* From the Economist in 2019…

On January 28th America imposed its toughest sanctions yet on Venezuela’s regime. It froze the American accounts and assets of PDVSA, the national oil monopoly, and said that it will divert the proceeds of further sales into an account that will be accessible only after PDVSA comes under the control of Mr Guaidó or an elected government. This cuts off the regime from its main source of cash. Already it has defaulted on most of its debt and is short of money to buy the loyalty of the armed forces, maintain oil production and import enough to feed 32m Venezuelans. The new sanctions will make all that even harder.

Venezuela thus finds itself part of a trial of strength. A peaceful transition to a democratic, economically literate government could restore normality to what was once one of the region’s richest countries. Equally, the Trump-Guaidó gambit might lead to conflict between armed groups or simply fail, leaving the regime more dominant than ever. In that case, millions more Venezuelans would join the 3m who have already fled, mostly to neighbouring countries such as Colombia. American prestige, wagered on ousting Mr Maduro, would suffer, too. […]

These measures will accelerate Venezuela’s economic collapse. GDP will shrink by 26% this year, bringing the total decline since Mr Maduro took office to 60%, estimates Francisco Rodríguez of Torino Capital, an investment bank. Bond prices suggest that the markets put the odds of Mr Maduro’s ousting at 50-90%.

Mr Guaidó and Mr Trump are betting that hardship will topple the regime before it starves the Venezuelan people.

Didn’t work out so well.

* Speaking of massive messes…

At least two Chicago Public Schools security guards — both former Chicago police officers who had been fired by the department — were suspended last month, raising questions about whether the district’s background check system is operating as intended.

One man, who has been working as a security guard at Lane Technical High School since 2021, was terminated in 2019 by the Chicago Police Department following allegations of sexual misconduct involving a minor, records show. He was suspended on Sept. 11.

The other is a Kenwood Academy security guard who the police department ousted in 2012 because of a string of domestic violence incidents, according to CPD disciplinary files. He was also suspended on Sept. 11.

The public school system hired a security guard who was fired by the same city’s police department after “allegations of sexual misconduct”? What could possibly go wrong?

* Congrats!…

Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs has been chosen as the next president of the National Association of State Treasurers, the nation’s foremost authority for responsible state treasury programs and related financial practices, policies and education. Frerichs, who has been serving as NAST senior vice president, was elected president at the organization’s annual business meeting in October.

His term as president begins on Jan. 1, 2024.

“I’m honored to be chosen by my peers as the next leader of NAST, the leading voice for excellence in public finance,” Frerichs said. “I’m also thankful to outgoing NAST President Josh Haeder of South Dakota for his friendship and leadership in the organization. As I move into this new position, I look forward to building on the good work my team and I are doing in Illinois, and I’m excited about continuing to collaborate with state treasurers from across the nation on public finance matters and helping citizens build a better tomorrow.”

Treasurer Haeder added: “I’m honored to pass the gavel to a friend and colleague who understands the importance and necessity of friendship, conversation, and the collaborative environment that makes up the bipartisan framework of NAST. Our offices have worked together over the years to improve the ability of treasurers to return unclaimed property with ideas such as Money Match in Illinois and Cash It in South Dakota.”

Frerichs just completed his term as president of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT), a bipartisan organization that brings together state finance officials to address government financial management issues. He was unanimously elected to that post.

* For the bicyclists…

A total of $2,161,000 in grants to help communities develop and improve 13 local bike path projects throughout Illinois was announced today by Governor JB Pritzker. […]

The Illinois Bicycle Path Grant Program is administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Funding comes from a percentage of the motor vehicle title fees, providing a maximum grant award of $200,000 per project for development projects, with no maximum grant award limit for land acquisition projects.

* ISP…

On October 5, 2023, at approximately 10:02 p.m., Illinois State Police (ISP) officials investigated a two-vehicle traffic crash involving an ISP officer’s squad car that was hit by a motorist who failed to move over on Interstate 94 southbound at King Drive in Cook County.

On the above date and time, an ISP Troop 3 trooper was attempting to make a traffic stop on a stolen black Dodge Charger. The Charger recklessly fled onto the right shoulder and struck the rear of a different ISP officer’s squad car that was stationary with emergency lights activated while on a separate traffic stop. As a result of the crash, the Charger then overturned and three occupants fled on foot, none of which were apprehended. The officer was inside of the squad car at the time of the crash, but refused medical attention.

So far this year, ISP has had 16 Move Over Law-related crashes. In 2022, ISP had 23 Move Over Law-related crashes where eight Troopers sustained injuries. ISP is reminding the public of the requirements of the Move Over Law, otherwise known as “Scott’s Law”. When approaching an emergency vehicle, or any vehicle with their emergency or hazard lights activated, drivers are required to slow down AND move over. A person who violates Scott’s Law, commits a business offense and faces a fine of no less than $250 or more than $10,000 for a first offense. If the violation results in injury to another person, the violator’s driver’s license will be suspended for a mandatory period of anywhere between six months and two years.

* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…

* Crain’s | City Council OKs minimum-wage hike for tipped workers: After a months-long City Hall fight and years-long advocacy campaign, the City Council approved the measure, dubbed One Fair Wage by supporters, in a 36-to-10 vote. But opponents of the measure filed a complaint with the Illinois attorney general’s office seeking to invalidate Friday’s passage of the ordinance because of a parliamentary action taken at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

* Tribune | Illinois Attorney General investigating Yorkville school board over closed meeting complaint after book ‘Just Mercy’ removed from English class: Last spring, a parent of a student in the English II Rhetorical Analysis course at Yorkville High School complained of the use of “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson in the class. The book takes a look at America’s criminal justice system by focusing on two Black men wrongly convicted of murder who spent years on death row.

* Block Club | O’Hare Airport Shelter Fills Up As More Migrants Come To Chicago By Plane: O’Hare’s bus shuttle center, across the street from the Hilton hotel and near Terminal 1, is one of Chicago’s 24 temporary shelters, called “staging areas.” Migrants are taken to one of the staging areas while they wait for a place inside one of the 23 city-run shelters. More of them are having to wait at O’Hare as police stations, which are also staging areas, have become overcrowded. As of Friday morning, there were 828 people at O’Hare — up from 363 on Sept. 27, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

* Naperville Sun | Naperville police hoping to hire two new officers to tackle backlog in confiscating revoked FOID cards: In all, police asked for six additional officers in next year’s budget: four to fill out downtown patrols and two for the department’s strategic response unit, which is responsible for monitoring FOID issues in Naperville. The latter request would take the strategic unit from six officers to eight.

* WBEZ | Judge denies bid to force opening of relocated General Iron on Southeast Side: That proposed move from mostly white and affluent Lincoln Park to a Latino community surrounded by Black neighborhoods on the Southeast Side was the focus of a federal civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that concluded the city has discriminatory planning and land-use practices and policies.

* Sun-Times | FBG Duck killing trial is expected to shine a bright spotlight on Chicago’s gang, rap ties: Odee Perry’s murder accelerated a yearslong Chicago gang war stoked by some of the city’s hottest rappers and sensationalized by bloggers and YouTubers who track the city’s street violence. Perry, 20, was shot to death in August 2011 near the Parkway Gardens housing complex in a violent stretch of South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on the South Side that grew to be widely known as O Block in his memory. His Black Disciples gang faction took on the same name — just before Chicago’s drill rap scene exploded in popularity.

* WICS | Active shooter at Sangamon County Juvenile Center was an inmate, said SPD chief of police: I met with Springfield Chief of Police Ken Scarlette on Thursday to discuss what took place. On Saturday, several law enforcement agencies responded to a 911 call of an active shooter at the Sangamon County Juvenile Center. According to Scarlette, the 17-year-old was an inmate of the Sangamon County Juvenile Center, had a firearm and tried to leave the facility.

* WGLT | McLean County ZBA postpones carbon sequestration hearing to find a larger venue: Renovations to the boardroom at the Government Center downtown have necessitated a number of substitute locations for meetings normally held there. The work is expected to be completed around Oct. 16. That issue set the stage for Tuesday night’s meeting in another smaller, tightly-crowded room, with zoning board members seated just feet away from more than a dozen members of the public.

* Marijuana Moment | Illinois Officials Highlight ‘Unprecedented Growth’ Of Legal Marijuana Market As Cannabis Revenue Outpaces Alcohol: All told, the legal cannabis industry brought in about $451.9 million for the state in fiscal year 2023, which ran from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, according to separate numbers from the Department of Revenue. As in past years, Illinois made significantly more revenue from cannabis than from alcohol, which brought in about $316.3 million during the same period.

* Crain’s | Office shedding pushes downtown vacancy rate to another record high: The office vacancy rate in the heart of the city during the past three months rose to an all-time high of 23.7% from 22.6% midway through the year, according to data from brokerage CBRE. The share of available space is up from 21.3% a year ago and 13.8% when the public health crisis began, and has now hit a new record high for the 10th time in the past 12 quarters.

* Block Club | UChicago Research Center To Pay $95K To Settle Hiring Discrimination Claims: A routine compliance check by the labor department alleged the center discriminated against 107 Asian applicants for positions as coronavirus contact tracers, according to department officials. The research center is an independent organization affiliated with UChicago. The company did not admit guilt, but, as part of the agreement, agreed to review its hiring policies and train all employees with hiring oversight “to ensure they are free from discrimination,” officials said.

* AP | Stricter state laws are chipping away at sex education in K-12 schools: A dozen state or county agencies have parted ways with tens of thousands of dollars in federal grants meant to help monitor teenagers’ sexual behaviors and try to lower rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

* Daily-Journal | Regatta returns! After 10 years, an event is set for 2024: After a 10-year absence, the former Labor Day weekend tradition in Kankakee will return late summer 2024 when the Kankakee River Valley Regatta Powerboat Races returns. The event was last held on Labor Day weekend of 2013.

* Pioneer Press | Affy Tapple celebrates its 75th year, dipping apples into caramel at Niles production plant: According to Dye, Affy Tapple goes through nearly 300,000 apples daily during its busy season, typically from the last weeks of August through Halloween. The apples are usually washed at their orchard and washed a second time when they arrive at the factory. A food preserver is added to the apples before workers spike each one with a wooden stick, which becomes the taffy apple’s handle.

* Block Club | 70-Year-Old Chicago Priest To Run 50th Marathon This Weekend: When the 70-year-old takes off running Sunday, he “doesn’t really care how fast or slow [he’ll] go,” he said. Instead, he’ll focus on praying for people who are going through challenging times, using a list he’ll attach to his arm. The list “is getting long,” and it’s filled with little drawings and phrases that remind Bradley of people who are suffering in the community, he said.

* Daily Herald | ‘He shook the hand of Lincoln’: Last soldier in Lake County to serve in the Civil War to be honored: Nichols was from Ohio and moved to Lake County in 1889 and became involved in veterans’ activities after his retirement. His military service was short and largely uneventful — except for meeting President Abraham Lincoln.

* Obituary | Gary Glenn Dahl: As Gary and his wife Deb were preparing for retirement, Gary decided he wanted to make a difference in Springfield for the people of the 38th district by running for Illinois State Senate. Gary spent his “in session” time living in an RV in Springfield, donating his salary to charity and being a voice for the people. In 2010, Gary resigned to spend more time with his family.