* Injustice Watch…

A man died at the Cook County Jail last Friday following a confrontation with correctional officers in which he was beaten, body-slammed, and injected with sedatives, records show.

Cory Ulmer, 41, was described in an internal report by the sergeant in charge during the incident as “combative” and disobeying his jailers’ commands. At one point, Ulmer managed to “head butt” [Sgt. Enrique Reyes], the report says. […]

Investigators from Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office went to the home of Ulmer’s stepfather to inform the family of his death, but provided them no details.

A 2-year-old state law requires Dart’s office to notify families of people who die in his custody “as soon as possible in a suitable manner giving an accurate factual account of the cause of death and circumstances surrounding the death.” […]

The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force has opened an investigation into Ulmer’s death.

A recent AP investigation found 94 people had died after given sedatives and restrained by police from 2012 through 2021.

…Adding… From Sheriff Dart’s office…

Shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday, June 21, Cory Ulmer, age 41, was being escorted to the Cermak Health Services (Cook County Health and Hospitals System) emergency room to be evaluated by medical staff when a struggle ensued. Following the struggle, Ulmer suffered a medical emergency in the emergency room. Ulmer was transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 4:27 p.m.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force to conduct an independent investigation, per protocol. As with all cases of in-custody deaths, to prevent any conflict-of-interest issues, the cause of Mr. Ulmer’s medical emergency and the circumstances surrounding it are currently the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Task Force. They are responsible for determining the facts of the death investigation. It would be incredibly irresponsible for the Sheriff’s Office to release any information that could affect or in any way impede the Task Force’s work.

Mr. Ulmer was returned to custody at the Jail on June 20, after he refused to return to his EM host location and did not provide an alternative host site. Ulmer was placed on EM after being charged with Aggravated Battery/Use of a Deadly Weapon for stabbing and slashing a woman as she was waiting at a bus stop.

Eleven Sheriff’s Office employees have been reassigned. It is not uncommon for staff involved in an incident to be reassigned until the investigation of the incident is complete.

* Capitol News Illinois…

In this special episode of #IllinoisLawmakers, hear from Gov. JB Pritzker as he talks about the FY 2025 budget, education and early childhood programs, economic development and more. https://t.co/3SuidFLeYg

— Capitol News Illinois (@CapitolNewsIL) June 28, 2024

From the interview…

Governor Pritzker: We’ve never been a chip manufacturing state. I mean, that’s just not part of what Illinois has had. But [quantum] gives us an opportunity, because those chips are being manufactured for quantum. And so we think there’s an opportunity for us to maybe get into that industry.

We passed the micro bill here in Illinois to incentivize it. The federal government’s provided dollars for grants and so on to incentivize it. We think we can win some of that too. But I think we’re in pretty good stead on the quantum front.

* Housing Action Illinois…

To afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in Illinois, full-time workers need to earn $28.81 per hour. This is Illinois’ 2024 Housing Wage according to Out of Reach, a report published jointly today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and Housing Action Illinois.

In many areas, including Chicago and the collar counties, as well as in the Kendall County metro area, the Housing Wage is now well above $30.

Released annually, the Out of Reach report calls attention to the gulf between wages and what people need to earn to afford their rents. The report shows that affordable rental homes are out of reach for millions of low-wage workers and other families. The report’s “Housing Wage” is an estimate of the hourly wage full-time workers must earn to afford a rental home at fair market rent without spending more than 30% of their incomes.

Other key findings from the report include:

* In the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville metro area, the Housing Wage climbs to $32.96.

* The highest Housing Wage in Illinois is in the Kendall County metro area, where it reaches $33.48.

* Even in more affordable counties, the lowest the Housing Wage in Illinois is $15.52.

* Based on the state housing wage, a person earning the state minimum wage must have 1.8 full-time job(s) or work 71 hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment.

* Based on the state housing wage, a person earning the state minimum wage must have 2.1 full-time job(s) or work 82 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

Nationally, the 2024 Housing Wage is $32.11 per hour for a modest two-bedroom rental home and $26.74 for a modest one-bedroom rental home.

With the cost of rent growing further out of reach for those with the lowest incomes and absent an adequate housing safety net, it is no surprise that homelessness has been on the rise. Even in Illinois, where the state has invested significant resources in preventing and ending homelessness, a growing population has no place to call home.

“During the past two years, Illinois has done a great deal at the state level to invest in preventing and ending homelessness by allocating significant new state funding to eviction prevention, shelter, and rapid rehousing programs,” says Housing Action Illinois Policy Director Bob Palmer. “But we need a much higher level of federal investment to increase permanent housing solutions, such as Housing Choice Vouchers, public housing, and supportive housing to end homelessness. Unfortunately, the budget proposal just released by House Republicans reduces funding.”

Click here for the study.

* Some commentary on this week’s US Supreme Court decisions…

SCOTUS today…

1. “Agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do."

2. “If there are answers …, they cannot be found in the cruel and unusual punishments clause. Nor do federal judges enjoy any special competence to provide them.”

— Dan Vock (@danvock) June 28, 2024

Shot:

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts in the "Chevron" decision: "Perhaps most fundamentally, Chevron’s presumption is misguided because agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do."

Chaser: pic.twitter.com/SHcsDZLz0R

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) June 28, 2024

*** Statewide ***

* Center For Criminal Justice | Recidivism Patterns Among Those Released from Prison in Illinois: The majority (75%) of those exiting prison in Illinois during 2018 and 2019 were not arrested for a violent offense within 3 years of their release from prison. […] The shortened lengths of Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR) resulting from Illinois’ Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act will reduce the proportion of individuals at risk of being returned to prison for a technical violation related to a new arrest for a violent crime.

* WBEZ | For-profit cosmetology graduates rarely earn more than high school grads: Illinois for-profit cosmetology, esthetician, nail tech and barber schools reported median earnings for their students 10 years after enrolling ranging from $15,420 to $34,368, according to data reported in 2021 dollars. The median earnings of a high school graduate in Illinois was $34,591, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 five-year American Community Survey. And Illinois cosmetology students are typically spending an average of $14,700 a year to attend. Meanwhile, the quality of education at these unregulated for-profit institutions is uneven at best, WBEZ learned in interviews with former and current students who were among the more than 250 who responded to a WBEZ survey. The winners in this system are Illinois’ beauty schools — more than 80% run by for-profit companies — that have a monopoly on training students for the state’s required licensing exams.

* USA Today | Unemployment claims in Illinois declined last week: Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Illinois dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday. New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 7,859 in the week ending June 22, down from 9,940 the week before, the Labor Department said.

*** Chicago ***

* ABC Chicago | Chicago hate crimes spike, especially anti-Jewish incidents, report says; ordinance targets fliers: Fliers, graffiti and the defacement of Chicago landmarks are among the kinds of crimes and incidents reported. The report found in 2021 there were 109 incidents, 205 in 2022, 303 in 2023 and, as of June 15, 124 reported so far in 2024.

* Tribune | Bronzeville microgrid, largest of its kind in Illinois, is a step toward more reliable power, experts say: The Bronzeville Community Microgrid, which went online last month — powered in part by solar panels at a midrise housing project — is the largest neighborhood microgrid in Illinois, and part of a broader effort to build a grid that’s cleaner, more reliable and more secure. Microgrids — essentially minigrids that deliver electricity in defined areas — were the original grids in the United States and have been used extensively in remote parts of Alaska.

* ABC Chicago | BARK Air expands airline to Chicago with flights catered to dogs: BARK Air set off on its maiden voyage in May, when they were offering trips from New York to Los Angeles. It was pretty popular last month already, with 15,000 requests for new destinations. […] It will cost you $6,000 for a domestic flight, and $8,000 for an international flight for one dog and one human.

* Block Club | Ravenswood’s Jimmy’s Pizza Cafe Recognized By ‘Michelin Of Pizza’ For Its NY-Style Slice: A trio of influential pizza critics ranked Jimmy’s Pizza Cafe as one of the top places for a slice in the nation. […] Since 2018, the trio has put out a yearly list of the best pizzerias in Italy and around the world, without any preference to style. For this year’s guide, Jimmy’s Pizza Cafe was ranked number 9 in the guide’s list of 50 Top Pizza Slices in the USA for 2024.

* WTTW | Riding the Chicago Street Race Track With NASCAR Driver Brad Keselowski: Keselowski, who is both a NASCAR team owner and runs the 3D-printing company Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing, is hoping the economic benefits help win new fans. “What the Chicago race stands for, to me, is NASCAR getting out of their comfort zone,” he said. “They’re trying something new, and this might be great and it might flop. The bleeding edge of innovation and risk-taking is where all success comes from in life.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Labor Notes | Illinois Amazon Drivers Strike, Demand Union Contract: Amazon drivers at the DIL7 delivery station in Skokie, Illinois, struck June 26 over the company’s violations of federal labor laws. A hundred drivers have organized with Teamsters Local 705 and are demanding that Amazon recognize and bargain with their union, after presenting cards signed by a majority of the workforce.

* Daily Southtown | Federal fraud charges for former Lincoln-Way chief Lawrence Wyllie dismissed due to health issues: The case against Wyllie, who was District 210 superintendent from 1989 to 2013, dates to September 2017, came after a yearlong investigation by the Daily Southtown that exposed questionable financial practices at Lincoln-Way. These included private use of public funding and deals benefiting staff, including the development of a $45,000 dog-training center called Superdog. Wyllie continues to collect a taxpayer funded pension that in 2020 was more than $351,000, and grows annually to account for cost-of-living increases, according to state records.

* Crain’s | Developer reviving former AT&T campus lands new largest tenant: Holmdel, N.J.-based Inspired by Somerset Development announced new leases with three companies totaling 86,000 square feet of office space at Bell Works Chicagoland, deals that bring the transformed portion of the building at 2000 Center Drive in the northwest suburb to about 80% leased. Leading the group is security and safety system designer Convergint, which will become the largest tenant at Bell Works when it moves its headquarters into 50,000 square feet in the building. Convergint will relocate from about 40,000 square feet at 1 Commerce Drive in Schaumburg and has also leased 14,000 square feet of warehouse space at Bell Works.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Deere workers learn of more layoffs: Our Quad Cities News has learned that 279 employees at the Harvester Works Plant in East Moline will get layoff notices Friday. Union Local 865 informed its members employees will be told their last day is Aug. 30.

*** National ***

* WSIL | US prices didn’t rise last month for the first time since November: The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — a closely watched inflation gauge that the Federal Reserve uses for its 2% target — was unchanged from April and slowed to 2.6% for the 12 months ended in May from 2.7% the month before, according to Commerce Department data released Friday. […] Cheaper prices at the pump certainly helped (energy prices were down 2.1% for the month) and falling goods prices (down 0.4%) helped to slow overall inflation, according to the report. Food prices increased just 0.1%.