Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Aug 21, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: It’s the third day of the DNC… * Sun-Times | ‘Shut down the DNC’: Protesters clash with police leading to dozens of arrests in West Loop: The protesters walked directly into a large group of police officials, four officers deep, around 7:30 p.m. The officers began to push them the other way and yelled, “Move back, move back.” Scuffles began to break out, and officers wearing helmets moved into the crowd. Video showed officers overwhelming some of the protesters, pushing them to the ground in an effort to secure the chaotic scene. Afterward, the demonstrators began to move east on Madison toward Canal Street, where hundreds of additional officers were waiting.
* Tribune | The DNC action is at the United Center. But the randomness and behind-the-scenes stuff is at McCormick Place.: Carter, of Chicago’s Busy Beaver Button Co., received personalized requests for a Harris/Walz button. He placed the request on an oval sticker, placed the sticker inside a metal whatzit, watched a blunt lever slam down, then stamped out a new DNC pin: “Very Demure for Harris” and “Crazy Cat Lady for Harris” and “People Who Believe in Science for Harris” and “Keeping My Black Job — Harris 2024.” In the first hours of the convention, he’d already made a few hundred. “Beep! Beep!” shouted an older woman in a red, white and blue cowboy hat, steering her electric wheelchair through the crush of people waiting for their own political pins. She was headed to a DNC merch area, toward $30 mugs decorated with presidential heads, hats with donkeys in sunglasses and shirts reading “Trust Democratic Women.” * WBEZ | A 70-year-old doctor criticizes authorities for his ‘totally unjustified, ridiculous arrest’ at DNC: A 70-year-old retired doctor from the North Side says he was subjected to a “totally unjustified, ridiculous arrest” while on a bike ride among protesters marching near the Democratic National Convention on Monday. Hours after spending a rough night at a Chicago police station, Dr. Charles Steinbruegge told WBEZ on Tuesday he was not a protester himself and had merely taken his bicycle out to see what was happening near the DNC when a federal agent detained him and Chicago officers arrested him a few blocks from the United Center. * Tribune | U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who struggled with infertility, says IVF in danger if Donald Trump is elected: “Trump’s anti-woman crusade has put other Americans’ right to have their own families at risk,” she said. “Cause if they win, Republicans will not stop at banning abortion. They will come for IVF next. They’ll prosecute doctors. They’ll shame and spy on women.” The crowd erupted into cheers as Duckworth told Trump to “stay out of our doctor’s offices … and out of the Oval Office, too.” * Crain’s | Duckworth gets some jabs in during DNC speech: Illinois’ junior senator delivered rebukes to former President Donald Trump before the Democratic National Convention tonight on two fronts: first, his disparagement of veterans and, second, his party’s opposition to in vitro fertilization. “Every American deserves the right to be called ‘mommy’ or ‘daddy’ without being treated like a criminal,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said in a prime time speech before delegates assembled at the United Center. * Daily Herald | Obamas close DNC’s second night with a rousing Harris endorsement: Warning of a difficult fight ahead, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama on Tuesday called on the nation to embrace Kamala Harris in urgent messages to the Democratic National Convention that were at times both hopeful and combative. “America, hope is making a comeback,” the former first lady declared. She then tore into Republican Donald Trump, a sharp shift from the 2016 convention speech in which she told her party, “When they go low, we go high.”
* Sun-Times | Loyola’s Sister Jean talks DNC, Israel-Hamas war and connecting with students as she turns 105: Heading into her 105th year of life, Loyola University Chicago’s Sister Jean Dolores Bertha Schmidt has a simple goal. “I still want to remain a happy person,” she said. Sister Jean turns 105 on Wednesday, making her just 11 years younger than the oldest person alive. * Block Club | Brown Sugar Bakery’s Kamala Cake Honors Presidential Nominee’s ‘New And Exciting Energy’: The South Side bakery put a presidential spin on a traditional German chocolate cake recipe with dark chocolate cake, caramel and chocolate whipped cream and cream cheese drippings. Click here and here to read former President Barack Obama’s and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s DNC speeches. * Tribune | Illinois bans corporal punishment in all schools: State Rep. Margaret Croke, a Chicago Democrat, was inspired to take up the issue after an updated call by the American Association of Pediatrics to end the practice, which it says can increase behavioral or mental health problems and impair cognitive development. The association found that it’s disproportionately administered to Black males and students with disabilities. “It was an easy thing to do. I don’t want a child, whether they are in private school or public school, to have a situation in which corporal punishment is being used,” Croke said. * AP | Democrats are dwindling in Wyoming. A primary election law further reduces their influence: Meanwhile, as Wyoming Democrats face difficulty fielding viable candidates at all levels, many Democrats have been switching their registration to vote in more competitive Republican primaries, then changing back for the general election. […] Republicans decided they’d had enough. The Wyoming Legislature, where the GOP controls over 90% of the seats, passed legislation last year banning voters from changing their party registration in the three months before the August primary. * Crain’s | It’s getting too hot for old Chicago homes to handle, study finds: Elevate, a national nonprofit advocating for equity through climate action, has authored a report about the health dangers of indoor air temperatures during increasingly hot summers. * Crain’s | Goose Island development site hits the market: Real estate services firm CBRE is seeking a buyer for the 2.1-acre site at 1017 W. Division St., according to a flyer. The brokerage is marketing the former lumberyard on behalf of the Ciral family, which closed its Big Bay Lumber business on the property in 2015 but still owns the site. * Daily Herald | ‘Great idea, wrong location’: Fixed shelter for homeless adults nixed in Gurnee: A proposal to convert the FairBridge Inn on Grand Avenue in Gurnee to a fixed-site homeless shelter was derailed Monday. Actually, a $7 million investment by PADS Lake County was eliminated from consideration before an official vote, and a proposed zoning change to allow emergency shelters as a special use in that district was rejected, which made PADS’ request moot. * Daily Herald | Accused of stench, business offers to leave Mount Prospect — but at a price: Prestige Feed Products, a Mount Prospect animal feed manufacturer that has outraged neighbors in the village and neighboring Des Plaines over noxious odors and noise, has offered to move out. But officials of the company located at 431 Lakeview Ct. are asking for a large cash settlement that was initially met coldly by village officials. In a court hearing Tuesday, attorneys for Prestige and Mount Prospect discussed a potential settlement. * Tribune | Vine Street BBQ Fest returns to Park Ridge Aug. 24 to raise charity funds: The sound of sizzling meat and wafts of cooking smoke will return to Park Ridge starting early on Saturday, Aug. 24 for the eighth annual Vine Street BBQ festival and competition. Amateur chefs and pit masters will compete to see who can offer the best BBQ. Proceeds from the event will go to local charities. Jamie Rubin, the event’s coordinator and co-founder, said this year’s competition will consist of 41 amateur teams with about four people on each team. The competition is part of the Kansas City Barbecue Society, and judges will decide who has the best chicken, ribs, sauce, and dish in Park Ridge before it’s all over. * Inside Higher Ed | Library Faculty Eliminated Amid ‘Fiscal Insanity’ at Western Illinois: The university laid off all its library faculty as part of massive cuts, leaving employees and supporters to wonder how the library will serve campus constituents. * SJ-R | Black Lives Matter SPI street signs back up in downtown Springfield: Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory said he felt good that honorary Black Lives Matter SPI Way signs were reinstalled by Office of Public Works crews around the Governor’s Mansion last week. It symbolized, he said, a group needed more than ever in the city. “I’m really proud of them and I’m proud of our community,” Gregory told the SJ-R. “We’ll continue to fight for equality and justice and all that comes with that.” * WCIA | Champaign synagogue cleared after receiving bomb threat: Lieutenant Aaron Lack said staff at the Sinai Temple, located a 3104 West Windsor Road, received an email Thursday morning from someone claiming a bomb had been planted there. Officers were dispatched at 7:38 a.m. that morning in response to the threat. Lack said it was quickly determined that the email was sent to multiple houses of worship across Illinois and Iowa. Regardless, Champaign Police searched the synagogue and found no evidence that an explosive device was present. They also could not determine that there was a local connection to the threat. * Crain’s | Rivian manufacturing chief leaving for Stellantis: Tim Fallon, Rivian’s vice president of manufacturing, is leaving the electric vehicle maker to become head of manufacturing in North America at Stellantis. Fallon led manufacturing at Rivian for two years, according to an internal memo from CEO RJ Scaringe. He spent 16 years at Nissan Motor Co. before joining Rivian.
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- Mary Beth - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 8:31 am:
The Gaza protests - contrary to outrageous claims - have been very small and ineffectual so I guess it was only a matter of time before they tried to use force to confront the police protecting Democratic delegates, reporters and folks that live in the neighborhood. It will be interesting to see if Behind Enemy Lines and the National Black Empowerment Action Fund have similar donors, personnel, vendors, etc.
- Not Eagle Man - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 8:54 am:
There were several journalists arrested
https://twitter.com/JinxPress/status/1826233356784418904
- Frida’s boss - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 9:04 am:
Seems there were more protestors at NYU and they were more organized. Feels like the movement is losing momentum. Maybe now that school is back in session kids will start going nuts again like last year.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 9:05 am:
That Behind Enemy Lines group is suspicious. I am not fan of Mayor Johnson, but his administration and the police did nothing wrong in handling those crazies other than not having enough uniforms there. If you are going to be a spokesperson for an extremist group, then everyone should know your name so they can not associate with you.
- TNR - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 9:26 am:
In the Sun-Times this morning, there were just two reporters with bylines at the convention. There were seven assigned to the protest.
If you ever needed proof of the media (to put it kindly) “rooting for the story,” there it is.
- TJ - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 10:24 am:
== In the Sun-Times this morning, there were just two reporters with bylines at the convention. There were seven assigned to the protest.
If you ever needed proof of the media (to put it kindly) “rooting for the story,” there it is. ==
Agreed, but to be fair, “if it bleeds, it leads,” and I don’t think many were expecting Bernie and J.B. to get into a class war slugfest on stage.
- Peters Piece - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 10:44 am:
A 70 year old should know not to bicycle into a protest to see what is going on and not expect the unexpected. I work blocks from the United Center and think about wandering over after work until my brain kicks in and reminds me anything could happen. He sure did get to see what is going on. And I say this having joined the Floyd marches a cause I believed in.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 11:16 am:
===there were just two reporters with bylines at the convention===
You don’t really even need that many.
- ChicagoVinny - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 11:17 am:
I thought Duckworth’s speech was well done, personal and heartfelt.
- Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, Aug 21, 24 @ 12:17 pm:
Michelle Obama’s speech was the best one so far (and, there have been some good speeches). It is a must-watch; the text is very good, but the delivery made it great.