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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Former Illinois National Guard general says troops can’t act as law enforcement in Chicago. CBS Chicago…
- “They could stand on corners and basically do nothing. They could certainly protect federal property, that’s a reasonable thing to do,” Hayes said. “But it’s not a law enforcement function.” - Chicago is different than the Washington, D.C., deployment because, one: they don’t have a governor and the president does exert more control there than almost anywhere in the country over the National Guard. But because the National Guard doesn’t have the authority to arrest or handle law enforcement, they would be largely restricted to protecting federal buildings and federal agents in Chicago. * Related stories… * Governor Pritzker will join Black Men United at 11 am in Maywood for a ribbon-cutting to open a new affordable housing facility. Click here to watch. * WBEZ | Federal loan limits could turn off prospective social workers from going to school, advocates say: Starting July 2026, students will only be allowed to borrow $20,500 from the federal government per year. Master’s degrees in social work can cost upwards of $45,000 a year, particularly at private universities — and in most cases a graduate degree is needed to work in the field. […] “The rub is that colleges cannot reverse years of price increases overnight,” Granville wrote. “Students will still face high tuition bills and living costs despite the new borrowing limits, and they will shoulder the burden of this change if they want to continue to pursue higher education.” * Sun-Times | Trump’s planned Chicago blitz would use naval base to house ICE agents, possibly National Guard: Agents with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection would be housed at Naval Station Great Lakes near North Chicago from Sept. 2-30, according to an email Monday from Navy Cpt. Stephen Yargosz to his leadership team. “These operations are similar to what occurred in Los Angeles earlier this summer. Same DHS team,” wrote Yargosz, the commanding officer of Naval Station Great Lakes. “… This morning I received a call that there is the potential to also support National Guard units. Not many details on this right now. Mainly a lot of concerns and questions.” * WAND | Wyndham owner faces allegations of intentionally vandalizing hotel: According to documents filed with the U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, WAND News learned that the Springfield fire and police departments were investigating after they said it appeared that the property was intentionally vandalized. The State Fire Marshal shuttered the hotel March 28. Then in June, hotel owner Al Rajabi sued his insurance company, claiming Affiliated FM Insurance was stalling to pay the claim. Rajabi said he was losing thousands of dollars on cancelled reservations and events. * Center Square | WATCH: IL Hospital Association: $50B rural hospital fund ‘woefully inadequate’: Illinois Hospital Association President and CEO A.J. Wilhelmi acknowledged the $50 billion fund for rural hospitals. “But I think we would all agree that when we’re talking about $50 billion out of a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid, that is woefully inadequate,” Wilhelmi said sitting next to Pritzker Friday. “Nevertheless, these funds are critically important to rural hospitals and providers in this room and across the state of Illinois.” * WIFR | Illinois sees record-breaking tourism in 2024: According to data from Tourism Economics, Illinois saw 113 million domestic and international visitors spending $48.5 billion in 2024. That’s an increase of 500,000 visitors and $1.3 billion more than in 2023. Visitor spending generated $4.7 billion in state and local tax revenue, and supported nearly 300,000 jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry, according to the report. The increase in tourism also led to a 14% increase in hotel tax revenue, totaling $367 million. * Capitol City Now | Frank Lesko to run for Illinois Senate seat: Former Springfield Alderman, City Clerk and Park Board member Frank Lesko — the current Sangamon County Recorder — says he wants the seat in the Illinois Senate currently occupied by former city colleague and Democrat, Doris Turner. * Capitol News Illinois | Trump threatens Illinois’ federal funding for eliminating cash bail: “It’s clear that the president really hasn’t read any of the background or actually what’s happened as a result of the law being put in place,” Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters in Decatur on Tuesday. […] Illinois’ law does not automatically allow people charged with felonies to remain out of jail before their trial. Local prosecutors decide whether to petition a judge to keep a person detained as they await trial, and the law directs the justice system to cite and release most low-level, nonviolent offenders. * WNIJ | Illinois has significantly increased MAP grant funding since the budget crisis. What has it done for college affordability?: “If you go back a decade, the MAP grant (max award), at least at NIU, was covering about 38% of tuition and fees,” said Jensen. “Today, that is covering about 60% of our tuition fees.” Jensen says another thing to note about MAP is that it’s a first-come, first-served system. During the budget impasse, funding ran out quickly. At NIU, it meant that around 10% of students who qualified for awards didn’t get any. * Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago Public Schools’ debt has hit over $28,000 per student. Here’s what that means: In the years before the 2008 financial crash, district officials also engaged in risky borrowing in an effort to lower interest rates on existing debt that backfired when the economy collapsed, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. And in the mid-2010s, at a time of intense financial strain before the state overhauled how it funded public education, Chicago’s school board did what officials today call “crisis borrowing” — much of it to pay for servicing its existing debt. * Chalkbeat Chicago | About 200 students with disabilities in Chicago don’t have classroom placements as second week of school begins: Although CPS added nearly 100 new cluster programs in the past two years with classes exclusively for students with disabilities, families were notified in an Aug. 15 letter that there are “limited seats available.” District officials said the delay is not impacting all special education programs, just students slated for placements in cluster programs. Cluster classrooms are only for students with disabilities and serve up to 10 students in early childhood education programs and 13 students from kindergarten up until a student ages out of the school district at 22, according to district officials. * Sun-Times | Civil rights attorney with history of suing CPD to serve as Mayor Johnson’s strategy chief: Sheila Bedi is a clinical professor of law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and director of the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic. The clinic describes itself as providing “students with opportunities to work within social-justice movements on legal and policy strategies aimed at redressing over-policing and mass imprisonment.” […] Bedi was also the attorney who represented activist Miracle Boyd and persuaded the city to compensate Boyd with a $280,000 settlement for being roughed up and having her front tooth knocked out by a Chicago police officer during a 2020 protest at the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park. That statue has since been removed from its pedestal. And Bedi served on the legal team for the family of Dexter Reed, who was shot to death by police officers in 2024 after Reed shot and wounded one of them during a traffic stop. A $1.25 million proposed settlement that would have compensated the Reed family stalled in the Council’s Finance Committee amid opposition from pro-police Council members. * Tribune | Family members raise questions about arrest after video appears to show officers throwing punches: After about a minute, as Douglas continues to resist, the video appears to show one officer punch him in the stomach. “Why you punch me?” Douglas is heard asking. The officer replies: “You just punched me” as Douglas then says, “I didn’t punch you.” The second officer then swings twice at his face, according to the video. The video did not appear to show Douglas punch the officer, though the officers partially block him from view of the camera. * WBEZ | Johnson to appoint new CPS board member ahead of tight budget vote: Ángel Vélez is a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant with a doctorate in education policy, organization and leadership, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He’ll be sworn in at Thursday’s board meeting to represent District 9A on the South Side, a seat that has been empty since June. In a statement, Vélez said he brings his professional experience and lived experience as an Afro-Latino man who went to Clemente High School in Humboldt Park and now lives in West Englewood. His child attends a Chicago public school. * CBS Chicago | Lawmakers call for federal relief after repeated flooding on Chicago’s West Side: Also Tuesday, leaders on the city’s West Side called for flood relief from the federal government. The West Side has been hit hard by flooding in recent years. This summer, many West Side residents had their homes inundated after significant rain on July 25. Some got hit again last week. Many residents are dealing with expensive repairs and costly mold removal projects. * Tribune | Chicago police issue community alert after latest antisemitic stickers, graffiti found in Hyde Park: Since June, vandals have tagged eight locations in the South Side neighborhood — including a mailbox, stop sign, emergency bell and lockers — with stickers or graffiti carrying antisemitic messages, the latest found Monday afternoon in the 1300 block of East 53rd Street, authorities said. * NBC Chicago | Restaurant launches legal fight to restore Chicago Riverwalk location: Robert Gomez, owner and operator of Beat Kitchen, says city officials pushed him out at the conclusion of a five-year contract without providing an explanation of why, and he’s fighting to get his location back along the Riverwalk. Tuesday marked the first hearing in civil court on the matter, with Gomez having filed a lawsuit against the city. * High Speed Rail Alliance | Metra’s South Chicago Branch and the Illinois Quantum Campus: The Quantum Campus brings attention to a unique Metra line: the Metra Electric District South Chicago Branch, a 4.7-mile spur from the Metra Electric Main Line, built in 1883 by the Illinois Central Railroad, and electrified with overhead wires in 1926. The South Chicago Branch is the only Metra line that operates entirely within Chicago, it’s electric, no freight trains operate on the branch, and it serves the densely populated urban neighborhoods of South Shore and South Chicago. With minimal upgrades, it would operate more like a CTA L line than a traditional Metra commuter rail line. * WTTW | Chicago Grocery Mart Owner Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison For Defrauding Millions in SNAP Benefits: Prosecutors alleged Alhawa maintained multiple checking accounts at different banks set up to receive benefit payments purportedly redeemed through his store. From 2011 to 2019, Alhawa fraudulently redeemed SNAP and WIC benefits for non-eligible items or cash even though no eligible food items were ever sold by Olive Mount Mart to those recipients or their designees. Alhawa admitted in a plea agreement with the government that he caused a loss to those programs of more than $8.3 million. * Daily Southtown | Calumet City calls for new trial in document destruction lawsuit against Clerk Nyota Figgs: The lawsuit claiming Figgs illegally shredded records shortly after Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones first entered office was thrown out last month when Judge Joel Chupack found the city’s case “woefully insufficient.” Jones and Figgs independently won reelection to their seats this year in a race characterized by political divisions and personal attacks. Calumet City requested the judge hearing a separate lawsuit overrule Chupack’s verdict or grant a new trial, after Chupack denied a city request for extra time to file posttrial motions on Aug. 20. The city also filed a motion asking to enforce a settlement it says was reached with Figgs before Chupack ruled. * Daily Herald | ‘Hiring slushie’: Aurora mayor to limit filling of vacant city jobs: Aurora Mayor John Laesch plans to limit filling vacant municipal jobs, as he believes the city should rein in spending amid a potential $29 million budget deficit next year. Laesch outlined his plans Monday, as he and city finance officials discussed the general fund portion of the budget they are preparing for 2026. Laesch said he is instituting a “hiring slushie,” under which city departments won’t be able to hire new people to increase staff or fill vacancies without first getting approval from his office. * Naperville Sun | Gun-related arrests at Naperville Topgolf now top 15 for the year: Officers conducting a foot patrol of the Topgolf parking lot at 3211 Odyssey Court about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 21 observed a handgun in plain view inside an unoccupied Kia Forte, Naperville police spokeswoman Kelley Munch said. Upon further investigation, they learned the registered owner of the vehicle, identified as Wright, did not possess a valid FOID card or a concealed carry license, Munch said. He also had a previous felony conviction out of Indiana. * Evanston RoundTable | New Illinois law protecting students is ‘relief’ in Evanston immigrant community: Mendoza told the RoundTable that COFI members had brought up concerns about the safety of kids in schools. She specifically cited concerns about information and data privacy. Both Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and Evanston School District 202 are Safe Haven School Districts. Neither district asks for student or family immigration statuses, and they are never asked to provide documentation regarding their immigration status. * Daily Herald | Extra trains on track for Metra BNSF riders and more stops on the UP West: Here’s what it means to you: On the UP West Line from Chicago to Geneva, up to four stops will be added at off-peak hours. […] For BNSF riders traveling between the suburbs and downtown, two additional morning trains will make stops from Lisle to Downers Grove, then head straight to Union Station. On the evening commute, two trains will travel express from Chicago to Congress Park, then make all stops until Fairview Avenue; two other trains will express to Downers Grove, then stop at all stations to Aurora. * WCIA | Carle announces expanded services in CU as OSF shrinks: The healthcare landscape in Champaign-Urbana is getting a shakeup as one provider reduces services in the region and another expands its services in response. OSF previously announced that it will be consolidating its hospital system into two campuses and closing down several of its units in Urbana. Carle, meanwhile, expects that this will result in a substantial increase in the number of patients at its hospital, adding to an already high demand. * WGLT | Access-to-care gaps persist in updated Community Health Needs Assessment for McLean County: A foundational planning tool used to tackle some of McLean County’s most pressing health challenges has just been refreshed. It’s the first update to the Community Health Needs Assessment in three years. The document packed with data will be used in many ways, including the creation of a new three-year health improvement plan. The three significant health needs selected for action are access to care, behavioral health (including mental health and substance abuse), and healthy eating and active living, the same as last time. * BND | Controversy over cemetery solar farm draws Belleville Diocese into fray: For at least two decades, the Catholic Diocese of Belleville has been leasing a small section of Mount Carmel Cemetery land to a trucking company that’s digging a borrow pit and hauling out fill dirt, east of the burial grounds on the bluff. The operation didn’t attract much attention until last year, when a group of local residents began fighting the city of Belleville’s plan to buy nearby Mount Hope Cemetery, clear-cut 25 acres of woods and build a solar farm. City and solar officials addressed environmental concerns, in part, by portraying the solar farm as the lesser of two evils. Mount Hope’s fate would be so much worse, they said, if the trucking company or some other private developer got control of the land. * WCIA | Decatur PE teacher among those arrested during human trafficking operation: Olson is listed on the DPS staff directory as a PE teacher at Eisenhower High School, and on Tuesday, the district sent a recorded robocall to parents to address the matter. […] “ The district is aware of the recent arrest of an employee. In accordance with the court’s * WSIL | Cairo Alumni Launch Labor Day Revitalization Effort: Organizers are inviting all Cairo High School alumni to join the first annual Labor Day Revitalization event on Saturday, August 30, 2025. The community-wide effort will focus on cleanup and beautification projects designed to spark pride and show what’s possible when neighbors work side by side. Organizers say there are several ways to show your support. You can volunteer your time, donating supplies, make a financial contribution, or simply just spreading the word. * AP | Researcher who has distorted voter data appointed to Homeland Security election integrity role: Pennsylvania activist Heather Honey is now serving as the deputy assistant secretary for election integrity in the department’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans, an organizational chart on its website shows. The political appointment, first reported by Democracy Docket, shows how self-styled election investigators who have thrown themselves into election conspiracy theories since 2020 are now being celebrated by a presidential administration that indulges their false claims. Her new role, which didn’t exist under President Joe Biden, also comes as Trump has used election integrity concerns as a pretext to try to give his administration power over how elections are run in the U.S. * Working Economics Blog | Unions can play a critical role in safeguarding reproductive freedom: When looking at these state policies, it’s worth noting that many of the states with abortion protections are also states with higher levels of unionization. Our recent report documents the strong correlation between high union density and a range of economic, personal, and democratic well-being metrics. In the same way unions give workers a voice at their workplace, unions also give workers a voice in shaping their communities. * AP | A US tariff exemption for small orders ends Friday. It’s a big deal to some shoppers and businesses: Although the president previously ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will require vetting and be subject to their origin country’s applicable tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%. For the next six months, carriers handling orders sent through the global mail network also can choose a flat duty of $80 to $200 per package instead of the value-based rate. * NBC Chicago | The CDC quietly scaled back a surveillance program for foodborne illnesses: As of July 1, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) program has reduced surveillance to just two pathogens: salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told NBC News. Before July, the program had been tracking infections caused by six additional pathogens: campylobacter, cyclospora, listeria, shigella, vibrio and Yersinia. Some of them can lead to severe or life-threatening illnesses, particularly for newborns and people who are pregnant or have weakened immune systems.
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- Streator Curmudgeon - Wednesday, Aug 27, 25 @ 10:28 am:
“Researcher who has distorted voter data appointed to Homeland Security election integrity role”
This would be too far-fetched if you made this stuff up. Every day a new level of preposterousness.