Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2024

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Phil’s bass lines in this are just crazy good…

Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right

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Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

Phil Lesh, the classically trained musician who co-founded the Grateful Dead and whose unconventional bass playing steered the band into some of its most experimental directions, died Friday at the age of 84.

Lesh’s death was announced on social media, with a short statement reading: “Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of the Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning. He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.” […]

The Grateful Dead played “electric chamber music,” according to Lesh, whose primary influence as a bassist was Johann Sebastian Bach’s style of counterpoint (the relationship of two independent yet interdependent musical voices). When not dropping his infamous “bass bombs,” he played his instrument as though it were a low guitar, usually with a pick, and often like a lead instrument. The Sixties became an era of intense musical experimentation for the group, most prominently on the band’s second album, Anthem of the Sun, where Lesh suggested overdubbing several different live versions of “The Other One” on top of one another and letting them drift apart. “I have nostalgic feelings for that psychedelic-ranger era, when we would play Anthem live in its entirety,” he told Rolling Stone in 2014. “It was apocalyptic – every time.”

* NY Times…

Key to the dynamic of The Dead was the way Mr. Lesh used the bass to provide ever-shifting counterpoints to the dancing leads of the lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, the curt riffs of the rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, the bold rhythms of the drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, and, in the band’s first eight years, the warm organ work of Ron McKernan, known as Pigpen.

A source of particular excitement was the relationship between Mr. Lesh’s instrument and Mr. Garcia’s. At times they mirrored each other. At other times they contrasted, in the process widening the music’s melodic nuances while helping to create the kind of variety and tension that allowed the band to improvise at length without losing the listener.

* Turn up the bass in your mix and listen to this song…

Nothin’s gonna bring him back.

I played bass guitar in bands during high school and college. But what Phil did was just so far out of reach. Nobody could do it. He was an essential element to the Grateful Dead’s music and he can’t ever be replicated.

* Bertha…

It was like having another guitar player in the band, but with that bass kick. Top of the scale and way down low. Click here for another example. Amazing stuff.

* The camera focuses often on Phil in this video, so you can see how he made the magic…

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* I thoroughly enjoyed reading this profile of courtroom sketch artist Lou Chukman from Block Club…

The artist, who lives in Pilsen, keeps the originals of thousands of courtroom sketches — of the innocent, the guilty and the in-between — in an indiscriminate Bridgeport storage locker.

The folders date back to 1975. Flipping through the sketches, Chukman, 69, pulled out “a white haired judge with a long face,” an 11-year-old hit man, a row of renegade “super gang” members and former Mayor Lori Lightfoot making a case as a young federal prosecutor. […]

“You usually have to get indicted for me to draw you,” Chukman said. “I don’t like people.” […]

DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin has four of Chukman’s courtroom sketches hanging in his office, stretching back to a double murder at a Chicago bar he prosecuted more than two decades ago.

“Lou seems to use color more often than other artists,” Berlin said. “I keep the sketches because they keep the memory of the trial alive. People need to be reminded of the impact these crimes have on our community, and that there are folks who work hard for justice. I consider Lou a journalist. His sketches capture more than a few paragraphs can.”

Go read the rest.

* At 7 pm the governor will give remarks at La Casa Norte Annual Gala Esperanza. Click here to watch.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | A Chicago cop faces firing over a fatal shooting. Months earlier, he shot and paralyzed another man: Ruiz arrived with other officers, approached the driver’s side of Comer’s friend’s vehicle “and immediately fired his weapon at Mr. Comer at least eleven times without issuing commands,” the lawsuit claims. Comer was trying to park the car closer to the curb when the cops showed up, and he wasn’t holding a gun at the time. “At no point did Mr. Comer grab a weapon, much less threaten an officer with it or pose a threat to any officer or citizen of bodily harm or death,” the suit holds. The shooting left Comer, 39, paralyzed from the waist down, according to the suit, which targets the city of Chicago, Ruiz and other officers.

* Chicago Reader | ‘A common sense problem’ : A coalition of Black women alders led by Jeanette Taylor (20) and Stephanie Coleman (16), along with Mayor Brandon Johnson, pushed for the hearing. The resolution that called for the hearing cited the seven-part investigation “Missing in Chicago,” copublished by Invisible Institute and City Bureau in November, an excerpt of which also ran as a Chicago Reader cover story. The series was awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. Alders also highlighted a 2023 series by CBS Chicago journalist Dorothy Tucker on crime and violence against Black women.

* Bloomberg | Bally’s $1.8 Billion Chicago Casino Hinged on Landlord Redesign: For months, casino industry veteran Peter Carlino pondered whether to back the massive gambling resort Bally’s Corp. had won approval to build in downtown Chicago. Carlino, chief executive officer of Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc., liked the idea of financing the only casino in America’s third-largest city, but he had issues with the design. So he dispatched one of his staffers to engage with Bally’s on a top-to-bottom rethink of the property.

* Block Club | Latino-Owned Cannabis Dispensary Opens In Avondale: Bloc Avondale opened last week at 3545 N. Kedzie Ave., a former mattress and paint warehouse building. Bloc is the first social equity license dispensary for Avondale and the second dispensary to open in the neighborhood. Louis Lopez, who grew up in Hermosa and Belmont Cragin, owns the dispensary. It’s one of 11 stores nationwide from operator Justice Cannabis Co., which was started by Chicago civil rights attorneys in 2014. Justice CEO Alexzandra Fields, who lives in Lakeview, helps run the shop.

* Sun-Times | Former Loyola football teammates battle cancer together as doctor and patient: Mike Lowe and Dan Dammrich watched the Loyola vs. Providence game together. The two former Loyola football teammates blended in with all the others hanging out on the sideline. They greeted old friends, talked with assistant coaches and enjoyed a warm mid-October Saturday afternoon. […] Lowe, a reporter for WGN-TV, was diagnosed with stage 3(c)N+ colon cancer in May. […] But the personal connection and the old high school football tie is making it easier for Lowe.

* Sun-Times | Substandard Media: Chicago Sports Network’s broadcast partner isn’t doing channel, fans any favors: The decision by the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks to partner with Standard Media for their new regional sports network was perplexing from the start. Here was a small media company based in Nashville, Tennessee, carrying the teams’ hopes and dreams. Its job would be to get the network distributed as widely as possible. For that to happen, Standard would need to agree to a carriage deal with Comcast, the largest TV provider in the Chicago market. More than three weeks into Chicago Sports Network’s existence, no deal is in sight, validating concerns that Standard was not equipped for the job.

* WTTW | Day of the Dead’s Iconic Flower Plants Seeds of Cultural Connection in Chicago: For the past six months, staff and students at the University of Illinois Chicago have been tending thousands of marigolds on the grounds of the school’s Plant Research Laboratory, sowing seeds in the spring and nurturing plots of the flowers throughout the growing season. The brilliant orange and yellow blooms aren’t part of an official scientific study, but they do represent a cultural experiment of sorts. […] Turns out the marigolds in UIC’s garden — specifically the species known as Aztec marigolds (Tagetes erecta) — are destined for use during Dia de los Muertos.

* Block Club | Old Irving Park Lawn Transformed Into ‘Six Hags Boosment Park’ For Halloween: The Old Irving Park Halloween display features amusement park rides like Skelly the Striker, The Bone Rattler roller coaster, the Wheel of Death and the Fright Flight swing tower. An archery target with a skeleton is spinning in the background, and a skeleton dog and human are at the park enjoying the fun.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* AP | DNA tests identify 19th-century teenager’s skull found in Illinois home’s wall: The skull went forgotten until March of 2021, when museum supervisors discovered it during an inventory audit. They called police, who sent the skull to the coroner’s office. Working with Othram Laboratories, a forensic laboratory in Texas that assists law enforcement, the office was able to build a DNA profile from the skull that suggested it was that of Esther Granger, a 17-year-old woman who died during childbirth in Merrillville, Indiana, in 1866.

* Shaw Local | Downers Grove at odds: Video gambling referendum stirs passionate debate: Residents will be asked to vote on a nonbinding advisory referendum that would allow restaurants and recreational/club/private facilities to operate video gambling terminals beginning Jan. 1. If approved, the measure would restrict the number of licenses to 10. The ordinance also would have specific stipulations on the number of terminals (six), terminal configuration and terminal visibility.

* Sun-Times | At this Northwestern professor’s lab, plastic-eating microbes show promise to gobble up microplastics in nature: The 18-person team’s latest finding has helped science inch closer to answering a question that’s perplexed researchers for years: Can the bacteria that cling to plastic bottles in rivers eat up all of that plastic and help get rid of that pollutant? The answer, according to Aristilde’s team’s recently published research, is yes.

* Daily Herald | Delnor Hospital’s drone delivery program saves time transferring specimens, medical supplies: A partnership between Northwestern Medicine and the Valqari drone delivery company in Lombard sends specimens and medical supplies in time-saving flights between the hospital and the Delnor Cancer Center. Without the drones, most deliveries at Delnor are made during four scheduled courier trips, or by nursing staff or laboratory technicians who make the deliveries on foot across Delnor Drive. It takes about a half-hour to cover the half-mile round-trip on foot. Staff does this more than 40 times a month. […] “A half-hour is a good chunk of a nurse’s day,” said Ryan Walsh, Valqari CEO and founder. “We can make that same delivery in about 4 minutes.”

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Former deputy accused of murdering Sonya Massey now in Macon County Jail: Macon County Jail records show Sean Grayson was transferred Thursday afternoon to the facility. He was previously held in Menard County Jail. […] Grayson’s next trial date is Dec. 2. His lawyer appealed for pre-trial release for him under the SAFE-T Act, but two courts so far have denied him.

* Rockford Register Star | Winnebago County Mental Health Board appointee drops out after questions are raised: County Board Chairman Joe Chiarelli during a Thursday night board meeting said that Terri Hitzke of Loves Park no longer wanted to be considered for the four-year appointment “for reasons that she is going to put in a letter to the county board chairman and to the county board about what she has had to endure during this process.” […] Chiarelli said he looked into concerns that had been raised and ultimately decided they were unfounded. Chiarelli had planned to bring her appointment back to the County Board floor on Thursday night.

* WIFR | Winnebago County Board members react to RAVE Board vacancy: ‘Surprised’ is how some Winnebago County Board members describe the news that Hard Rock Casino Rockford President Geno Iafrate is stepping down from his position with the RAVE Board. […] John Guevara, Winnebago County Board member, says he’s surprised to hear about Iafrate leaving RAVE. “I think the contributions, you know, spoke for themselves. There was a significant partnership between entities across the board,” he says.

* SJ-R | Public gets a look at new master plan for downtown Springfield, medical district: The 278-page document was recently rolled out online, but members of the public got a close-up of specifics at an open house at Memorial Learning Center on Oct. 24. […] “We all kind of want to see, in my opinion, the end result. We want cool shops. We want good restaurants,” Stremsterfer said. “We do have a lot of those great things already. We just want more of them.

* SJ-R | City of Springfield will resume showing faces of public commenters at meetings: The city of Springfield will resume showing faces of public commenters at its committee of the whole meeting Tuesday. For the past two meetings, the city preempted video but not audio during public commentary citing “unauthorized recording and sharing of meeting content.” Haley Wilson, a spokeswoman for the city, told The State Journal-Register last week the move was “temporary” and may be lifted.

* STLPR | A Metro East nonprofit increases after-school programs with a $450,000 Illinois state grant: East Side Aligned, a local nonprofit serving youth, received a nearly $450,000 Illinois state grant to help bring more after-school programs and services to children and families in East St. Louis and the surrounding communities. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority’s Restore, Reinvest and Renew program funds community organizations that work in areas that have been harmed by economic disinvestment, violence and excessive incarceration. It is funded through state revenue from adult recreational cannabis sales.

*** National ***

* Semafor | Why there are fewer polls this election: In addition to the usual concerns about accurately predicting a race that’s effectively deadlocked in every swing state, the sheer number of high-quality, brand-name polls has been in decline for several cycles. Politico’s polling reporter Steven Shepard lamented that last weekend bizarrely passed without any major polls of note nationally or in battlegrounds, although they picked up later this week on both counts. That means less grist for obsessive news consumers and less data for big aggregators and forecasters trying to make sense of the race.

* The Atlantic | Election officials are under siege: ”Stop counting votes, or we’re going to murder your children”: Around the country, election officials have already received death threats and packages filled with white powder. Their dogs have been poisoned, their homes swatted, their family members targeted. In Texas, one man called for a “a mass shooting of poll workers and election officials” in precincts with results he found suspicious. “The point is coercion; the point is intimidation. It’s to get you to do or not do something,” Al Schmidt, the secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, told me—to get you to “stop counting votes, or we’re going to murder your children, and they name your children,” a threat that Schmidt said he received in 2020. This year, the same things may well happen again. “I had one election official who said they called her on her cellphone and said, ‘Looks like your mom made lasagna tonight; she’s wearing that pretty yellow dress that she likes to wear to church,” Tammy Patrick, the chief programs officer at the National Association of Election Officials and a former elections officer in Maricopa County, Arizona, told me. “It’s terrorism here in America.”

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It’s far more complicated than this

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* WBEZ on why extending the Invest in Kids tax credit program failed…

What held lawmakers back?

This time, it was lobbying.

“The only reason this doesn’t get done is because there are very, very powerful special interests groups that don’t want it to happen,” said Wilhour. “You know, the Chicago Teachers Union, the Illinois Education Association.”

While that may seem incendiary, in this case, it’s true.

Dan Montgomery, president and chief operating officer of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said teachers unions oppose programs like Invest in Kids because they think the annual $75 million should have been used for public education, instead of vouchers to remove kids from public school.

The teachers unions did indeed lobby hard against the extension. But as we’ve discussed before, the big money people funding the extension push absolutely refused to even consider a compromise.

* Proponents could’ve divided the opposition by agreeing to phasing out the program over time. Kids with scholarships would keep them until they graduated, for example. It’s a pretty easy argument to make and one that loads of Democrats were open to.

The benefit for proponents would be keeping the tax credit alive. The idea in situations like this is to find a way to live to fight another day.

Instead, both sides took an all-or-nothing stance and the side with the most votes won.

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Illinois temporarily suspends betting on certain aspects of NFL games

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Tribune…

At the request of the NFL, Illinois has banned certain bets on professional football games that are feared to be too liable to manipulation by any one player, coach or referee.

First plays, replay results, and whether a kicker will miss a field goal or extra point are among 11 prohibited bets under the new policy, to avoid potential “serious risk” to the integrity of sports gambling.

The Illinois Gaming Board took the action Thursday in response to a request by the NFL to prohibit betting on events considered objectionable or “100% determinable by one person in one play.”

Other forbidden bets include those involving fan safety, player misconduct, penalties, officiating assignments, roster or personnel decisions, and whether a quarterback’s first pass of a game will be incomplete.

* Sports Casting…

Earlier this month, the NFL requested to have the issue brought up for a vote at a meeting. However, an oversight had the league’s request not appear on the IGB’s website until October 16. Laws in Illinois say that 14 days is required to allow licensees and the public an opportunity to comment. The oversight by the IGB meant that the 14-day period was not over until October 30.

Jonathan Nabavi presented the league’s case to the IGB. He is the Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs for the NFL. Nabavi stated the league wants to have wagers banned on what the NFL deems “objectionable bets for objective markets.” These types of wagers include betting on player injuries, fan safety, officiating assignments, and roster and personnel decisions.

Additionally, there were more game-specific wagers that the league deemed objectionable. That involves player misconduct (penalties), wagering on replays to be conformed or overturned, and wagering on the first play of the game. It also includes wagering on negative outcomes of plays like missing an extra point after a touchdown was scored.

Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Charles Schmadeke asked around to see if other states had language that prohibited “objectional bets.” Jonathan Nabavi responded and said that multiple jurisdictions have these types of rules in place. Nabavi mentioned how the IGB was able to place bans on similar types of wagers during the Super Bowl.

* Illinois Gaming Board…

The suspension will remain in place at least until the next IGB meeting on December 12 when the Board will revisit this matter. A copy of the temporary suspension order and the NFL’s request are available here.

* Meanwhile, from Casino Reports…

The brainchild of one of the gambling industry’s top inventors is now the most recognizable company at the forefront of the blossoming — and controversial — “skill games” industry. […]

As a privately owned company, Pace-O-Matic does not release much information about itself. It doesn’t reveal how many games it has in operation in the U.S. And it doesn’t share any financial figures either. […]

Skill games are gaming devices that look and feel similar to traditional slot machines. However, whereas those casino games rely purely on chance, manufacturers like Pace-O-Matic say their games rely on the player’s skill.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global skill game industry was valued at nearly $31 billion in 2022 and it’s expected to swell to $85.34 billion by 2030.

And, in the U.S., it’s all unregulated.

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Question of the day

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune management is obviously lacking in the training department. Email exchange…

The initial mistake is probably understandable. Following up with something like, “Ope, my bad,” would be fine. But then to go on and ask a person via a state email account for help reaching a campaign account after being told such correspondence is prohibited is probably not a great idea.

Again, this is obviously a training issue.

But it’s not uncommon, even among people who should know better. I regularly hear gripes from government spokespeople about reporters asking them campaign questions. Heck, I’ve done it occasionally because I just wasn’t thinking. But I backed off when realizing my mistake. Not everyone does that.

Anyway…

* The Question: If you were the state legislator in question, how would you respond to that follow-up email? It’s Friday, so snark is not discouraged.

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Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Retail provides one out of every five Illinois jobs, generates the second largest amount of tax revenue for the state, and is the largest source of revenue for local governments. But retail is also so much more, with retailers serving as the trusted contributors to life’s moments, big and small.

We Are Retail and IRMA are dedicated to sharing the stories of retailers like Ellen and Julie, who serve their communities with dedication and pride.

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Roundup: Jury hears first wiretaps in Madigan corruption trial

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Sun-Times…

This week began with opening statements in the racketeering conspiracy trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, whose attorneys insisted that no one had the right to speak for the speaker — that Madigan was “ignorant” of what people said behind his back.

But it ended with prosecutors playing a crush of about 30 recordings that suggest otherwise: That Madigan’s longtime friend Michael McClain went straight from retiring as a lobbyist in late 2016 to doing “assignments” for Madigan — what a prosecutor called his “dirty work.” […]

Defense attorneys punched back, though, taking a longtime FBI agent to task over the way he and a colleague convinced former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez to wear a wire for the feds and make crucial recordings of his friends and colleagues that jurors will likely see soon.

McClain attorney Patrick Cotter challenged Special Agent Ryan McDonald over whether the “best way to get a cooperator” was to put them in the backseat of a car and keep talking to them after they said they were scared, like Marquez did.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the best way,” McDonald said.

“It worked here,” Cotter retorted.

* Courthouse News…

Another batch of recordings from the autumn of 2018 revolved around Lou Lang, a Democratic ex-state representative and former deputy House majority leader who took the witness stand Thursday morning. Lang resigned his position in January 2019 amid sexual misconduct allegations, despite the legislative inspector general clearing him the prior September. Federal prosecutors presented the case that Madigan and McClain worked to push Lang out anyway.

“You know, I think the guy’s gonna be a continuing problem, that’s my expectation. And I mean you can understand my position right?” Madigan told McClain in a September 2018 call jurors heard. “I have to sit and think about what I do with this guy on appointments. Do I appoint him to the leadership or not?”

McClain responded on the call that “he got it.” […]

In a November 2018 call, McClain counseled Lang to move on to another career, referencing a woman who had threatened to “go public” if Lang was in a House leadership position.

“So this is no longer me talking. I’m an agent, someone that cares deeply about you, who thinks that you really ought to move on” McClain told Lang in the call.

* Tribune…

On the stand, Lang said he knew McClain was saying he was simply a messenger for Madigan, who was no longer interested in giving Lang a more powerful position within the House.

“The Speaker wanted me to leave,” Lang told jurors, saying that he believed if he went quietly then Madigan could use his influence to throw some business his way.

Asked Thursday whether the call had an impact on his career, Lang did not hesitate.

“It was very clear to me from this call that my career had dead-ended, because the speaker was in control of my ability to move up the ranks and get the leadership that I wanted to have,” Lang testified.

* Capitol News Illinois…

But other recordings played in court on Thursday also demonstrated McClain acting on a request from Madigan. For example, in a May 2018 call during the last week of the General Assembly’s spring legislative session, Madigan asked McClain to head off a former lawmaker-turned-lobbyist named Sam Panayotovich who’d left a message with the speaker’s office requesting a conversation with Madigan.

“Are you in position to advise Mr. Panayotovich to stay away from me?” Madigan asked McClain.

Within 10 minutes, McClain called the lobbyist and briefly explained to him that “the optics just aren’t good” for the speaker to have a meeting with Panayotovich and his lobbying partner Joe Berrios, who’d recently been defeated in his re-election bid for Cook County Assessor after his opponent accused him of rampant corruption.

Prior to playing the more than 30 recordings of wiretapped calls on Thursday, prosecutors also showed the jury a December 2016 letter McClain sent to Madigan, in which McClain wrote that he “wanted to let my ‘real’ client know that I am retiring as a lobbyist” but said he was “willing … to do ‘assignments’” for the speaker.

* More…

ABC Chicago | Jury hears 1st of many undercover recordings in former IL Speaker Mike Madigan corruption trial:

* WBEZ | Dozens of secret recordings at Madigan trial show close ties with McClain, undercutting key defense point: In court Thursday, Lang told Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu that, “I understood at that time that [McClain] was a messenger for the speaker.” He also told the prosecutor that “it was very clear to me, from this call, that my career had ended. Because the speaker was in control of my ability to move up the ranks and get the leadership that I wanted to have.”

* WGN | Secret recordings expose Madigan and McClain’s close ties in corruption trial: Taking the stand Thursday, FBI agent Ryan McDonald vouched for the blizzard of phone conversations and emails. Aside from official business, many recordings heard in court between Madigan and McClain were brief and to the point. The two were heard making dinner plans or travel arrangements, which prosecutors say demonstrates the closeness of their relationship while meting out punishment in the Illinois House.

* ABC Chicago | State Rep. Bob Rita begins testimony: State Rep. Bob Rita began his testimony Thursday. He testified for about 10 minutes before court was dismissed about 5 p.m. […] Rita’s testimony will resume Monday.

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Pritzker responds to Local 150 claim about data center power usage growth

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From yesterday…

[Jim Sweeney, president of Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers] is all-in on data centers. He said they’re an AI-driven trend so vast that Illinois will need 40% more electricity just to run data centers on the drawing board now.

40 percent more electricity? The governor has said he’s been monitoring data center power usage, so I asked his office for a response.

* From Gov. JB Pritzker…

While I can’t speak to the specific number being referenced without seeing the full report, based on projections I have seen 40% growth in the coming years is likely the upper bound rather than the expectation. As high-tech, high-growth industries continue to move and expand in Illinois, the demand for clean electricity is certainly going to grow. Though we cannot predict the precise patterns of energy consumption, we can continue to take steps to rapidly develop and deploy clean energy infrastructure to accommodate booming industry and economic growth.

Since day one as governor, I’ve made it a priority to meet that moment and advance solutions to meet our growing energy needs while fighting climate change. In the three years since we passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, we’ve closely monitored the current and projected resources of our state, including 5,400 MW of new renewable energy under development through subsidies, as well as Renewable Energy Credit Procurements. Not to mention, there are a multitude of new clean energy projects advancing without the need for state support — further signaling the rapid growth we expected. I’m working consistently with fellow Governors to push the grid operators for Illinois to improve their process for connecting new generation to the grid. We’ve also continued to regularly engage with industry stakeholders and advocates to determine best practices and identify the economic impacts of high energy usage as we all adjust to this new reality.

Thoughts?

27 Comments

Kenneally goes down swinging

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* WTVO…

An Illinois State’s Attorney is calling the state’s ban on cash bail an “abject failure,” saying the SAFE-T Act has created “the exact problems predicted by critics.”

* The news story was essentially just a rewrite of a press release without question from lame duck McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally. Fox32 Chicago did the same thing, but they at least acknowledged it…

McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally is calling the SAFE-T Act an “abject failure,” pointing to significant increases in crime, jail population and failures to appear in court since its implementation. […]

FOX 32 Chicago wrote this article based on a news release from McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally.

* The press release…

The SAFE-T Act in McHenry County has been an abject failure. Not only has it failed to deliver on what its proponents promised, the court system has experienced the exact problems predicted by critics.

Despite this, proponents continue to obfuscate behind “lack of data,” “reduced costs to criminal defendants” (no mention is made of the increased cost to non-criminal taxpayers), and “no major increase in crime generally” (a mostly irrelevant factor in evaluating the SAFE-T Act).

In McHenry County, however, the numbers are in. After the implementation of the SAFE-T Act, McHenry County has experienced:

• A 30% Increase in Crime by Those on Pre-Trial Release Compared With Those on Cash Bail.
• An Increase in the Jail Population.
• A 280% Increase in Failures to Appear (FTA).
• A 35% Reduction in Restitution Paid to Crime Victims.

How is it possible for the jail population to increase along with the number of crimes being committed by those on pretrial release? Simply put, we are incarcerating the wrong people.

The SAFE-T Act was passed based on the repetition of the lie that cash bail regularly resulted in the unjust incarceration of those without the means to pay.

That was never true in McHenry County. Rather, prior to the SAFE-T Act, 97% of those charged with crimes had been released pretrial. This incredibly high release rate occurred under the entirely reasonable cash bail system that required judges to take into consideration the ability of a defendant to pay when setting bail. Accordingly, different bail amounts were set for different defendants, all based on their financial means. Low-risk defendants who could not afford any bail, were routinely released on their own recognizance.

The problem with the SAFE-T Act, written by public defenders and advocates for criminals, is that it denies county judges, elected by the communities affected by the alleged crimes, the discretion to detain defendants charged with most crimes, no matter how high-risk. Rather, in most cases, a judge has no discretion and must release the defendant.

One need not be a professor of criminology to understand that mandating judges in all circumstances to release high-risk defendants pretrial is a misguided and unreasonable policy. A policy that proceeded from the ideology of a privileged group of advocates who dictate criminal justice legislation in Illinois overcoming common sense.

* I asked the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice for a response…

On October 22, McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally issued a misleading press release claiming that the Pretrial Fairness Act is an “abject failure.” As a staunch opponent of pretrial justice reform, his claims are, unfortunately, unsurprising. Nonetheless, these inaccuracies must be corrected.

• The press release states that McHenry County has seen “a 30% increase in crime [committed by individuals] on pretrial release compared [to] those on cash bail.” This statistic is misleading. The actual difference between the number of people who were accused of new offenses under pretrial release vs. people released after paying money bond is 17. It is only because the total number of people accused of new offenses is small that the percentage increase seems large, in the same way an increase from one person to three could be called a 200% increase. Kenneally knows that, which is why he used the percentage and only included the numbers in a footnote.

• Kenneally’s claim that the jail population has increased suffers from the same defect, because the rise is minimal– just 12 people, representing an increase of 5.5%.

• He further claims there has been a 280% increase in Failures to Appear, which sounds alarming—if it were true. In reality, Failure to Appear Warrants have actually decreased by 42% in McHenry County, dropping from 1,055 to 616. Warrants can be issued when the judge decides it is necessary to bring someone into court because they will not return voluntarily. Instead of acknowledging this significant reduction in FTA warrants, Kenneally attempts to conflate two different things: warrants and summonses.

o Regarding the increased use of FTA summons, there is no context provided to allow the reader to understand whether multiple summons were issued in the same case or how many people returned to court after receiving a summons. Most people who miss court return voluntarily when given the chance, so the increased use of summons is likely driving the decreased use of warrants. Furthermore, judges are never required to issue a summons instead of a warrant. Judges are thus choosing to give people the chance to return to court voluntarily, reducing unnecessary issuance of warrants and wasted court and law enforcement resources.
o Given the substantial drop in Failure to Appear Warrants, combining warrants and summons and labeling both as “Failures to Appear” without additional information is misleading.

• Kenneally further claims that the Pretrial Fairness Act was “written by public defenders and advocates for criminals,” conveniently ignoring the fact that a broad coalition of stakeholders crafted the law over the course of years. Supporters of the Pretrial Fairness Act include victims and victim advocates, other state’s attorneys, and community members—all of whom agreed it was time to end a wealth-based pretrial system that prioritized money over safety. Finally, the Pretrial Fairness Act is a cornerstone of the SAFE-T Act, one of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’s pillars to increase racial equity in the state. To reduce the work of Black Caucus leaders—many of whom represent the communities most harmed by money bond and other instruments of mass incarceration—is an appallingly racist dismissal of sincere efforts by public officials working to create a safer and more just Illinois for everyone.

The reality is that under the current pretrial system, individuals are no longer jailed simply because they are poor. Illinois’ pretrial system now allows people who do not pose a safety risk to continue to work, care for their families, and improve themselves while their cases proceed. People alleged to pose a danger to others or a risk of flight can be detained after robust, individualized hearings. Judges preside over those hearings and get to decide who is detained pretrial and who is released.

The Pretrial Fairness Act represents a shift towards a more just and equitable pretrial system, one that no longer ties freedom to financial status. Despite opponents like Kenneally spreading misleading narratives, the data from the first year of implementation shows that Illinois’s new system of basing pretrial release decisions on public safety rather than wealth is working.

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Open thread

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Illinois community colleges see largest enrollment jump in 15 years. KHQA…

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Illinois Times | Exhibit honors Illinois sculptor Richard Hunt: The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will open “Freedom in Form: Richard Hunt” on Oct. 25, an exhibition dedicated to world-famous Chicago-based sculptor Richard Hunt, who died Dec. 18, 2023. This will be the first major show of Hunt’s work since his death. Hunt is known for his large abstract metal works utilizing welding and steel casting, often manifesting the Black experience through his work.

* Pantagraph | Illinois, Normal leaders discuss the future of rail, transportation: “I am fascinated by what I see happening here especially with Amtrak,” said U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg. “This is the first time I’ve seen a city hall above the train station.” Krishnamoorthi met with Normal Mayor Chris Koos at City Hall in uptown Normal for a roundtable in which they primarily discussed the current state of transportation and future developments locally, regionally and nationally.

*** Statehouse News ***

I asked @ChairHernandez earlier how many seats she thinks HDems can win. She said 82 was "very doable." That'd be a net gain of four seats. She specifically mentioned #IL47 (Grant), #IL52 (McLaughlin), #IL104 (Schweizer) and #IL114 (Schmidt) as possible GOP-to-Dem flips. #twill https://t.co/hYreHPIvYa

— Brenden Moore (@brendenmoore13) October 24, 2024

* Journal-Topics | Candidates In 17th, 57th House Districts Square Off At League Forum: Four candidates running in two Illinois State House races — incumbent state representatives Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-17th) and Tracy Katz Muhl (D-57th), and their challengers Jim Geldermann (R) and Daniel Behr ® — squared off in a recent League of Women Voters candidate forum in Wilmette.[…] “As a citizen, I consent to be governed by delegating limited powers to the government,” Geldermann began his opening statements with. “I was asked to run not because I had a burning desire, but I believe as a citizen I have a duty to stand up and to serve when asked.” He said he was running against the “big crime lobby,” the “let’s keep our kids stupid lobby,” the “DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) lobby,” and the “death lobby.”

* WBEZ | How does seemingly popular legislation die at the Illinois capitol? Many ways — here’s one of them.: Illinois lawmakers introduce thousands of bills every year – and sometimes one of them seems really popular. People flood the capitol in support chanting and carrying signs, lawmakers are hashing it out with each other and meeting with constituents. It’s getting a lot of media coverage. But even if the momentum seems there, sometimes the bill just dies – for any number of reasons.

*** Statewide ***

* Crain’s | Doc groups target alleged center of insurers’ price-fixing ‘cartel’ in lawsuit: The American Medical Association and the Illinois State Medical Society say MultiPlan, a data analytics agency for health plans, is at the center of a price-fixing “cartel” with commercial health insurers. In a lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the Chicago-based associations say New York-based MultiPlan has undercut fair payment for out-of-network health care services and eliminated market competition.

* WGEM | Gov. Pritzker celebrates expansion of ‘Reach Out and Read’ children’s literacy program: “Our program strengthens the relationships between children and their caregivers and lays the foundation for early learning,” said Reach Out and Read Illinois Medical Director Dr. Mariana Glusman. Participating pediatricians give their patients a book following their checkups starting at six months old until they’re five. Doctors give Illinois families more than 180,000 books annually according to Reach Out and Read Illinois.

* 25 News Now | Illinois residents can voice their opinion on ranked choice voting: Voters will be able to weigh in on ranked choice voting (RCV) with an advisory question on this fall’s ballot, which means the result will not be binding, A 20-member state task force is studying the issue by reviewing different voting systems and processes to see if RCV should be implemented in Illinois.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Chicago Police Department exodus: New cops are leaving in droves, Sun-Times investigation finds: One of every six Chicago cops hired since 2016 is no longer on the payroll. About 950 of the more than 5,750 people hired in that period have left. Their average time with the department? Not even three years. Many moved to suburban police departments.

* ABC Chicago | Pending lawsuit over police overtime pay could worsen Chicago budget debt crisis: Chicago’s budget crisis may be worse than many had thought. A still-pending lawsuit over police overtime pay could put the city on the hook for $200 million. It’s a liability Chicago City Council members recently learned about as the city heads into budget season.

* Sun-Times | New CPS board president picked by mayor praises Johnson, makes clear he backs mayor’s plans: Three weeks after the entire Chicago Board of Education resigned, the board’s new president on Thursday lauded Mayor Brandon Johnson in a politically tumultuous time and indicated he’s willing to take the school district in the direction Johnson has ordered. “This is a moment in time that we can not afford to squander,” the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson said at his first meeting as board president. “My opinion is the mayor has a clear vision for public education here in Chicago: a fully funded school district that gives every Chicagoan a world-class public school in their neighborhoods. A transformation of our public education is a critical piece for [Mayor] Johnson’s vision for transforming Chicago.

* Crain’s | True Value weighs laying off almost half its workforce as company seeks sale: As True Value tries to win approval to sell “substantially all” of its business operations to Indiana-based home improvement competitor Do It Best, the Chicago-based retailer says it could lay off a considerable portion of its workforce if the deal doesn’t come together.

* Sun-Times | Settlement reached in case involving former CPS teacher’s alleged abuse of 3 young boys: The families of three boys allegedly sexually abused by a former Chicago Public Schools teacher have settled their lawsuit against the school board for $2 million, lawyers announced Thursday. The families contended in federal court that CPS did not notify families sufficiently of sexual abuse allegations against Andrew Castro, a former gym teacher at Federico Garcia Lorca Elementary School on the Northwest Side, that led to his removal in 2021. While the notification said a teacher had been removed, it did not name Castro.

* Southside Weekly | Chicago Fashion Week Threads Together Community and Culture: The inaugural Chicago Fashion Week (CFW) made a citywide impact with more than fifty events across both the North and South Sides and extending into nearby suburbs. Anchored by three pillars—history, ingenuity and commerce—CFW was designed with a clear purpose: a fashion experience created by and for the people of Chicago.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Democratic candidate for Cook circuit court clerk promises modernization, transparency; Opponent silent: Failure to modernize and lack of transparency are the biggest challenges facing the Cook County circuit court clerk’s office, according to Mariyana Spyropoulos, Democratic candidate for clerk of the Cook County circuit court. She faces Republican candidate Lupe Aguirre on Nov. 5. The Daily Herald attempted to contact Aguirre, a former Chicago police officer and attorney, through the Cook County Republican Party, but was unable to do so. Aguirre does not appear to have a campaign website.

* Naperville Sun | Naperville’s tentative 2025 budget calls for 9 new hires, including 4 for the police department:ity staff presented a $641.88 million budget for next year, 3.3% more than the city’s amended 2024 budget. It includes a $166.43 million general fund, which is 6.4% — a little more than $10 million — higher than what had been allocated this year. The tentative budget also includes a hefty $179.38 million capital improvement fund program, which council members reviewed at a workshop meeting last month.

* Crain’s | Property rights lawsuit over counties’ tax sales gets go-ahead from judge: A lawsuit that aims to halt suburban counties’ longstanding practice of seizing properties over unpaid property taxes — claiming it’s a violation of property rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution — can move forward, a judge ruled last week. At stake in the case is potentially millions of dollars in home equity that homeowners lose when Illinois counties including DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will seize their properties through the labyrinthine tax sale mechanism. For decades, property owners have been compelled by state legislation to forfeit the entire value of their property so the county can recoup a relatively small amount, the tax debt.

* Action | Accel Unveils Plans for Racino at FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing Track: Accel Entertainment unveiled plans for its racino at the horse track formerly known Fairmount Park during the Illinois Gaming Board meeting on Thursday, targeting an opening of its temporary casino before the Kentucky Derby next May. Accel reached an agreement to purchase Fairmount Holdings, which owns the FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing track in Collinsville, for $35 million in July. Accel plans to invest an additional $90 million in converting the venue into a single-site horse racing track as part of an eventual racino. It made its presentation to the IGB prior to the stage agency voting to transfer the organizational and master sports wagering licenses from Fairmount Holdings to Accel, with the sports wagering license also renewed through October 2028.

* Tribune | Cook County Board approves new health system CEO: After a monthslong search, Cook County Health found its new leader right back at home, with the current interim CEO getting elevated Thursday to the permanent job. The Cook County Board affirmed a search committee’s pick, appointing Dr. Erik Mikaitis to oversee management of Stroger and Provident hospitals, a network of more than a dozen clinics, and the county’s Medicaid managed care program, CountyCare. He inherits a proposed $5.2 billion budget for 2025 and a workforce of roughly 7,600. Though the system has faced significant financial hurdles in recent years — including high costs for providing free care — 2025 is the first year in recent history the county’s health fund does not have a projected deficit.

*** Downstate ***

* Pantagraph | Illinois Democrats rally student voters at ISU: As a mother of two daughters, state Rep. Sharon Chung said she was proud to convey the message “bans off our bodies” in voice and through the message of the T-shirt she wore. “It terrifies me. … they’re growing up in a world today where they have fewer rights than I did when I was their age,” Chung said, referring to her children.

* Rockford Register Star | Winnebago County is on a mission to replace Mental Health Board with new faces. Here’s why: County Board Member Tim Nabors, D-14, said even as a Nov. 5 referendum for renewal of a 0.5% mental health sales tax approaches, some on the County Board are working to assert greater influence by installing new board members. “The ones that are on there aren’t being given the opportunity to be reappointed,” Nabors said. “They just want them to be replaced because they don’t like not having control of the Mental Health Board.”

* Shaw Local | As ‘skills gap’ grows, teens learn about potential careers – and try out big machines – at Johnsburg High: SkillsUSA Illinois’ ‘career experience’ gave students from across northern Illinois a chance to explore future job pathways that don’t involve four-year college degrees

* News Chanel 20 | Businesses Continue to Struggle after Adams St Fire: Daisy Jane’s said being an older established business meant they were able to bounce back faster. But newer businesses like The Wakery have had to reduce their hours just to survive. “In the business world you see ups and downs all the time. So the key thing is that I chose not to just close my doors and not call it quitsI know that we make income through our events I know we make income through rentals and I can pay my bills through that, so we’re going to focus on that until we get our feet steady again,” Elizabeth Wake, owner and founder of The Wakery, said.

* WICS | Jacksonville Education Association speaks out on violence against teachers: Issues about the treatment of teachers at Jacksonville district schools have been making headlines over the past few weeks. While there has been some friction over the district’s statements and claims from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the teacher’s union is also speaking out now. Members of the Jacksonville Education Association said they expect a certain level of respect and safety from students and parents.

* BND | Belleville high school teachers will wear panic buttons to help head off emergencies: In an effort to boost school safety, Belleville Township High School District 201 employees will soon be able to click a button on a wearable badge to request help or initiate a rapid response during an emergency. The buttons are part of the Centegix Safety Platform, which is “an alert and response system designed to reduce response times … when there is a security issue,” Superintendent Brian Mentzer said.

*** National ***

* AP | Georgia officials say they thwarted an attempt to crash a state election website: The attack was limited to that part of the state’s website, which voters use to request an absentee ballot. Users may have experienced a brief slowdown, but the site never crashed and no data was compromised, said Gabriel Sterling, a top official at the agency. He said it was not clear where the attack originated. There has been no public indication that similar systems in any other state were subject to the same kind of attack.

Randy Johnson explains how he'd go about pitching to Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge pic.twitter.com/Sh4ds5nRng

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) October 24, 2024

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

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Friday, Oct 25, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* You can click here to follow the Madigan trial. Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. It’s the best we can do unless or until Twitter gets its act together.