest rates weighing down property values, One O’Hare is almost certainly worth less than that today. There is no asking price listed for the 380,360-square-foot building, but a source familiar with the listing said bids are expected to come in close to $70 million, or $184 per square foot.

* Block Club | Chicago Cinco De Mayo Parade Canceled Due To ‘Gang Violence,’ Police Say: The parade was called off shortly after it began at noon Sunday at Cermak Road and Damon Avenue. The cancellation was “out of an abundance of caution” following gang violence near the parade and the decision was made by police, local officials and parade organizers, according to the Chicago Police Department. Police said they made multiple arrests at the parade. Officers cleared the parade route around 1:30 p.m., the time the police department announced the parade’s cancellation on social media.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s top cop defends clearing officers on extremist group’s membership list: In October, Snelling had promised the City Council that the CPD would conduct “thorough investigations” and show no tolerance for cops with extremist connections. But Friday, at an unrelated news conference alongside Mayor Brandon Johnson, Snelling said he felt strongly there was no cause for action against the cops. “I can tell you that we reached out to everybody,” Snelling said. “Our internal affairs division has reached out to everyone to gather information to determine if these officers were actually proven to be members of hate groups.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Local law enforcement agencies find success in crisis intervention teams, training: The Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said that for five years the department has focused on a philosophy of de-escalation first when possible, and particularly when dealing with situations potentially involving a mental health crisis. “It’s proven to be extremely successful,” Covelli said. “It’s the right thing to do, to take time and engage in healthy dialogue with individuals, especially those who might be in crisis.”

* Daily Herald | Cat condos and better digs for dogs: DuPage County animal shelter undergoing a $14 million expansion: The $14 million project is the first expansion of the Wheaton facility in the agency’s 45-year history. “It’s going to be a luxury to have twice the space that we have now once it’s all done,” DuPage County Animal Services Operations Manager Laura Flamion said. The project is being paid for through a mix of public and private funding. DuPage Animal Friends, a nonprofit benefiting the shelter, has helped secure more than $5.6 million for the project and is working on raising another $7.4 million through events and naming rights to various features — from dog kennels and trees to the new lobby — in the expanded facility.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | Illinois postal workers march for transparency in Springfield amid USPS changes: Springfield residents had until April 10 to fill out a survey to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to voice their opinion on the changes before the USPS changes would start. During the picket line, Bishop said National Postal Mailhandlers President of the Springfield branch, Jeff Bridges, was informed impacted numbers were in for the Springfield distribution center, but the actual number was not given by USPS.

* BND | St. Clair County Board approves pay raises for elected officials, but not unanimously: The St. Clair County Board voted 20-4 at their last meeting to increase elected officials’ salaries starting after the general election, including an 11% raise for the county board chairman.[…] The raises begin Jan. 1, 2025, when the chairman, treasurer, assessor, county clerk, auditor, circuit clerk, coroner and county recorder will all be paid $106,540. The other elected administrative officials were already making over $100,000 but the chairman’s salary was $95,899.

*** Sports ***

* Tribune | ‘It still doesn’t feel real.’ Chicago wrestler Joe Rau’s improbable journey leads him to the Olympics — at age 33: In May 2022, Rau competed in freestyle at the U.S. Open and surprised everyone by finishing second. It didn’t take too long for Team USA’s Greco-Roman coaches to reach out and ask him to come back. “I told them no about three times, I think,” Rau said. “Then I just really did some soul searching and I talked to my wife. She said, if you really want to, I’m not stopping you.”

*** National ***

* WaPo | Senior homes refuse to pick up fallen residents, dial 911. ‘Why are they calling us?’: Some senior-care homes say they don’t have the ability to lift fallen residents. Many have adopted “no lift” policies to avoid the risk ofback injuries for staff and other potential liabilities. But firefighters and other experts say there are tools to make lifting easierand safer, ranging from $70 cloth straps with handles to $1,500 hydraulic lifts. Heritage Woods, which accounted for the highest number of lift-assist calls to 911 in Rockford last year, is owned by GardantManagement Solutions, the 10th largest assisted-living provider in the nation.

* WaPo | Google’s empire is massive. A judge will soon rule if it’s a monopoly: The judge’s ruling, which is expected in the coming months, could put new limits on Google’s ability to run its search empire. The company may be barred from paying billions to secure prime placement for its search bar on Apple’s iPhones or other web browsers. It could even be forced to sell off part of its business, like the Chrome browser, and open up competition to other search engines. The judge could also rule that Google isn’t a monopoly after all, which would be a major setback for the government and antitrust advocates who say the power of Big Tech has grown too large.

* AP | Celebrating excellence in journalism and the arts, Pulitzer Prizes to be awarded Monday: The Pulitzer Prizes are set to be announced on Monday, traditionally the most anticipated day of the year for those hoping to earn print journalism’s most prestigious honor. Along with honoring winners and finalists in 15 journalism categories, the Pulitzer Board also recognizes distinguished work in areas including books, music and theater. The awards, which will honor work from 2023, are scheduled to be announced via livestream at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

* Business Times | More than 90% of stablecoin transactions aren’t from real users, study finds: The dashboard from Visa and Allium Labs is designed to strip out transactions initiated by bots and large-scale traders to isolate those made by real people. Out of about US$2.2 trillion in total transactions in April, just US$149 billion originated from “organic payments activity”, according to Visa.

* Rolling Stone | ‘Politico’ Misses Mark in Story on Who’s Funding Pro-Palestine Protests Against Biden: The Tides Foundation donated roughly $100,000 that year to the pro-Palestine protest groups, Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Attempting to connect the $300,000 going into the organization, as part of its $573 million in contributions, to the $100,000 going out to these groups is unrealistic, to say the least, without any specific indication from the donor. … Politico continues: “Another notable Democratic donor whose philanthropy has helped fund the protest movement is David Rockefeller Jr., who sits on the board of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In 2022, the fund gave $300,000 to the Tides Foundation; according to nonprofit tax forms.” This is wrong. The linked document in that paragraph shows a donation the Tides Foundation made to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund — not the other way around.

* AP | Missouri abortion-rights campaign turns in more than double the needed signatures to get on ballot: “Our message is simple and clear,” ACLU Missouri lawyer and campaign spokesperson Tori Schafer said in a statement. “We want to make decisions about our bodies free from political interference.” If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment would ensure abortion rights until viability.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Monday, May 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel 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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