* Rolling Stone…

In early March of last year, Casey was nearly done with her opening shift at a McDonald’s in DeLand, Florida, when she saw an alert pop up on her screen. It was a text from a friend with reports of a new proposed state law, an early draft of what would become Senate Bill 254. The bill aimed, among other restrictions, to further restrict access to gender-affirming care. As Casey read, a wave of panic took hold. This was the news she had feared most. […]

Over the next two months, Casey put her plan in place. She took on extra hours at work and listed their house on the market. The couple sold what they could — a camper, two canoes. When they learned the bill had been approved on Thursday, May 4, Casey didn’t hesitate. “I figured [Gov. Ron DeSantis] would sign it by 5 p.m. on Friday, so my goal was to be on the road by then,” she recalls. […]

While American’s today don’t typically uproot to protect their personal freedoms — taxes, sure — a wave of laws restricting interventions for transgender youth and limiting access to health care for adults has driven more people across the country to seek shelter in states with LGBTQ-friendly policies. A recent KFF/Washington Post survey, for example, shows that one in four transgender adults have relocated for a more accepting environment. “Calling this a new class of refugees is not overly dramatic,” says Abbie Goldberg, the director of women’s and gender studies at Clark University, who has spent years surveying American LGBTQ families. “We know people’s sense of safety, value, and basic citizenship are profoundly impacted by legislative change. It feels like an explicit relegation to second-class citizenship.”

“I’ve heard this phenomenon referred to as an uncountable diaspora,” says Kelly Cassidy, an Illinois state representative and vocal advocate for both abortion access and transgender rights. In the past several years, Rep. Cassidy helped push through the Reproductive Care Act, which ensures the right to have an abortion in Illinois and protects providers and patients coming from out of state. She has also stood behind a conversion-therapy ban, expanded coverage for transgender medical care, and proposed a tax credit for those fleeing more restrictive states for Illinois. “The impact is so broad,” she says, “it’s impossible to really count and quantify. It’s a little overwhelming to contemplate.” […]

But while some lawmakers are determined to restrict Americans’ access to medical care, those in Illinois, Minnesota, and Maryland, among others, have declared their states health care safe havens.

* Block Club…

The CTA didn’t engage in a competitive bidding process for the [Zero Eyes AI gun-detection] pilot, and the agency failed to hold an open discussion with its own governing board about the AI gun-detection program. CTA officials have refused to answer questions about key features of the program or their decision to pay the tech firm to launch a pilot with no clear end date. […]

The CTA has not provided a full copy of the contract as Block Club requested. But the portion shared by the agency includes a strict confidentiality clause that prevents the CTA from speaking about certain terms of the pilot. Also, “any modifications or extensions” to the agreement are confidential information. The records shared with Block Club don’t include a dollar amount or the dates when services began and are set to end. […]

State Rep. Kam Buckner, a state leader on transportation issues, said the CTA should have provided more information to the public before starting the pilot. […]

“Unfortunately, this type of opacity is typical of late within CTA,” Buckner said. “I would urge the CTA and other public agencies to prioritize transparency and public involvement when exploring technologies that can affect the lives of the people we are supposed to be serving.” […]

Carter had been in contact with ZeroEyes since at least the summer of 2023, when he attended a four-hour “Lunch and Learn for ZeroEyes” at Navy Pier, according to copies of his schedule reviewed by Block Club. The Zero Eyes technology has been used at Navy Pier for the past two years.

*** La Schiazza Trial ***

* Tribune | Jury resumes deliberations in trial of AT&T boss accused of bribing Speaker Michael Madigan: Shortly after returning, the jury sent the judge their first note, which read: “The government indicates that for a bribe there only needs to be ‘intent’ and no exchange. Is this consistent with the law?” This question seemed to hit at the heart of the case. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman called the jury back out and reread several pages of the jury instructions dealing with the elements of the bribery counts, then urged them to read it again back in the jury room. The instructions define bribery as a person giving or offering something of value to another person “with the intent to influence or reward an agents of state government in exchange for an official act.” Gettleman told the lawyers he’s not surprised by the confusion because the issue is complicated

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | New Bears lakefront stadium would only be a ‘playground’ for the rich, opponents say: Leaders from Friends of the Parks, Landmarks Illinois and People for Community Recovery voiced their opposition outside Soldier Field, arguing the plan would intensify an existing gap in development throughout the city and use public money in a way opposed by many taxpayers. “Ensuring Chicago’s lakefront remains forever open, clear and free is not the responsibility of one but the work of many,” Friends of the Parks interim executive director said Gin Kilgore, interim executive director of the influential Friends of the Parks. “With all the issues of inequity in Chicago, we cannot take our eyes off the real goal of accessible health care, addressing food deserts, affordable housing and abundant amenities in all of our parks for everyone to enjoy.”

* Block Club | West Loop’s Ald. Walter Burnett Appointed To Zoning Committee Chair: Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), Chicago’s vice mayor and longest-serving alderman, is now chairperson of City Council’s powerful zoning committee. The appointment ends a months-long saga after Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) resigned as zoning chair and as the mayor’s floor leader following an alleged physical confrontation with Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) at City Hall.

* Chalkbeat | Chicago Board of Education adopts new 5-year plan prioritizing neighborhood public schools: The plan, revealed publicly for the first time on Monday and approved by the board Wednesday, does not include CPS policy changes. But it sets out a slew of priorities and goals, including reducing chronic absenteeism, increasing state reading and math scores, and reducing teacher vacancies.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s new ‘Brown Belt’ is populated by Mexican residents who help fuel the area economy, report says: Chicago’s Mexican residents — who are now the dominant group in 15 community areas — undergird the region’s low-wage workforce and make significant contributions to its economy and culture, argues a new report released this week. The findings were highlighted Tuesday at the Latino Research Initiative 2024 Summit, organized by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago.

* Crain’s | Medline triples office footprint at Merchandise Mart: In a move that bucks the trend of companies embracing the remote work movement and slashing their office footprints, the Northfield-based company today announced it has inked a new long-term lease for 161,000 square feet at the Merchandise Mart. The new workspace adds 110,000 square feet to the office it has leased in the building since 2021 and makes the company one of the largest tenants in the hulking riverfront property.

* Tribune | As the Morton Salt complex was given a new life, a photographer captured the transformation: She never intended to become a photographer but that is what Sandra Steinbrecher is and in her new book “The Salt Shed: The Transformation of a Chicago Landmark,” she shows herself to be an extraordinary one. “There is not a day, not one day over the last three years that I have not thought about this place, whether I was on site or not,” she says. “From the first photo, it seemed momentous to me. But I never imagined how much work it would be. This is a Chicago story, but I think it could, or should, resonate with other cities, as all communities have to figure out how to manage their empty or abandoned buildings”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Crain’s | Suburban mental health center owners get prison time for $2.5M Medicaid fraud: Summer Matheson and Terrence Ewing, co-managers of Matteson-based Laynie Foundation, along with foundation employee Richard Grundy, each pleaded guilty last year to a federal health care fraud charge and were indicted on crimes back in 2019, according to a statement today from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois. On Sept. 12, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey sentenced Matheson, 46, to six years in federal prison, and Ewing, 62, to four and a half years, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

* Daily Herald | Lawsuit filed by family of Barrington teen killed when hit by Metra train: “Marin’s death was entirely preventable,” attorney James Pullos said in an announcement of the lawsuit. “Marin merely attempted to cross over the sidewalk on her way to school after the first train passed through the crossing. Without any warnings to alert her that an inbound train was coming from the opposite direction and without notice that this inbound track was what is sometimes called a ‘hot rail,’ Marin was unaware there was a second train approaching.”

* WSPY | Aurora Mayor and Kane County Sheriff clash over 2023 K9 Hudson incident: Meanwhile, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office says the incident remains under investigation by the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force. State’s Attorney Mosser says in a statement that she disagrees with Hain’s comments and does not blame Aurora PD for the outcome of the incident.

* Daily Herald | Hanover Township Emergency Services receives recertification from Cook County: The recertification process required township staff and officials to work through an emergency scenario that could extend for days, such as severe flooding, a winter storm, or a tornado touchdown. Township personnel developed plans for evacuating residents to safe locations and disbursing supplies while keeping buildings open to serve as shelters. Emergency Services officers identified damaged areas and needed resources that the township could provide to assist in initial response activities. The exercise also allowed for Emergency Services to demonstrate their communications in working with command level personnel in impacted communities.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘Feels like home’: Urbana Mayor reflects on time in office, community involvement: City of Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin is not running for re-election in the spring, but she’ll remain involved in the community she’s called “home” for decades. “I’ve lived in Urbana for over 50 years,” Marlin said. “I came here as a freshman (at the U of I) many years ago, and what I love about it — even back then — it is a very welcoming community and feels like home.”

*** National ***

* AP | Fed chops key interest rate by a sizable half-point, turns focus to more jobs: The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point, a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for American consumers.

* DNYUZ | Study Reveals Bird-Migration Mystery: Scientists have long assumed that a basic trade-off made migration worth the gamble: Once birds arrived at their wintering grounds, they wouldn’t need to work so hard to stay warm, saving substantial amounts of energy. “But nobody ever tested this,” said Nils Linek, a behavioral ecologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany. Now, Dr. Linek and his colleagues have done so. Their findings, based on a partially migratory population of German blackbirds, challenge the conventional wisdom. Even in the depths of winter, blackbirds basking in balmy southern Europe or northern Africa did not spend any less energy than those riding out the cold in Germany, the scientists found.