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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, Aug 23, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * SJ-R’s Statehouse reporter…
* Tribune | Roads are reopening around Chicago as the DNC ends. Here’s when all the security perimeters will be removed.: For McCormick Place, the perimeter started to come down Thursday evening. By 3 p.m. Friday, all major intersections will be cleared and the Interstate Highway 55 off-ramp will reopen. By 6 a.m. Sunday, Cermak Road from Michigan Avenue to Indiana Avenue will be clear and by 8 a.m. the entire area will be open.
* Sun-Times | Mayor celebrates city’s handling of DNC: ‘People fell back in love with Chicago’: Johnson said the city had pulled off the “best convention this country has ever seen,” while pointing out the unmet expectation of conflicts between police and protesters who marched in support of Palestinians and against Israeli military action in Gaza. “If the 1968 convention went down in history as the example of police brutality, then the 2024 convention will go down as the example of constitutional policing,” said Johnson, who inherited the convention from his predecessor Lori Lightfoot. * WBEZ | Rest up, Chicago. Illinois politicians want to bring the DNC back in 2028.: Before the DNC was half over, Governor JB Pritzker was making a soft-pitch that Chicago was ready to do it all over again in 2028. He was ready with the facts, telling an interviewer that three of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential nominations were in Chicago and that Adlai Stevenson was nominated at two consecutive Chicago conventions in the 1950s. * Daily Herald | ‘Kamala knocked it out of the park’: Chicago-area delegates have glowing reviews for Harris’ acceptance speech: Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris knocked her acceptance speech “out of the park,” capping a party convention filled with joy and optimism, suburban delegates said Friday. “The entire energy throughout the convention was electrifying throughout the week, and it hit a new high (Thursday night),” said Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega, a Grayslake resident who was a delegate for the 10th Congressional District. * NBC Chicago | At least 1 sickened after mealworms possibly dropped on tables at Chicago hotel hosting DNC breakfast: Mealworms may have sickened at least one person at a Chicago hotel event earlier this week during the Democratic National Convention, the city’s police superintendent said Thursday. […] One person who ingested the food was treated by medical personnel and released at the scene, according to Chicago police. * Block Club | Urban Historian Sherman ‘Dilla’ Thomas’ Whirlwind DNC Week Got Pols, Delegates Out Of Downtown: Since Sunday, the Auburn Gresham resident — Chicago’s favorite urban historian — led delegates and politicians in town for the Democratic National Convention on two history bus tours per day across the city’s South and West sides. His Chicago Mahogany Tours took guests through Englewood, Bronzeville, Woodlawn, North Lawndale, Garfield Park, Pullman and Roseland. Thursday’s tour snaked through Little Village and Pilsen to “show what happens to legacy residents who are priced out of spaces,” he said. * Bolts Mag | Chicago Police Made Nearly 200,000 Secret Traffic Stops Last Year: The rate of stops conducted off-the-books has increased under Superintendent Larry Snelling, even as he has positioned himself as an agent of reform who is moving the Chicago Police Department away from its longstanding strategy of using traffic stops to find illegal guns and tamp down on crime. In June, Snelling reported traffic stops were down by about 87,000 over the same time last year. But behind that reduction is a pattern of thousands of unreported police encounters, which accounted for one-third of all traffic stops over the first seven months of Snelling’s tenure. * Sun-Times | CPS school year starts Monday; 4 things to watch: In the face of a bus driver shortage since the start of the pandemic, CPS has tried a new approach to get the thousands of kids who ride school buses to class. Students at selective-enrollment and magnet schools have been hit particularly hard. They had no busing at all last year, angering parents. CPS officials said they had to cancel that busing because the law requires them to prioritize kids with disabilities and children who are unhoused — some who were spending over an hour on a bus to school. * Crain’s | How many pickleball courts does Chicago really need?: Our newsroom was taken aback, however, when an Arizona-based pickleball franchise sent us a release earlier this month promising 36 new pickleball locations to open across Illinois. Surely there cannot be an additional three dozen facilities’ worth of dinking demand here, right? We decided to take a step back. Just how popular has pickleball become? Is the market in Chicago at risk of becoming oversaturated? When will the sport peak? * NBC Chicago | Here are the street closures for the 2024 Chicago Triathlon: The 2024 Democratic National Convention may have wrapped up Thursday, but the city is preparing to host yet another event this weekend, with street closures both downtown and on the northern lakefront on the docket for the Chicago Triathlon. The Chicago Triathlon features events on both days this weekend, with Kids and SuperSprint races taking place Saturday before Olympic and Sprint competition is held Sunday. * Crain’s | Wacker Drive office tower hits the market as loan maturity looms: There is no asking price listed for the 943,581-square-foot tower overlooking the Chicago River. But it’s likely worth far less than Beacon’s total investment as well as the balance of a $156 million mortgage from Bank of America that it took out to finance the 2018 purchase, based on recent sales of downtown office buildings and the murky outlook for workspace demand. * Daily Southtown | Around the Southland: Will County trail extension project complete, more: Construction work at the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Lake Chaminwood Preserve in Channahon was completed last week and barriers were removed on a new paved path connecting the preserve to the I&M Canal State Trail. The 0.25-mile path extension has replaced a grass trail that was used for shoreline fishing on the western portion of the lake. This new trail section connects to the 61.5-mile I&M Canal State Trail via a 90-foot bridge over the canal. * Daily Herald | ‘You always want to leave a place better’: District 76 superintendent will depart after this school year: After 10 years leading and advancing the tiny district, Superintendent Bhavna Sharma-Lewis will leave at the end of the school year “to write the next chapter of my story,” she informed staff and families. “When I joined the district, I set out with a vision to create an environment that prioritizes academic and professional excellence, cultivates a healthy and supportive culture and focuses on the holistic well-being of every student and staff member,” she wrote. * WJBD | Centralia breaks ground on new water treatment plant: The City of Centralia broke ground Wednesday on its $28-million water treatment plant that will replace the nearly 100 year old facility. Mayor Bryan Kuder called it a monumental event that will not only provide water to the city of Centralia but to 32,000 residents across the region. * WCIA | Decatur reminds residents of sign bans in the right of way: The City of Decatur is issuing a reminder to residents that they do not allow signs on the public right of way. City officials said in a Facebook post Thursday that the ordinance banning on signs and decorations is to help keep pedestrians and drivers safe by helping visibility. This includes banners and flags as well as signs, including ones of promotional and political nature. * AP | How to prepare for the Fed’s forthcoming interest rate cuts: The Federal Reserve is poised to cut its benchmark interest rate next month from its 23-year high, with consequences for consumers when it comes to debt, savings, auto loans and mortgages. Right now, most experts envision three quarter-point Fed cuts — in September, November and December — though even steeper rate cuts are possible. “The time has come” for the Fed to reduce interest rates, Powell said Friday in his keynote speech at the Fed’s annual economic conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.” * CBS | U.S. Justice Department sues RealPage, alleging it enabled price-fixing on rents: The complaint claims the Richardson, Texas-based company and its competitors engaged in a price-fixing scheme by sharing nonpublic, sensitive information, which RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software used to generate pricing recommendations. The company replaced competition with rent coordination to the detriment of renters across the U.S., according to the suit, monopolizing the market through its revenue management software which was used by landlords to maximize rent costs. * AP | Canada forces arbitration in freight train labor dispute, averting economic crisis: Freight trains are expected to start rolling again soon in Canada after the government forced the country’s two major railroads into arbitration with their labor union Thursday, averting potentially dire economic consequences across the country and in the U.S. Canadian National said it ended its lockout immediately Thursday evening in an effort to get its trains running quickly. CPKC railroad did not say exactly when its lockout would end. The company said in a statement that it will follow the direction of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is overseeing the arbitration. The union hasn’t yet responded to the government’s decision.
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- Techie - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 3:59 pm:
If there’s one thing you can count on in Illinois politics, it’s for major parties to try to get other candidates thrown off the ballot.
- Cheswick - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 4:28 pm:
After reading the Chicago pickleball piece, I was checking out Springfield’s Pickleball scene. It was a surprise to see them that in addition to the park district Park district courts, there’s also a private pickleball facility with outdoor and indoor courts. Membership is not cheap- but that’s just my budget.