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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, May 30, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * The waiting game is in full swing…
* Axios…
* Block Club Chicago | Got A Text From The DMV? It’s Probably A Scam: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has a warning for Illinois residents: Beware of texts claiming to be from the “Illinois State Department of Motor Vehicles.” Recent texts to vehicle owners about outstanding traffic tickets that must be paid immediately are phishing scams, according to a video released by Giannoulias’ office. The Secretary of State’s Office does not send text messages about vehicle registrations or driver’s licenses. * Tribune | Illinois Senate to weigh measure prohibiting public schools from denying students based on immigration status: In the final days of the spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers this week advanced a bill to the Senate that would prohibit public schools from denying a student access to free education based on that child’s immigration status or that of their parents — a move aimed at reinforcing long-standing constitutional federal protections amid renewed scrutiny of immigrant rights at the state level. The bill, sponsored in the House by Chicago Democratic Rep. Lilian Jiménez, would prohibit a child within Illinois from being deprived of free public education through high school “based on the child’s perceived or actual immigration status or the child’s parent’s or guardian’s perceived or actual citizenship or immigration status.” The legislation also says a school must not exclude a child “from participation in or deny a child the benefits of any program or activity” for those same reasons. * Tribune | Illinois House passes bill allowing terminally ill people to end their lives with physician’s help: It marks the first time a medical aid in dying bill has passed through one legislative chamber in Illinois since advocates unsuccessfully pushed for the practice to be legalized in the state last year. The bill passed late Thursday by a 63-42 vote, just three votes more than the minimum number required for bills to pass the House by a simple majority, with a handful of Democrats joining Republicans in voting against it. * Capitol News Illinois | Illinois bill aims to lower cost of prescriptions, rein in pharmacy benefit managers: A bill that seeks to control the rising cost of prescription drugs while also offering financial help for many small, independent pharmacies in Illinois cleared the state Senate on Thursday and awaits action in the House. The bill, known as the Prescription Drug Affordability Act, contained in House Bill 1697, would put new regulations and impose new fees on a large but little understood segment of the prescription drug industry — pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. * Sun-Times | Because Johnson balks at compromise ‘granny flats’ measure, affordable housing lags, ex-zoning chair says: That’s the hard reality of the stalled “Accessory Dwelling Unit” ordinance, according to Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) who spent more than a year trying to forge a compromise while serving as acting chair of the City Council’s Zoning Committee. Lawson was tasked with holding down the fort after allegations of bullying and intimidation of colleagues forced the resignation of Johnson’s former Zoning Chair, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), who has since been appointed Chicago Park District superintendent. * Sun-Times | Is Chicago’s interim U.S. attorney here to stay? Judges could play an unusual role in picking top prosecutor: Andrew Boutros’ appointment by Attorney General Pam Bondi gives him only four months to serve. President Donald Trump could try to appoint someone else. Or federal judges could end up making the call. * WTTW | CPS Renews Urban Prep Charter Schools Contract After District Previously Sought to Take Over Schools: A previous iteration of the board voted in October 2022 to revoke Urban Prep’s charters with CPS set to take over management of those schools amid allegations of financial mismanagement and sexual misconduct by Urban Prep leadership. Urban Prep’s founder Tim King resigned his position that year following an investigation into allegations he sexually touched and groomed a minor student. King has denied those allegations, though they were substantiated in a report from the CPS Office of Inspector General. * WTTW | ‘The Experience of a Lifetime’: CPS CEO Pedro Martinez Reflects on Tenure as He’s Set to Leave School District: Martinez on Thursday reflected on his time as Chicago’s schools chief during what will be his final monthly meeting of the board before he exits the city to take over as Massachusetts’ next school board commissioner. “This district welcomed me with open arms when I came to the United States from Mexico at the age of 5,” an emotional Martinez said. “I was at Walsh Elementary, where I learned how to speak English, where teachers began to see the potential in me that I did not see in myself.” * CBS Chicago | Former Dolton mayor Tiffany Henyard could be jailed if she doesn’t show up to court Friday: Henyard is due in court for failing to produce records in a lawsuit against her and the village over documents she hasn’t handed over as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. A judge previously said Henyard could be fined $1,000 a day if she doesn’t give the documents to the plaintiff’s lawyer. If Henyard doesn’t show up to court Friday, she could be thrown in jail. * Daily Herald | ‘I was in fear for my life’: Reports, video tell story of Rolling Meadows sergeant’s road rage arrest in Elgin: Minutes after the road-rage altercation that left him behind bars and on unpaid leave, Rolling Meadows police Sgt. Carlos Saez told investigating officers he was defending himself from a “gang member” trying to disarm him. “He was overpowering me, and I was in fear for my life,” Saez said. Some eyewitness reports and surveillance video that captured the brawl in the middle of a busy Elgin road paint a different picture, one of two men engaging in a fistfight … until one used a gun. […] He’s accused of pistol-whipping the other man during the confrontation, leaving him bloodied from a cut to the temple, and firing a gunshot near his head. * Daily Herald | Aurora fills alderman vacancy: The Aurora City Council has named Will F. White to fill the vacant alderman-at-large post. Council members approved White’s appointment this week after interviewing four applicants in a closed-door session. Mayor John Laesch said that at least 130 people applied for the position. He interviewed 14 residents and narrowed the choices to four. * Daily Herald | DuPage forest preserve plans major transformation of Wood Dale golf course: The DuPage County forest preserve board is set to vote next week on a contract with Wadsworth Golf Construction to move forward with a planned renovation of the district-owned course. The contract on Tuesday’s board agenda is expected to cost up to nearly $14.9 million. Wadsworth also completed the overhaul of Oak Meadows, transforming a property with a history of flooding into a prime 18-hole course officially renamed The Preserve at Oak Meadows. In recognizing the project with one its 2017 “Force of Nature” awards, the Chicago Wilderness Alliance highlighted how previously manicured fairways and turf became acres of upland prairie and oak savanna. * Daily Southtown | Frankfort receives $1.6 million grant to expand bike and pedestrian trail system: The village applied for the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program in 2022, but was unsuccessful. Ogle said they applied again last year but budgeted for the $2.2 million project to ensure construction was set for next spring. The 10-feet-wide, 1.5 mile long trail is expected to open to pedestrians and bicyclists next summer, Ogle said. * Naperville Sun | Naperville City Council: New pay structure for nonunion employees approved, energy procurement workshop discussed: The council unanimously approved new pay ranges for nonunion employees. The altered structure is the result of a compensation study completed in April by consultant McGrath Human Resources Group. By analyzing city salaries against compensation data from comparable organizations — such as the Naperville Park District and DuPage County, among others — McGrath found that Naperville’s nonunion pay structure wasn’t in line with the average market rate, according to a city staff report. * Naperville Sun | Donna Vickroy: At 78, suburban ‘Butterfly Man’ still releasing thousands of monarchs and swallowtails: Since he emerged as a butterfly rescuer in 2007, Bob Erlich has released more than 36,000 monarchs and swallowtails into Chicago’s suburban landscape. “It never gets old,” the 78-year-old Evergreen Park resident said. “From that first release to today, it’s still wonderful to watch them take flight.” After reading a newspaper story 18 years ago about the endangered monarch, the former jewelry salesman decided to pivot a job layoff into a retirement cause. * WQAD | Rock Island-Milan School District deputy superintendent placed on leave amid investigation: Jeff Dase, deputy superintendent of the Rock Island-Milan School District, was placed on administrative leave earlier this month amid an internal investigation. […] Dase was previously the subject of a separate complaint in late 2024. That investigation reviewed concerns about his conduct during a meeting but found no violations of board policy or professional conduct standards. No disciplinary action was taken at the time. * Illinois Times | Two Springfield attorneys have law licenses suspended: The report states that work schedules subpoenaed from the Sangamon County Public Defender and Illinois Attorney General’s offices show her working for both entities during the same hours. Further, the report contends court dockets show both Jason and Salena Young appeared as lawyers in court in private parental rights cases at a time when they were supposed to be working for the taxpayers. Jason Young was suspended from practicing law for 90 days, beginning Dec. 10, following an investigation into these allegations. * WGLT | New health care provider for Rivian employees coming to Normal outlet mall: Phase one will allow Florida-based Pentus Health to serve the majority of Rivian’s employees and contractors. That phase should be completed by the end of June. Ultimately, the 35,000-square-foot space will be open to others in the Bloomington-Normal area. The estimated cost for when the project is complete, including medical equipment, is around $10 million. * IPM News | School board votes out Champaign Unit 4 Superintendent Shelia Boozer: The majority of the school board voted Thursday to approve a separation agreement with Superintendent Shelia Boozer. The move received vocal disapproval from a largely Black audience of parents and civil rights leaders. “Your leadership as superintendent of Champaign Unit 4 schools has been transformative. You didn’t just lead. You made us feel like we belong,” parent and Booker T. Washington STEM Academy Principal Cessily Thomas told Boozer. * AP | Trump’s list of ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ includes some that support his immigration policies: Officials who back President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown questioned how their jurisdictions wound up on a list of more than 500 that the Department of Homeland Security says are obstructing enforcement. Several communities were misspelled, including Cincinnati, which was spelled Cincinnatti. * WaPo | Contradicting RFK Jr., CDC keeps recommending covid vaccine for kids: The CDC did not remove the coronavirus vaccines from the childhood schedule, as Kennedy said it would, when it updated its website late Thursday. Instead, the agency recommends the shots based on “shared clinical decision-making,” meaning children can get vaccinated if their parents and doctors agree.
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- H-W - Friday, May 30, 25 @ 3:27 pm:
Re: Axios Story
Pray for my daughter-in-law. She is no threat to our nation. She is not a drug dealer nor a criminal. She has simply been redefined as “unprotected and thereby illegal” by an administration that is in fact criminal.
- Proud Papa Bear - Friday, May 30, 25 @ 6:30 pm:
@H-W I am truly sorry about your daughter-in-law’s plight and I am with you in solidarity.
As for the right to end one’s life story, Cupich was on the news today telling about how his dad didn’t end his life early and that he had a good death experience. I am happy to hear that, but don’t deny others’ right to stop suffering.