Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » Isabel’s morning briefing
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
Isabel’s morning briefing

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Experts say anti-immigrant rhetoric led to viral — and incorrect — allegations of a migrant takeover: Immigration experts — who pointed to similar incidents that have unfolded across the country in recent days — said some people are spreading misleading content about migrants on social media to sway voters for anti-immigrant candidates and causes. Panic over the emergence of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua spread in Colorado last week after Fox News in Denver aired a surveillance video. The footage, which also went viral, showed a group of men armed with semi-automatic long guns and pistols in an apartment complex in the city of Aurora.

* WTTW | Illinois Doesn’t Have Parole. A Group of Incarcerated Men is Working to Change That: At 46 years old, Raúl Dorado is 26 years into a life sentence at Stateville Correctional Center. […] “All of us who formed this nonprofit, we all either had a life without parole sentence or we had a de facto life sentence, or virtual life, which means you have so much time, you can’t outlive your sentence,” he said before his Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project (PNAP) class in Stateville’s education building.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Fox 2 Now | Illinois to soon ban mini shampoo bottles in hotel rooms: The law goes into effect beginning July 1, 2025, for hotels with 50 rooms or more and beginning Jan. 1, 2026, for hotels with less than 50 rooms. […] However, the law says a hotel may still provide personal-care products in small, single-use plastic bottles at no charge to a person, but only upon request at a place other than a room or public bathroom.

*** Statewide ***

* KHQA | Union leaders demand overhaul of Illinois job posting system amid vacancies: Representatives from the local AFSCME took to the streets to let their voices be heard about the frustrations with the Illinois Central Management Services. The Illinois CMS posts job openings for state workers, but has seen some issues in the recent months. Since February, CMShas failed to post job openings for union related positions.

* WICS | Doctors scramble for solutions amid mental health worker shortage: “The whole mental health system suffers, and the whole healthcare suffers when you don’t have access to psychiatrists,” said Dr. Kari Wolf, Chair of Psychiatry for the SIU School of Medicine. Many doctors have been feeling the impact of not having enough mental health professionals, which has been declining since before the pandemic. “Other professionals are left trying to manage psychiatric conditions,” Wolf said, “and they just don’t have the training or expertise.”

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Zone offense? Cardona says he has votes to become Zoning Committee chair — with or without mayor’s support: Business and labor leaders opposed to the mayor’s choice, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, drafted Ald. Felix Cardona to run as a compromise candidate. The Northwest Side alderperson is so confident he has enough support, he’s advising Mayor Brandon Johnson to back off or risk an embarrassing defeat. Sigcho-Lopez is not so sure.

* Sun-Times | City Council’s Budget Committee chair to summon CPS CEO Martinez to explain pension defiance: Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) called it borderline “malfeasance” for Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to push through a $9.9 billion school budget that does not include the pension payment the city had absorbed until then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot shifted the cost to CPS.

* Tribune | Safe Passage workers honored for protecting CPS students on walks to and from school: Glenda Rivera’s teenage son was shot while walking just across the street from his high school in Hermosa. Rivera’s son survived. But eight years later, when her daughter enrolled in the same school, Rivera felt that she needed to do something to protect the children in her neighborhood from violence on their way to get an education. So she joined her local Safe Passage team, donning a neon vest and standing guard every morning and afternoon as local students walked to and from class. She has now worked for Chicago Public Schools’ Safe Passage program for seven years and counting, she said.

* Sun-Times | Pace, CPS paratransit drivers reach tentative contract deal, potentially ending weekslong strike: Nearly 800 drivers walked off the job Aug. 16 in protest of what they said were unfair wages. After reaching a tentative deal with SCR Medical Transportation, they could be back at work by the end of the week if they vote to ratify the contract Thursday. […] Chicago Public Schools said it is “encouraged” that a new deal could soon be reached.

* Tribune | Obama Foundation fundraising slows; new museum teaser video released: The foundation raised $129 million in 2023, its lowest sum of the last seven years, according to IRS Form 990 filings, which are required annually from nonprofits. The year before, it raised $311 million, though the bulk of that sum came from tech titans Jeff Bezos and Brian Chesky. The development team raised $1.5 billion through the end of 2023, foundation spokeswoman Gloria Nlewedim told the Tribune in a statement, but “we saw fewer gifts of $25M+ than in previous years, which led to slightly below-average results,” last year.

* Block Club | Chicago’s Getting A Picture-Perfect Weekend With Sunny Skies, Cooler Temperatures: Thursday is expected to be mostly sunny and warm, with a high near 85 degrees, while Friday will top out at 69 degrees and could see isolated showers, according to the National Weather Service. But the good weather really kicks in Saturday, when the skies are expected to be sunny and temperatures will hit 65 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

* WBEZ | What’s That Building? Old Town School of Folk Music: In the 1990s, a Chicago public library building that had sat unused for a decade got a second life. Or maybe, because of the traditions at the Old Town School of Folk Music, which took over the Art Deco building, it’s more accurate to say it got a Second Half. The building is now a fine place to watch live music — or make some. In the main auditorium, 450-seat Maurer Hall, nobody’s more than 45 feet from the stage, and over that stage hangs a mural from the WPA era.

* Sun-Times | White Sox top Orioles, halt 12-game losing streak: Producing a formula not seen in weeks — three homers, a strong effort from the starting pitcher, scoreless relief pitching and two excellent defensive plays — the Sox improved to 5-38 since the All-Star break. At 32-109, they need to finish 11-10 in their last 21 games against the Red Sox, Guardians, Athletics, Angels, Padres and Tigers to avoid the 1962 Mets’ record of 120 losses.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Attorney for embattled Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard labels trustees corrupt, says she has ‘not committed any crimes’: At what was to have been a regularly scheduled Village Board meeting, Beau Brindley, an attorney hired some weeks ago by Henyard, said trustees who are at odds with her have “taken it upon themselves to try to take away the power of the mayor,” and labeled it “political corruption of the worst kind.” Brindley said that Henyard “is under attack by a corrupt board of trustees that believe they can subvert the will of the people.”

* Fox Chicago | Dolton’s new Village Administrator faces scrutiny over past allegations: The latest appointment by Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard has sparked significant controversy, as newly hired Village Administrator Michael A. Smith faces questions about his past legal troubles, including allegations of sexual harassment involving a 15-year-old girl and a history of multiple criminal charges.

* WGN | Tiffany Henyard’s party goes on, despite trustees’ efforts to stop it: “Let me make sure I’m crystal clear about this: I ain’t never took a goddam thing in my life,” Henyard told Facebook viewers during a livestream from the outdoor gathering. The event was promoted as the “Friends of Tiffany A. Henyard Picnic,” which immediately set off alarm bells among her opponents, who noted that “Friends of Tiffany A. Henyard” is also the name of the embattled politician’s campaign fund.

* Daily Herald | DuPage County clerk sued in dispute over how her bills are paid: The DuPage County state’s attorney’s office has asked a judge to order DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek to comply with county regulations regarding the payment of her bills so vendors can be paid in a timely manner. The lawsuit, called a writ of mandamus, was filed Wednesday. It claims the clerk is breaking state law when she refuses to indicate from where in her budget a bill should be paid when the budget line item for the expense does not have enough money for the payment.

* Daily Herald | Kane County free speech zone questioned by board members, public: Kane County Board Chairman Corinne Pierog said Wednesday that a First Amendment zone was created at the Kane County Government Center to ensure people had a place to speak — not to prohibit them from doing so anywhere else on the campus. But people who have been handing out leaflets at the county campus in Geneva say Pierog established the zone last week because the materials criticized her.

* Daily Herald | Fox River to flow freely through Carpentersville with dam removal: The Fox River will soon flow freely from Algonquin to Elgin. Crews will begin work on a $1.2 million project to remove the Carpentersville Dam this month. The project, which will be finished in November, will create a 10.2-mile unimpeded flow of the Fox River — the longest free-flowing stretch through Kane County. “May this be the model and lead domino in a movement that carries river restoration efforts progressively downstream,” said Friends of the Fox River President Gary Swick at a ribbon-tying event Wednesday to celebrate the start of the project.

* Daily Herald | How a nonprofit is tackling math anxiety in girls: Now Mission:MathMinds has entered into a partnership with the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund and the Herman + Rasiej Mathematics Initiative to further its mission and support innovative programs addressing math anxiety in girls. Programs include mentoring, scholar camps, national conferences, a global literacy campaign, and STEM kit donations to schools, as well as working with partners around the globe.

*** Downstate ***

* KWQC | East Moline mayor helps save veteran’s life after heart attack: Mayor Freeman says he was attending the Rock Island County Democrats Labor Day Picnic at Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council in East Moline. His friend, who is a 76-year-old Navy veteran was also in attendance and collapsed after he had a heart attack. Mayor Freeman’s friend’s grandson alerted him that his grandfather was having a heart attack, and that’s when he jumped in to perform CPR.

* WCIA | ‘We have made no progress on the issues that we organized around:’ UIS non-tenured faculty union file deamand for federal mediation: The non-tenured faculty union at UIS is fairly new, forming at the beginning of the year. Now, they’re hoping to create a more productive conversation to get a new contract. “Many of our non-tenured faculty were suddenly given contracts that asked them to teach additional classes without any additional compensation,” Fenton said.

* Pantagraph | Illinois State University rally denounces discrimination after hate crime report: ozens of students, faculty, staff and others at Illinois State University demonstrated Wednesday afternoon against discrimination of queer students on the Redbird campus. The rally came 10 days after the ISU Police Department issued an advisory on Facebook stating that four suspects confronted a student and knocked him off his scooter in the early morning hours of Aug. 24 outside the Bone Student Center. Investigators said the student was repeatedly punched in the face and called offensive, homophobic terms, prompting the police department to investigate the incident as a hate crime.

* Journal Gazette | Charleston, Mattoon wastewater treatment plants getting solar power: The cities of Charleston and Mattoon are pursuing the construction of solar arrays at their wastewater treatment plants with the goal of helping save money on powering these facilities. In Charleston, construction is underway for the array across from the wastewater treatment plant at 1200 W. Madison Ave. In Mattoon, the City Council voted Tuesday night to approve a power purchase agreement for the planned array at the 820 S. Fifth Place plant. Both cities are working with Renewable Energy Evolution and Commercial Electric Inc. of Lake Forest on these projects.

* WSIL | Low water levels in the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers impact local businesses: With lower water levels, Golcanda’s Marina Manager Keith Collier says they could see fewer people stopping by. “We have a lot of visitors, river traffic, pleasure crafts that come from the Evansville area down here regularly. So if they’re having issues north of us or south of us, it could affect us,” Collier said.

*** National ***

* AP | Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operation, US says: An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition” to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine.

       

12 Comments
  1. - Protocol Droid - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 9:56 am:

    Deb Conroy and Bob Berlin vs the Democratic county clerk who brought “Vote Anywhere” to DuPage County.


  2. - low level - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 10:09 am:

    ==Sigcho-Lopez once again branded Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) and others marshalling opposition to his appointment the “New Vrdolyak 29.==

    Byron, not even close. Sit down. You have no idea what you are talking about.


  3. - South Side - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 10:31 am:

    Seriously, I have said this a couple times…Someone, Anyone, needs to step in and help the Citizens of the Village of Dolton. The Governor, the Attorney General, the States Attorney. I know the FBI has an investigation, but something needs to happen in the meantime. The State passes a law about 1oz shampoo bottle but can’t help the citizens in Dolton.


  4. - Pundent - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 10:57 am:

    =I know the FBI has an investigation, but something needs to happen in the meantime. The State passes a law about 1oz shampoo bottle but can’t help the citizens in Dolton.=

    That’s assuming that the FBI would allow such an action. More often than not they don’t.


  5. - TNR - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 11:12 am:

    If the members of the City Council vote to install a committee chair who is not hand-picked by the mayor we will be witnessing a real political earthquake. I’d bet against it happening. Then again, a skilled mayor would recognize he’s got a problem and reshuffle the chairs in an effort to appease the various council factions and avoid spending a ton of political capital to take care of just one of his guys.


  6. - Give Us Barabbas - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 11:52 am:

    What the heck is wrong with CMS hiring?

    …is a question that has been asked since the Thompson administration. At this point seems outsourcing it couldn’t do any worse.


  7. - Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 12:11 pm:

    =Democratic county clerk who brought “Vote Anywhere” to DuPage County.

    She also can not follow basic procedures or laws regarding accounting practices or Bidding requirements. It has noting to do with voting.


  8. - Non-Attorney Spokesperson - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 12:14 pm:

    Another article about DuPage County not paying their bills? Sounds like something DJT would pull. Think twice before doing business in that place.


  9. - Anon324 - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 12:35 pm:

    ==All the charges against (Smith) were ultimately dismissed with the exception of a single petty misdemeanor…==

    You mean that pesky charge where he stole from the village he was working for, Mr. Brindley? This is the same guy your client has attempted to appoint without a quorum to a position that is already filled because he “knows the law like the back of his hand.” Can’t imagine why folks might think there’s a problem.


  10. - Protocol Droid - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 12:38 pm:

    =She also can not follow basic procedures or laws regarding accounting practices or Bidding requirements.=

    Says Conroy and Berlin. Looks like now we’re going to see if the courts agree.


  11. - Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 2:04 pm:

    Tren de Aragua gangs are running amuck in my neighborhood…Oh! wait…it was just my hysteria.


  12. - low level - Thursday, Sep 5, 24 @ 7:48 pm:

    ==Then again, a skilled mayor would recognize he’s got a problem==

    You are 100% spot on and this is the problem. Im not sure anyone on thr 5th Floor is skilled at all. Mayor, CoS, any of them.


TrackBack URI

Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


* Energy Storage And Clean Energy!
* A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
* Question of the day
* Today's must-read
* We have the receipts, Mr. Mayor
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Live coverage
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............


Loading


Main Menu
Home
Illinois
YouTube
Pundit rankings
Obama
Subscriber Content
Durbin
Burris
Blagojevich Trial
Advertising
Updated Posts
Polls

Archives
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004

Blog*Spot Archives
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005

Syndication

RSS Feed 2.0
Comments RSS 2.0




Hosted by MCS SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax Advertise Here Mobile Version Contact Rich Miller