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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* From Rich: US Rep. Jonathan Jackson attended Sen. Willie Preston’s congressional fundraiser over the weekend. Preston is running in the open 2nd Congressional District. Another possible contender is Congressman Jackson’s brother, Jesse Jackson, Jr. So, make of this what you will…  * Sun-Times | Head Start preschool remains open to all regardless of immigration status, two judges rule: The Illinois Head Start association filed a lawsuit, along with other Head Start and parent advocate groups and the American Civil Liberties Union, to halt the changes to the rules announced by the Trump administration. Another suit was filed by Illinois and 19 other states with Democratic attorneys general, plus the District of Columbia. This week in both cases, Republican-appointed federal judges agreed to block the changes. * Bloomberg | Illinois toymakers’ tariff challenge puts Trump’s deficit plan at risk: “We called in every favor we had” in the effort to shift out of China, get safety tests done and go into production in India, Ruffman said. “All to come in at a higher tariff than it would have if we’d kept it in China” she said — referring to how the president last month jacked up the US surtax on Indian imports to 50%. Meantime, the added levy on goods from China has come down to 30%. So far this year, Ruffman said her company has paid more than $5.5 million in tariffs, compared with just $2.3 million for all of 2024. And the bill would be much higher if the company hadn’t paused production on many of their goods to avoid significant price hikes, Ruffman said. * The Bond Buyer| Moody’s upgrade buoys Cook County as it prepares to sell bonds: Cook County, Illinois, plans to go to market Oct. 1 with $150 million of sales tax revenue bonds. The deal comes on the heels of a Moody’s Ratings upgrade to Aa3 from A1 on Thursday. * Tribune | Lake County’s 911 consolidation rift resurfaces: ‘What do we do now to protect and serve the county?’: The $100,000 was for getting the Sheriff’s 911 dispatchers emergency medical dispatch training and certification, which is a state requirement, although a waiver has been in place since 2022. The board, in a split vote, ultimately put the item on indefinite hold, with Chair Sandy Hart saying it would reopen the item if the state were to end the waiver. Those in favor of the delay argued it was a case of duplication of services, something LakeComm was created to address, and urged the Sheriff’s Office to move towards consolidation to address more fundamental issues. Those opposed felt the training was important regardless of the consolidation controversy, and should not be delayed. * Tribune | Federal immigration agents make arrests in Chicago and West Chicago with sightings in several other suburbs: State Sen. Karina Villa, a Democrat from West Chicago, said she saw the federal agents assembling at a West Chicago Police Department station parking lot early Monday. When she confronted them about why they were present, they dispersed, she said. At some point, she said there were “probably over five” arrests, though she said that was not confirmed independently by federal or local law enforcement. Villa said volunteers in the community were dispatched to take video or photos of immigration enforcement activity, and the agents were wearing vests that identified them as being from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and they were in “unmarked vehicles.” * Daily Herald | ICE activity reported in West Chicago: District 33 Superintendent Kristina Davis said the “secondhand reports” indicated people have been detained. “We were only hearing rumors,” Davis said about noon Monday, nearly five hours after first being notified of ICE activity. “We have not verified any of that,” she said. “But at this point in terms of who or how many people, we have heard that there have been some people detained, but we have not been given any names or verification of who that might be, at this time.” * Shaw Local | Data center construction could be more expensive in Yorkville with increased building fees: “Current permit and plan review fees were not designed to address the scale and technical complexity associated with data center facilities, which often include millions of cubic feet in building volume and require hundreds of inspections per structure,” Krysti Barksdale-Noble, community development director, states in city documents. City officials looked at the towns of Aurora, Elk Grove Village, and Hoffman Estates, all which have data center developments, to craft their own figures. * Sun-Times | City Council Finance Committee backs $90M payout to resolve 176 lawsuits tied to corrupt cop Ronald Watts: A City Council committee tried Monday to write a $90 million ending to one of the ugliest chapters in the Chicago Police Department’s checkered history of disgraced cops. A Finance Committee that has closely scrutinized and occasionally stalled prior settlements tied to allegations of police wrongdoing unanimously jumped at the chance to resolve 176 lawsuits tied to former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts in one fell swoop. * NBC Chicago | Bears fan vowed to run a mile for every point the team loses by. Then Sunday happened: “The Chicago Bears could destroy my legs today,” Bandolik posted on TikTok ahead of the game, making a vow that sparked plenty of attention. His video quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of views as fans watch the numbers during the Bears-Lions game quickly climb. “Just start running from Chicago to Detroit,” one commenter said. * Sun-Times | Chicago directors are leaning into film’s favorite new genre: the tech bubble-inspired horror comedy: Both locally sourced and set films screen at the 32nd Chicago Underground Film Festival, which opens Wednesday and runs through Sept. 21. Co-founded by Bryan Wendorf, the 2025 edition of this maverick nonprofit fest lines up 26 features and 38 shorts (lengths range from two minutes to over three hours). Wendorf expects about 60 filmmakers to attend audience talkbacks after showing their work. * Pantagraph | Delayed McLean County audit preventing release of $18M in tax revenue: The release of roughly $18.7 million in property tax revenue for McLean County is contingent on when the county can submit its 2024 annual audit, which is three months overdue, to the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. This delay has also caused the county to pay thousands in additional billing services to its external auditor, CliftonLarsonAllen. State statute also allows the comptroller to assess daily fines for overdue audits. * STL PR | East St. Louis affordable housing development quickly sells out : All the units of a new affordable housing development in downtown East St. Louis, 38 apartments and townhomes, have already been spoken for since going on the market just a couple of months ago. Called Winstanley Park, the $13 million development offers one- to four-bedroom units that primarily serve working families. The project, spearheaded by a Baptist church’s economic development arm and the Illinois Housing Development Authority, aims to breathe new life into East St. Louis and will serve as a stepping stone for more development, according to the project’s backers. * WCIA | Secretary of State announces $28 million for IL libraries, literacy programs: More than $28 million is going to libraries across the state — including several in Central Illinois — courtesy of Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias. Giannoulias’ office announced a series of grants on Monday that will go toward regional library systems and literacy programs. * WGLT | Normal Town Council to consider allowing more pets per household: Town staff say in a memo to the council that pet limits are common among Illinois communities “as an exercise of police power to protect public health, safety and welfare.” The proposed ordinance would increase the number to three animals per species. So, if approved, three cats or three dogs would be allowed in a home, compared to current limit of two. * 404 Media | Airlines Sell 5 Billion Plane Ticket Records to the Government For Warrantless Searching: The contract provides new insight into the scale of the sale of passengers’ data by the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), the airlines-owned data broker. The contract shows ARC’s data includes information related to more than 270 carriers and is sourced through more than 12,800 travel agencies. ARC has previously told the government to not reveal to the public where this passenger data came from, which includes peoples’ names, full flight itineraries, and financial details. * AP | Trump threatens to take over DC police again over immigration enforcement: Trump’s emergency order, which took over the local police force, expired last week. Hours before it elapsed, Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the city would not cooperate with Immigration, Customs and Enforcement in their continued operations in the nation’s capital. Earlier, she had said the city would work with other federal agencies even after the emergency order expired. In an early-morning social media post on Monday, Trump said his intervention into the D.C.’s law enforcement had improved crime in the city, a claim Bowser has backed up, though, data shows crime was already falling in Washington before the law enforcement surge began. * Politico | ‘The whole thing is screwed up’: Farmers in deep-red Pennsylvania struggle to find workers: In Tioga County, where President Donald Trump won 75 percent of the vote in 2024, farmers are losing patience with the White House’s promise of a quick solution for farm workers. Their urgent need is highlighted by stories like those of a multigenerational dairy farm that sold off all its dairy cows because the owner could not find workers and another where a farmer’s job listings have received no responses. * AP | Abortion advocates raise alarm about social platforms removing posts in apparent overreach: Clinics, advocacy groups and individuals who share abortion-related content online say they are seeing informational posts being taken down even if the posts don’t clearly violate the platforms’ policies. […] The [Electronic Frontier Foundation] says it received close to 100 examples of content takedowns from abortion providers, advocacy groups and individuals on Meta platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, as well as TikTok and even LinkedIn.
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Pritzker says amount of threats received in past few days has been an ‘enormous multiple’ of those that were received in the days before
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Isabel told you earlier that Gov. Pritkzer listed several fairly recent acts of political violence. A reporter followed up…
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Rep. Smith won’t run for reelection
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Rep. Nick Smith (D-Chicago)…
Rep. Smith told me he’ll serve out his term. He said he has not picked a favorite to replace him, but his district’s ward and township committeepersons have all been notified. He’s gonna be missed. A lot.
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Pritzker on political violence, impeachment, Nazis, National Guard, ICE shooting, Gov. Jim Edgar
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Governor JB Pritzker started off a morning news conference today with a speech condemning political violence. An excerpt…
* Gov. Pritzker was asked about his comments and the impeachment articles filed by Rep. Chris Miller, who claims the governor has incited violence…
Click here for his initial comments on Charlie Kirk. Background on the Nazi accusation is here and here. Please re-read them both. * On President Trump sending the National Guard to Memphis instead of Chicago…
* On the Franklin Park ICE shooting…
* On Gov. Jim Edgar’s death…
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No end in sight
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
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RETAIL: The Largest Employer In Illinois
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Retail creates more jobs in Illinois than any other private sector employer, with one out of every four workers employed by the retail sector. Importantly, retail is an industry in which everyone, regardless of credentials, can find a viable career path. Retailers like Tim Peterson in Evanston enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA are showcasing the retailers who make Illinois work.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Jim Edgar, Illinois’ 1990s-era moderate GOP governor, dies at 79. Capitol News Illinois…
* Governor JB Pritzker will hold a roundtable at Harold Washington College at 9:45 am to discuss how federal deployments are affecting students. Click here to watch. * WWQC | Rock Island County Board member Porter McNeil dies at 65: A Rock Island County Board member passed away after a four-year battle with cancer Friday afternoon. Porter McNeil served as a member of the Rock Island County Board since 2021, he was active in helping to drive community economic efforts, as well as by volunteering with numerous local community organizations, those who knew McNeil said. * Daily Herald | New state program widens higher education access to Illinois students: Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Illinois Community College Board, and Illinois Student Assistance Commission recently launched the One Click College Admit program for Illinois public universities and community colleges. The program will allow Illinois high school seniors and community college transfer students to be accepted into the state’s public universities. * Tribune | In announcing bid for governor, Republican Ted Dabrowski leaves more questions than answers: And while Dabrowski introduced his newly minted running mate, emergency room Dr. Carrie Mendoza, neither he nor his campaign team made her available to answer questions about her background opposing transgender-affirming care procedures, in which she likened the “orthodoxy” behind them to sterilizations and mutations conducted in Nazi Germany. Dabrowski did allow his mother, Blanca, to speak, and she said her son would “bring Illinois back into the glory of the ’60s” but did not elaborate. * Aurora Beacon News | As federal immigration enforcement ramps up in Chicago area, Aurora state Rep. Hernandez holds ‘Know Your Rights’ session for businesses: * Sun-Times | Gov. JB Pritzker signs executive order to protect COVID-19 vaccine access under RFK Jr.: Soon, with consultation from the state’s Immunization Advisory Committee, Pritzker’s order could make it easier for people to get the shot outside the FDA’s limited recommendations. “This is about making sure no family in Illinois is left wondering if they can protect themselves against preventable serious illness,” Pritzker said in a statement. “When the federal government abandons its responsibility, Illinois will step up. We will follow the science, listen to medical experts, and do everything in our power to enable families to receive the care they need.” * In These Times | ICE Abducts Man Suing Off-Duty Police for Abusing Day Laborers: Gimenez, who is in his late 30s and is from Venezuela, is one of five migrant day laborers involved in a federal lawsuit claiming that, among many other things, they “endured physical violence at the hands of off-duty Chicago Police Department officers” who were working as security officers for Home Depot, according to the complaint. The lawsuit also alleges “a conspiracy to criminalize day laborers’ attempts to find work in Chicago.” Speakers at a Saturday morning news conference organized by workers’ advocates said they believe he was intentionally targeted because he is a plaintiff in that suit. (An ICE spokesperson, after In These Times and Workday requested comments about the abduction, defended the arrest but would not say where Gimenez was taken or being held.) * Tribune | Outside ICE facility, friends of detained day laborer call for his release: Willian Giménez González, who came to Chicago from Venezuela in 2023, was with his wife when he was detained Friday, attorney Kevin Herrera said in Broadview. Neither Herrera nor Giménez González’s wife have heard from him since, Herrera said, and they do not know where he is. “These are trying times for the legal system and the rights it protects,” Herrera said. “But the community assembled here knows that people hold the powerful to account. We will fight for Willian, and we will see to it that he is free to be with us in Chicago and to contribute to the city in all of the ways he has since he arrived. That’s a promise.” * ABC Chicago | Dead rat, ‘derogatory’ handwritten note found at alderman’s office, Chicago police say: In a statement on Facebook, Alderman Vasquez said, “Tonight, the Chicago Police Department alerted us of an incident at the 40th Ward Office. A dead rat was left in front of our office, along with a threatening note taped to the door that, among other things, referred to undocumented immigrants as vermin. In this current political climate, we take these threats seriously, and are working with the Chicago Police Department to investigate. In the meantime, the 40th Ward Office will remain open. We are and will always be steadfast in our commitment to serving 40th Ward neighbors and supporting the rights of the immigrant community.” * Crain’s | As Trump steps up Fed attacks, Chicago finance execs weigh in: With the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to make its first interest rate cut of the year this week, Chicago finance executives are voicing confidence in Chairman Jerome Powell in the face of fresh attacks from President Donald Trump on the independence of the central bank. “I think people feel like Chairman Powell is an honest broker and this number is legitimate,” John Rogers, founder, chairman and co-chief executive officer of Ariel Investments, told Crain’s in an interview on the expected rate cuts. * Block Club | Little Village’s Mexican Independence Day Parade Sees Thousands Take A Stand Against ICE: Thousands of revelers packed the sidewalks for the 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade, waving flags and blowing plastic horns. In stark contrast to the muffled turnout for Saturday night’s typically raucous car caravan celebrations, Sunday’s parade didn’t disappoint with a crowd only slightly smaller than typical, multiple parade-goers said. “I think people just feel more comfortable going out during the day when they’re surrounded by people in the community,” said Damaris, who attended both Saturday and Sunday’s celebrations. “I have family members afraid to go out at night — afraid of the police, so it makes sense that there weren’t as many people out [Saturday]. We really have to just keep checking on each other.” * Tribune | Chicago Bears defense has no answers for Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions in ‘ugly, ugly, ugly loss’: The Bears gave up 50 points for the first time since 2014. The Lions ran circles around them. There wasn’t a whole lot to say, especially for the Bears who were trying to defend Goff, St. Brown and the Lions. “You go back to work,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “Second game of the season, man, obviously it was an ugly, ugly, ugly loss.” * Unraveled Press | What happened to Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez: As Villegas-Gonzalez drives away from the agents—not toward them, as DHS claimed—the agent on the passenger side aims his weapon at the back of Villegas-Gonzalez’s car. Two gunshots can be heard in a separate security video. The second agent is not visible during the shooting, and it remains unclear which agent fired their weapon. * Tribune | Outside hotels and a naval base, suburban Chicago protests immigration ‘blitz’: More rallies have been scheduled in Broadview and in other communities in the coming days, as suburbs that were once Republican strongholds have turned reliably Democrat-blue in the past decade. The demonstrations reflect both the disdain for Trump among an increasingly less conservative electorate and a significant suburban immigrant population that surpasses that of the city itself. “It’s been historic,” said Cristobal Cavazos, co-founder of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage and Casa DuPage Workers Center. “I’m just so proud of our level of activity. When I first got into activism, the suburbs were seen as a land of conservative white folks. But that’s changing.” * Daily Southtown | Blue Island officials seek assurance about controversial license plate cameras: A little over a month after two suburbs moved to deactivate cameras that read license plates due to privacy concerns, Blue Island officials discussed Thursday whether to approve a contract reauthorizing eight of the city’s 14 license plate cameras. Blue Island police Chief Jason Slattery told the City Council it has a month to decide. The city entered a contract with Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that manufactures the automated cameras, to install eight cameras in 2021. Six cameras were added later, he said. * Daily Herald | ‘More than a dozen meetings and … a dozen months’: How the Bears stadium approval process might look: Mayor Jim Tinaglia said he is talking at least a half hour every week with team President/CEO Kevin Warren on Zoom — while their respective staff of planners, engineers, lawyers and consultants have meetings of their own — to determine the precise location of the team’s domed stadium on the sprawling site, as well as other aspects of what would be one of the largest redevelopment projects in Illinois history. “We’ve been in this roller coaster ride of, ‘Are we out in Arlington Heights or are we down in Chicago?’ And now we’re back in Arlington Heights, and all indicators are that they are 1,000% focused on only Arlington Heights,” Tinaglia said. “So we’re looking at it with that level of sincerity that we think everybody is on the same page.” * Daily Herald | Lake in the Hills raises cannabis dispensary tax to maximum allowed: Lake in the Hills has raised its local cannabis dispensary tax from 2% to 3%, the most allowed under state law. Village officials said Lake in the Hills was the only municipality in McHenry County with a population over 5,000 and allows dispensaries that didn’t have the maximum tax on the books. In addition, McHenry County has a 3% county sales tax on marijuana. * AP | Chicago suburb where Pope Leo XIV grew up celebrates his 70th birthday with gospel music, balloons: * Tribune | In central Illinois, carbon capture project’s proximity to Mahomet Aquifer raises fears: Scientists say that the project is unlikely to contaminate groundwater, since the CO2 is stored hundreds of feet below the aquifer. But failures in carbon sequestration technology aren’t impossible, and they’ve happened before in Illinois, most recently at ethanol company Archer Daniels Midland’s carbon injection site in Decatur last year. “In the case with ADM, they did not necessarily come forth right away and admit they had leaks,” said Brent Lage, a grain farmer who lives near Lasser on the outskirts of Gibson City. “That’s definitely a concern for me, as well as with this One Earth project.” * WJBD | Odin School Board Puts Off School Consolidation Study Until State Funding Available: The Odin School Board, on Thursday night, decided to wait for state funding to be available for a consolidation study with the Sandoval and Patoka School Districts. Superintendent Quinton Marcum believes state money will become available in next year’s budget, but the state is not funding any consolidation studies this year. The board rejected a proposal for the three districts to pay between $6,600 to $8,800 each for the study. * WGLT | State grant to help pay for sewer study in Colonial Meadows subdivision: The $30,000 Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Unsewered Community Grant partially offsets the $50,000 cost of work by the Farnsworth Group to prepare a formal sewer planning study and survey of the best location to run the sewer and connect to the existing city sewer on Oakland Avenue. * WAND | Visitors get taste of Springfield through new festival: Saturday marked Springfield’s first 217 Foodie Festival at The Railyard on 66. Many visitors compared the event to the Taste of Chicago, but organizers were going for the taste of Springfield. “We have a good community that is always wanting to find something new to do,” said Festival Co-Organizer Nicole Shomidie-Copp. “A lot of people were missing the ethnic festival, so we decided to try and recreate that kind of environment and bring that to the community with different ethnic vendors and regular vendors that are on site.” * Stateline | DOJ is sharing state voter roll lists with Homeland Security: The Justice Department said in its own statement that state voter roll data provided in response to requests from the department’s Civil Rights Division is “being screened for ineligible voter entries.” Noncitizen voting is extremely rare. One study of the 2016 election placed the prevalence of noncitizen voting at 0.0001% of votes cast. The data sharing marks a next step in President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert more federal influence over state-administered elections. Trump signed an executive order earlier this year that sought to require individuals to provide proof-of-citizenship documents to register to vote, a rule quickly blocked in federal court. He has also threatened to sign another executive order attempting to restrict mail ballots. * NYT | China’s Snub of U.S. Soybeans Is a Crisis for American Farmers: For the first time in the history of their 76-year-old operation, their biggest customer — China — had stopped buying soybeans. Their 2,300-acre soybean farm is projected to lose $400,000 in 2025. Soybeans that would normally be harvested and exported to Asia are now set to pile up in large steel bins. Since President Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in February, Beijing has retaliated by halting all purchases of American soybeans.
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Good morning!
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and a campaign update
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Monday, Sep 15, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.
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Jim Edgar (Updated and comments opened)
Sunday, Sep 14, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller [Comments are now open.] * Press release…
This post will be updated. …Adding… Senate Minority Leader Curran…
* Tribune…
* Crain’s…
* SoS Giannoulias…
* Gov. Pritzker…
* LG Stratton…
* Darren Bailey…
* Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter…
* Treasurer Michael Frerichs…
* Jen Walling, Illinois Environmental Council…
* Sen. McClure…
* Former Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra…
* Former Gov. Quinn…
* Speaker Welch…
* Ted Dabrowski…
* Senate President Don Harmon…
* House Minority Leader Tony McCombie…
* Illinois AFL-CIO…
* Loleta Didrickson…
* Shirley and Mike Madigan family statement…
* AFSCME Council 31…
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Porter McNeil (Updated and comments opened)
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller [Comments are now open.] * Porter and I went to college together a long time ago. I’ll have more next week, but you won’t find a man like him again. From Alex Gough…
RIP, buddy. …Adding… Porter’s family is setting up a scholarship program in his honor. Please click here to contribute. Thanks!
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Reader comments closed for the weekend
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * A joint statement from Senate President Don Harmon and Senate Minority Leader John Curran…
* Trombone Shorty and the New Breed Brass Band have a new album. Here’s a cut…
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Sun-Times…
Senate President Don Harmon’s response to Bergquam’s asking his followers to “take action”…
* WMBD…
* Center Square | DOJ arguing against Illinois’ gun ban ‘monumental,’ advocate says: Oral arguments are scheduled for Sept. 22 in the case Barnett v. Raoul, challenging the state’s gun and magazine ban. A federal district court found the law unconstitutional last year after a four-day bench trial. In the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the U.S. Department of Justice motioned to be allowed time to argue. * The Hill Op-Ed | Trump is wrong: No-cash bail reform actually means less crime, not more : We have worked in the survivor community for years, and we fought to replace cash bail in Illinois with a system based on risk that took into account victims’ voices. We want to be clear: What actually harms victims of gender-based violence is this administration’s efforts to reduce funding to organizations providing critical services to victims of domestic and sexual violence. Ending the reforms we’ve instituted related to money bail will just make things worse. * Center Square | Reporting firearm threats to principals ‘common sense,’ IL legislator says: An Illinois lawmaker and law enforcement officer reacts to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s enacting a law requiring schools to report firearms or threats to principals, a move supporters say improves safety. State Rep. Dennis Tipsword, R-Metamore, described the bill as “just common sense kind of legislation” that ensures threats are at least reported to the proper school authorities. * Sun-Times | Retired Ald. Walter Burnett, wife received over $260,000 in rent payments as housing voucher landlords: The Burnetts have had at least 10 contracts for properties rented to CHA voucher holders, including two ongoing contracts and five contracts that were active during Williams-Burnett’s tenure as an employee at the housing authority. […] Burnett responded to a Sun-Times phone call seeking comment with a text Thursday declining to comment, saying he is “just a private citizen.” […] Williams-Burnett disclosed her and her husband’s role in the housing voucher program to CHA at least between 2014 to 2018 when employed at the agency, according to public records. She previously worked for the housing authority as deputy chief of fleet and facilities in the general services department and violated CHA’s ethics policy in 2022, the same year she resigned, public records show. * Block Club | Thrive Englewood, Area’s 1st Family Housing Development In Over 50 Years, Welcomes Residents: The six-story building has 62 apartments, including 27 one-bedroom units, 30 two-bedroom units and five three-bedroom units. Over 80 percent of the apartments will be affordable for families earning up to 60 percent of the area’s median income. The housing development has two live/work lofts and a 2,400-square-foot commercial retail space on the ground floor not yet occupied. Residents have access to amenities including a fitness room, resident lounge, outdoor patio and bike storage, and laundry services are available on every floor. * SunTImes | Raymond Lee, an advocate for Chicago’s Chinatown who helped create Ping Tom Park, has died at 90: Mr. Lee was hesitant because he had a business to run but agreed and joined the park board, where he secured funding to help get the park off the ground. It fully opened in 2005 and was named Ping Tom Memorial Park after his friend, who died in 1995. After several months on the park board, Mayor Richard M. Daley tapped Mr. Lee for the Chicago Board of Education, where he helped secure money for a renovation of his alma mater, Haines Elementary School. * Sun-Times | Revolution Brewing’s latest venture shows demand for THC-infused drinks still strong amid slowing beer sales: The company recently launched Reverb Splash, a line of hemp-derived THC and CBD-infused sparkling waters with fruit. The drinks have 5 milligrams of THC and CBD, and they’re attracting a diverse fandom, from longtime brewery patrons and the curious to cannabis enthusiasts and alcohol abstainers. That diverse customer mix also reflects who’s driving the strong demand for THC beverages across Chicago-area bars, restaurants, liquor and convenience stores and music venues, like the Salt Shed, which became one of the first concert locations in the country to green-light THC drink sales in January. * Block Club | The Sky’s Mascot, Skye The Lioness, Has Had A Glow-Up — And Fans Love Her: It’s a welcome change for the team, whose previous mascot — Sky Guy — was so unpopular that Sky fans petitioned for him to be removed. “It was good to see [Sky] participate more and do more interesting things,” said Sky fan Daniel Rodriguez, of Lakeview. “It’s good to see her putting the work in and being more a part of the team and more a part of the city.” * Tribune | Pritzker calls for ‘full, factual accounting’ after ICE agents fatally shoot man in suburban traffic stop: Gov. JB Pritzker called for transparency after a federal immigration agent fatally shot a man in northwest suburban Franklin Park after the agency reported the man tried to flee a traffic stop and struck the officer with his vehicle. […] “This is a developing situation and the people of Illinois deserve a full, factual accounting of what’s happened today to ensure transparency and accountability,” Pritzker said. * Daily Herald | Melissa Bean enters 8th Congressional race, 15 years after loss to Joe Walsh : Former Democratic Congresswoman Melissa Bean of Barrington has announced her campaign to reclaim the 8th District seat she lost to Joe Walsh in 2010, just as a second Republican candidate is poised to announce her run in next spring’s primaries. While entrepreneur, author and keynote speaker Jennifer Davis of the Huntley area is scheduled to announce her candidacy next Thursday for the Republican nomination already sought by Mark Rice of Chicago, Bean joins a crowded field of eight Democrats aiming to succeed five-term incumbent Raja Krishnamoorthi. * Daily Southtown | Tinley Park District 146 teachers’ union authorizes strike over contract negotiation impasse: “This board of education has pushed us far enough,” District 146 Educators Council President Eileen Von Borstel said in a news release Friday. “The district has the funds to ensure we can recruit and retain high quality educators, but the board of education is refusing to use that money to invest in our students and the people who teach them. We have no choice but to move toward a strike if they refuse to bargain a fair contract.” The news release said 230 of 232 union members voted in favor of a strike “if there is no other path to an agreement at the bargaining table.” * Aurora Beacon-News | Kane County Board OKs recommendation that departments, offices reduce expenses to help close budget shortfall: In the latest attempt to solve a looming budget shortfall, the Kane County Board has OK’d a recommendation that county offices and departments reduce their expenses by roughly 8% from last year’s budget. A recommendation to reduce expenses in the budgets that have been proposed by the county’s offices and departments was presented to the board for a vote last month, but a final decision was ultimately delayed, and the proposal went back to the Kane County Board Finance Committee to be revised. * River Bender | Adams Co. Juvenile Detention Center requesting more officers: Cooley told board members the facility must be PREA compliant by 2027. PREA stands for the Prison Rape Elimination Act, aimed at the prevention and elimination of sexual abuse and sexual harassment. The Adams County Juvenile Detention Center proposal involved adding six positions: One PREA coordinator, one training officer, and four new officers. The cost would be $344,070.40, which would be offset with grant money from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. Adams County would be responsible for $103,000 in fringe benefits, according to the briefing provided by Cooley. * WGLT | McLean County Board hears details of proposed $144.5 million budget: A 5.2% decrease in the property tax rate, due to continued increases to equalized assessed values in McLean County, is reflected in the budget. The owner of a $210,000 home would see their tax bill decrease by $32.29. Some homeowners may end up seeing a higher tax bill due to higher property values, partly due to the housing shortage. * Crain’s | Employers face yet another surge in health costs in 2026 as companies scramble for solutions: Two new reports out this month show the burden of health care insurance is only worsening for employers, with high demand and inflation putting more and more pressure on companies to keep costs of benefits under control. Aon says employer health costs nationwide will rise 9.5% in 2026. It’s the third year in a row the increase is up near double digits, and it’s the fastest rate of increase in at least 15 years. The professional services firm’s annual estimate puts the average cost per employee at more than $17,000. * NCSL | Mid-Decade Redistricting: At least 11 states explicitly prohibit legislative mid-decade redistricting, congressional mid-decade redistricting or both in their constitutional language: Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Utah. * Politico | Why Hakeem Jeffries hasn’t been able to bend Democrats to his will on redistricting: But behind the scenes, the House minority leader is encountering the limits of his power — and the credibility of Democrats’ counterattack. Just this week, some Illinois lawmakers sent Jeffries a clear message they were not interested in pursuing a redraw that could dilute their districts with additional GOP votes.
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Bailey releases poll showing him ahead in Republican primary, but lots of undecideds
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Reveille Research press release…
* Let’s start with state direction…
As we’ve discussed before, that’s actually not a horrible “wrong track” number. Wrong track polled in the high 60s to mid 80s starting in 2008, peaking at 84 percent under Bruce Rauner. The last time I wrote about it, in 2022, wrong track was down to 52 percent. * Republican Primary ballot test…
* Demographics…
* Methodology…
Bailey clearly has significant name ID. We’ll see how much money Dabrowski can raise. He’s busted the caps and pulled in over $900K this week, on top of his $250K loan. Not sure about that “rigorous weighting process” part, but I’m told 454 self-identified Republican primary voters were polled on the GOP questions.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Various stuff
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Pritzker signs executive order to ‘protect vaccine access’
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Crain’s earlier this week…
* Gov. Pritzker issued an executive order today. Press release…
* From the order…
* Related…
* Sun-Times | COVID-19 vaccines arrive at Chicago pharmacies as pediatricians wait for doses, guidance: Doctors and medical experts say Illinois will likely issue more expansive recommendations that will support vaccinations for more people than the FDA’s limited recommendations. That could mean authorizing pharmacists to administer vaccines off-label, as they do in other states. Doctors already are authorized to give vaccines off-label. * WaPo | Trump officials to link covid shots to child deaths, alarming career scientists: The plan has alarmed some career scientists who say coronavirus vaccines have been extensively studied, including in children, and that dangers of the virus itself are being underplayed. CDC staff in June presented data to the same vaccine committee showing that at least 25 children died who had covid-associated hospitalizations since July 2023 and that number was likely an undercount. Of the 16 old enough for vaccination, none was up-to-date on vaccines. * OPB | CVS reverses course, won’t give COVID vaccines to Oregonians without prescriptions: CVS Pharmacy spokesperson Amy Thibault told the Capital Chronicle on Friday that the company was offering the vaccine in the state, while acknowledging the potential for individual appointment cancellations at its pharmacies. The company has been promoting access without a prescription in the state as recently as last week, when the democratic governors of Oregon, Washington and California announced a “West Coast Health Alliance” aimed at safeguarding access to vaccines. The state Board of Pharmacy on Friday said it would have more clarity for vaccine access rules after the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets on Sept. 18-19. That’s the first meeting since the FDA issued more restrictive annual guidance in August which limited the vaccine to people aged 65 or older or those with an underlying health condition that would risk severe illness.
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A quick briefing on Ted Dabrowski’s running mate (Updated)
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Dabrowski announced his running mate today. Her name is Carrie Mendoza, an emergency medicine physician and activist. Oddly, Mendoza didn’t speak at today’s announcement (even though Dabrowski’s mother did) and neither candidate took questions from the media. As I write this, no press release has been issued. So, we’re kinda flying blind and we decided to put together a quick look at her background. …Adding… We just received the release. Only a brief mention of his running mate…
* Like her husband Myles Mendoza (who helped pass the state’s now-defunct tuition tax credit program when he ran Empower Illinois), Carrie Mendoza is a school vouchers advocate. Dabrowski and Ms. Mendoza spoke at an event this past spring sponsored by the Liberty Justice Center: “Legal landscape of trans-related issues in schools and society: Liberty Justice Center talks to a full house at Mallinckrodt” * From Wikipedia…
FAIR in Medicine’s website is here. * The Record Community News Group…
* NBC News…
* More from Isabel…
* Transgender Map | Carrie D. Mendoza vs. transgender people: In an introductory video, Mendoza likened the “orthodoxy” of gender affirming care to forced sterilizations in Nazi Germany and Iran. […] Mendoza also drafted and distributed an open letter supporting Kenneth Zucker for publishing yet another ethically questionable article in the Archives of Sexual Behavior about “rapid onset gender dysphoria.” Mendoza also had study co-author J. Michael Bailey on to defend the article and Zucker. The paper was later retracted. * Illinois Families for Public Schools | Dark money orgs on the ground in school board races in Illinois: FAIR’s Illinois chapter coordinator Carrie Mendoza is the wife of Myles Mendoza, former president of Empower Illinois, the group that led the effort to create Illinois’ voucher program (and currently benefits from administering the program as a voucher middleman org that skims millions off the top of the voucher funds they distribute). The former Illinois lobbyist for Betsy DeVos’ American Federation for Children (see below) Nate Hoffman is a member of FAIR’s board of advisors. They have attacked Evanston D65 on issues of race and gender as well as New Trier D203. They attended Evanston High School D202 events in the fall of 2021 to disrupt affinity group activities for parents. * Southern Poverty Law Center | Group dynamics and division of labor within the anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network: The group’s FAIR in Medicine program is led by Dr. Carrie Mendoza, who serves as an adviser to Genspect and Detrans Help – an organization that promotes therapists, doctors and detransitioners who are willing to testify before legislators and lawmakers against affirming care.[82] FAIR in Medicine also manages a “Gender Healthcare Policy Map” and attempts to distinguish “talk therapy” for transgender people from other forms of conversion therapy. Like SEGM, the group opposed a DHS nondiscrimination rule covering gender identity. FAIR, like Do No Harm, was founded to largely oppose anti-racist pedagogies in American education, and its members claim that therapists are trained to tell white patients that they are “oppressors.”[83] It has since become a key voice amplifying anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience. * NPR Nevada | As some states ban gender-affirming care, Nevadans work to protect it: Mendoza pointed out the fact that there are trans individuals who go through gender-affirming care and later decide to de-transition. “They were feeling optimistic and good through a pathway, and when they got to the end of the pathway, which was surgery for a lot of them, they reflected, ‘Well, this actually didn’t fix some of my problems,’” Mendoza said. “I’m open minded. I want all these kids to do well, but I want to make sure that we aren’t irreparably harming them; causing sterility, or causing worse mental health issues later.”
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Trump says the National Guard will deploy to Memphis though he “would have preferred going to Chicago” (Updated)
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * AP…
* Trump’s full remarks on the Fox News Channel…
Please pardon any transcription errors.
…Adding… Mayor Johnson…
* Related…
* Fox Chicago | Trump pivots, will send National Guard to Memphis instead of Chicago: Trump made the announcement during an interview on Fox News, saying he “would have preferred going to Chicago” but described the city as “hostile” with “professional agitators.” Both Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson opposed the idea of a deployment there.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Hundreds of hotline calls but no clear arrest numbers days into federal immigration ‘blitz’. Tribune…
- The executive director at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said the group’s family support hotline received 500 calls on Tuesday alone. Before the start of the Trump administration, the hotline received about 100 calls per month. -ICIRR did not have an estimate for the number of people detained this week. But the group’s leadership said that more people are being arrested than initially reported by the Trump administration. * Related stories… * Oak Park Journal | State Board of Elections to rule Oct. 21 on $9.8M Harmon campaign fine : The hearing will take place in both the ISBE’s Chicago and Springfield offices and will be live streamed on You Tube. “It should be conclusive,” Matt Dietrich, ISBE spokesman, said of the board meeting, with the caveat, “Barring anything out of the ordinary.” * Crain’s | Take a photo tour of Gotion’s $2B battery factory in Manteno: The factory floor is massive, bright and surprisingly quiet. Robots do the heavy lifting, and much of the configuring, welding and other work required to create batteries used for industrial and home power storage, electric vehicles and EV chargers. Automated vehicles, which look like industrial-size Roombas, are a constant presence on the factory floor. The assembly line is highly automated. Some workers mind the machines, others interact with them. * Evanston Now | Service cuts unlikely for PACE in 2026: The three transit operators, PACE, CTA, and Metra still face a combined $771 million fiscal cliff deficit next year, which, if not covered by the state legislature, will mean up to a 40% reduction in bus, “L”, and commuter train operations. However, PACE, which serves Evanston, among other places, apparently has enough unspent federal COVID relief dollars to make it through 2026 without cutting bus routes or frequency. * Press release…
* WCIA | Illinois’ veto session will have focus on energy, overcoming federal funding cuts: McCombie said her biggest red flags are coming from conversations around energy. “A really bad bill that actually scares me more than any increase in tax because at the end of Illinois, with a policy of bring your own energy,” said McCombie. * Center Square | IL Secretary of State candidate talks issues, Giannoulias yet to announce: Although Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has yet to announce plans for reelection in 2026, an Illinois Republican has launched her campaign. Diane Harris is a trustee for Joliet Junior College and the Joliet Public Library. Harris said her main focus is service. “My campaign is based on change and making sure that all Illinoisans have access to DMV services,” Harris told The Center Square. * Fox Chicago | Poll: Chicago Latinos oppose Johnson and Trump, support more police: According to the results, Latinos are overwhelmingly opposed to both Mayor Brandon Johnson and his ideological opposite, former President Donald Trump. Fourteen percent of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of Johnson, while 65% said they had an unfavorable opinion. Twenty percent said they had a favorable view of Trump, compared with 66% who said they had an unfavorable view. Gov. J.B. Pritzker fared better in the poll: 51% of respondents had a favorable view, while 33% had an unfavorable view. * Sun-Times | Residents plan flag-waving caravans for Mexican Independence Day weekend as a form of protest: Standing on top of the vehicle was Ricky, a driver who told the Sun-Times that “there will be a few caravans, starting Thursday or Friday, especially with everything going on,” referring to the arrests by ICE and immigration authorities in recent days. “We are not afraid and we are here to speak up and defend those that can’t because of their legal status,” said Ricky, who did not share his last name. “We will represent and defend ours.” He referenced some car clubs that would be participating in an organized way: Rack Em Ent, Santisima Trucking, 660, Los Rusos and La Clika 312. * WBEZ | How does immigration enforcement work in Chicago?: Immigration authorities primarily operate in three facilities in Chicago: one for court hearings, another for check-in appointments for those being monitored and a third that’s an administrative center. Under the Trump administration, those places have served an additional purpose: to arrest people. * WBBM | RTA survey: CTA satisfaction lags Pace, Metra: Since 2016, the RTA - which oversees CTA, Metra and Pace has surveyed riders at regular intervals about what they like, what they don’t like, and what they want changed. In that first survey nearly ten years ago, CTA rider satisfaction was around 85%. Now, it’s 70%. During Thursday’s RTA board meeting, agency deputy executive director Maulik Vaishnav spelled out what CTA riders are most concerned about: “Cleanliness, personal security, condition of assets and accuracy of real-time information.” That’s a fancy term for “ghost buses.” * WGN | Unique Pope Leo painting from Italy gifted to Chicago high school: His work has honored the canonization of Pope John Paul II and John XXIII. But it was another painting that put Pallotta on the map. He mounted the piece called Super Pope on a building near the Vatican. The image went viral, even Pope Francis was a fan. * Sun-Times | Taste of Chicago will move back to July next year, top cultural official says: Clinée Hedspeth, the head of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, said the pause in next year’s NASCAR will allow the city to return the popular food fest to mid-summer. * Chronicle | Addison Township sues former supervisor, three others for ‘misappropriation’ of grant: The Addison Township Board voted Wednesday to sue former Supervisor Dennis Reboletti and three other former officials for allegedly misappropriating more than $78,000 in funds, and using part of it to purchase a pickup truck. According to documents, the money was given to the township for its food pantry. Beside Reboletti, the lawsuit names former township Executive Director Sandy Bays, former Human Services Administrator Darcy D’Alessandro, and former Township Accountant Mary Mattia as defendants. * Tribune | Federal agents’ vehicles arrive in Evanston to serve warrant: The federal vehicles “received a parking citation from Parking Enforcement,” she wrote, but Deputy City Manager Carina E. Sanchez said Thursday that law enforcement officers associated with the federal vehicles identified themselves as law enforcement to an Evanston parking enforcement employee, and consequently no parking citation was given. […] Evanston police were not informed of any arrests on Wednesday, and had no further contact with the federal agents, Sophier said. EPD did not assist in any operations or investigation, he added. * Patch | Felony Charges Tied To Elmhurst Politician’s Petition: On Aug. 21, a grand jury indicted 74-year-old Lawrence Moretti of Addison on charges of possession with intent to deliver any document known to be altered or forged, according to DuPage County court records. Last December, Patch reported on problems with the signatures that Moretti purportedly collected for then-mayoral candidate Mark Mulliner’s petition. * Daily Herald | Federal suit alleges harassment, inappropriate practices in St. Charles Police Department: When longtime St. Charles Police Chief James Keegan resigned in March, after the previous four months on personal leave, city officials heaped praise on his nearly 11-year tenure but wouldn’t explain the reasons behind his departure. However, a lawsuit filed last Friday in U.S. District Court alleges he ran a department where discrimination, sexual harassment and questionable practices took place in the months leading up to his exit. * Daily Herald | St. Charles city considers new regulations, taxes for short-term rentals like Airbnb: With the goal of reducing short-term rentals’ impact on their neighbors, council members advocated for adding measures that would give the city power to enforce violations, a power the city currently doesn’t hold. […] Taxing short-term rentals would also access untapped revenue for the city. Staff estimated that over $70,000 in possible tax revenue from short-term rentals went uncollected in 2024, based on a 5% tax rate. * Daily Southtown | Dolton plans celebration for Pope Leo XIV’s 70th birthday on Sunday: House and other village trustees are also focused on efforts to highlight the home and support visitors. With Prevost’s 70th birthday on Sunday, the village will host a program and celebration outside of his childhood home from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., complete with a balloon release and a photo op with a Pope Leo XIV cardboard cutout. House said he hopes to make the party an annual event. * Crain’s | Highland Park blocks plan to sell million-dollar shares of former Michael Jordan estate: At a Sept. 8 meeting, the city council voted to amend its zoning ordinance to prohibit timeshares in single-family homes. The vote shuts down the plan John Cooper announced in January to sell ownership shares in the gated property he bought from Jordan in December for $9.5 million. Cooper declined Crain’s request for comment this week, but in a July email he wrote that Highland Park officials began looking into whether his proposed use was allowed under zoning regulations. “They are taking the position that my proposed use is not allowed,” he wrote. “I disagree with their assessment.” * WAND | Firefighters call for stronger protections after Champaign crews attacked on duty: Associated Firefighters of Illinois President Chuck Sullivan said what happened in Champaign is part of a broader issue. * WGLT | Fired CDC worker seeks to rebuild trust in public health at conference in Normal: Public health workers in Bloomington-Normal and across Illinois got a pep talk Thursday from someone who lost her job in public health. Abby Tighe was fired from her “dream” job in overdose prevention at the Centers for Disease Control in February. That’s when the Trump administration fired all probationary workers at the health agency. * WREX | Two Rockford Hispanic celebrations canceled amid immigration enforcement fears: On Thursday afternoon, 11th Ward Alderman Jaime Salgado posted a statement to socials, saying, “This difficult decision was made due to concerns for our residents’ public safety, stemming from the current climate of immigration enforcement, rhetoric, and the targeting of our Latino residents. The public safety of our community is our main priority, and we have therefore decided on this course of action to protect our residents from any potential safety concerns. * WQAD | Moline to deploy ‘Goosinator’ to help keep geese out of local parks: The ‘Goosinator’ is a device that designers describe as a combination of a Border Collie and a remote-control boat, meant to safely and nonlethally chase geese from public spaces “Birds can see colors very well so colors like orange, silver and yellow make a lasting impression on most migratory birds. All of the other materials are state-of-the-art and meant to last a very long time,” the Goosinator’s website reads. * NYT | $10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials: Internal State Department and U.S.A.I.D. documents and correspondence obtained by The New York Times show that several international organizations, including the Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, had offered to buy or accept a donation of the contraceptives. The government would have incurred no costs or might have even been able to recoup taxpayer funds under those scenarios. * Korea Economic Daily | Korea’s major US investment projects halted as detained LG Energy workers set for release: The incident has thrown Korea’s flagship investment projects in the US into disarray. Sources said at least 22 other factory sites involving Korean business groups, in autos, shipbuilding, steel and electrical equipment, have been nearly halted. * NPR | They want COVID shots to protect their health or family. They can’t get them: Jason Mitton wanted one of the new COVID-19 vaccines before leaving on a business trip. But the pharmacists at a drug store near his home in Austin, Texas, refused. “He’s like: ‘Do you have a doctor’s note?’ I said: ‘No, I don’t.’ He said: ‘Well, the FDA standards say that you don’t qualify. And our policy is that we won’t administer it unless you qualify,’” says Mitton. Mitton, who’s 55 and says he has high blood pressure and high cholesterol that’s controlled by medication, plans to keep trying to get vaccinated.
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Good morning!
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * I have a powerful and complicated relationship with this song. I traveled to Kosovo in 1999 to cover the immediate aftermath of the Serbian invasion and the “Great Powers” response. The writing didn’t pay much, but it was exhilarating. I had almost decided not to come back to y’all because I was thoroughly engaged in the work and was convinced I could eventually make a living off foreign reporting - a longtime ambition - but then this song came on the radio. The coalition headed by the US military had taken control of all the Kosovar radio stations from ethnic Serbians and Albanians to avoid sparking conflicts. The lone station used an automated system, so it had no disc jockeys. I assumed that was done to avoid somebody saying something stupid on-air and causing who knows what sort of retribution and violence. The station played only American music. * During the war, thousands of ethnic Serbs had forced out ethnic Albanians and seized their homes. I visited several houses after the Serbs were eventually pushed out and saw vicious anti-Albanian, anti-Muslim graffiti painted on the walls, put there by the now-departed Serbs. The stories I was told and the clear evidence I saw about the Serbian occupation of Kosovo were horrific. But I also had my first up-close look at how false war atrocity rumors could spread by word of mouth for miles around in almost an instant. I canvassed an entire city block after hearing from numerous people in Pristina (including the grandmother of a friend, who said she had seen it with her own eyes) about a Kosovar being shot by allied troops in a town about 20 miles away. Everyone I talked to in that town insisted it didn’t happen. It’s a lesson I will never forget. Never automatically believe war rumors, even if a friend’s lovely grandma tells you one. * A friend I made while driving through southeastern Europe was killed by bandits during a diamond smuggling run in neighboring Albania (yes, I know it sounds crazy, but I wasn’t involved, because if I was I wouldn’t be telling you this story today /s). Another friend I’d met on the trip (the one with the grandma) had been an ethnic Albanian fighter in Kosovo before the war. He was badly injured in that same diamond run attack and was hospitalized in a rural Albanian hospital with a 24/7 police guard, charged with my other friend’s murder. The cops justified the charge because, they concluded, he’d been driving the car when it was chased off a cliff by AK-toting bandits. He was eventually freed after arranging payment to the proper authorities. Albania was wild back then, man. In Kosovo, military coalition members were literally everywhere. If there was a problem, you could easily find help. Albania was basically in a civil war and you couldn’t ask anyone for help. The cops were iffy at best, the militias were in league with various bandit groups and the foreign military had moved on to Kosovo. We were on our own. * After I don’t know how many hours of driving with an ethnic Kosovar who lived in Germany and who’d offered to be my translator even though he spoke no English, I eventually found the hospital my friend had been transferred to (no ashtrays, just throw your cigarettes on the floor) with pigs grazing in the courtyard (it was a Christian hospital in an Islamic region) and very near the police station on the little town square. Unbeknownst to me, the police station was attacked every night by armed rebels. I had parked my German rental car in front of the station, mistakenly thinking it would be a safe spot. A hospital doctor immediately grabbed my key and moved my rental car to an out of the way location after he found out what I’d done. He looked at me like I was crazy. The doctor also insisted I stay at the hospital instead of the local hotel, which was overrun by the rebels every night. It was a certain death sentence, he warned. I complied. * My hospital room gave me a clear view of the nightly rebels vs. police firefight, both outside my window and then inside the emergency room, which was a few feet from my room. Tracers were flying and the screaming wounded from both sides piled up in the hallway. It sounds silly to say, but I felt relieved during the firefight that the doctor had moved my car. I had asked my mom, who was with the US Department of Defense in Germany at the time and was doing some Kosovo logistics, to vouch for me with a German rental car company. Without her word, nobody would rent me a car to drive into a war zone. She would’ve been put in a mighty sticky wicket if I had brought it back riddled with bullet holes. Never do that to your mom. * Anyway, before I ventured into Albania, I was driving aimlessly through the Kosovo countryside grieving my murdered friend and my missing friend and my not great life back home when this tune came on the radio. I immediately pulled the car over and listened. The song convinced me to give my Illinois life one more shot and I eventually went home… And I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real I was also arrested in Serbia during that trip for illegal entry and suspicion of being an American spy. I was put on trial and expelled from the country. The story I wrote about that ordeal is not online (and probably never was), but I’ll see if I can find it in my own archives someday. * Sorry, this post kinda got away from me. What’s up with you?
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.
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