Ticket withdrawn against Southtown reporter
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The legislature needs to rein in these sorts of local ordinances…
Sanders was just doing his job, for crying out loud. …Adding… A buddy pointed me to Cal City’s ordinances. Here’s one…
Here’s one banning blasphemous movies…
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Afternoon roundup
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * Gov. DeWine is not happy with Gov. Pritzker…
* I wonder how one pronounces “SQMS”…
…Adding… A commenter asked why it’s called a garage, so I asked…
* Tribune…
*Hard sigh* * Illinois Policy Institute…
But scroll down…
She’s not taking a homestead deduction in Illinois? So she’s paying more Cook County property taxes than she’s required to pay? * Isabel’s afternoon roundup…
* Illinois Times | Jenny Thornley pleads guilty: The former chief financial officer for the Illinois State Police Merit Board and former volunteer in JB Pritzker’s first gubernatorial campaign pleaded guilty Nov. 3 to forgery resulting in undeserved overtime pay and was sentenced to 18 months of conditional discharge. Jenny Thornley, 43, of the 2800 block of Hilltop Road in Springfield, pleaded guilty to the felony charge of electronically creating the signature of her boss, former Merit Board executive director Jack Garcia, so she could cheat the state in 2019 out of slightly more than $10,000 in overtime she never worked. * WBEZ | Alderpeople accuse Carlos Ramirez-Rosa of threatening to stall zoning changes: The accusations were detailed in a letter drafted Thursday night by Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd Ward. An initial draft obtained by WBEZ called for Ramirez-Rosa to be formally censured by the City Council and that the Board of Ethics and Office of the Inspector General investigate alleged threats Ramirez-Rosa made for also abusing his power. * Tribune | Jury selection begins in ex-Ald. Edward Burke’s high-stakes federal corruption trial: Live questioning of prospective jurors will likely take at least two days, with Kendall asking initial questions and each side getting the chance to follow up with specific issues. Opening statements in the case could come as soon as Wednesday. Monday’s proceedings will mark the first time Burke has stepped foot in the federal courthouse since his arraignment on the indictment on June 4, 2019, shortly after Burke had been sworn in for a record 13th full term as alderman. * WCIA | Illinois Department of Insurance fines Blue Cross Blue Shield again for violating the Network Adequacy and Transparency Act: The state agency previously fined Blue Cross Blue Shield in March more than half a million dollars for violating laws related to network adequacy. Agency officials say they have fined the company an additional $231,900 because Blue Cross Blue Shield has delayed implementing changes to their provider directories to address the network adequacy violations from the first fine. * Block Club | Police Tout New Training Academy As Monitor Says Reforms ‘Continue To Lag’: In its latest report published Wednesday, an independent police watchdog once again took the department to task for minimal progress on its federal consent decree: expansive reform requirements the department was put under following the police murder of teenager Laquan McDonald almost a decade ago. * Beacon-News | Kane County residents can get look at new voting equipment: Kane County Clerk John Cunningham called the new equipment “an upgrade of our current equipment.” The new equipment is different, though, in that it gives voters a printed version of their ballot which they then put into a ballot box. Voters will start their voting on a touch screen instead of the rolling wheel that has been in use in the county for years. * Tribune | Three Illinois hospitals keep straight-A streak in new Leapfrog hospital safety grades: Just under 25% of Illinois hospitals earned A grades this fall from hospital safety nonprofit The Leapfrog Group, including 18% of Chicago’s 22 eligible hospitals. The grades examine safety procedures at general hospitals nationwide, focusing on prevention of medical errors, accidents and infections. * Crain’s | City plans (again) to put O’Hare concession contracts out for bid: The city plans to put the contract out for bid early next year, Chicago Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee told a City Council committee earlier this week. The Department of Aviation had planned to put the contract out late last year or early this year, but it got delayed. * AP | A small Illinois city ticketed a local reporter for asking why its infrastructure collapsed and flooded under heavy rainfall: It’s the latest of several recent First Amendment dust-ups involving city officials and news outlets around the country, following this week’s arrest of a small-town Alabama newspaper publisher and reporter after reporting on a grand jury investigation of a school district, and the August police raid of a newspaper and its publisher’s home in Kansas tied to an apparent dispute a restaurant owner had with the paper. * AP | Oldest black hole discovered dating back to 470 million years after the Big Bang: The findings, published Monday, confirm what until now were theories that supermassive black holes existed at the dawn of the universe. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory teamed up over the past year to make the observations. Given the universe is 13.7 billion years old, that puts the age of this black hole at 13.2 billion years. * WGN | Victory Auto Wreckers to close this month: Victory Auto Wreckers’ owner Kyle Weisner told Dean Richards during an interview on WGN Radio Sunday that the longtime auto salvage yard will close on November 18. Victory Auto Wreckers, located in Bensenville, has been in business since 1945. Weisner’s family has owned it since 1967. The auto salvage yard is known for it’s iconic commercial, “that old car is worth money” — that Dean Richards has voiced since 1991.
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Pritzker’s role in the UAW’s Stellantis deal
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Fundraiser list
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Asylum-seeker coverage roundup
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * The Tribune reports on homeless people staying at police stations with asylum seekers…
In theory, maybe that would work, although they are two very different populations with much different levels of need. In practice, the homeless person profiled in the Tribune’s story has been sleeping at a police station for two months. * I don’t disagree with Greg Hinz’s take here, but I think the mayor first needs to give a speech like this to himself and his top staff…
The mayor seemingly can’t even convince himself to make big decisions and then make them stick. * Isabel’s coverage roundup… * ABC Chicago | US Rep. Jonathan Jackson calls for rest of Illinois to step up as more Chicago migrants arrive: Calling on the rest of the state to step up to the plate, Jackson took the opportunity of his quarterly town hall meeting to address the growing migrant crisis that continues to divide both residents and elected officials. “President Biden will be in Chicago this coming Thursday. I’m sending him another letter sharing with him the heightened concerns that we have,” Jackson said. * Tribune | Homeless Chicagoans also living at police stations alongside migrants: While many of the migrants at the station come from Venezuela, the Wilsons had only come from a few miles away. The language barrier was just one more thing that separated her and her son from the migrants they slept alongside at the police station. It is unclear how many homeless U.S. citizens like the Wilsons are staying among the nearly 2,800 migrants awaiting shelter placement in Chicago police stations. A spokesperson for the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication said it only tracks the number of asylum-seekers, and officials with the Department of Family and Support Services did not respond to a request for comment. The Chicago Police Department said they do not track how many U.S. citizens are sheltering with them. * Tribune | As temperatures fall, the number of sick children sleeping outside of police stations increases, migrant advocates say: “Duele, Duele. It hurts, it hurts,” he cried out shaking as his parents, José Urribarri, 48, and his wife Linda Bello, 28, wrapped him in multiple blankets and squeezed his little body between them. The cold Tuesday evening brought the toddler to new levels of desperation, and his parents rushed him by foot to a nearby health clinic. * Crain’s | Chicago developer Mike Reschke proposes suburban hotels to house migrants: Reschke was one of several prominent Chicago developers, along with representatives from AmTrust Realty and the Building Owners & Managers Association, who met with city officials for an Oct. 12 discussion to provide ideas on how to shelter migrants arriving in Chicago from the southern border. Those officials included city of Chicago Chief Operating Officer John Roberson; Deputy Mayor of Business Kenya Merritt; and Deputy Mayor of Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights Beatriz Ponce De León. As of Nov. 3, 11,727 migrants filled the city’s 24 shelters and another 3,228 were waiting at police stations and airports across the city, according to the Office of Emergency Management & Communications. * Block Club | Northwest Side Police Officer Collecting Bilingual Books For Migrant Children: Officer Jesus Magallon began the initiative in the spring, and is looking for more partners to help collect and donate books to families staying at shelters, police stations and in tents. * Bloomberg | Denver Migrant Shelters Swell As Cities Plead for More Federal Aid: Federal aid for an influx of asylum seekers into US cities is essential to prevent homelessness from getting worse, said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. The nightly migrant population in the Colorado city’s shelters has doubled since September, and their care is costing the city $2 million a week, which could mean spending $100 million next year. “That’s half the size of the entire city budget for affordable housing and homelessness citywide,” said Johnston. To manage new migrants, he said, “we think we need a different solution.”
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This is kinda getting ridiculous
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * A scooooooop from Axios…
You have to scroll down five paragraphs to see that Pritzker and Newsom contributed a thousand dollars each. It probably takes Pritzker less time to make a thousand dollars than it will take you to read this one sentence. * More Axios…
Pritzker was in New Hampshire almost a year and a half ago - in June of 2022. Really reaching there. * Meanwhile…
Guess he figures the veto session won’t get out of hand.
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Father of Highland Park parade gunman takes plea deal for 60 days in jail
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * WTTW…
* CBS Chicago…
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Open thread
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. What’s going on in your part of Illinois?
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Nov 6, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke’s trial begins today. Jon Seidel…
-Burke is charged with racketeering, bribery and extortion in a case that has been pending nearly five years. -The case is largely based on wiretaps worn by Burke’s former ally and alderperson Danny Solis. * Related stories… ∙ WTTW: Nearly 5 Years After FBI Raid of City Hall, Former Ald. Ed Burke Finally Faces the Jury Box ∙ Sun-Times: Edward M. Burke, ‘figurehead of the old regime,’ faces historic corruption trial ∙ Tribune: From Chicago machine maestro to indicted alderman, Ed Burke’s corruption trial follows half-century of clout * Isabel’s top picks… * Tribune | Proposal to extend stiffer gun offense penalty joins school tax credit, end to nuke moratorium on agenda of Illinois legislature’s final week: The penalty enhancement measure is not the only issue that could divide Democrats. Lawmakers also face a measure to extend a private school tax credit for another five years, which supporters say could prevent thousands of children whose tuition is funded through the program from having to leave their schools. Also on the agenda is a measure that would lift a nearly 40-year-old moratorium on new nuclear power plants across Illinois, which was passed in the spring but then vetoed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Lawmakers could also vote on the boundaries of a proposed district map for Chicago’s first-ever elected school board. * Sun-Times | Why four trade unions want lawmakers to renew Invest in Kids scholarship: Since the passage of an amendment to the act in 2021, which allows kids with financial need to access scholarships toward a vocational trade school, we have been working with local partners to make such a school a reality. That opportunity would be jeopardized if the Legislature fails to renew the scholarship program. * Tribune | Homeless Chicagoans also living at police stations alongside migrants: With the arrival of another 20,000 migrants this year who need homes, the city’s existing shelter network — which never fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic when the number of beds decreased — maxed out. So city officials turned to police stations to be used as makeshift processing centers for migrants as Chicago scrambled to open shelters. But even as the city has repurposed old school buildings, warehouses and other vacant structures into places for migrants to sleep — often amid a serious backlash from neighbors — it’s not enough because the existing system wasn’t adequately equipped to begin with, said Douglas Schenkelberg, the executive director of Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. * Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa’s resignation statement after Chicago City Council members called for him to step down…
* From Mayor Brandon Johnson…
* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup… * Sun-Time | Temporary Bally’s Medinah Temple casino could stay open longer than expected under proposed law: Under the bill sponsored by state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, casino operators would be able to ask to extend a temporary stay by any “period of time deemed necessary or appropriate by the Board.” The Illinois House is expected to take up the bill this week during the General Assembly’s veto session. * Daily Herald | Will legislative fix end need for do-over mental health board referendums?: State legislators say a fix is on the way that would spare several townships and one county from redoing successful referendums last year that created new community mental health boards. Those results could be in jeopardy because the November 2022 ballot measures failed to include required language informing voters of how establishing new tax to fund the mental health board would impact property owners. * Alison Shames | Transforming pretrial justice for people, systems and communities: While the state’s elimination of financial release conditions has generated the most attention, the Pretrial Fairness Act upended decades of questionable practices and operations. But what is remarkable about the law – especially regarding its potential impact nationwide – is that it reconnected pretrial practices with foundational American legal principles. * Tribune | Craft cannabis growers in Illinois try again to overcome industry opposition to expansion: The Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition, which was pushing for the legislation, issued statement saying, “Our lawmakers failed us by not advancing the cannabis omnibus.” “All they really wanted was to kill the omnibus bill and slow down the growth of social equity,” state Rep. La Shawn Ford said. * Sun-Times | Alderperson’s manhandling allegation caps ‘s- - - show’ City Council meeting: State Sen. Lakesia Collins, a Chicago Democrat whose district includes Mitts’ West Side ward, on Friday joined Lopez’s call for Ramirez-Rosa to resign. “This repeated behavior by Alderman Ramirez-Rosa in city council is unacceptable and requires immediate action,” Collins wrote. “No one should be prevented from fulfilling their elected responsibilities on behalf of their constituents.” * Sun-Times | Highland Park massacre suspect’s dad’s trial starts Monday in possible preview of son’s trial: Prosecutors say they will call 10 witnesses and read transcripts from the son’s police interrogation in the trial against his father, Robert Crimo Jr. Prosecutors say they will show just a fraction of the 10,000 pages of evidence they’ve collected in the cases. Crimo Jr. faces seven counts of reckless conduct for signing his son’s gun ownership permit when he was too young. Prosecutors say he signed those papers despite knowing the son had expressed suicidal and violent thoughts. * Patch | Salary For Joliet’s New City Manager From Chicago Revealed: Beatty has worked for more than 20 years at one of the largest cities in the world, Chicago. Under Lori Lightfoot, Beatty was promoted to one of Chicago’s deputy mayors. Next week, Joliet’s Council will vote on paying Beatty a salary of $230,000, plus give her $12,500 in relocation expenses to leave Chicago and move to Joliet, the third-largest city in Illinois. * Tribune | After major data breach, personal information of 1.2 million Cook County Health patients at risk: Some patient information was stored on servers at Nevada-based Perry Johnson & Associates, according to statements from both CCH and PJ&A. The transcription firm was the target of data theft sometime between March 27 and May 2 and later determined CCH patient data had been stolen. * Chicago Reader | Arbitrating police terminations could result in a ‘decade of police impunity’: The change would allow most officers facing serious disciplinary charges—terminations and suspensions longer than a year—to have their cases heard by an arbitrator, rather than the Chicago Police Board (CPB). The CPB currently holds public trial-like hearings for officers facing serious discipline, and the board members consider those cases during monthly public meetings. * Block Club | Black Queer Chicagoans Fought To March In 1993 Bud Billiken Parade. Their Story Is Now A Short Film: “Why We Marched: Black LGBTQs & The 1993 Bud Billiken Parade” will be shown at Affinity Community Services, 2850 S. Wabash Ave., at 5 p.m. Sunday as part of a free event commemorating the march. A panel discussion featuring the group’s members will follow. Jano Layne, one of the organizers of the ’93 action, didn’t realize the impact one simple act would have on the city, let alone the country. When the Ad Hoc Committee of Proud Black Lesbians and Gays filed an application to march in the Bud Billiken Parade that year, some didn’t anticipate the rejection. * WBEZ | Paint is not protection: Chicago cyclists want barriers between bike lanes and roadways: With an average of five crashes a day, Teeghman’s was just one of the more than 1,600 cyclist-involved crashes in Chicago this year. And like Teeghman’s, more than 400 of those crashes have been hit-and-run incidents. Many of the cyclists are left dealing with thousands of dollars in bike repairs and medical bills and suffering from injuries such as lacerations and broken bones — some have even been killed. WBEZ interviewed a dozen cyclists — all of whom had been involved in one or several crashes — and many said these crashes can be prevented if the city redesigns its bike infrastructure to prioritize the safety and needs of both cyclists and motorists. * Sun-Times | With its curving canopy, suburban grocery store offers a special on good design: The canopy’s lowest dip sends rainwater into a garden in front of the store. And the garden is fenced in to keep adventurous souls from climbing on the roof, Theodore said. “I was warned somebody was going to try to climb it — and they literally did climb it,” Theodore said. “We were afraid somebody with a skateboard [would try].” * Crain’s | New local news initiative gets $10M, partly from some of Chicago’s biggest foundations: The funds designated for Press Forward Chicago aim to help alternative weeklies like the Chicago Reader, startups like Block Club Chicago and other publications mostly affiliated with the Chicago Independent Media Alliance to continue to grow their audiences, among other efforts. * The Atlantic | The Great Social Media–News Collapse: Last week, the Pew Research Center published a new study showing that fewer adults on average said they regularly followed the news in 2021 or 2022 than in any other year surveyed. (Pew started asking the question in 2016.) There’s some shakiness when you break down the demographics, but overall, 38 percent of American adults are following the news closely, versus a high of 52 percent in 2018. This tracks: In 2022, Axios compiled data from different web-traffic-monitoring companies that showed news consumption took a “nosedive” after 2020 and, despite January 6, the war in Ukraine, and other major events, engagement across all news media—news sites, news apps, cable news, and social media—was in decline. * Sun-Times | Chicago’s outdoor dining program ends for the season, but some restaurants think it should be year-round: “The short answer is yes,” a business owner said of making outdoor seating year-round more permanent. “The long answer is: It’s an analysis. We’d have to do all the math to see if we can even afford it.”
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