Reader comments closed for the holiday weekend
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * Been thinking about him this week… Let me serenade the streets of L.A.
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Afternoon roundup
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * From the Economist in 2019…
Didn’t work out so well. * Speaking of massive messes…
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!…
* For the bicyclists…
* ISP…
* 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.
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Clown resurfaces, flips on immigration
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * Fox News…
First, I wouldn’t call a member of the Human Rights Commission an employee of the governor, but whatever. Also, he’s still calling himself a Democrat? He seems to have departed from that party. * More importantly, from Fox News back in 2006…
* 2007…
* In 2005, Blagojevich touted the creation of his “New Americans Executive Order.” Here’s an excerpt from the press release…
* And we’ll close out with this 2008 letter to the Daily Herald editor from some guy in Arlington Heights that apparently could have been written by our former governor today…
The 2020 Census counted about 2.3 million Hispanic people statewide.
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Drivers Sign Up To Drive With Uber As A Flexible Way To Manage Rising Costs
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] In a recent survey, nearly 90% of new rideshare drivers cite flexibility and financial need as key factors in their decision to sign up. And over 70% of drivers joined Uber to help fill financial gaps caused by inflation. Whether it’s to supplement earnings or tackle unexpected expenses, Uber offers a flexible way to achieve financial goals. Watch and learn how drivers earn what they need to make ends meet.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and an update to Wednesday’s edition
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
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City wants state to ’shift existing budget allocations’ for migrants
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * Tribune…
If by saying “shift existing budget allocations,” she’s saying “city demands state budget cuts,” then I cannot wait to see that list of cuts. However, there have already been some shifts. The governor’s full response to the question…
Diverting that money bolsters the argument by Black and Latino activists, who claim that the asylum-seekers are drawing down critical state funding for people who are already here. * Back to the Tribune story…
This ain’t the pandemic. Money isn’t falling from Uncle Sam’s tree. * NBC 5 has the numbers as of yesterday…
* OK, let’s move along. Background is here if you need it. Robert McCoppin writes about the state’s smallish grants to suburban communities to help them deal with migrants…
* Related…
* As Winter Looms, Venezuelan Migrant Surge Overwhelms Chicago: Some residents feel the city has been too accommodating. Deaundre Miguel Jones, 47, said he had watched with exasperation as the police station in his Old Town neighborhood turned into a place where migrants sleep on cots indoors and outside in camping tents. “These people are eating well — they have better phones than I do, better shoes,” Mr. Jones said, sitting outside his apartment complex. Chicago officials, he said, are doing more to help migrants than they are people who have lived in the city for years. “How are you going to take care of someone else when you’re not even taking care of your own people?” he said. * CPS parents offer support, community to new-arrival migrant students at Greeley Elementary: A group of CPS parents at a Lake View school are supporting new-arrivals in their community with school supplies and other necessities. The Greeley Elementary School community is growing. Chicago Public Schools confirms 115 new students are enrolled this year. “They have been very nice to me and I like them and they help me speak a different language,” Greeley student Scarlett Tague said. … “Building relationships to actually make a community that makes a difference we’ve seen so much growth in the last year,” said Joey Yuen, Greenly Elementary PTO member. “It’s helped us to see opportunities at every corner.” * Chicago residents to protest proposed migrant shelter: A new shelter for migrants could open in Galewood on the northwest side very soon, but the city is not sure of the exact date. … “The thing that we’re most concerned about is our children, our Black children, the football, the soccer, and all the things that they do, and trying to be constructive citizens. And now they’re going to take this part beautiful part and give it to migrants,” said resident Brooksy Cribs. “Don’t get me wrong, I understand the situation, but that’s not on us.” A community organizer said residents will be staging a protest at the park at 5:30 Friday evening. * Fox News: Chicago youth football program kicked out of facilities to make room for migrant housing: Chicago resident Dwayne Truss and alderman Chris Taliaferro join ‘FOX & Friends’ to discuss the community’s outrage after more than 600 residents attended a protest against a new migrant shelter that will displace youth programs. * O’Hare Airport Shelter Fills Up As More Migrants Come To Chicago By Plane: Nearly 830 migrants are staying at the airport — more than double the number of people who were staying there just a week ago. The city is also seeing a record number of buses arrive. * City seeks donations — and ideas — to provide for migrants as temperatures drop: “Given the fact that we have a change of seasons, we want to make sure that we have donations that are adequate for that with the winter coming,” Pacione-Zayas said during a virtual briefing with reporters.
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Today’s follow-up
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * We talked last month about how the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame planned to present Gov. JB Pritzker with its Lifetime Contribution to Sport Award. The ceremony was held earlier this week and they played a video highlighting his accomplishments. “Combining political acumen with a passion for sports, JB played a pivotal role in enacting significant legislative changes benefiting Illinois sports communities.” From the governor’s remarks after he thanked his hosts…
Please pardon all transcription errors. This post can be considered an Illinois sports open thread.
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Question of the day
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * A Bloomberg reporter yet again repeated the falsehood that Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed a financial transactions tax within a story about CME Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy. In the story, Duffy reiterated his threat to pull CME out of Chicago. More…
As usual with corporate types, he didn’t say how he’d make up for the loss of all that state and local sales tax revenue. * The Question: Do you think state and local government should play a role in moving people back into offices, or should that be on employers? Explain. …Adding… Something you may want to consider from Crain’s…
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Open thread
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * It’s Friday! What’s going on in your part of Illinois…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Mayor Johnson is exploring backup plans for his migrant tent cities idea. Summary of a Tribune story…
- Pritzker told reporters Thursday that more state funding is unlikely. - Johnson’s administration has been meeting with individual state legislators to ask for additional support. * Related stories… ∙ Sun-Times: City seeks donations — and ideas — to provide for migrants as temperatures drop ∙ Politico: U.S. will resume deportation flights to Venezuela ∙ NYT: As Winter Looms, Venezuelan Migrant Surge Overwhelms Chicago ∙ Block Club: Mayor Plans To Visit Southern US Border ‘Soon’ To Assess Migrant Crisis * Isabel’s top picks…
* Tribune | Almost 1,000 migrating birds die Thursday in Chicago after crashing into McCormick Place Lakeside Center, a 40-year record: “It was just discouraging as can be,” said [David Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Field Museum]. “You’re looking at a rose-breasted grosbeak that, if it hadn’t hit a Chicago window, would have made it to the Andes of Peru.” Willard blamed the worst day in 40 years of bird monitoring on an array of factors, including weather patterns, badly timed rain and lit windows at Lakeside Center. * Tribune | ‘He was Chicago’s son’: Dick Butkus, the Hall of Fame Bears linebacker known for his toughness, dies at 80: “After football, it was difficult for me to find what I liked second-best,” Butkus once told the Tribune. “Football was always my first love. That certainly didn’t mean I couldn’t find something else. And the proof of the pudding is where I have ended up today. “I guess I could have been one of those guys who didn’t prepare to quit. But things happened and through hard work I found out that, hey, there are other things besides football * Last year I met Jessica Handy from STAND for Children Illinois at a reception and we talked a bit about her love of creating crossword puzzles. Jessica told me yesterday that STAND now includes original, Illinois-themed crossword puzzles in its legislative newsletter. Click here to check them out! …Added by Rich… Save the date!…
Wednesday, December 13, 2023 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM Palmer House Hilton 17 E. Monroe, Chicago, IL * Here’s the rest of your morning roundup… * Tribune | lllinois presidential primary process starts Saturday with petitions for candidates and delegates: While Illinois in recent general presidential elections has been flyover country due to its solid status as a blue state, the preparations necessary ahead of the March 19 primary still provide an organizational test for campaigns. The nitty-gritty details of the presidential primary process start Saturday, when candidates’ campaigns can begin seeking signatures from voters to place both the presidential hopefuls and candidates for national nominating delegates on the ballot. * WJBC | McLean County Zoning tables CO2 sequestration drilling impacting Mahomet Aquifer: “Drilling a well that goes through the aquifer is not a good idea. Beyond that, they want to store liquid CO2 beneath the aquifer. And we know that leaks happen, especially over time,” said Julie Prandi. Danielle Anderson, Public Relations Manager for Navigation CO2, the company pushing for the drilling said the well would protect the groundwater. * WTTW | CPS Suspended 2 Security Guards Last Month. Both Were Previously Fired Police Officers and Named on Chicago’s Do-Not-Hire List: 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. * Crain’s | Johnson to join UAW picket line on Saturday: Johnson will join Fain and other union leaders, including Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, according to a UAW press release. Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter confirmed to Crain’s he’ll also be in attendance. * Crain’s | Why Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg are spending $250M on science in Chicago: Chan praised “the tenacity, the grit, not incidentally the enthusiasm of the city’s leadership” today when she visited the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub’s home being built out at Fulton Labs. It was her first visit to Chicago since the biohub’s announcement in March. She also noted that Gov. J.B. Pritzker “showed up at the applicant interview day as the top cheerleader of the team presenting their case for a biohub” a year ago. He also offered $25 million in state support. * Sun-Times | Secret recordings cite ties between Berrios relative, Chicago mobster: ‘Jimmy and Frank were good friends’: “Jimmy and Frank were good friends,” Joseph Weiss said in that recorded conversation, according to federal prosecutors. “And some Russians were muscling Jimmy, but Frank was on the run. Frank was in hiding, and Jimmy called Frank and said, ‘Hey,’ ’cause they were partners. And Jimmy says, ‘Hey, man, these guys just busted up my f—ing store. Scared the f— out of the girls, this and that, you know, I need your help, where the f— are you?’ ” * WAND | Cresco Labs settles with employees for back wages: As part of the job, Emperor was required to pick up personal protective gear at the company storage shed and walk to a changing room to put it on — before clocking in. “It was another coworker of mine, who changed behind me, and he brought to my attention that ‘you know we should be getting paid for this time’,” Emperor said. He was let go in 2022 and realized those 15 minutes here and there added up, and he was owed thousands of dollars in back wages. * SJ-R | Bringing home the bacon: What do top 10 paid Springfield, county officials make?: The only official to make more than $250,000 is Doug Brown of City Water, Light and Power. His 2022 base pay was $253,844 according to public records. Brown serves as Chief Utility Engineer, where he is tasked with oversight of the Electric, Water and Finance divisions and Regulatory Affairs. He has worked for the utility since 1994, previously serving as the Major Projects Development Director. * WCIA | U of I Extension urges caution as risk of farm fires rises for harvest season: Equipment fires, especially combine-related fires, are one of the most common and costly types of farm fire incidents. Trent Ford, state climatologist with the Illinois State Water Survey at the U of I, said this season’s increased risk is due to severe drought conditions in parts of the Midwest. A lack of precipitation, low soil moisture and dry vegetation paired with hot running farm equipment could increase chances of a fire. * WBEZ | Chicago Public Library unveils public art piece taking on banned books: The newly-installed permanent Altar for the Unbanned by Theaster Gates sits in the middle of the third floor of the Harold Washington Library main branch. It features spiral shelves of books that have been banned in different periods of American history — titles like Antelope Woman by Louise Eldirch and The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood are part of the current piece. Atop the stacks of books sits a bright, neon sign that reads “Unbanned” in all capital letters. * AP | Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, a rising political star, crosses partisan school choice divide: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — a first-term Democrat seen by his party as a rising star nationally — forcefully put his weight behind a Republican-backed proposal to send $100 million to families for private school tuition and school supplies. * Sun-Times | Joyce Chapman, Far South Side community activist, a Lori Lightfoot Chicago Board of Ed appointee, dead at 67: Ms. Chapman’s appointment last year to the Chicago Board of Education was a momentous day for her, having spent years coming before the board to push for better education policies. “To sit on the other side of the podium, she knew she had a chance to make a difference, and she was proud to be there,” Amina Brooks said. […] Ms. Chapman left the board this year after Mayor Brandon Johnson was elected. * Sun-Times | Dick Butkus a Bears legend for all generations: Butkus was a Chicagoan who played football like all of us wanted to — with grit, ferocity, anger and relentless aggressiveness. Through all those losing seasons, he played the game as if he felt our pain.
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Live coverage
Friday, Oct 6, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ScribbleLive is still down. Twitter has stopped allowing people to embed list feeds on websites. So, click here or here to follow breaking news.
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