Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2024

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The knock on Elvis in his later years was that he took himself too seriously while not taking his music seriously enough. I was at the June 30 Rolling Stones concert (full show is here), and they still take their music seriously after all these years, while putting on a spectacular show. From that night…

Burns like a red coal carpet

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup (Updated x2)

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Kathy Salvi was elected chair of the Illinois Republican Party today…

Today, The State Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party elected Kathy Salvi as the next Chair by acclimation, with a start date of July 19th in accordance with outgoing Chairman Don Tracy’s resignation.

Chairman Tracy released the following statement following the election of the new Chair:

“Congratulations to Kathy Salvi for taking on this challenging yet important position to build a brighter future for Illinois. Republicans in this state are united behind President Trump and understand that the Biden/Pritzker agenda is wrong for our families. We will show in Milwaukee this week that we are unified in purpose - to make this state and this country great once again with a message of hope and prosperity for the future.”

Some people are mad…

Meanwhile the Eggroll salesman pic.twitter.com/6sA1FnVpRi

— ROSIE RIVETED (@ROSIERIVETED1) July 12, 2024

…Adding… ILGOP…

Following today’s vote by acclamation to elect Kathy Salvi as the next Chair of the Illinois Republican Party, the Chairwoman-Elect released the following statement:

“It is an honor to be recognized by my fellow Illinois Republicans as the next Chair of the Illinois Republican Party. As we prepare to nominate the next President of the United States, Illinois stands as a testament to what Democrat governance can do: out of control cost of living, rampant crime, and rife with corruption. Illinois Republicans will stand and fight for our conservative ideals and set this state, and nation, back on the right track.

Thank you Chairman Tracy for your commitment to this State and our Party.”

…Adding… DPI…

In response to the election of Kathy Salvi as the new ILGOP Chair, the Democratic Party of Illinois issued the following statement:

“We are not surprised to see the ILGOP pick a far-right extremist to sit at the head of their party. However, we are surprised that they chose someone whose draconian views on abortion will almost certainly drag down their entire Republican ticket. The ILGOP is littered with anti-abortion extremists, but it is now chaired by someone who once opposed abortions for victims of rape, saying, ‘abortion only adds insult to injury.’ The election of Kathy Salvi is not just a threat to the ILGOP’s ill-fated ticket, but to women all across our state.

Kathy Salvi’s extreme stances on healthcare, immigration, and women’s rights are fundamentally at odds with the values of Illinois working families. Salvi will fit right in with the modern-day ILGOP as she is no stranger to losing elections. We defeated Kathy Salvi and MAGA extremism across Illinois in 2022, and we are more determined than ever to combat the ILGOP’s far-right agenda at the ballot box this November. While the ILGOP is in turmoil, we are focused on electing leaders who will enhance access to affordable healthcare, defend reproductive rights, and promote inclusive policies that benefit all Illinoisans.”

Kathy Salvi, who was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for U.S. Senate against Sen. Tammy Duckworth in 2022, has consistently aligned herself with far-right ideologies that Illinois voters have repeatedly rejected. Her failed Senate run underscores the state’s rejection of her regressive policies. Now, as the new ILGOP Chair, Salvi’s leadership threatens to drag the party even further into the depths of extremism, away from the values that define our diverse and inclusive state.

* Illinois Times…

Nine months after cash bail ended in Illinois, the state is taking its first steps in publishing the data that crafters of the bail reform law saw as essential to judging its effectiveness.

The data shows that judges in the 75 counties served by the Illinois Supreme Court’s Office of Statewide Pretrial Services had collectively issued failure-to-appear warrants in just 5% of more than 28,000 court dates as of Friday. Judges had approved about 63% of petitions to detain a defendant pretrial that were sent to them by prosecutors.

The OSPS, launched in 2021 to provide things like pretrial safety assessments and electronic monitoring for 75 of Illinois’ 102 counties, published the data in a new dashboard this week. It represents a key – but still early and incomplete – step in tracking Illinois’ progress as the first state to fully end cash bail through a wide-ranging criminal justice reform known as the SAFE-T Act. […]

The data showed that about 52% of cases that were subject to an OSPS pretrial investigation contained at least one offense considered “detainable” under the SAFE-T Act. As of June 28, prosecutors had petitioned the court to detain the defendant in 62% of those cases.

The fact that judges approved 63% of those petitions, [retired Cook County Judge Cara Smith] said, was evidence the system was working.

*** Statewide ***

* Crain’s | Retail marijuana lottery winners avoid losing their licenses: Just one winner of a cannabis dispensary license is at risk of losing it today when a deadline hits for pot-shop licensees to have found a location for their stores. It’s a far lower number than many had feared. The state used lotteries to award 185 new dispensary licenses in the summer of 2022, which would nearly double the number of marijuana shops. Winners originally had up to a year to get stores open or find a location, but the deadline was extended last year by legislators.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | As Tent Cities Are Cleared, Unhoused Residents Ask Why It Took DNC For City To Offer Housing: Encampment residents told Block Club city outreach workers have been visiting in recent weeks to offer them rooms in coveted city-run shelters, including the former Tremont Hotel, 100 E. Chestnut St. in the Gold Coast, which was bought by the city last year and has only 60 beds. Those who accept the beds can keep them until Aug. 31, Berg said. The convention is Aug. 19-22.

* Jinx Press | 14th District Oath Keeper cop interfered with DCFS investigation, removed from SWAT for unknown incident: As detailed in that investigation, Sergeant Nowacki was suspended for three days in 2008 after sending insulting, racially charged emails to a Black community member in Englewood who was soliciting donations for area families. Rather than serve the suspension, Nowacki forfeited three days of banked compensatory time. Records detailing a December 2020 incident, however, also illustrate his disturbing animosity on duty toward a Department of Child and Family Services worker. The worker, identified as a Black male, filed a complaint after a well-being check where Nowacki was belligerent.

* Tribune | Mayor Johnson to name former progressive North Side alderman Shiller to zoning board: The former alderman — a close ally of current 46th Ward Ald. Angela Clay — was both lionized and lambasted for campaigning as a “champion of the poor” in Uptown as it underwent much transformation. Johnson tapping her addresses his stated values on railing against rich elites while also potentially smoothing over an earlier snafu with a homeless shelter proposal in Uptown that failed.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Shaw Local | Joliet police officer wins part of federal appeal in privacy lawsuit case: A federal appeals court reversed the dismissal of a Joliet police officer’s claim that a detective intruded on her privacy by intentionally accessing a nude photo on her cellphone. […] The ruling followed an April 3 court hearing where the Will County search warrant for the officer’s phone was sharply criticized by U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Kirsch. […] “I can’t believe a judge signed this warrant to say, ‘You can search the entire contents of someone’s phone to look for one text message.’ And then McKinney just happens to be searching around in Cellebrite. …And guess what? He happens upon the naked pictures that everybody is talking about in the police department. It’s weird. It’s troubling, right?” Kirsch said.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora to buy seven properties along Bilter Road: City officials have said they are interested in assembling the land in the hopes of marketing it to a residential developer, in an effort to keep potential industrial uses out of what the city considers more of a residential area. Officials have said an industrial user was interested in the properties, and would generate too much truck traffic for the area.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | $20 million Belleville training center part of vision to make Illinois a manufacturing hub: Construction of the academy on the northwest corner of the Belleville campus began in September 2022. Now outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, the facility will officially open its doors in the upcoming semester to provide students with more training opportunities in the growing manufacturing sector. According to a recent Deloitte study, U.S. manufacturing could need as many as 3.8 million new employees by 2033 as investment drives the sector’s growth, but half of those jobs could go unfilled if workforce challenges aren’t addressed.

* WCIA | Protestors rally at Sangamon Co. Sheriff’s Office after woman’s death: Two sheriff’s deputies responded to [Sonya] Massey’s home just after midnight on July 6. Family and friends at the rally say Massey was the one that called the police. She was allegedly worried there was someone trying to break in, according to the county. After being on scene for half an hour, one of the deputies shot Massey. She was taken to the hospital, where she died from the gunshot wound, according to the Coroner.

* Capitol City Now | Attorney Ben Crump retained by family of Sonya Massey: Attorney Ben Crump, who specializes in civil rights and personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits, announced Thursday the family of Sonya Massey has retained his services. Some of the well-known cases Crump has been a part of include Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown and George Floyd. Crump is known for taking on cases involving police misconduct. The investigation into Massey’s death by Illinois State Police is ongoing. Wednesday, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell urged the public and media to be patient as ISP completes its investigation.

* WCBU | Peoria County Board isn’t keen on a 15-year delay to build new landfill: There’s essentially two parallel stories happening in the ongoing landfill saga. On one track, the regulatory process to start construction of the new landfill is still slowly moving forward. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources doesn’t believe abandoned underground mines pose an impediment to continuing development on the proposed site, but the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency still needs to sign off.

* KSDK | ‘It’s shocking’: Gov. Pritzker after Alton sinkhole swallows soccer field: “We’re working very hard to make sure that’s not a problem going forward,” [Pritzker] said. “Of course, we got the federal government involved. We’re going to make sure we’re doing everything we can. It’s shocking, really. I’m so glad nobody was on the field when it happened. But, the question is why did it happen, and what is the federal government going to do to make sure it never happens again?” Our newsroom has seen chatter online and reporting by other news outlets that the Alton sinkhole is growing. Our reporter checked in with a representative for the New Frontier crews on the ground to verify this on Thursday. The company representative tells us the sinkhole itself hasn’t grown in size since the initial collapse.

*** National ***

* AP | Small Nashville museum wants you to know why it is returning artifacts to Mexico: When Bonnie Seymour took a job as assistant curator of Nashville’s Parthenon museum, one of the first things she did was to look through the collections. Among paintings by American artists and memorabilia from Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition — the event for which the Parthenon was built — she found a random assortment of pre-Columbian pottery from Mexico. The artifacts had almost no identifying information, and Seymour knew next to nothing about them. But she knew they did not belong in a Nashville storage room.

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Keep calm and Dolt-on

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here and here for some of our past roundups. WGN…

Soon after outraged residents began filling public meetings demanding answers from self-proclaimed “Super Mayor” Tiffany Henyard, the south suburban politician hit the road for a series of interviews to try to reset the narrative about her spending, leadership style and tumultuous tenure.

Henyard appeared in-studio for an interview with Roland Martin in Washington, DC in late February and then travelled to New York City to be on the “Way Up with Angela Yee” program. […]

Township credit card bills show a photographer named David Dickerson was paid $3,259 plus an additional $561 for Dickerson’s airfare between Chicago, Washington and New York. Dickerson confirmed to WGN Investigates that we hired by Henyard’s team to take photos of during her interviews with Martin and Yee. He doesn’t know what became of his images. […]

Henyard is the supervisor of Thornton Township and mayor of Dolton. It’s unclear who paid for airfare and lodging for Henyard and the rest of her entourage. While the township released credit card records after a Freedom of Information Act request, the village of Dolton has repeatedly failed to do so in apparent violation of open records laws.

* Daily Southtown…

Dolton has few remaining options for recourse after an Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the $33.5 million judgment stemming from a fatal police chase, and an insurance policy that only covers about one-third of the judgment, attorneys said. […]

Dolton is covered at about $10.5 million by insurance, an amount that continues eroding with increasing village legal fees, according to a petition for payment the plaintiffs’ attorneys filed in January.

The petition laid out concerns about the village being able to provide the verdict, including the $23.5 million not covered, which was considered “present and due” even during the appeal’s process because the village never sought a stay on the payment. […]

Under state law, municipalities are “entitled and directed” to pay the judgments owed and may do so by issuing bonds or levying taxes. The plaintiffs’ attorneys are requesting Dolton float a municipal bond to allow their clients to be paid upfront, while the village repays the bond over multiple years at an interest rate lower than what the court judgment is accruing. […]

Dolton has also been penalized for failing to fulfill an agreed settlement of $220,000 in a whistleblower lawsuit from 2019 despite the Village Board approving the payment. After a June 24 hearing, a Cook County court froze double the amount of the settlement in a village account. The attorney for the plaintiff in that case said the check “is just sitting on the mayor’s desk.”

* The money problems don’t end there for Dolton. NBC Chicago…

The company behind new welcome banners in Dolton claim they have not been paid yet as the cash-strapped village’s residents are questioning the new signs.

Donning light poles along a busy Sibley Boulevard, the banners, which reportedly cost $19,000, contain different messages on the back and the front, along with a picture of Mayor Tiffany Henyard with her self-ascribed “Supermayor” title written underneath. […]

Mosca Design, the vendor behind the banners, told NBC Chicago that they have not been paid for the banners and other items and are owed an outstanding balance of over $85,000.

According to Trustee Tammy Brown, the purchase was never approved by Dolton trustees.

* More…

WGN | Burt Odelson says lawsuit brought on by Dolton Mayor’s former attorney is ‘baseless and meritless’:

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Saying the quiet part out loud (Updated)

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Andy Shaw…

Covering politics for three decades left me with a lifetime of takeaways, but a compelling one that resurfaces more often than most, as we try to explain widespread public perceptions of politicians, is the importance of narrative.

It’s an overarching media-and-consultant-driven storyline that, for better or worse, defines, describes and tends to stick to candidates and elected officials like glue until the passage of time or a figurative solvent — an unanticipated major event — pries it loose.

Emphasis added.

* Meanwhile, I’m not at all saying that President Biden is not in political trouble and that he’s not weighing down his fellow Democrats. He’s obviously in trouble and people are most definitely freaking the heck out. All I’m saying is hyping a partisan congressional district poll of just 309 likely voters taken 9-10 days ago and calling it “new” doesn’t really add much to the debate, but does feed into the national news media/consultant narrative…

A NEW POLL in the IL-11 District suggests the Biden crisis is having an impact. The survey conducted by Republican challenger Jerry Evans’ campaign against incumbent Congressman Bill Foster shows Biden at 38 percent to Trump’s 37 percent. In 2020, Biden won the district 62 percent to 36 percent. The poll also shows a close race for Congress, with a generic Democrat leading a generic Republican by 3 points, 45 percent to 42 percent with 13 percent undecided.

In a head-to-head, Foster beats Evans 41 percent to 34 percent but with 35 percent undecided. The Cygnal survey was conducted July 2 and 3, five days after the Biden-Trump debate. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.55 percentage points.

…Adding… The 11th is no longer the overwhelmingly Democratic district it was in 2020. When you look at the district’s current precincts, Biden won in 2020 by 15 points - which is 11 points less than he won the old district. Also, while JB Pritzker won the district in 2022 by about 13 points, he only won it by 2.5 points in 2018. Foster won the new district in 2022 by 13 points. I should’ve checked those numbers in the quoted story above, but made the mistake of relying on what was written.

Methodology…

This probabilistic survey was conducted July 2 – 3, 2024, with 309 likely general election voters. It has a margin of error of ±5.55%. Known registered voters were interviewed via online panel and SMS. This survey was weighted to a likely general election voter universe.

* Also, reputable polls in battleground states haven’t yet shown a dramatic impact on down-ballot races. And then there’s this from yesterday…

(A)ny post-debate analysis using polling to justify sweeping conclusions about the state of the race is way out ahead of the data. This soon after the debate, with relatively few polls having come home to roost, there are early indications that Biden has lost at least a point or two in the polls, but the early indications are just that — early indications. (This is why, as G. Elliott Morris explains here, 538’s forecast hasn’t changed much post-debate.)

Deep breaths, please.

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Study: Illinois has the most diverse cannabis business ownership in the US (Updated)

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* IDFPR…

Today, the Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office (CROO) published the Disparity and Availability Study for adult use cannabis licenses in Illinois finding that Illinois currently has the most diverse cannabis industry in the nation. The study, as required by the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA), examined 559 adult use cannabis licenses issued by the State to more than 400 businesses during the study period, which spanned from the start of adult use cannabis sales, January 1, 2020, through January 31, 2023.

The disparity study found the CRTA successfully resulted in license ownership diversity for each license type with new licenses over the study period. Over the study period, 59% of dispensary licenses were issued to minority- or women-owned businesses (compared to 21% for the medical cannabis market). For all licenses issued by the State, that number jumps to 60%. Additionally, minority- or women-owned businesses held 63% of craft grower, 61% of infuser, and 74% of transporter licenses. Additionally, the study found nearly 84% of the State’s Direct Forgivable Loans went to minority- or women-owned businesses. According to this independent review, these demographics make Illinois the most diverse cannabis industry in the nation. Since 2023, IDFPR has conducted another Social Equity Criteria Lottery and issued 55 more conditional licenses, all going to social equity designated businesses.

* Recommendations from the study…

To cultivate a more inclusive and equitable industry we recommend the following:

• Broaden availability of financing: Findings from our focus group conversations with cannabis business holders and applicants across license types, coupled with our survey analysis, suggest a need for additional revenue sources for the Cannabis Business Development Fund to improve sustainability and increase access to capital for more businesses.

• Unify data systems and additional data management: Interviews with industry leaders indicate a need for a centralized data system to ensure the state’s licensing, enforcement, and case management systems are compatible and unified to improve tracking, monitoring, and supporting cannabis businesses across the entire industry.

• Consolidate regulatory structure: Based on our assessment of the quantitative and
qualitative analyses, we recommend centralizing the five main regulatory agencies’ cannabis units into one, unified department with clear accountability to the governor and public. Consolidation would allow for a more seamless and coordinated approach to operationalize the application process and business regulatory practices in support of all extant and future cannabis license holders in an equitable and just manner. […]

• Additional administrative recommendations:

o Allow SEAs [Social Equity Applicants] to obtain a social equity business designation after receiving a cannabis license. This will allow for continued support for SEAs after they become licensed, provided they maintain their status as a social equity business.

o Implement a no-change affidavit for license renewals: simplify the renewal process for businesses that have no changes in ownership or management.

o Implement a sliding scale for licensing renewal fees based on sales: set renewal fees based on sales to improve equity in license renewal.

o Implement a third-party transport mandate: codify a statutory change for transportation so that businesses can only transport up to a certain amount of their inventory transfers, like the rule for dispensaries to have no more than 40% of their inventory from one source.

o Allow infusers to apply for processing licenses: allow infusing organizations to apply for the ability to process and extract cannabis products from raw materials and contribute to an adequate supply of distillate.

* Forbes…

Illinois has reached a significant milestone in marijuana sales, hitting the $1 billion mark so far this year. […]

Governor Pritzker said in a statement that “the increase in total adult-use marijuana sales, combined with the policies my administration is implementing to support communities ravaged by the War on Drugs, highlights how this emerging industry is helping us set a national standard in equity and economic justice. Growing sales in 2024 means marijuana tax revenue will continue to play a major role in righting decades of wrongs in the state’s criminal justice system.” […]

Marijuana sales have generated over $244 million in tax revenue, which the state has allocated to grants for youth development, economic development, and violence prevention programs. This funding also enabled the establishment of the Illinois Cannabis Social Equity Loan program. This initiative aims to support communities that have been disproportionately affected by marijuana-related criminal justice issues by linking them to the legal marijuana industry. Through this social equity program, the state has distributed nearly $22 million in forgivable loans to craft growers, transporters, and infusers.

* Marijuana Moment…

Tax revenue from cannabis sales has now put more than $244 million toward grants to encourage economic development, violence prevention and youth development in areas disproportionately impacted by cannabis arrests and imprisonment, the state said on Wednesday. And through its Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program, “almost $22 million in forgivable loans has been issued to social equity craft growers, transporters, and infusers.”

More of the loans are expected to be awarded soon following an April deadline in the latest round. The state also says more full dispensary licenses will be awarded “to conditional licensees selected in the 2022 and 2023 lotteries as they meet the requirements for full licensure.”

“It is imperative barriers are removed to ensure workforces and industries reflect the diversity of the population who calls Illinois home,” said Mario Treto Jr., secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. “We are already seeing the results of our efforts to accomplish this, and I am excited to see what the future holds for the cannabis industry across Illinois.”

* Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton…

“When we legalized cannabis in Illinois, we didn’t just want to create a new industry – we wanted to right some wrongs. This report shows we’re doing just that. We’re seeing people who’ve been left out of opportunities for too long now owning businesses and creating jobs in their communities. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s progress we can be proud of. Every new shop that opens, every loan that helps a small business get started, that’s another step towards making things right. We’re showing the rest of the country that when you put fairness first, everyone wins.”

* More…

SJ-R | Missouri-based marijuana dispensary opens first Illinois location in Springfield:

…Adding… Press release…

Today, the Pritzker Administration announced that SEquity Ventures (LLC dba The Dispensary Champaign) became the 100th social equity cannabis dispensary to open its doors in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) issued a full adult use cannabis dispensary license to The Dispensary Champaign on June 6, 2024, who applied for and was selected in the Social Equity Criteria Lottery (SECL) and met the lottery’s criteria.

“From day one of legal cannabis sales in Illinois, my administration has been committed to making sure we don’t sacrifice a fair, equitable opportunity to join the industry – while also undoing decades of wrongs in the failed War on Drugs – just for the economic gains,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “More than three years later, we’ve consistently learned and made our industry more accessible, while also seeing strong, consistent year-over-year revenue growth.”

The Dispensary Champaign celebrated this major milestone with a ribbon cutting ceremony at their new storefront located at 1826 Glen Park Drive, Champaign, IL. The ceremony was attended by IDFPR Secretary Mario Treto, Jr., Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer Erin Johnson, and other industry leaders.

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Open thread

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: US Reps. Brad Schneider, Eric Sorensen call on President Biden to drop reelection bid. Tribune…

Click here for our updated recap.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WGN | State Rep. Bob Morgan: How the Healthcare Protection Act will reform health coverage in Illinois: State Representative Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) joins John Williams to talk about Governor Pritzker signing the Healthcare Protection Act into law. Rep. Morgan explains how this new law will reform health coverage in Illinois, how it will impact people’s healthcare, what this new law covers, and how this law will no longer allow insurers to stand in the way of the health care you need.

* Pantagraph | Illinois lawmaker recap: Sen. Dave Koehler lauds education investments: Koehler said lawmakers “did a good job” funding education, particularly early childhood and K-12. An additional $350 million was included for the evidence-based funding formula, which seeks to close the funding gap between rich and poor school districts. That brings total invested up to $2 billion since it was enacted in 2017. More funding was also included for the state’s Smart Start initiative, which will create an additional 5,000 pre-K slots across the state. […] While touting pre-K and K-12 investments, Koehler said he was disappointed by the comparatively flat higher education budget. The amount allocated to the state’s public universities and community colleges only increased by 2%. Funds for need-based scholarships through the Monetary Assistance Program increased by just $10 million.

* Pantagraph | Illinois lawmaker recap: Sen. Chapin Rose disappointed to see carbon capture legislation pass: Rose said the biggest disappointments from session were the budget and the carbon capture bill passing through both chambers. Rose said he’s actively spoken out about the carbon capture legislation and how this would negatively impact certain areas around the state. “I don’t want to hear anything more from the supposed environmentalists about how they care about the environment when they deliberately had the choice. We gave them (a bipartisan) letter 10 days out that said ‘don’t forget this. Make sure you’re not including sequestration on the Mahomet Aquifer.’ They knew about this, and they did it anyway.”

*** Statewide ***

* ProPublica | Two Reporters Covering Education in the Midwest Followed the Money … to a School in New York: Shrub Oak International School in Mohegan Lake, New York. Black eyes and bruises. Insufficient staffing. Medical neglect. No kitchen. At least 15 Illinois students were enrolled there this past school year using state and local taxpayer dollars at $573,200 each. No state outside of New York sends more students to Shrub Oak than Illinois.

* Tribune | Illinois GOP set to select one of three finalists for state chair: The Illinois GOP has long been beset by fighting between moderate and conservative wings. That conflict also has become a geographic battle between hard-core conservatives downstate and the more populous suburban areas, even as that region’s reputation as a moderate Republican stronghold has faded and Democrats have made major inroads. Democrats now control all statewide offices, the Supreme Court and have supermajorities in the Illinois House and Senate.

* NBC Chicago | Yuengling weighs in on rumors that popular beer brand is coming to Illinois: Yuengling is aware of the speculation, but a representative for the brand wouldn’t confirm the rumors– or even if the company plans to expand at all. “Yuengling has not announced when or where its next expansion will be,” said Yuengling Director of Communications Paul Capelli.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Mayor Johnson rejects cuts in CPS’ proposed budget meant to fill a half-billion deficit: The day after Chicago Public Schools officials released a budget proposal that filled a half-billion dollar deficit in part by some cutbacks in staff and other areas, Mayor Brandon Johnson made the surprising declaration that he would not accept cuts by the district. […] It is highly unusual for the mayor, who appoints the schools CEO, to suggest he is unhappy with the school district’s budget after it is presented to the public. It also is unclear what options Johnson has to fill the deficit, though his deputy mayor for education, Jen Johnson, said the administration was “working on something.”

* Tribune | Bally’s Chicago secures casino financing, unveils new hotel design: Bally’s announced a deal Friday with Gaming and Leisure Properties, a Pennsylvania-based real estate investment trust, to provide $940 million to fund the construction of the permanent casino. In addition, Bally’s has also finalized redesign of its planned 500-room hotel tower, which has been shifted from north of the casino to the south to avoid damaging city water pipes along the Chicago River, pending approval from the city’s planning department.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Dolton insurance would only cover a third of $33.5 million judgement from fatal police chase lawsuit: Under state law, municipalities are “entitled and directed” to pay the judgments owed and may do so by issuing bonds or levying taxes. The plaintiffs’ attorneys are requesting Dolton float a municipal bond to allow their clients to be paid upfront, while the village repays the bond over multiple years at an interest rate lower than what the court judgement is accruing. […] Dolton has also been penalized for failing to fulfill an agreed settlement of $220,000 in a whistleblower lawsuit from 2019 despite the Village Board approving the payment. After a June 24 hearing, a Cook County court froze double the amount of the settlement in a village account. The attorney for the plaintiff in that case said the check “is just sitting on the mayor’s desk.”

* Daily Southtown | Will County committee seeks to end ‘divisive’ proclamations, then proposes ‘non-sanctuary’ designation: At the same time some Will County Board members want to eliminate proclamations from their monthly meetings because they can be divisive and political, a board committee passed, along party lines, a resolution declaring Will County a non-sanctuary county, which some board members said was both divisive and political. The Will County Executive Committee, which includes about half of the Will County Board, recommended 7-5 Thursday to advance a resolution to declare the county a non-sanctuary county for asylum seekers and illegal immigration.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | Popular low-cost airline temporarily ending route from Springfield: Breeze Airways, a low-cost airline headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been busy adding flights to its roster of 29 states in the past couple of months, but the company plans on shuttering one of its flights: the nonstop service from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield to Tampa International Airport in Florida. The planned end of nonstop service to the popular destination will be on August 12, 2024, according to Breeze, but it won’t be forever. According to Breeze to communications specialist Ryan Williams, the flights to Tampa were seasonal for the summer and will be returning in 2025.

*** National ***

* Tribune | US appeals court says some NCAA athletes may qualify as employees under federal wage-and-hour laws: College athletes whose efforts primarily benefit their schools may qualify as employees deserving of pay under federal wage-and-hour laws, a U.S. appeals court ruled Thursday in a setback to the NCAA. The court, in the latest challenge to the NCAA’s long-held notion of “amateurism” in college sports, said that a test should be developed to differentiate between students who play college sports for fun and those whose effort “crosses the legal line into work.”

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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

Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Friday, Jul 12, 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.