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Ives tries to explain ‘complete wipeout,’ says GOP needs ‘Trumpian type of voice’ in 2026 (Updated)

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Former state Rep. and current Illinois Republican Party state central committeeperson Jeanne Ives was on Dan Proft’s radio show this morning talking about yesterday’s Republican losses. Excerpts…

Ives: In most of these races, we were completely wiped out. Republicans lost.

I mean, in Milton Township, we used to have every single position. Lost every single one of them to the Democrats. In some cases, like the Democrat supervisor, she’s never been to an actual board meeting, ever, you know? So she won. Our long-term highway Commissioner, who’s great, ran against a business agent of local 150 and he lost. He’s been in that position for a good 20 years. Does great work. You can expect now that they will unionize that workforce and raise your taxes. So I mean complete loss there.

Even our Dennis Reboletti. He’s been a long-time name in politics. He’s losing right now as Addison supervisor. Winfield used to be controlled by Republicans. They lost. York used to be controlled by Republicans. They lost. These are the township races. It’s just, West Chicago Mayor Ruben Pineda. He lost. Complete wipeout.

Proft: So why?

Ives: Well, I do think that they didn’t have clear messaging. In many cases, you just have to hit people between the eyes. I also do think that when it comes to anything that deals with education or mental health, people, unfortunately, are just willing to spend whatever it takes, and that’s not the answer, and they just for what they just do. They just vote for these people who vote for, oh, it’s for education, it’s for mental health. But really overarching, overarching, it’s no clear message. Republicans just went on spring break and didn’t vote early. And part of that is maybe we didn’t reach enough people to tell them, although there was a big effort to make sure people try to early vote. But the other thing is, I just think the unions are extremely strong in the suburbs, and they have built in ability to turn out their people behind every teacher. You can at least get five more people, and all you need to do is send an email from the union to tell people who to vote for. And I just they, you know, they their salaries on the line, and their control is on the line, so they show up. […]

Mayor Pekau’s loss in Orland Park. I mean, honestly, I think Keith is the best mayor in the entire state, and he’s done so much good for that. And he got wiped out because of mixed messaging from RINO Republicans about who was the Republican in the race, because Trump won that race, 57-43, but that got really, such a nasty race. […]

Proft: Well, what do you think? Where do we go from here? […]

Ives: Well, I think, you know, in 2026 we just really need a candidate who’s got, like a Trumpian type of voice that is unafraid to say what needs to be said and tell people the truth and does it. And the media can’t ignore that message when it’s a sort of a governor’s race or a senatorial race or something like they can’t necessarily ignore it. Maybe people will hear it, and, you know, a big voice will help connect the dots. Because I do think that people pay attention to, maybe more the national situation going on, some of the state but I mean, just the idea that Pritzker got a pass after giving Gotion, the Chinese Communist Party backed Gotion, a half a billion dollars. Rivian, who’s never made a one red cent of profit, nearly a billion dollars in tax incentives. This is, this is insane, and the people wonder where their money is going. You’re wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on these nonprofits that do nothing, that should not be government funded. I mean, maybe that would help if, in 2026 somebody with a big voice and a lot of money behind that voice, because that’s what Pritzker has got, what $350 million behind this campaign? And by the way, Pritzker played in these local races, you know. You know, and his lessers too, like Chris Welch, came out to walk in Wheaton with the Democratic township candidates and the IEA endorsed candidates. Sick. It’s just sick.

* Proft also talked about the RINOs…

These, these RINOs, doesn’t even begin to describe these people, the enemies inside the [garbled]. That’s another rolling problem. But that’s the problem you have when you have no party, no party leadership. It’s just a warlordocracy. And it’s been that way for, I mean, really, in the Republican Party, if we’re being honest, in Illinois, it’s been that way ever since George Ryan went away. It really has. Warlordocracy, not a good way to organize. Warlordocracy, not a good way to run a party.

* More Tuesday react from the self-proclaimed “RINO hunter” Tom DeVore…

They will never understand. The Trump backers who are not Republican supporters are the actual RINOs.

…Adding… Wheaton’s school district…

Oops…

Jeanne had a really bad day.

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Crain’s…

Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois business leaders visiting Mexico City this week on a trade mission have gotten an earful about the tariffs the Trump administration plans to impose.

“There is deep concern that the tariffs seem so broad-based and not well negotiated or thought out that they will potentially destroy some businesses in Mexico that U.S. companies rely upon,” Pritzker said this morning.

“The uncertainty that we’ve heard over and over again in discussions with our Mexican counterparts is going to lead to them pulling back on making investments and potentially pulling back on supplying items U.S. businesses need. There is a great deal of concern.”

The Trump administration already has announced tariffs on auto imports from Mexico and is expected to announce more tariffs later today in what the White House is billing as “Liberation Day.” The governor, who has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump and his policies, said he doesn’t think the tariffs will spur a new wave of decisions by manufacturers to set up facilities in the U.S. or bring work back here.

* Forbes…

The University of Illinois system will team up with One Million Degrees, a Chicago-based nonprofit that supports community college students, to pilot a multiyear program aimed at increasing transfer rates from community colleges to four-year universities.

The program will focus on first-generation students across Illinois. Plans call for the pilot to serve as many as 240 students initially in two cohorts from Illinois community colleges selected by the university. The first cohort will be recruited this fall for a pilot beginning spring 2026, and the second cohort will start in spring 2027.

The initiative will provide eligible students a comprehensive suite of wraparound support services — including academic coaching, financial assistance and career advice — as they transfer to University of Illinois System campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield.

The U of I system will evaluate the pilot to assess the possibility of later scaling the program beyond the initial pilot partners. The ultimate goal is to increase transfer and bachelor’s degree completion rates, preparing the participants for careers in high-growth fields.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Covers | Illinois Issues Cease-and-Desist Orders to Prediction Companies: The Illinois Gaming Board sent cease-and-desist orders to Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com dated April 1, claiming that those companies are operating illegally without a sports betting license with their sports-event outcome contracts that act like wagers. Kalshi, which burst on the scene last fall with election trading markets, got into the sports outcome business earlier this year with Super Bowl and March Madness markets. The company linked with Robinhood to list those offerings on its popular trading platform.

*** Downstate ***

* NBC Chicago | Legendary rock band The Black Crowes added to 2025 Illinois State Fair lineup: Legendary rock band The Black Crowes has been added to the Springfield lineup, according to a Wednesday press release. The popular rock and roll band will perform at the fair Sat. Aug. 9, the release said. “The Illinois State Fair is all about bringing people together for great entertainment, and The Black Crowes are the perfect addition to our lineup,” Illinois State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark said in the release. “Their music has resonated with fans across generations, and we’re excited to bring their legendary sound to this year’s Fair.”

* WCIA | ‘I think they’re extremely important’: Champaign Co. Clerk breaks down voter turnout in Consolidated Election: By 5 p.m. on Election Day, Aaron Ammons, the Champaign County Clerk, said about 6,000 people had voted in person that day and about 4,000 others voted early. Once those ballots are counted, plus the ones in the mail, he estimates about 15-20% of voters will participate in this election, which is a pretty standard trend.

* BND | The pink elephant along I-55 is eye-catching, but wait until you see the inside: The Pink Elephant Antique Mall in Livingston is more than an antique shop — literally. It houses three businesses in one, including a retro diner, fudge shop and haunted house, and has dozens of unique, custom-built figures to pose next to.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Venezuelans in Chicago relieved their deportation protection is safe, for now: A federal judge in San Francisco paused plans Monday by the Trump administration to end temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, including in Illinois, one week before they were scheduled to expire on April 7. Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, allows non-U.S. citizens from 17 countries, including Venezuela, to live and work in the United States if they face extremely difficult or unsafe conditions in their home country. The Trump administration announced an end to the program for Venezuelans in February.

* Crain’s | Downtown office vacancy hits new high for 11th straight quarter: The downtown office vacancy rate edged up to 26.5% at the end of March from 26.3% at the beginning of the year, according to data from real estate services firm CBRE. The share of available workspace has now hit record highs for 11 straight quarters and is up from 13.8% when the public health crisis began. The grim data points tell the same tale of woe that has now plagued landlords for a half-decade: Remote work’s rise has pushed many companies to reduce their footprints, a shift that has stripped the central business district of about 2.1 million square feet of tenants over the past couple of years, CBRE data shows.

* Crain’s | Rahm Emanuel returns to investment banking: Rahm Emanuel is going back to investment banking, rejoining Centerview Partners, where he worked for two years after leaving office as mayor of Chicago. It’s familiar territory for Emanuel, who has toggled between investment banking and public office throughout his long career. In addition to his previous stint at Centerview, Emanuel worked at Wasserstein Perella, where he was involved in the 1999 merger that created Exelon, before running for Congress.

* Tribune | George McCaskey has no intention for family to sell the Chicago Bears: ‘Another 100 years would be great’: Less than eight weeks after the death of principal owner Virginia Halas McCaskey, George McCaskey said his mother long ago established a sustainable succession plan that the NFL approved. “She gave us the playbook,” McCaskey said. “She coached us up. Now we’ve got to execute the plan. And we’re prepared to do that. We’ve got to stick together.”

* Crain’s | Ex-employee alleges testing fraud at Chicago-based real estate appraisers group: A former employee filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging years-long fraud in the certification process for real estate appraisers at the Chicago-based Appraisal Institute. Alissa Akins, who was the institute’s director of education and publications from February to December last year, claims in her suit that for at least five years, the 16,000-member Appraisal Institute has been aware that many of its test results are incorrect. She also claims that when she reported the pattern of incorrect results to her superiors, they fired her.

* Crain’s | Chicago Reader avoids closure after successful fundraising campaign. Here’s how much they raised.: The newspaper said in a memo to subscribers that its “Save the Reader” campaign was a success and has raised over $300,000 to date. The proceeds will allow the company to restructure, cut costs and rework its budget in order to continue operating. The Reader’s staff of 33 will continue to print its weekly paper for free, the memo said.

* Chicago Reader | The legacy of Marty Goddard: In 1972, Marty Goddard, an executive at a Chicago philanthropic foundation and an independent-minded divorcee, sought to change that. Goddard wasn’t a picket-waving activist; in fact, she didn’t identify as a feminist at all. But she did recognize that sexual assault was seething under the surface of society, like a quiet epidemic for which there was little or no recourse.

* Block Club | Art Institute Of Chicago Returned A Sculpture To Nepal But Obscured Its Connection To A Wealthy Donor: That omission obscured a simmering controversy about whether Chicago philanthropists Marilynn Alsdorf and her husband, James, both of whom are dead, improperly built their collection of hundreds of South Asian works and why the Art Institute, which houses some of that collection in its Alsdorf Galleries, has been reluctant to return those works to countries with compelling claims for them.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WTTW | Retirement Not in Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s Lexicon: “I don’t believe in retirement,” said Preckwinkle, who last month on her 78th birthday announced she will run for a fifth consecutive term in 2026. “If I didn’t do this job, I’d pick another one and it wouldn’t be as interesting or challenging or as impactful,” said Preckwinkle, who has led Cook County since 2010.

* Naperville Sun | Voter turnout across DuPage, Will counties about average for consolidated election: As of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, DuPage County was sitting at 16.3% turnout out of a total 626,499 registered voters, with 27,128 casting their ballots on election day so far, according to DuPage County Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson. Though it’s difficult to know what to expect out of turnout, it looks as though DuPage is on pace to “be pretty close if not slightly higher than the overall turnout in 2023,” Johnson said in a call. Just over 20% of the county’s registered voters participated in the last consolidated election.

*** National ***

* The Bond Buyer | States loosen restrictions on pension funds and crypto: According to an S&P Global Ratings report released last week “U.S. states and statewide pension plans are increasingly considering cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, as a reserve investment.”

* The Bond Buyer | Closing Education Department unlikely to dent K-12 bonds, but some charter schools could feel pinch: “For traditional public schools, I do not foresee an increased risk of default due to potential delays of federal funding,” Lowin said, adding, however, that some charter schools, particularly those that are smaller and have fewer reserves, “could be a little more challenged.”

* AP | Amazon’s last-minute bid for TikTok comes as platform’s ban set to take effect Saturday: Amazon has put in a bid to purchase TikTok, a Trump administration official said Wednesday, in an eleventh-hour pitch as a U.S. ban on the platform is set to go into effect Saturday. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Amazon offer was made in a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

* Accu Weather | Atmospheric river to trigger central US flooding that may become life-threatening, historic: A firehose of moisture is forecast to produce repeating thunderstorms with torrential downpours over the middle of the United States through much of this weekend. More than a foot of rain may pour down from portions of Arkansas to Kentucky and Ohio, likely triggering rapid, major and historic flooding, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. More than 46 million people will be affected by rounds of intense rainfall over the central U.S. Of this, at least 13 million will be within a high- to extreme-flood risk zone. Within these higher-risk areas, there is the potential for catastrophic flooding in some communities.

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Pritzker: University fears of community colleges offering four-year degrees are ‘misplaced’

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* First, some background from Rich…

The governor has trumpeted his plan to allow community colleges to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees during his State of the State address, on numerous national TV programs, big-time podcasts and a tour of the state.

Well, that proposal (HB3717) was not called for a vote in the House Higher Education Committee last week after fierce opposition from four-year universities, as one top Pritzker administration official and some Pritzker allies hovered outside the hearing room for hours.

The chair of that committee, Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, did her best to downplay the significance of the committee’s refusal to take up the bill, saying, “I think that there’s a way that we can make sure that this is very narrowly tailored to meet what’s not being met with the four-year institutions.”

Stuart, a member of House Democratic leadership, also said the legislation as written could “collapse” the student base of minority serving institutions like Chicago State and Northeastern Illinois University.

It’s routine during committee passage deadline week to advance bills to the floor that need more work, with the promise to not move the bills until all issues are worked out. That committee courtesy is routinely given to even the lowliest of legislators.

The indignity of denying that routine courtesy was heaped upon unpopular, ineffectual governors in previous years. But Pritzker is a popular billionaire governor with perceived national ambitions. Yes, he’s trying to accomplish a very difficult task of passing bills that have failed in years past, but not getting his legislation to the floor during crunch week is quite the rebuke.

* I asked the governor about the stalled bill during an unrelated press conference this morning…

Isabel: Hi Governor, I wanted to ask you about your proposal to allow Community Colleges to offer four-year degrees. It failed to pass committee during deadline week, have you been looking at adding this bill to an omnibus or its own shell bill? And what has the sponsor and committee Chair Rep. Katie Stuart indicated to you that needs to be changed?

Governor Pritzker: Well, as you know, there are a couple of months left in the legislative session. This is an issue-this bill in fact, was introduced, I think, more than a decade ago by, as it turns out my deputy governor Andy Manar, who was then a state Senator, but it has been introduced in many of the legislative sessions.

It’s a good idea, especially with regard to specific professions where there is a real need for additional workforce. Some types of nursing, for example. We don’t produce very many nurses in Illinois compared to the number that we need. And so the concern that some of the universities expressed, for example, about that is, I think, misplaced. We need thousands and thousands and thousands of these particular types of nurses, and we produce not very many at all in those categories.

So that’s just one example. But I think that that legislators understand there’s a great deal of need by businesses for expanded workforce, and the best way to do that is for us to provide those four year degrees.

I think I’d add one more thing, which is it’s nearly impossible for some people to go to a four-year university, not just because of the great deal of expense involved, but also because the distance between where they live in Illinois and where one of our 12 public universities might be, let alone a private university, is too great. But we have 48 community colleges across the state of Illinois. We have the third largest community college system in the entire nation, and we can utilize them again for targeted efforts toward workforce development in areas where we’re not producing the kind of workforce that we need with the degrees and skills that are necessary.

Isabel: Have you had conversations with the sponsor since?

Pritzker: Oh sure.

Isabel: Is the bill dead this session?

Pritzker: I think Isabel, you’ve been around long enough to know that nothing is dead at any point until perhaps adjournment. But even then, things often come back in veto session or in the following session. And for a bill that’s been around for a decade, to take an extra couple of months or even an extra year, seems to me not out of the ordinary.

* Related…

Capitol News Illinois | Illinois’ community colleges see nearly 9% spike in spring enrollment:

* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker’s community college initiative stalls in House committee: But legislative deadlines are not always strictly observed in Springfield, and Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, who chairs the committee, said the decision not to act on the bill does not necessarily mean it is dead for the session. “I don’t think around here anything’s really ever dead, and I think there’s a path forward,” she told reporters after Wednesday’s committee hearing.

* WSIU | SIU Continues to Follow Stalled Community College Bill: Chancellor Lane and the SIU system are neither lobbying for, or against House Bill 3717 and its resolution in favor of expanding degree offerings. Chancellor Lane says right now it’s just a lot of discussions. “I think it’s just discussions, but there’s the word opposition that sometimes comes off a little strong,” Lane says. “There’s a lot of discussions that are happening at the state level.”

* KFVS | Southern Illinois community college leaders hold out hope to offer bachelor’s degrees: John A. Logan College President Dr. Kirk Overstreet says a proposed bill from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s office that would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees is a win-win for students and the southern Illinois economy. “This is a big resource for keeping students here and keeping people here in the region,” Overstreet said.

* KWQC | ‘Workforce driven’ community college looks forward to offering 4-year degrees: The president of Black Hawk College already has some fields of study in mind if community colleges can offer bachelor’s degrees. […] “Respiratory care is not offered at any of the four-year degree schools right now. And so it allows us to offer something and fill a niche.” Other areas of study considered for bachelor’s are advanced manufacturing, nursing and early childhood education.

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Broken Promises: Despite Billions In Public Funds, Illinois Nursing Homes Still Rank Among the Worst

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

The state and federal governments have poured billions of dollars of funding into the nursing home industry in Illinois to improve staffing and quality care for residents, but the industry has failed to deliver.

The industry receives nearly $7 billion in annual revenues, mostly from state Medicaid and Medicare. The 2022 Medicaid rate reform increased the Illinois nursing home industry’s revenue by at least $670 million per year. This came shortly after increases of $240 million annually starting in 2019 and an additional $60 million in 2020.

But the industry hasn’t used this taxpayer money to improve resident care. Illinois nursing homes have consistently rated among the worst in the country in staffing and quality of care–with residents receiving 25% fewer direct care hours than the minimum required to meet their daily needs.

Instead of fully staffing homes to meet residents’ needs, too many nursing homes operators continue to divert resources away from the bedside–without transparency or accountability.

State Rep. Anna Moeller recently called out the industry for this lack of accountability: “There’s this constant back and forth: the industry asks for a ton, we give them a ton. We ask for some accountability with all of those resources we’re giving to improve patient care, to improve resident care. There’s always this pushback on doing that.”

Care can’t wait – it’s time to hold the nursing home industry accountable and ensure taxpayer dollars fund improving care for our seniors.

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Stop Credit Card Chaos In Illinois

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

A last-minute provision called the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) was snuck into the budget process last May and will create chaos for small businesses and consumers across Illinois if it takes effect on July 1, 2025.

The IFPA gives corporate mega-stores like Walmart and Home Depot — who pushed for this backroom deal — millions more in profits, while small business owners get new expenses and accounting headaches. What’s more, consumers could be forced to pay for parts of their transactions in cash if this law moves forward.

A recent court ruling in the litigation challenging the law suggests IFPA is likely pre-empted by federal law for national banks and will only apply to credit unions and local Illinois banks, putting local banks at a disadvantage against their national competitors.

Illinois lawmakers should repeal the IFPA and focus on protecting small businesses and consumers across the state — not lining the pockets of corporate mega-stores.

Stop the countdown to chaos by supporting a repeal of this misguided and flawed policy. Learn more at https://guardyourcard.com/illinois/

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After raising $3 million in the quarter, Krishnamoorthi says he has $19 million on hand

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Get ready for that US Senate announcement…

Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi announced that his campaign raised over $3 million in the first quarter of 2025, ending the period with over $19 million cash on hand.

Raja’s impressive first-quarter raise comes on the heels of a prolific 2024 cycle wherein he contributed and raised over $11 million for Democrats across the country.

“In the months since Donald Trump moved back into the White House, Raja has been laser-focused on holding his Administration accountable and protecting Illinois families,” said senior advisor Nick Ryan. “We are grateful to the dedicated donors who are fired up and ready to support Raja’s efforts to stop Trump every chance he gets. While Trump and Congressional Republicans bear hug Elon Musk and their billionaire donors, it is more important than ever that Democrats have the resources to get out our message and fight back.”

Raja also contributed $100,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this quarter to win back control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and supported several candidates up and down the ballot.

In the seventy days since Trump took office, Raja has led the charge to hold his Administration accountable, urging them to take action on rising grocery prices, speaking out against their illegal freeze of federal funds, condemning their attempts to gut Medicaid, calling out their plan to slash SNAP benefits, and more — all to help Illinois families. Just last week, Raja, a top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, made headlines for holding top Trump officials accountable for texting classified war plans in a Signal group chat.

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Pritzker says DPI won almost 80 percent of its 270 targeted local races (Updated)

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We’ve already discussed how the Democratic Party of Illinois was involved in a bunch of local races during the consolidated elections. Gov. JB Pritzker updated reporters today on how the party did…

The Democratic Party of Illinois focused on about 270 races and and won almost 80 percent of those races. And those were the critical ones.

And I just point especially to DuPage County, where, before Juliana Stratton and I ran for governor in 2018, DuPage County was a reliable Republican county. It produced the most number of Republican votes. And in last night’s election, as has steadily happened in every election since we’ve been on the ballot and since 2018 - last night’s election was a route. Republicans lost almost everywhere. As I understand it, 48 out of 49 races the Democratic Party of Illinois was involved with were victorious for the Democrats. And I think in the 49th race, they’re still counting the votes, it’s that close.

And then, just to talk about the mayor’s races, look, I think people rejected those who were, you know, who were acolytes of Donald Trump. And look at Keith Pekau in Orland Park. Look at Richard Irvin, who, when he ran for governor, he tried to distance himself from Donald Trump, but then he threw a fundraiser, an event for Donald Trump in 2024. So I think there was a broad rejection of what Donald Trump and the Republican Party stands for, and Illinois Democrats had perhaps one of the best nights we’ve ever had.

Barack Obama narrowly won DuPage in 2012. Hillary Clinton won it by a mile in 2016. The trend started moving down-ballot and picked up steam in the past six years. Yesterday was a blowout in that county which reminded me of the way Democrats were stomped in 1994 almost everywhere.

Also, I’ve been trying to get a list of those 270 races to see how many were actually competitive.

* From DPI last night…

The Party’s mail and digital advertising investment reached hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters in target regions across Illinois, and highlighted the Trump–aligned conservatives on the ballot, as well as supported the credible, commonsense community advocates that DPI recommends. As part of the program, DPI launched https://votelocalillinois.com/, a candidate lookup tool to help voters find and support endorsed Democrats in their communities. In addition to supporting candidates already on the ballot, DPI and Illinois Democratic County Chairs Association (IDCCA)’s candidate recruitment program helped ensure that strong Democrats step up to run for local office in future cycles.

* Back to the governor, who was asked if last night’s results were about party organization or the current national mood…

I attribute it to both. I don’t mean to avoid picking, but honestly, the Democratic Party of Illinois has been organizing, recruiting candidates, doing the things that state parties do all across the country, but that the Democratic Party of Illinois had not done for decades. And it showed last night that that recruiting candidates, good candidates, matters. And that having an organization, or supporting local organizations from the state level and picking the races that are most important matters. So the organization and strength of the Democratic Party that we’ve built over the last two years or so is making a big difference.

There is a national mood. I mean, I felt that going around Illinois. There’s a, it’s felt everywhere. As you know, I had some gatherings of farmers, of people who are affected by the Medicaid cuts, for example, have met with people on Social Security cuts. And I can tell you, people are angry. And when I say people, it’s not just Democrats, it’s Republicans. People are mad. Veterans are not able to get the services they deserve in the timely fashion that they should be able to get them. People are seeing Social Security offices closed, and those offices for some people, are vital for being able to access, to talk to anybody. Going online is hard sometimes for someone, a senior citizen, if they don’t know how to navigate the Social Security website, or perhaps don’t even have high speed internet or their own computer. So people are feeling the effects of what Donald Trump is trying to do.

And let’s be clear what he’s trying to do, and what people are reacting to. He’s doing all these things, they call, they say it’s about government efficiency, but then in the next breath, they tell you about the $5 trillion tax cut that they’re attempting to pay for by making these cuts. So the anger is felt in Illinois, as it is across the entire country. And that did play a role, there’s no doubt, in turnout and in the actual results.

Please pardon all transcription errors.

…Adding… DuPage Dems…

Statement on Election Results from the Chair of the Democratic Party of DuPage County, Reid McCollum:

“Democratic values prevailed across Illinois last night, especially in DuPage County. When all the votes are counted, we will likely win 49 of 49 (100%) of the contested partisan township races – 38 of these are outright flips, and 20 against GOP incumbents.

In both partisan and nonpartisan races, candidates prevailed who understand that local government plays a critical role in our community. From public schools to filling potholes and from mental health to economic development, voters trust Democrats and see the GOP as the party of division, extremism and corruption.

Last night’s unprecedented victories were the result of the hard work of countless people over decades. Our township Democratic organizations and their leaders worked unbelievably hard to recruit and support great candidates. The volunteers who knocked doors, made phone calls, and mailed postcards helped make sure voters knew about the election and who was on the ballot.

The Democratic Party of Illinois invested in important “air support” with mail, digital and text messages.

As the DuPage Dems, we recruited volunteers to mail 80,000 get out the vote postcards, sent over 400,000 text messages and generated 75,000 digital impressions – our first ever significant investments in consolidated elections.

DuPage County is officially a Democratic stronghold. We intend to keep it that way through good governance, hard work, and a continued belief in facts, sound policy and supporting the whole community rather than conspiracy theories, blaming others and benefiting only the ultra wealthy.”

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RETAIL: Strengthening Communities Across Illinois

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Retail generates $7.3 billion in income and sales tax revenue each year in Illinois. These funds support public safety, infrastructure, education, and other important programs we all rely on every day. In fact, retail is the second largest revenue generator for the State of Illinois and the largest revenue generator for local governments.

Retailers like Meli enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.

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Consolidated Election news coverage roundup

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Democratic Party of DuPage County…

In a historic and resounding night of victories, the Democratic Party of DuPage County is celebrating sweeping wins in township races across the county. Democrats are currently leading in 48 out of 49 contested partisan races (one Addison township trustee race is separated by just 35 votes). In township after township, voters delivered a clear and powerful message: they want Democrats, and the values they bring, leading local government.

These results mark a seismic shift in local politics. Several townships in DuPage County that had never before elected a Democrat will now be represented by Democratic leadership — a testament to the party’s deepening connection with voters and its commitment to delivering for working families.

“This is more than just a good night for Democrats — this is a profound statement from the people of DuPage County,” said Reid McCollum, Chair of the Democratic Party of DuPage County. “Voters have made it crystal clear that they want leaders who will bring transparency, fairness, and forward-thinking solutions to local government. These are community members stepping up to put their communities first, and voters overwhelmingly approved.”

The Democratic Party of DuPage County extends heartfelt thanks to the volunteers, organizers, and most importantly, the voters, who made this night possible.

* Daily Herald…

Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin appears to have lost his bid to win a third term as the leader of the state’s second-largest city.

Challenger John Laesch was upbeat in declaring victory shortly before 10 p.m.

“Tonight, the candle of hope burns a little brighter in our city our state and across the United States of America,” winner John Laesch said at his campaign party. “Nine months ago I told you that we would give birth to a radical new idea of a government, an economy, that works for everybody. Tonight we took a big step forward and we did it together.”

But Irvin remained defiant in a speech to his own supporters.

“This ain’t the end for me, y’all. This was just the beginning. I may not be the mayor of Aurora the next four years, but I am still somebody!” Irvin he told them.

* WGLT…

Dan Brady is set to return to public life after a 22-year run as a state lawmaker.

Brady became the first mayoral candidate in Bloomington since 1997 [Judy Markowitz] to defeat an incumbent mayor on Tuesday.

According to unofficial results on Tuesday, Brady [48%] won decisively over city council member Cody Hendricks [33%] and Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe [19%] in a race which saw unusually high turnout for a municipal election [31% in Bloomington].

“The victory belongs to all of us here tonight,” Brady told a large gathering of supporters in the dining room at Jim’s Steakhouse. “And now the real works starts because it begins governing. Let’s build a safer, strong and more vibrant Bloomington together.”

* Daily Southtown…

State Sen. Napoleon Harris and members of his Democratic slate were far ahead of other candidates seeking positions on the Thornton Township Board, according to unofficial results Tuesday from the Cook County clerk’s office.

With 102 of 104 precincts reporting, Harris had 74%, followed by Independent candidate Nate Fields with 10.8%, Republican Richard Nolan with 10.4% and Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark with 4.6%.

Harris declared victory to a room of jubilant supporters at Beggars Pizza in Lansing Tuesday night, thanking each member of his slate as well as supported candidates in Dolton and in school board races. […]

Trustee candidates on Harris’ Democratic slate include incumbent Trustee Christopher Gonzalez, seeking reelection, as well as Mary Avent, Valeria Stubbs and Byron Stanley. According to unofficial results, all four were leading Tuesday evening. Stanley had 10,437 votes, Gonzalez had 10,316 and Avent and Stubbs both had 10,152.

* Some school board race results…

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau concedes defeat in bid for third term: Pekau thanked supporters gathered at Papa Joe’s restaurant, telling them “I got shellacked” but that “we ran a great campaign.” He said he texted congratulations to Dodge. With 44 of 45 precincts reporting, Dodge had 57% of the vote to 43% for Pekau, unofficial results show. Turnout for the election was more than 33% of registered voters, according to the Cook County clerk’s office.

* CBS Chicago | Jason House easily elected mayor of Dolton, Illinois after defeating Tiffany Henyard in Feb. primary: Dolton Village Trustee Jason House was elected mayor of the south Chicago suburb Tuesday, and the sign outside Dolton Village Hall announcing Mayor Tiffany Henyard will soon come down. House won the race with more than 95% of the vote, up against Rebuilding Dolton Party candidate Casundra Hopson-Jordan. House dispatched Henyard in the February Democratic mayoral primary.

* Tribune | Ann Tennes overwhelmingly elected Skokie mayor, unofficial results show: Former Skokie official Ann Tennes declared victory in the race for Skokie mayor Tuesday, with unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk’s office showing she commanded a hefty percentage of vote totals. The victory starts a new era in the village of about 65,000 after 24-year mayor George Van Dusen chose not to run for another term. Unofficial results show Tennes, the village’s former director of marketing and communications, received a little over 49% of the vote, with all precincts reporting, in a three-way election race. Those unofficial results also showed David “Azi” Lifsics with just over 38% of the vote and Charles Isho with 12% of the vote.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Voters appear to overwhelmingly shoot down proposed Kane County sales tax hike: Voters in Tuesday’s consolidated election appear to have shot down a referendum question in Kane County that would have increased the sales tax by 0.75% to pay for public safety expenses in the county. With all precincts in Kane County reporting, unofficial results from Tuesday night showed 75.25% of voters against and just 24.75% of voters in favor of the proposed sales tax increase as of 9:55 p.m., according to data from the Kane County Clerk’s Office.

* Daily Herald | Voters favor incumbents in Kane County council and board races: There were contested races for four seats on the St. Charles City Council. In Ward 1, incumbent Ronald Silkaitis bested challenger Robert Kasper. According to unofficial totals, Silkaitis had 691 votes, and Kasper had 553 votes.

* Aurora Beacon-News | In Tuesday election, Aurora City Council incumbents appear to stay, except alderman at-large: Incumbent at-large Ald. Ron Woerman trailed challenger Keith Larson with his 41.95% of the vote to Larson’s 58.05%, according to unofficial results Tuesday night from Kane, Kendall, DuPage and Will counties, with all precincts reporting. Larson told The Beacon-News that he “wasn’t expecting this” but that it “feels really amazing,” and he is grateful to everyone who helped to make it possible.

* Naperville Sun | Two incumbents, two newcomers appear headed to Naperville City Council; Bruzan Taylor unseated: With all Naperville precincts in DuPage and Will counties reporting, incumbents Benny White and Ian Holzhauer appeared headed toward another term on Naperville City Council alongside newcomers Mary Gibson and Ashfaq Syed, according to unofficial results. Incumbent Jennifer Bruzan Tayor was trailing behind as the fifth-highest vote getter in the eight-way race for the four, four-year council seats up for election.

* Daily Herald | Tinaglia to take over as Arlington Heights mayor amid Bears stadium talks: Longtime Arlington Heights resident, architect and village Trustee Jim Tinaglia will become the town’s next mayor amid ongoing discussions with the Chicago Bears over redevelopment of Arlington Park. Tinaglia had 7,165 votes, Tom Schwingbeck had 4,090 votes and Jon Ridler had 1,700 votes, according to unofficial vote totals Tuesday night.

* Daily Herald | Bertucci, Santa Maria, Zyck and Manganaro top crowded Arlington Heights trustee race: Jim Bertucci, Carina Santa Maria, Greg Zyck and Bill Manganaro were the top vote-getters Tuesday night in the crowded race for Arlington Heights village board, according to unofficial results. Eight candidates ran for four available trustee seats on the elected panel. Bertucci, the lone incumbent, led the pack with 7,301 votes, followed by Santa Maria with 6,926, Zyck with 6,229 and Manganaro with 5,619, early results show.

* ABC Chicago | Jason House projected to win Dolton mayoral election, replacing Tiffany Henyard: ‘It’s a new day’: House has been on the Dolton Board of Trustees for eight years now. He is projected to defeat businesswoman Casundra Hopson-Jordan, who ran as an independent. “I just felt it was important to throw my hat in the race to give people options, to know that we don’t have to just keep recycling the same old politicians,” Hopson-Jordan said.

* Shaw Local | Joliet Junior College board incumbent likely to retain seat despite controversy: Broderick and Lee were accused of harassment by JJC President Clyne Namuo in a Nov. 6, 2024 report from law firm Laner Muchin, which was not publicly released until weeks before the election. Despite those controversies, Broderick said on Tuesday night she believed the public realized the “value of having me as a board member.”

* Tribune | Incumbent Elmhurst Mayor Scott Levin celebrates apparent victory: Incumbent Elmhurst Mayor Scott Levin appeared to defeat challenger Mark Mulliner by a wide margin, taking 6,436 votes, or 71% of the 9,000 votes cast, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s voting. Mulliner, the city’s longest serving alderman before leaving the City Council two years ago, drew an unofficial tally of 2,625 votes, or 29%.

* Patch | Hinsdale Officials Well Ahead Of Newcomer In Race: Unofficial Returns: Former DuPage County Board member Greg Hart was the sole candidate for village president in Tuesday’s election. Elected in 2009, President Tom Cauley decided against seeking a fifth term. In a statement Tuesday, Hart said he was looking forward to serving “our incredible village.” He said he wanted to maintain and improve public safety, diversify the sales tax base through “smart” economic development and bring new energy to local government.

* Daily Herald | Schielke secures 12th term as Batavia mayor, St. Charles’ Vitek appears headed to defeat: Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke appeared to secure his 12th term Tuesday, keeping him in the post he’s held since 1981. Schielke had 2,620 votes, and challenger Tom Connelly had 2.294, according to unofficial results. Schielke is believed to be the third-longest-serving current mayor or president in Illinois.

* Daily Southtown | Incumbent Michael Glotz leads in Tinley Park mayoral race: Unofficial results show Glotz leading with 59.7% of the vote over Michael Maloney, a former union executive, with all precincts reporting. Also leading was Glotz’s One Tinley Park slate, which includes Village Clerk Nancy O’Connor, with 58.8% of the vote or Cynthia “Cindy” O’Boyle. Trustees William Brady, Dennis Mahoney and Colleen Sullivan held signifcant leads. Brady had 5,639 votes according to unofficial results, followed by Sullivan with 5,286 votes and Mahoney with 5,113.

* Daily Southtown | South suburban high school board race results: In Orland High School District 230, three incumbent board members sought reelection though there were six other candidates for the four seats. With all precincts reporting, unofficial results showed board veteran Susan Dalton leading with 12,704 votes, followed by Mark Kelly with 12,200 votes and recently appointed board members Nadine Scodro with 10,466 votes and Chris Kasmer with 10,059. They were all park of the 230 United Slate.

* Daily Herald | Several school board battles unfolded in Northwest suburbs Tuesday: Among several school board races in the Northwest suburbs Tuesday, Barrington Unit District 220’s was one of the most contested with six candidates vying for four seats. Incumbents Sandra Ficke-Bradford, Steve Wang, Katie Karam and Erin Chan Ding all appeared to be leading late in the evening, according to unofficial results. Their reelection bids were challenged by Harathi K. Srivastava and Deanna Stern.

* Evanston Now | Biss wins reelection with 62% of vote: Unofficial returns show Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss winning a decisive victory Tuesday night defeating Jeff Boarini to remain the 22nd mayor of Evanston. With 44 of 45 precincts reporting, the Cook County Clerks office says Biss received 62% of the vote to 38% for challenger Jeff Boarini. That was a narrower margin than the 73% Biss won four years ago in his first race for mayor.

* Daily Herald | Challenger defeats 12-year incumbent in Palatine trustee race: With all precincts reporting in the race for three seats on the Barrington village board, two-term incumbent Jennifer Wondrasek appears to have won a third term with 902 votes. She will be joined by 10-year village board veteran and fellow incumbent Todd Sholeen, who received 777 votes and challenger Lauren Klauer who received 686 votes. Former U.S. Army Reservist Jesse Rojo received 551 votes.

* Daily Herald | Burket edges past Fasules in Glen Ellyn village president’s race; mayors losing in other DuPage towns: James Burket edged past Gary Fasules in the race to decide Glen Ellyn’s next village president. Burket, a former village trustee, garnered 2,462 votes, compared to 2,096 for Fasules, a sitting board member, according to unofficial tallies so far.

* Tribune | Incumbent Vicki Scaman claims victory in contentious Oak Park village president race: After what was an unusually contentious and at times personal battle, incumbent Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman appeared to win a convincing victory over challenger Ravi Parakkat, a member of the Village Board, according to preliminary results from Tuesday’s municipal elections. With results from all 32 precincts reporting, Scaman has received 6,083 votes to Parakkat’s 3,705 votes. This was a significantly bigger margin than Scaman achieved in her first race for village president four years earlier, when Scaman won 56.14% of the vote against progressive activist Cate Readling.

* Lake County News-Sun | Long-time North Chicago mayor declares victory once again; ‘I will continue to do everything I can to make North Chicago better’: Rockingham had 68.72% of 924 votes counted as of Wednesday morning, compared to community activist David Hood with 21.21% and Ald. Anthony Coleman, 2nd Ward, at 10.06%, according to unofficial results from the Lake County Clerk’s Office.

* Lake County News-Sun | Cunningham declares victory in campaign to return as Waukegan mayor; ‘I want to continue with the plans we started’: Former Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham, the city’s first Black chief executive, declared victory Tuesday night in his bid to regain the office he lost four years ago, thus extending the city’s 28-year string of one-term mayors. Leading in a four-candidate race, Cunningham was ahead of incumbent Mayor Ann Taylor, who defeated him four years ago to become the city’s first woman chief executive, according to unofficial results.

* Daily Herald | Incumbents fare well in Lake County municipal board races: In a close race for three seats, Katherine “Casey” Rooney led all candidates with 1,885 votes followed by newcomer Kara Macdonald with 1,573 votes and incumbent Matt Krummick with 1,490 votes. Andrew Herrmann had 1,403 votes and Patrick Scheibler, 1,401. Krummick, Rooney and Herrman ran as a team with Donna Johnson who squeaked out a victory for a second term.

* Tribune | Rose Reynders, Michael LePore, Nicholas Muller lead in Homer Glen: Rose Reynders, Michael LePore and Nicholas Muller had a commanding lead Tuesday night in a race for three 4-year seats on the Homer Glen Village Board. […] With all precincts reporting, Reynders had 1,821 votes, LePore had 1,675 votes and Muller had 1,505 votes, according to unofficial results.

* Elgin Courier-News | Elgin City Council incumbents Thoren, Good and Dixon appear headed to victory, joined by newcomer Alfaro: Election results will remain unofficial until mail-in ballots postmarked for Election Day or earlier are counted, provisional ballots are checked and votes are canvassed. Thoren, an Elgin native, is seeking a second term on the council. He previously served as an Elgin Township trustee. He is an Elgin Neighborhood Watch captain, member of the Elgin Breakfast Rotary and Elgin American Legion and past board member of Senior Services.

* Daily Herald | Meier defeats Wilson in Mundelein mayoral race: The third time was the charm for Mundelein mayoral aspirant Robin Meier. As ballots were counted Tuesday, Meier was ahead of fellow Trustee Tim Wilson for the center seat on the village hall dais. Meier had 1,335 votes to Wilson’s 837, unofficial results showed.

* Daily Herald | Fox Valley school board incumbents appear headed to victory, early returns show: One of the most hotly contested races in the suburbs was in Burlington-based Central Unit District 301, where 10 candidates ran for four seats on the school board. Eight candidates sought three 4-year seats on the board. They are incumbents Dornetria Hemphill and Marc A. Falk, Micheline Welch, Graciela Martinez, PK Parekh, Roumiana McMahon, Scott Mrkvicka, and Ryan Wasson. Unofficial, early totals from precincts in Kane and DeKalb counties show Wasson leading with 1,721 votes, followed by Welch with 1,613 votes, Mrkvicka with 1,110 votes and Parekh with 1,014 votes. Incumbents Hemphill and Falk trailed with 972 and 821 votes, respectively.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Belleville has a new mayor. ‘Just call me Jenny,’ she said from her victory party: Belleville City Clerk Jenny Gain Meyer has defeated Mayor Patty Gregory, who became the city’s first female mayor four years ago by successfully challenging a longtime incumbent. Belleville voters in Tuesday’s consolidated election cast 3,399 votes (63%) for Meyer, 1,972 votes (36%) for Gregory and 17 votes (less than 1%) for write-in candidate Ryan Musick, according to unofficial results released by St. Clair County Clerk Tom Holbrook’s office.

* WGLT | Voters in Normal retain Mayor Chris Koos for a 6th term: Mayor Chris Koos of Normal has won a 6th full term in office, defeating challengers Kathleen Lorenz and Chemberly Harris. Though both those candidates have been on the town council for years, they called for change. Koos has been mayor since 2003. “I think the takeaway is I had a great campaign team. We did what I call a classic campaign. We did it right and built broad support in the community. I was worried because it was a three-way race, and it’s very hard to predict what’s going to come of that,” Koos told WGLT after the result became clear.

* PJ Star | Rita Ali soundly defeats John Kelly in fierce race for Peoria’s mayoral office: Peoria Mayor Rita Ali comfortably defeated city councilman John Kelly Tuesday night securing herself another four-year term as Peoria’s mayor. Ali defeated Kelly by a margin of 9,950 votes to 6,753 votes with 100% of precincts reporting in Peoria as of 9:30 p.m. Kelly told the Journal Star Tuesday night he was “disappointed” with the outcome of the election but said “the people have spoken.”

* PJ Star | Incumbent Alex Sierra defeats former trustee in Peoria Park District board race: Incumbent Alex Sierra retained his seat Peoria Park District Board of Trustees for the Southern District in an election Tuesday that pitted him against former Park District trustee Joseph Cassidy. Sierra ran unopposed for his seat in 2023. Cassidy was elected to the Park District board in 2021 and stepped down in 2023 when he relocated to Atlanta. With 100% of the precincts reporting, unofficial results show Sierra collected 621 votes (53.40%) to Cassidy’s 542 (46.60%).

* PJ Star | ‘Deeply honored’: Two challengers and incumbent win seats on Dunlap school board: Incumbent Tom Feldman successfully defended his seat, while challengers Youssef Boudjarane and Mick Hall defeated incumbents Abby Humbles and Steven Hodel. Key subplots in the race were a campaign by a group of parents calling for the removal of current school board president Humbles and the circulation of mailers by a political action committee targeting Hall that highlighted a three-year suspension of his law license in 2012.

* Fox 2 Now | Election results: Key Illinois municipal races take shape: Illinois Election results are coming in for several key municipal races across Illinois, including the high-profile mayoral contests in Belleville and Alton. Incumbent Mayor Patty Gregory, seeking a second term, lost to City Clerk Jennifer Gain Meyer in a competitive showdown. Gain Meyer received 2,118 votes, while Gregory had 1,268. For the Edwardsville School District School Board, Scott Ahart leads the race.

* QC Times | Unofficial results show Ashley Harris elected as Rock Island mayor: Current Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms was defeated by challenger Ashley Harris, according to the unofficial election night results. As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, all 120 precincts had reported. Thoms received 2,661, or 48.6% of the votes compared to Harris’ 2,811 or 51.3%. Thoms was first elected in 2017.

* Rockford Register Star | Election: Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara wins third term: Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara won re-election to a third term on Tuesday, easily defeating a challenge from Rockford real estate agent Derrick Kunz, according to unofficial election results. McNamara, a Democrat, won 12,969 votes or 78% of the vote. Kunz, a businessman who campaigned as an independent, had 3,583 votes or 22% of votes cast, unofficial results from the Rockford Board of Elections showed.

* WAND | Sangamon County voters overwhelmingly decide to dissolve Recorder’s Office: With 100 percent of precincts reporting the vote was 67 percent in favor of eliminating the office. With the approval, the county office will close Dec. 1, 2026. Operations will be moved to the Sangamon County Clerk’s Office.

* WAND | Voters in Chatham approve tax hike for library repairs: The referendum passed 55 percent to 45 percent and was separated by 247 votes, 1,327-1,125. The Chatham Area Public Library posted on its website that the tax increase will cover three areas: much needed infrastructure repairs, provide long-term financial stability, and expanded materials, services, and technology. The library said the increase would add $26.95 a year to a home valued at $200,000.

* BND | Final unofficial results: Southwest Illinois boards of education and school referenda

* Pantagraph | 1% School Facility Occupation Tax passes in McLean County: With 100% of votes counted, the proposed 1% County School Facility Occupation Tax has passed in McLean County. According to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election, the measure passed with 17,415 votes for and 15,427 votes against the measure.

* WGEM | Hancock County voters turn down school sales tax: On Tuesday, Hancock County residents denied a sales tax that would have been used exclusively for county schools. The rate of the tax would have been 1% and was planned to go towards school facility purposes, school resource officers and mental health professionals.

* WAND | Decatur city council sees 2 win re-election and 1 newcomer, while DPS61 school board gets 4 fresh faces: Unofficial votes in Macon County saw council incumbents David Horn and Ed Culp win re-election and Consuelo Cruz win a four-year term. The five-way race saw Horn get the most votes followed by Culp and Cruz who were separated by 20 votes. James Wrigley was fourth and Micah Ray was fifth.

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Healing Communities: Illinois Hospitals Support Individual And Community Health And Well-being

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

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There’s the health of the individual. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals put their skills toward helping individuals achieve optimal health. There’s also the health of the community. Illinois hospitals are committed to and working hard to help strengthen the health and well-being of communities.

They do this by:

These four pillars reflect the longstanding and ongoing efforts of hospitals across Illinois to meet community needs; contribute significantly to the state and local economy; overcome hurdles patients experience with accessing care; and fortify Illinois’ healthcare workforce.

Most people don’t see the critical care hospitals provide 24/7 or how hospitals are partnering with local organizations and investing in communities. Yet their benefit to the community is everywhere. Learn more about how Illinois hospitals are healing communities.

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Open thread

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Raoul says ‘I do not want to go to Washington,’ rules out bid for U.S. Senate. Capitol News Illinois…

- “I do not want to go to Washington. I want to stay here,” Raoul told a luncheon audience at the City Club of Chicago. “And this is no knock on Sen. Durbin or Sen. [Tammy] Duckworth. I truly believe what I do on a day-to-day basis [as attorney general] has more impact than what I could do as U.S. senator.”

* Related stories…

∙ Tribune: Illinois AG Kwame Raoul warns legal community against ‘being complicit’ with Trump
∙ ABC Chicago: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul files lawsuit against HHS, RFK Jr. for cutting $12B in grants

No need to worry about the lack of election stories—I’ll have a campaign roundup ready later this morning!

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Sentencing dates set for ComEd officials convicted of plot to influence Madigan: Summer sentencing dates have been scheduled for four former ComEd officials and lobbyists convicted of conspiring to illegally influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan. […] Hooker is set to be sentenced on July 14, Pramaggiore on July 21, McClain on July 24, and Doherty on Aug. 5.

* University of Illinois System | March Illinois Flash Index increased slightly: In Illinois, inflation-adjusted individual income tax receipts increased by more than 10 percent compared to the same month last year, while corporate receipts declined slightly after a period of underperformance. Sales tax receipts fell by 2.7 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point to 4.8 percent, while the national rate rose slightly to 4.1 percent. Similar to the Flash Index, the Illinois unemployment rate has remained stable over the past year.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Sen. Robert Martwick | Tier Two pensions are a crisis of our own making. Here’s a viable fix: So, what is the solution? The state’s public sector unions have put forth a proposal that seeks to balance fiscal responsibility with fairness. They are not asking for a return to the pre-2011 Tier One system, but rather a reasonable middle ground — what one might call “Tier One Light.” Their proposal is not extravagant; it simply aims to provide a pension that meets the basic standard of retirement security. As an employer, the state should see this as the bare minimum responsibility to its workforce.

* Pantagraph | Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton stresses progressive record amid Senate speculation: Stratton said she has not yet identified candidates or causes to support through Level Up. And with the Senate race frozen until Durbin makes his decision, she said she is planning on having events through the PAC that facilitate “dialogs across the state where we’re doing more listening.”

* Brownfield Ag News | IL Farmers Union takes priorities to Springfield: Cheyanne Bristol says recent visits to Springfield have been highlighted by discussions on the need for strong conservation programs. “In our meeting with Representative Harper, who is the Chair of the Agriculture Committee, we had talked about good stewardship of the land.” She says, “We believe in climate smart practices, and of course she was very for that.”

* WCIA | Pritzker signs trade agreement between Illinois and Mexico: The MOU comes at the start of a delegation trip from Illinois to Mexico City with the purpose of deepening economic cooperation and opportunities between the state and country. This specific agreement emphasizes the strong ties between Mexico and Illinois with a specific focus on bilateral trade in industries including manufacturing, agriculture and finance, according to a media release from Pritzker’s office.

*** Statewide ***

* Center Square | Illinois gun rights group asks U.S. Attorney General to review state’s gun laws: Illinois State Rifle Association’s Ed Sullivan said they’ve been in talks with the Trump administration. “I think it’s timely that Attorney General Bondi would want to come in and talk to us,” Sullivan told The Center Square. “She should tackle kind of the most onerous states in the nation when it comes to anti-gun laws and so we certainly welcome anything that they want to do to kind of look at this process.”

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Chicago’s murder drop ‘mirrors a lot of big cities,’ a leading crime data analyst says: Chicago finished the year’s first quarter this week with 96 murders, a drop of more than 15% from the first three months of last year. New Orleans-based data analyst Jeff Asher closely follows crime numbers in Chicago and other U.S. cities and spoke with WBEZ. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

* Sun-Times | Johnson calls special City Council meeting next week to confirm new 35th Ward alderperson: During his weekly City Hall news conference, Johnson said he has “not made any announcement on who” will replace Ramirez-Rosa. However, City Hall sources say Quezada is Johnson’s choice for the job, and that the appointment will be announced Wednesday. The announcement will come as no surprise. Quezada spent six years as Ramirez-Rosa’s neighborhood services director and was Ramirez-Rosa’s choice.

* Tribune | Lawsuit claims Chicago approval for cannabis store in Streeterville was illegal: The suit, filed last week by a neighborhood resident, Beth Padera, claims that the city Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) improperly approved a special use permit for G.P. Green House, doing business as Guaranteed Dispensary, at 620 N. Fairbanks Court. The complaint notes that the city zoning administrator had recommended denial of the application because the dispensary would be slightly within 500 feet of Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile, at 226 E. Illinois St., in violation of Chicago zoning law.

* Tribune | Debate resumes over 8 p.m. curfew for teens downtown after boy is shot during ‘teen takeover’ in Streeterville: Johnson has resisted calls in the past for an earlier curfew, including last summer after a group of teens attacked a couple in Streeterville. On Tuesday he told reporters he was more interested in how to “invest in young people and create more healthy safe spaces for them.”

* Block Club | City Opens Applications For More Than 400 Vacant Properties To Boost Redevelopment: The city began accepting redevelopment applications Tuesday for more than 400 land parcels, including 54 “Missing Middle” lots. Those lots are being offered through a program from the city’s Department of Planning and Development launched last fall to help revitalize the city’s middle class through affordable home ownership.

* Tribune | George Freeman, a trailblazing jazz guitarist who enjoyed a late-career renaissance, dies at 97: That was typical for the ever-adventurous Freeman, who died in Chicago on April 1. He was 97 years old. His death was confirmed by his nephew, Mark Freeman. While still in his teens, Freeman was among the first musicians in Chicago, and one of the first jazz guitarists anywhere, to champion the bleeding-edge bebop of his idol, Charlie Parker. He eventually got to play with Parker, in now-lauded performances at the Pershing Ballroom in the early 1950s.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WBEZ | Chief judge takes over electronic monitoring for Cook County, but questions remain about staffing: The Cook County sheriff’s office is ending its decades-old electronic monitoring program, handing it over to the chief judge amid questions about who will arrest violators and how extra staff will be funded. Beginning Tuesday, anyone placed on electronic monitoring after being found to be a flight risk or a danger to the public will be overseen by the Adult Probation Department, administered by Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans.

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park comedian Tim Cavanagh back to laughing after pancreatic cancer nearly took his life: Cavanaugh, 71, is a nationally known comedian from Orland Park who at one time was backed up by Drew Carey, co-headlined with Dennis Miller and backed up Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld among others. He opened 2021, however, being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Jan. 2. He went through hell, having a bunch of internal organs taken out and spending 26 days in a hospital. But he survived a disease that, according to pancan.com, carries a survival rate of 13%.

* Daily Herald | COD history professor explores DeKalb County’s role in Underground Railroad April 17: On Thursday, April 17, join College of DuPage Associate Professor of History John Paris for “Never Pursued: J.F. Glidden and the Underground Railroad.” The presentation, held in honor of former COD History Professor Carter D. Carroll, is free and open to the public. Paris will explore the significant role DeKalb County played in the Underground Railroad, highlighting the actions of J.F. Glidden, inventor of barbed wire, and DeKalb County sheriff during the network’s most active period.

* Daily Herald | Severe weather expected to develop overnight, continue throughout Wednesday: Thunderstorms are expected to develop late Tuesday night with the potential for hail stones up to 1 inch in diameter, gusty winds, frequent lightning and heavy downpours at times. Additional severe weather is likely to continue through most of the night and continue throughout Wednesday for most of the suburbs, according to forecasts from the National Weather Service bureau in Romeoville.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Two people arrested by ICE at Champaign Co. Courthouse: Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman confirmed the arrests with WCIA Tuesday afternoon. Champaign County Public Defender Elisabeth Pollock identified the two arrested as Fernando Lorenzo-Raymundo and Carlos Gomez. Both have pending court cases. Heuerman said he spoke with the ICE agent in charge when he heard that officials were in the courthouse. The agent told him that they were there with administrative warrants for two men who had court. Those warrants are administrative rather than criminal, and allow federal immigration officials to detain people pending deportation hearings.

* SJ-R | Springfield alderwoman has a new gig: lobbying for Chicago mayor: Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase has been a registered state lobbyist since 2023. Purchase said she will remain on the city council. “This is helpful to Chicago having someone here in Springfield,” Purchase told The State Journal Register March 29.

* Press Release | Woodward Communications, Inc. Expands Springfield Footprint with Acquisition of Four More Radio Stations: Woodward Communications, Inc. (WCI) is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of four radio stations (WNNS-FM, WQLZ-FM, WMAY-FM, and WMAY-AM) from Mid-West Family, serving the Springfield, IL marketplace. This acquisition follows WCI’s recent purchase of four Springfield, IL radio stations (WXAJ-FM, WFMB-FM, WCVS-FM, and WFMB-AM) from Neuhoff Media completed in October of last year.

* SJ-R | ‘He knew everything.’ Renowned Lincoln scholar and author dead at 101: Wayne C. “Doc” Temple, the indefatigable Abraham Lincoln scholar who wrote more than 20 books and hundreds of articles and book reviews, died in Chatham on March 31. Temple was 101 and still writing and reviewing manuscripts towards the end of his life, said his friend and historian, James Cornelius.

*** National ***

* Nature | ‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs: The layoffs will challenge the longstanding status that the NIH’s institutes and centres have had within the agency — as semi-autonomous entities. Legislative, communications, IT and other administrative workers within each institute received termination notices early on 1 April, a move designed to consolidate power under the NIH director. “NIH will cease to function after the RIFs [reductions in force]; it will take months to get things back online administratively,” says another NIH official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the press.

* Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Elon Musk group removes video from $1M winner after she says she got money to ‘vote’: “My name’s Ekaterina Deistler, and I’m from Green Bay, Wisconsin,” she said in the new video. “I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, and now I have a million dollars.” It’s almost exactly the same, except the word “vote” has been removed. She is no longer saying she was paid, in part, to vote in the Supreme Court race.

* Columbia Journalism Review | Center for Public Integrity Is Shutting Down: The Center for Public Integrity, a thirty-six-year-old nonprofit newsroom in Washington, DC, that won acclaim for its investigations but has endured financial and organizational turmoil for much of the past decade, has ceased publishing and is in talks to turn over its archives to the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), an anti-corruption watchdog group.

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