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Isabel’s afternoon roundup (Updated)
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Subscribers know more. Sun-Times…
* Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition…
The polling memo is here. …Adding… Leanne Redden, RTA Executive Director…
* Crain’s…
Click here for the opinion. * WIFR…
* WLPO | Current, Former Sheriffs Condemn Remarks Made by State Rep. Candidate Murri Briel: In response, Briel tells 103.9 WLPO that she “approached my podcast appearances as an opportunity to have a deeper discussion on different ideas that we might otherwise only hear about in soundbytes, not as my own platform”. She went on to accuse Bishop and political insiders backing her of feeding voters a false narrative because they can’t run on their own platform. Photo of sheriffs in uniform at the campaign press conference… 
* Press Release | Honoring Illinois’ Fallen: The Department of Central Management Services has received notice from Governor JB Pritzker that all person or entities covered by the Illinois Flag Display Act are to fly the flags at half-staff in honor of: United States Army Corporal Eriverto Ortiz served with distinction as a member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division during the Korean War. Corporal Ortiz was killed in action at the age of 27 in September of 1950. His body could not be recovered due to the intense fighting in Pusan, South Korea, and was declared nonrecoverable by the US Army in 1956. Through the relentless efforts of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency, using dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis. Corporal Ortiz will be returned to his family on October 28, 2024, and will be buried with full military funeral and honors in Elgin, IL. * Capitol News Illinois | Feds ‘turned over heaven and earth’ in Madigan probe but found no real bribes, co-defendant says: Defense attorney John Mitchell claimed McClain did everything “with intent to maintain and increase his access to Mike Madigan,” explaining that building and maintaining relationships with elected officials lobbying is essential to lobbying. And for McClain, that relationship maintenance included “100% legal favors for Mike Madigan,” Mitchell said. “Every time there’s a legal favor, the government’s view is that it must be a bribe,” Mitchell said. The argument mirrored opening statements made by his colleague at the outset of the ComEd trial last spring in which McClain attorney Patrick Cotter said the feds’ yearslong investigation gave them tunnel vision such that “everything begins to look like a crime.” * ABC Chicago | Former Majority Leader Lou Lang expected to take stand in former IL Speaker Mike Madigan trial: Lang has testified in both the ComEd case and the trial of Madigan’s former chief of staff last summer. Both testimonies delved into how Madigan sent Mike McClain to urge Lang to retire from the General Assembly after the speaker’s office was warned of a woman who had threatened to go public with sexual harassment allegations if Lang did not step down. * Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s communications director exiting: Ronnie Reese, who led Johnson’s press office since the transition in May 2023, will exit the role after a tumultuous year-and-a-half that’s seen the administration struggle at times with media strategy. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the mayor said Johnson press secretary Erin Connelly has been appointed acting communications director and will run the mayor’s press office moving forward. The departure was not a voluntary decision by Reese, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told the Tribune. * Crain’s | Another wrinkle in Johnson’s budget dilemma: Public health: More than 80 public health advocacy groups, clinics and nonprofits are urging Mayor Brandon Johnson to allocate an extra $25 million to Chicago’s Public Health Department next year, a demand that comes as he stares down a $1 billion shortfall across the city’s entire budget. The advocacy group, led by the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, argues the CDPH has long been given an insufficient amount of money each year to tackle the many issues on its agenda — responding to pandemics, conducting restaurant inspections, launching mental health services and more. * Illinois Answers | A New City Tree Trim Strategy Produces Big Results. Not Everyone Is On Board.: Directing crews to work tree-by-tree and block-by-block instead of crisscrossing the city to chase complaints has unlocked efficiencies few thought possible, officials said. Trees that had become dangerous over more than a decade of neglect are now getting attention from arborists. The overhaul has set the city’s tree canopy on pace for a potential top-to-bottom refresh by 2030. Department leaders hope that will mean less damage to cars and homes, fewer trees felled by disease and damage — and a sharp drop in complaints to ward offices. The switch to area-based trimming has not come easily. While more trees are getting trimmed, some alderpeople have balked at the new system because they have less influence on which jobs get done when. They complain that the department does little to communicate with them and even when crews do show up, they sometimes do a poor job. It’s also unclear whether city-employed trimmers will be able to finish a pass around the city in time for the strategy to pay off. * Sun-Times | CTA employee assaulted on bus over payment dispute in Greater Grand Crossing in ’senseless act of violence’: CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. said in a statement the agency was “outraged by this senseless act of violence.” “Such attacks are not only unacceptable, they are also a felony,” Carter wrote. “We will utilize all the resources at our disposal to find the perpetrators and hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law. CTA’s transit workers are dedicated public servants and deserve our respect and protection.” * Sun-Times | Activists push for youth-led violence prevention program: Activists in the youth group GoodKids MadCity and two City Council allies — Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) and Ald. Lamont Robinson (4h) — gathered Tuesday in City Hall to call for the passage of the Peace Book Ordinance in this year’s budget negotiations. The ordinance, originally proposed in 2022, seeks to invest in youth-led violence prevention programs. It proposes employing youth peacekeepers, creating neighborhood-based and citywide peace commissions and creating a physical “Peace Book” guide with resources for deescalation and violence prevention. * WTTW | Police Misconduct Agency Identified Troubling Pattern of Stops in 11th District Months Before Fatal Dexter Reed Shooting, Letter Shows: A letter sent to police officials from COPA on March 27, six days after Reed’s death, shows that the agency had evidence that officers were routinely engaging in misconduct that violated Chicago Police Department rules and put Chicagoans at risk of a violent encounter with officers for at least a year. COPA Chief Andrea Kersten told WTTW News her agency took no action to inform Superintendent Larry Snelling or his command staff about the alleged misconduct until that March 27 letter was sent. * Block Club | In Horner Park’s Natural Area, ‘No Dogs’ Signs Ignored, Vandalized: ‘People Don’t Really Care’: In mid-August, someone attached a “Thanks, Karen” sticker to one of the signs. A month later, that sign and 10 others were “ripped down,” said John Friedmann, vice president of stewardship for Horner Park Advisory Council, which installed the signs this summer. As recently as Sunday, a reporter saw a metal “No Dogs Allowed” sign off its post and sitting in the grass. “They are even breaking off metal signs,” Friedmann said in a text message. “Not easy to do. Someone has a lot of rage to support his/her sense of entitlement out there.” * Sun-Times | Leila Rahimi weighs in on departure from NBC 5 Chicago: Leila Rahimi told the Sun-Times that she’s no longer at NBC 5 Chicago. “At this time, NBC and I have parted ways,” Rahimi said Tuesday via text. “I value my experience, time and relationships there, and I’m looking forward to what the future holds!” NBC 5 didn’t return a request for comment. Rahimi will continue to appear on The Score’s midday show with Dan Bernstein and Marshall Harris twice a week. * Crain’s | University of Chicago Crime Lab adds to leadership team: Katie Hill, who has previous experience as a policy adviser to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and as a top official in Chicago’s law department, is taking over as executive director of the crime lab, replacing Roseanna Ander, who is transitioning to a new leadership role in the organization. * Tribune | In memoriam: Celebrating the life of ‘Lost Chicago’ author David Garrard Lowe and his love affair with Chicago: Its pages well-thumbed and portions underlined in ink, the book “Lost Chicago” sits on bookshelves across Chicago and continues to amaze and inspire. It is a poetic photographic essay about our bygone public buildings and private residences. It is harshly critical of the city’s once cavalier attitude toward architecture, filled with 200-some photos and prints, written in elegant, passionate prose. I picked up my copy again after hearing the news that its author, David Garrard Lowe, had died in New York City on Sept. 21. He had been in hospice care. He was 91 but remains alive in this book. And so I read, “Perhaps, by showing the splendor which has been lost, I might, in some small way, help to preserve that splendor not yet departed.” * Daily Southtown | Thornton Township meeting canceled as trustees, Tiffany Henyard dispute where to meet: A standoff between Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard and one trustee led to the second scheduled meeting in a row being canceled due to lack of quorum. While enough of the board had showed up to the Thornton Township Hall in South Holland to call the meeting to order, Trustee Chris Gonzalez refused to go to the upstairs meeting room, saying there was too little space for the number of attendees present. Meeting locations have frequently switched between two rooms of the building, with Henyard preferring the upstairs and Trustees Gonzalez and Carmen Carlisle saying they prefer the larger basement space. * NBC Chicago | Full list: Suburban Chicago referendums in the 2024 election: For the most part, these include bond issues to help pay for new infrastructure or rehabilitating existing infrastructure, or changing the way certain governmental entities function, such as adding or eliminating elected positions. The second type of question is an “advisory question,” where voters are asked a question to help reveal their feelings on a particular issue. In this year’s election, those primarily involve asking generic questions about taxation or specific types of electoral reform. * Daily Herald | Crystal Lake District 47, teachers approve contract with ‘new money’ for salaries at 19.5% over four years: The contract will run until the end of the school year in 2029 and includes what the district called “new money added to the salary schedule totaling at least 19.5% over the next four years.” Other changes include up to 3% to Teachers’ Retirement System contributions starting at 1% with 10 years of seniority, increased benefits, and increased plan time, according to a District 47 press release. * Crain’s | Google opening store in Oakbrook Center — its first in the Midwest: Shoppers will be able to browse Google products such as Pixel phones, watches and tablets, Nest cameras, Fitbit trackers, and branded merchandise, as well as pick up online orders. They’ll also be able to try out products and AI experiences with help from experts who can also help with troubleshooting and repairs. * WCIA | Lake Land College sees English Language Acquisition program numbers rising: Lake Land College in Mattoon said numbers for their English Language Acquisition program are booming. They started off with a class of about 40 students in 2022, and Adult Education Director Dustyn Fatheree said last year they welcomed about 150 students. Now, nearly 200 students are in the program. * PJ Star | He gave life to the Supreme Court through his sketches. He’ll share his story in Peoria: “I was painting houses and tarring roofs when our governor in Maryland (Marvin Mandel) was going on trial,” Lien said. “A local station was looking for somebody, and I tried out by sketching people around their newsroom. I got the job, and that’s really how it started.” That start has led to Lien’s 50-year career as a courtroom artist, sketching the Supreme Court from 1977 until his retirement in 2022. During that time, Lien has covered such court cases as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. In 2011, he joined the staff of SCOTUSblog, for which he covered nearly every case argued in the nation’s highest court. * Sun-Times | Red Stars get new name: Chicago Stars FC: The Red Stars announced the club will be known as Chicago Stars FC. […] Chicago Stars FC will continue to wear the Red Stars name and crest for the remainder of the season and into playoffs. The club will transition to the new crest for the 2025 season. * LA Times | Dodgers star Fernando Valenzuela, who changed MLB by sparking Fernandomania, dies at 63: His journey from a small town in Mexico to rousing success in Major League Baseball inspired generations of fans and created a seismic shift in the demographics of the Dodgers fan base. His unorthodox pitching motion, distinct physique and seemingly mysterious aura left an indelible mark on people from all walks of life, whether it was Los Angeles’ Latino community grappling with the displacement created when the Dodgers built their stadium, Mexican immigrants and their families or artists inspired by his wizardry on the mound. * Sun-Times | Breast cancer striking more young women — earlier screenings urged for those most at risk: Over the past two decades, more and more women under the age of 50 are being diagnosed with breast cancer. But researchers have yet to figure out why this spike is happening. Because most women don’t begin regular breast cancer screening until they’re 40, younger women are also being diagnosed with later-stage tumors when the disease is more aggressive and harder to treat, according to a study published this year from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. * Bloomberg | McDonald’s stock plummets after deadly E. Coli outbreak tied to Quarter Pounders: Ten people have been hospitalized, including a child with complications from HUS, a syndrome that damages small blood vessels and can lead to deadly clots, the agency said. Of the people who have been interviewed, all reported eating at McDonald’s before falling ill between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11, the CDC said, with most specifying a Quarter Pounder. * WaPo | A young teen gives birth. Idaho’s parental consent law snags her care.: The patient, 36 weeks pregnant, was having mild but frequent contractions. She had come to the emergency room in this small lakeside town because she was new to the area and had no doctor. In most cases, physician Caitlin Gustafson would have begun a pelvic exam to determine whether labor had started. This time, she called the hospital’s lawyers.
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Some people freak out and claim the worst over just about everything
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Lemme get this straight. You mean to tell me that the same people who believe all votes should be counted by hand are totally freaking out about how a few electronic ballot scanners might be down, so paper ballots have to be put into a secured box, just like in the old days? And so they are encouraging their fellow travelers not to vote? Hilarious…
If you really want to spoil your afternoon, click here and read the comments. * Daily Herald…
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - This just in… (Updated)
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Lawsuit calls 1992 Illinois minority teacher scholarship program ‘un-American and unconstitutional’
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the lawsuit…
* Back to Crain’s…
* Lawsuit…
* The 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil War and was intended to protect the rights of former slaves and rein in the former Confederate states. From the Library of Congress…
* More background…
* SCOTUS was just denied a chance to eliminate ‘race-based funding’ — and ending affirmative action in college admissions had everything to do with it: A venture capital firm founded by Black women kept a case away from the U.S. Supreme Court that could have ended race-based entrepreneurial funding nationwide. The Atlanta-based Fearless Fund settled a lawsuit Wednesday with the American Alliance for Equal Rights — the same conservative advocacy group responsible for bringing the case that ended affirmative action programs in college admissions. Conservative activist Edward Blum, founder of the Alliance, brought a legal challenge against the Fearless Fund, an entrepreneurship funding competition open only to businesses owned by Black women. The program offered $20,000 to each of four winners in an effort to help Black women build growth within the venture capital industry. To be eligible, a business must be at least 50% owned by Black women. * Founder of grant program slams federal appeals court for eliminating funding for Black women’s businesses: U.S. Circuit Judge Robin Stacie Rosenbaum, a Barack Obama appointee, began a lengthy dissent with a soccer analogy in which she likened the unnamed plaintiffs’ case to faking an injury by “flopping on the field”: “No one doubts the sincerity of an Arsenal (soccer) player’s desire to beat Tottenham. But he can’t be allowed to try to win by flopping on the field, faking an injury near Tottenham’s goal. For those not in the know, the object of flopping is to manufacture a foul that the player hasn’t actually experienced to manipulate the referee into inappropriately exercising his power to award a penalty kick in the box, where it’s likely to result in a goal. Referees’ vigilance prevents players who have a sincere desire to defeat their opponents — but who try to do so through manufactured fouls — from commandeering referees to improperly exercise their adjudicatory authority to award unwarranted penalty kicks.”
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Uber’s Local Partnership = Stress-Free Travel For Paratransit Riders
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] The Pace Rideshare Access Program subsidizes Uber trips, leaving riders with a co-pay of just $2. The impact: “This program has been a godsend for me. It offers flexibility, independence, freedom and the ability to maintain a beautiful life on so many levels,” says one rider. CTA: See how it works.
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Report: Fewer than 5,600 newspapers remain in the US
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Axios in 2023…
* Medill released its 2024 State of Local News Report today…
* Related…
* The Atlantic | Is American Journalism Headed Toward an ‘Extinction-Level Event’?: The decline of the legacy news media has been playing out for decades, exacerbated most recently by the advent of the internet and the explosion of digital platforms, especially the ad-revenue-gobbling tech giants Google and Meta. Even when the ad-supported model of journalism still worked, the history of American media was punctuated by periods of dramatic expansion and contraction, often coinciding with the arrival of new technologies. The latest round of cuts, however, represents a grim new milestone. * Nieman Lab | This year’s Pulitzer Prizes were a coming-out party for online media — and a marker of local newspapers’ decline: In the years that have followed, non-newspaper outlets have made substantial gains in certain categories — Audio Reporting, obviously, but also Feature Writing, which magazines have come to dominate. But despite online-only news orgs having been eligible for 15 years now, their wins have been more sporadic. Newspapers were still the dominant force in the main reporting categories.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* The Home School Legal Defense Association, an organization that has been highly influential in reducing regulations for home schooling across the county, shows Illinois has one of the lowest regulations for homeschooling in the US. From Capitol News Illinois in June…
* Capitol News Illinois in July…
* The Questions: Should homeschooling be regulated more in Illinois?
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Roundup: Day 2 of the Madigan trial
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Tribune…
* Sun-Times…
* WTTW…
* Fox Chicago…
* Some more from the app formally known as Twitter…
* This morning from the Tribune…
* More…
* ABC Chicago | Mike Madigan trial LIVE updates: Testimony to continue for 2nd day in former IL speaker’s trial: Co-defendant Michael McClain’s defense has wrapped up their opening statements as the Michael Madigan federal corruption trial moves forward. McLain’s defense attorney John Mitchell told the jury, “The evidence will show mike McClain was a lobbyist and like all lobbyist he understood if you want to get access to a politician you need to develop a relationship of trust…a favor by itself is not a bribe, a favor is a favor.” * WGN | Government calling first witnesses in Michael Madigan corruption trial; co-defendant’s attorney gives opening statement: On Tuesday morning, McClain’s attorney told the jury of eight women and four men that in the hundreds of hours of secret recordings and thousands of documents used to charge the defendants, there isn’t a whiff of any illegal conduct by McClain. Rather, McClain’s attorney told the jury that all his client did was legal lobbying and legal favors for Madigan in order to maintain access to the powerful state lawmaker. He said doing such things for elected leaders, with no expectations of something in return, is nothing more than doing a favor and does not constitute a bribe.
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Open thread
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s bond refinancing plan passes after stalling effort by opponents. Tribune…
* Related stories… ∙ Crain’s: City Council approves $1.5 billion bond plan to refinance debt as budget deficit looms ∙ ABC Chicago: Chicago Council delays vote to lower speed limit; $1.5B bond issue to refinance debt approved * CNN | How elderly dementia patients are unwittingly fueling political campaigns: One 82-year-old woman, who wore pajamas with holes in them because she didn’t want to spend money on new ones, didn’t realize she had given Republicans more than $350,000 while living in a 1,000 square-foot Baltimore condo since 2020. By the time a Taiwanese immigrant from California passed away from lung cancer this year at age 80, she had given away more than $180,000 to Trump’s campaign and a litany of other Republican candidates – writing letters to candidates apologizing for not getting donations to them on time because she was going into heart surgery. She had only $250 in her bank account when she died, leaving her family scrambling to cover the cost of her funeral. * WTTW | Over 1,000 Illinois Students Are Signed Up to Receive Plant-Based Lunch, 1 Year After Law Went Into Effect: The milestone comes over one year after an Illinois law went into effect requiring public schools to provide a plant-based lunch for students who have, or whose parents have, requested that option in advance. Chef Rodolfo Cuadros of Bloom Plant Based Kitchen in Wicker Park has two daughters who are signed up to receive plant-based lunch twice a week at their school. The restaurant has teamed up with the campaign More Plants On Plates Illinois to increase awareness of plant-based meals being an option for students. * Shaw Local | State representative candidate Liz Bishop pledges to seek repeal of SAFE-T Act: A La Salle Republican running for Illinois state representative pledged Tuesday to try and overturn the SAFE-T Act and denounced three measures that would, if enacted, cut down on the time inmates would serve in the Illinois Department of Corrections. * WCIA | New Clem ad claims Schweizer campaign is aided by ‘extremists’.: “Schweizer’s campaign is funded with the help of wealthy extremists who think the 2020 election was stolen and who financed the rally that led to the armed insurrection on January 6th,” the ad states. The ad immediately drew push back from House Republican Leadership, who said it was wrong to say Schweizer — who is a veteran — was somehow connected to the events of January 6th. * WMBD | Board urges state commission to cut Ameren rate hike request: The Citizens Utility Board has requested state regulatory judges with the Illinois Commerce Commission cut a rate hike on Tuesday. According to CUB Communications Director Jim Chilsen, a proposed order granted by three ICC administrative law judges granted Ameren 90% of the $334 million the utility company had requested. * WTTW | Understaffing at Illinois Prisons Increases Lockdowns, Impacts Mental Health: Watchdog Report: Prisons in Illinois are currently facing a staffing crisis, according to a new report from the prison watchdog group the John Howard Association. It found understaffing greatly increases the amount of lockdowns and staff overtime and impacts the overall health, safety and well-being of staff and incarcerated people.
* Chicago Reader | Blue Line blues: Blue Line ridership to Forest Park has seen one of the weakest recoveries of any route on any CTA line since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the Regional Transit Authority. As of May, the route saw just 46 percent of its 2019 riders return, compared to 59 percent overall—the weakest recovery agency-wide other than the Yellow Line. * Chalkbeat | Mayor Brandon Johnson appoints seventh Chicago school board member: Mayor Brandon Johnson has picked a seventh member, Rafael Yáñez, to join a new school board he appointed earlier this month after the entire seven-member board stepped down. Yáñez, a hate crimes investigator with the Chicago Police Department according to his LinkedIn profile, and the other new appointees will meet for the first time Thursday to review the board’s October agenda — a meeting that was pushed back a week. The Rev. Mitchell Johnson, former executive director of the Developing Communities Project, is expected to serve as president of the new board, and Mary Gardner, a West Side community organizer, as vice president. * Sun-Times | Gen Z voters around Chicago want solutions, not social media vitriol from presidential candidates: About 8 million Gen Z voters are eligible to vote in their first election this year. Young voters around Chicago say candidates’ TikToks and other social media pages are helpful — but they want to hear concrete solutions for problems facing the next generation. * WBEZ | CPS School Board: The race in the Southwest Side’s District 7: The 7th District serves a large percentage of students learning English as a second language. Ensuring proper services has emerged as a priority for some of the candidates. Two candidates are getting lots of attention from groups on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum. Lopez is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union. As of Tuesday, she has received about $25,000 in in-kind support from the CTU and another union-affiliated PAC. * WBEZ | Here’s who endorses each Chicago School Board candidate: Below are endorsements from education-related groups for each Chicago School Board candidate. We also list organizations that do education-related work that are providing meaningful financial support to candidates. Election Day for the city’s first elected board is Nov. 5. * Tribune | Robert Helman, helped diversify Mayer Brown client base, dies at 90: “Bob was always promoting me and other younger partners to clients, and was incredibly generous in doing so — he never hoarded clients, but instead always tried to get us in front of clients, reveling in any success we had,” said U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin, a Mayer Brown partner from 1993 until 2012. Helman, 90, died after an extended illness on Oct. 4 at his home, said his son, Adam. He was a longtime resident of the South Side Kenwood and Hyde Park neighborhoods. * Naperville Sun | DuPage County clerk files suit against county board, auditor over right to control office in ongoing billing dispute: Kaczmarek’s lawsuit, filed in DuPage County Circuit Court through private attorneys, is the latest development in what’s been a longstanding dispute between the clerk and the county board over bill payment procedures and what authority Kaczmarek has over her office’s budget. “This lawsuit repeats the same points of law my office has been raising for over two years,” Kaczmarek said in a news release from her office Monday. “Despite plain and unambiguous language backing us up, the state’s attorney chooses to ignore it.” * Daily Southtown | Landlord tells court she’s been unable to serve eviction papers to Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard: The owner, Genetta Hull, filed eviction papers last month, saying Henyard and Kamal Woods owe more than $3,350 in unpaid rent and late fees for the home in the 14600 block of Harvard Street. During the hearing, where she appeared by Zoom, Hull said the occupants have “been elusive” and that she’s not been able to gain entry to the home to inspect the property. * Daily Southtown | Video shows Harvey dispute that led to two arrests of Ald. Colby Chapman, a Chapman complaint and attempted order of protection: Harston said Chapman filed the police report after the Aug. 14 meeting, claiming she was “pushed and battered” by Davis. But after Harvey police examined surveillance footage and heard from witnesses, officers determined they disagree with how Chapman described what happened, Harston said. said the Cook County state’s attorney’s office decided not to pursue charges against Chapman. Police Chief Cameron Biddings was quoted in the news release criticizing that decision. * Daily Herald | New DuPage program would give county board members $100,000 each for grant awards: DuPage County Board members could soon look for ways to spend $100,000 each to benefit county residents. A proposed “member initiative” program would allow board members to work with nonprofit groups or other government agencies to support programs or services benefiting county residents. Under the proposed program, each of the 18 board members would get $100,000 — or $300,000 for each of the six districts — to spend on capital improvement projects or programs benefiting their district or the entire county. * Daily Herald | New Aurora casino construction going well, mayor says: Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin scrawled A-plusses on a giant report card Tuesday for the progress being made building the new Hollywood Casino Aurora. “This progress is amazing,” Irvin told laborers and their bosses, saying the project is on time and on budget and that the workers are doing high-quality work. * Sun-Times | Cook County commissioners sound alarm on syphilis spike: “This is not just a health care crisis, but a call to action for all of us that the consequences of this disease, particularly when passed from mother to child, are devastating yet entirely preventable,” Cook County Commissioner Monica Gordon said. * Bloomberg | Cracked Skull, Fractured Bones Show Danger for Rivian Factory’s Workers: These are among the injuries suffered by workers at Rivian Automotive Inc., which has only one factory yet has racked up more US safety violations initially deemed “serious” than any other automaker since the start of last year. And there are incidents alleged by workers at the plant in Normal, Illinois, that haven’t made it into government reports. One former employee interviewed by Bloomberg News said she complained to doctors last year of vomiting bile with a “Rivian blue” hue after painting automobiles without a respirator. * Tribune | Kankakee County Board chair steps down after taking job with firm building controversial EV battery plant: The chairman of the Kankakee County Board resigned from his post on Tuesday ahead of a special board meeting to consider his ouster after he recently took a job with the firm behind a controversial electric vehicle battery plant being built in Manteno. Under Andrew Wheeler’s leadership, the board was one of several taxing bodies that agreed to provide millions of dollars in incentives to lure Chinese-owned Gotion’s $2 billion EV battery plant, which was vigorously opposed by far-right Republicans who raised fears of communist infiltration. * PJ Star | $2 million in state funding allows Salvation Army to expand new homeless shelter project: The City of Peoria received a $2 million grant from the state that they will in turn give to the Salvation Army to build a new homeless shelter on the 400 block of SW Jefferson Avenue. The shelter will replace the Labor Temple, which will be torn down. The grant money will allow the Salvation Army to build a two-story shelter instead of a one-story shelter like originally planned. Additionally, the new plan will allow the Salvation Army to keep its existing shelter on Jefferson Street open while construction of the new shelter in underway. * News Channel 20 | Illinois prepares for massive test against No. 1 Oregon’s explosive offense and loud fans: Offensive coordinator Barry Lunney said preparing for the crowd noise “priority number one” for his unit. Eugene will be Illinois’ third road trip to a ranked school. “Everybody from A to Z talks about how loud the environment is, maybe the loudest place in the country,” said Lunney. “I thought we handled (crowd noise really well against Nebraska, but against Penn State) we didn’t handle as well.” * NYT | At This Illinois Museum, the Exhibits Are Larger Than Life: For more than two decades in this no-stoplight town in central Illinois, a 19-foot-tall fiberglass man has stood alongside a stretch of Route 66, holding a giant hot dog. Now, up the block at the American Giants Museum, more giants have joined him. There’s a giant Texaco gas station attendant, a gaptoothed fellow called a Snerd, a waving man in a blue bow tie.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Live coverage
Wednesday, Oct 23, 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.
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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