The Nauvoo-Colusa School District decided earlier this week to exempt some unvaccinated staff from weekly COVID-19 testing. […]
Those who choose not to get the vaccine or cannot due to medical or religious reasons must then undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
Some unvaccinated Nauvoo-Colusa staff members had requested exemptions from weekly COVID-19 testing claiming they have the right to do so under Illinois’ Health Care Rights and Conscience Act. […]
The Nauvoo-Colusa School District is on the Illinois State Board of Education’s probation list because the school district made face masks optional rather than mandated per the governor’s executive order.
* Admitted COVID-19 patients per 100 hospital beds. The greener the better, the pinker the worse…
People need to get their heads out of their… you know whats.
* Ugh…
"The choice to not be vaccinated is like a punch in the stomach to frontline caregivers." - Jeff Goldsmith, president of Health Futures, shares his insight on post-pandemic recovery during today's virtual 2021 IHA Leadership Summit. #IHASummit2021pic.twitter.com/3um6tLcTF6
* Message to all the people out there who are whining about how they just want to return to normal life: Vaccines are the best way to that goal. I’m really not sure I can take another year of this nonsense…
Moderna Inc Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel thinks the coronavirus pandemic could be over in a year as increased vaccine production ensures global supplies, he told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung.
“If you look at the industry-wide expansion of production capacities over the past six months, enough doses should be available by the middle of next year so that everyone on this earth can be vaccinated. Boosters should also be possible to the extent required,” he told the newspaper in an interview.
Vaccinations would soon be available even for infants, he said.
“Those who do not get vaccinated will immunize themselves naturally, because the Delta variant is so contagious. In this way we will end up in a situation similar to that of the flu. You can either get vaccinated and have a good winter. Or you don’t do it and risk getting sick and possibly even ending up in hospital.”
* It’s important to remember, though, that not everyone who isn’t vaccinated is a hardcore anti-science freak…
"unvaccinated are saying, 'Never me.' Very small percentage. The vast majority of people who are unvaccinated … is they need to make time for it, they still have some questions about it. They're not rigidly against the vaccines."
I’ve asked for access to that polling data, but here’s some coverage in the Washington Post…
Barriers to getting the shot and information about the vaccines have hindered the “unvaccinated but willing,” who account for approximately 10 percent of the American population, according to a report last month by the Department of Health and Human Services. Unlike those who have declined vaccines, some vocally, because of their politics or ideology, a quieter share — about 44% of unvaccinated people — say they would get vaccinated but are on the fence for certain reasons. Some, like Orosco-Arellano, lack transportation or other means, while others wish to wait and see or don’t know coronavirus vaccines are free.
“The [city worker vaccination] deadline is not going to be pushed back, I can tell you with 100% certainty,” Lightfoot said. “We are not going to retreat from that.”
While other employee unions have engaged city officials in “thoughtful dialogue,” the police union has “been nowhere,” Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot participated in a ceremony Monday to retire the stars of the four Chicago police officers who died after contracting COVID-19 during the pandemic. The leading cause of death for law enforcement officers is COVID-19, Lightfoot said.
“It is unconscionable — unconscionable — that the FOP is taking the position that they will not do the right thing by their members and get them vaccinated,” Lightfoot said. “I don’t even know what they are doing.”
* Not good enough…
The unemployment rate decreased over-the-year in all fourteen Illinois metropolitan areas in August for the fifth straight month according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Jobs were up in all metro areas, with the exception of the Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area.
“As reopening and recovery efforts continue to impact metro areas across the state, IDES is committed to continuing to assist both claimants and jobseekers who are still looking to reenter the workforce,” said Deputy Governor Andy Manar. “Claimants are encouraged to utilize IllinoisJobLink.com to search for work opportunities and take advantage of assistance the Department can provide with workforce development, including job trainings and resume building.”
Over-the-year, total nonfarm jobs increased in thirteen metropolitan areas and decreased in one (Bloomington MSA, -0.6%, -500). The metro areas which had the largest over-the-year percentage increases in total nonfarm jobs were the Springfield MSA (+3.5%, +3,600); the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island IA-IL MSA (+3.1%, +5,400), the Chicago Metro Division (+2.9%, +102,200) and the Peoria MSA (+2.9%, +4,700). The industries that saw job growth in a majority of metro areas included: Leisure and Hospitality (fourteen areas); Transportation, Warehousing and Public Utilities (eleven areas); Other Services and Government (ten areas each); Manufacturing and Educational and Health Services (nine areas each).
Over-the-year, the unemployment rate decreased in all 14 metropolitan areas; the metro areas with the largest unemployment rate decreases were the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metropolitan Division (-5.5 points to 7.5%), the Elgin Metropolitan Division (-3.2 points to 6.1%) and the Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metropolitan Division (-2.7 points to 5.3%). The unemployment rate also decreased over-the-year in all 102 counties for the fifth consecutive month.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was asked during his visit to the McCluggage Bridge Tuesday about the deal Illinois lawmakers recently approved that keeps two Illinois nuclear power plants open, while reducing emissions at coal-fired power plants.
Pritzker says negotiations involving his office led to the deal that lawmakers approved.
“The negotiation that we had over what support we would provide to the power plants that were losing money started with a thorough, independent audit,” said Pritzker.
Pritzker says an audit wasn’t done five years ago when other energy legislation was passed. He said he only wanted to give Exelon, for example, what was fair.
Pritzker said the state, and [ratepayers], got a deal.
“We ended up paying one-sixth on a megawatt hour basis what was paid the last time this was negotiated,” said Pritzker. “Last time, six times was paid what we paid this time in order to keep these plants alive, and keep those jobs going.”
* One of the most important parts of my job is to read as much about Illinois government/politics as humanly possible. After seeing that story above, I thought I’d put together a quick coverage roundup since the bill signing. Easier said than done because quite a lot has been written. Click here for a story with easy-to-read dot points about what’s in the bill. David Roberts at Volts has a much more in-depth piece on how the bill was passed and what’s in it…
In 2016, Illinois passed a decent enough energy bill. It shored up the state’s (relatively modest) renewable energy standard and kept its existing nuclear power plants open. It was a compromise among varied interests, signed into law by a Democratic legislature and a Republican governor. At the time, I figured it was the best any state in the coal-heavy Midwest was likely to do.
Well, that will teach me to go around figuring. Just five years later, Illinois has raised the bar, passing one of the most environmentally ambitious, worker-friendly, justice-focused energy bills of any state in the country: The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.
Illinois is now the first state in the Midwest to commit to net-zero carbon emissions, joining over a dozen other states across the country. It is also a model for how diverse stakeholders can reach consensus. […]
The state’s labor community was sensitive to the fact that it had largely been left out of the 2016 bill; the legislation contained no labor standards, and recent years have seen Illinois renewable energy projects importing cheaper out-of-state workforces. Labor didn’t want to get left behind in the state’s energy transition, so it organized a coalition of groups under the banner Climate Jobs Illinois and set about playing an active role in negotiations.
Renewable energy developers — cognizant of the fact that Illinois is falling short of its renewable energy goals (it’s at 9 percent; it’s supposed to be at 21) and state funding has dried up for new renewable energy projects — organized as Path to 100.
Environmental and climate-justice groups organized as the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition.
All the groups introduced energy bills of their own. And then they spent years banging their heads together.
But there was another key difference: this time around, utilities were not at the table.
If you have some time today, go read the whole thing. I learned some stuff about what the new law will mean to consumers and workers.
* More…
* As Illinois phases out fossil fuels, law offers support to transition workers: The law has been heralded by supporters as the country’s most expansive example of equity enshrined in clean energy legislation, prioritizing communities of color and environmental justice communities, as well as communities affected by the energy transition. The law creates community-based “energy navigators” to help people find careers in clean energy and overcome barriers such as child care and transportation, and it offers a pre-apprenticeship program meant to funnel people from marginalized communities into union jobs.
* CWLP looks to solar: The current agreement provides that CWLP must be carbon-free by 2045, with emissions reductions of 45% by 2035. If CWLP’s plants can’t come into compliance within three years of 2035, they would need to shut down some operations under the new law. But Brown said, in practice, CWLP has already done so with the retirement of three of its coal-fired generators, Dallman Units 31, 32 and 33.
* The Future of Illinois Energy Policy: Renewable Energy Set to Expand: In addition to electric vehicle rule development and program administration requirements, a new Electric Vehicle Coordinator appointed by the Governor will also act as the point person for electric vehicle and electric vehicle charging-related policies. The electric vehicle component of the legislation targets putting 1 million electric vehicles on Illinois roads by 2030.
* Illinois now boasts the ‘most equitable’ climate law in America. What will that mean?: “Illinois has a more fossil-fuel driven and dirty electric grid than many of the other states that have committed to 100 percent clean energy,” Garren says. “In passing a bill like this, we’re setting the stage to prove that a 100% clean future is possible in every state.”
* Illinois Just Won a Big Green Jobs Victory: SB 2408 is also targeted to benefit working-class and poor communities and neighborhoods, investing $115 million for small business development and $78 million for electric transportation (for charging infrastructure, for example) in poor neighborhoods. It also increases community solar production — shared solar facilities that make this form of energy more affordable — fivefold.
* MacArthur Foundation dumping fossil fuel investments: Foundation President John Palfrey announced MacArthur’s plan in a blog post on its website, explaining the Chicago-based nonprofit will ramp up investments in companies and funds that are addressing climate change and continue to wind down investments in private funds that invest in oil and gas exploration, a mission it started in 2019.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has written to the CEOs of several Texas-based companies urging them to bring their businesses north in response to the Texas law that essentially bars abortions as early as six weeks.
“I invite you to consider a new home base — one that embraces the 21st century,” he wrote in a series of previously unreported letters to Oracle, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard, Match.com and others.
Pritzker, who worked in the corporate world much of his life, refers to Texas lawmakers as “radical legislators” who “functionally eradicate[d] the autonomy of half the state” by enacting a law he says cuts off access to basic health care and family planning.
And if abortion rights aren’t enough to sway the CEOs, the liberal Democratic governor pressed voting rights, too. “Illinois welcomes you — we’ll even greet you with same-day registration,” he wrote.
Pritzker’s letters are being sent out as Illinois — which enshrined abortion protections into state law in 2019 — is feeling the ripple effect of the Texas law.
Planned Parenthood says it’s ramping up staffing in Illinois as it’s been seeing more patients from Texas in the weeks since the law there went into effect.
Texas’ neighbors, Oklahoma and New Mexico, haven’t been able to handle the influx, so patients are heading to Illinois instead. And Planned Parenthood of Illinois foresees that continuing to increase, said its president and CEO Jennifer Welch.
“We’re expecting there will be copycat laws that will bring more patients from other states,” Welch said. “We don’t know who will do it next. Will it be Missouri? Indiana? Or South Dakota? We don’t know what other state will be next, but we’ve seen a number of states preparing to do the same type of abortion ban.”
Sen. Darren Bailey (R) said he’d reverse the plan former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law.
“One of the first things that I also want to work to eliminate is taxpayer funded abortion in the State of Illinois,” Bailey said. […]
House Democrat Kelly Cassidy said the new Texas ban on all abortions after six weeks enlists civil suits, not state power, to restrict abortion, a tactic she says is designed to reverse the high court’s super-precedent.
“We built a firewall around Illinois for this eventuality. This is exactly the kind of case. It’s going to make Roe fall,” she acknowledged.
Republicans are responding to Pritzker’s letter, with Bailey calling it a “stunt,” writing in a statement, “taxpayer-funded abortion is radical and wrong, but Pritzker champions it.”
Sullivan’s campaign said, “If JB Pritzker is serious about attracting businesses to Illinois, he should stop writing letters and start lowering taxes, and make Illinois a business-friendly state.”
Thoughts?
…Adding… Gary Rabine…
“Businesses are leaving Illinois because of the hostile business environment Governor Pritzker has fostered,” Rabine said. “If Pritzker ever had to build a business, he would realize that you need to first take care of your existing customers before marketing and selling to new customers.
Illinois having the highest job loss per capita of any other state makes it obvious to me or any business leader that we must make our business policies and tax environment competitive and rewarding to our loyal Illinois businesses first. Once accomplished under a Rabine administration, I would build an All-Star team of business development leaders to go after every state and allied country selling the story of the new business thriving Illinois.
I know to most this is just common sense, unfortunately we are lacking common sense in the Pritzker administration.”
According to a WalletHub report released in March, Illinois has the highest combination of state and local taxes in the nation on top of one of the most abusive business regulatory environments in the country.
One nonprofit entity created by Republican gubernatorial candidate Jesse Sullivan owes $3,200 to the state of California — plus additional interest and penalties — for failing to file its tax returns for nearly a year, and another of his organizations is currently listed as delinquent in the West Coast state.
In response to questions from a Chicago Sun-Times reporter, Sullivan’s campaign said Wednesday the downstate venture capitalist plans to settle that debt, which it attributed to a “paperwork error,” and work with California’s Department of Justice to “address these administrative filings to achieve good standing.”
“Jesse Sullivan set up a nonprofit that never began operations,” Sullivan’s campaign said in a statement Wednesday. “When notified today that this unused entity had accumulated fees due to a paperwork error, he immediately took steps to address the fee, and is now closing it.
“As governor, Jesse Sullivan will work to cut red tape and make it easier to start and grow organizations here in Illinois.”
That nonprofit, called Alter Investments, is one of two created by Sullivan. Alter Global, the other non-profit that was registered as a charity and public benefit entity, has had a delinquent status in California since February 2020, according to the website of that state’s attorney general.
Q: In your campaign announcement video, you make reference to having served your country in uniform. Are you in fact, a veteran?
A: So I am not a veteran. I worked actually on the intelligence side of the Army. So I was an intel Army civilian, which was a unique program where they basically wanted to bring people in. So I trained up, you know, Fort Leavenworth, Fort Polk, Louisiana. And then I was deployed, you know, in uniform with a weapon out on combat patrols every day in Helmand, Afghanistan. And my job was mainly getting to know the Afghan local militias that were turning their weapons back on us that we were helping to train up. So my job was to get to know them, try to figure out what the heck was going on on the intel side and then help with military decision-making, essentially advising a brigadier general on what to do in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. So really, really proud of that service for our country. And yeah, just really feel like a lot of the experience has shaped the way I would approach leading as governor of our state.
Q: I don’t want to belabor that. But your your campaign said in a statement to Capitol Fax that you had quote, led combat patrols. Is that accurate? Do civilians lead combat patrols in a war zone?
A: No. So I actually I led our team on combat patrols. And so, no way would I ever want to take anything, I have so much incredible respect for our veterans in my opportunity to serve overseas was one of the proudest things I’ve been able to do for my country. And so in doing that, I was out on, you know, two weeks at a time, I would get out there and I had another analyst, sometimes a social scientist, an interpreter, and my job was a collection efforts. I led our team called the human terrain team. And we would embed with the local units for a couple of weeks. They knew that area better than I did, the area of operation. And so they would lead the combat patrol, I would lead our team on the combat patrol.
* The conclusion of a Sun-Times editorial on vaccine mandates for public employees…
The first priority of organized labor, if they care about the health of their members and ending the pandemic, should be to find union-friendly ways to make vaccine mandates work.
* I asked the Illinois Hospital Association if any problems were being reported as a result of Sunday’s vaccination deadline for healthcare workers…
We are hearing from our members that more of their healthcare workers are stepping up to get vaccinated (many of them after getting educational materials and info from their hospitals).
Also, it’s important to note that about two dozen of the state’s largest hospital systems (representing about two thirds of hospitals) across the state had already announced/implemented their own mandatory vaccination policies over the summer, and many of these policies are more strict than the Governor’s mandate.
We did greatly appreciate that the Governor and IDPH extended the implementation deadline by two weeks (from Sept. 5 to Sept. 19) to give hospitals and health systems additional time to implement the requirements. That has been a great help.
My doctor’s nurse told me yesterday that she just got vaxed. Mandates work. The vast majority of people aren’t giving up their jobs, and that goes for AFSCME workers, too. Where are all those Downstate employees gonna find jobs that pay as well and have the same lifetime benefits and job protections that they’re getting now? And the tiny number of hardcores who do quit should’ve probably been weeded out anyway because I’m betting they have other, um, issues.
…Adding… I asked the Illinois Health Care Association the same question about nursing home staffing…
Anecdotally hearing there is some level of staff attrition, but it is much less than what some centers saw when they put one in place on their own prior to the EO. The Governor handled it well by applying it to all settings and allowing for some flexibility through a vigorous testing option. My association certainly appreciates the thoughtfulness he applied in how to do this, we believe it undoubtedly helped us avoid greater staffing losses.
* I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It should be much easier to check this number on IDPH’s website…
I missed this until now… Chicago's age 12-17 population moved past 50% fully vaccinated this month. Obviously still nowhere near where the city wants to be, but it was a milestone nonetheless.
About 440 kids are getting shots per day at this point
Echoes of the pandemic’s early months are resounding through the halls of hospitals, with an average of more than 90,000 patients in the United States being treated daily for Covid. Once again, many hospitals have been slammed in the last two months, this time by the Delta variant, and have been reporting that intensive care units are overflowing, that patients have to be turned away and even that some patients have died while awaiting a spot in an acute or I.C.U. ward.
A leading asthma patient group has issued a warning against a coronavirus treatment circulating on social media that is leading some people to post videos of themselves breathing in hydrogen peroxide through a nebulizer.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America called the practice “concerning and dangerous” in a Tuesday blog post, emphasizing that it will neither treat nor prevent the virus and is harmful to the lungs.
“DO NOT put hydrogen peroxide into your nebulizer and breathe it in. This is dangerous!” wrote the foundation in a brief blog post.
* After CVS Denies Bicyclist COVID Test, Some Urge Test Sites To Allow People Without Cars In Drive-Thrus: But Jen Walling, executive director at Illinois Environmental Council, said she waited in line for 30 minutes at a Walgreens in Edgewater before ultimately being turned away. Walling has to get regularly tested before going to the state capitol for her work as a lobbyist. “When I got to the front of the line, they refused to serve me,” Walling said. “It’s just a nasal swab — I easily could have done that on my bike. If the confirmation email had said no bicycles, I wouldn’t have gotten in line.”
Governor JB Pritzker today announced the 2021 recipients of the Order of Lincoln, the state’s highest honor for professional achievement and public service. Established in 1964, the Order of Lincoln honors Illinois residents whose work uplifts every community in the state. This year’s Lincoln Laureates will be honored at the upcoming 57th annual Convocation at the Chicago History Museum. The eight recipients join a cohort of over 350 distinguished Illinois residents who have joined the Order of Lincoln over the last five decades.
One of this year’s recipients, Dr. Joanne Smith of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab will be awarded the honor posthumously.
“This year’s Order of Lincoln recipients represent the values that make Illinois great. Hard work, innovation, and determination have long been the foundation of our communities and the eight recipients of the Order of Lincoln have exhibited all of that and more,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I’m so proud to award these talented men and women with our state’s highest honor and I commend them for their incredible contributions to Illinois – and the world.”
“The Lincoln Academy is honored to award the Order of Lincoln to these remarkable individuals,” said Frank Clark, chancellor of the Academy. “Abraham Lincoln exemplified what is great about our state, and the achievements and contributions of these honorees continues to illustrate the vibrancy and richness of Illinois.” […]
Mavis Staples, now in her eighth decade of singing truth, is an intrepid musical pioneer who has blurred the lines between gospel, soul, folk, pop, R&B, blues, rock, Americana, and hip hop. Since her first paying gig at Chicago’s Holy Trinity Baptist Church in 1948, the Chicago native has found success as both a solo artist and member of her family’s band, The Staple Singers. Close friends of Martin Luther King, Jr., The Staple Singers were the spiritual and musical voices of the Civil Rights movement before finding international pop radio stardom during the 1970’s with hits like “I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself.” Staples was the subject of the Peabody-award-winning 2015 HBO documentary “Mavis!,” was named a 2016 Kennedy Center Honoree, and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2017; The Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2018.
There is no parole in Illinois. I did not know that until Katrina Burlet told me.
“We got rid of our parole system in 1978,” said Burlet, campaign strategy director of Parole Illinois, a coalition committed to addressing the needs of prisoners.
Along with Illinois, 15 other states have abolished parole. California, on the other hand, has mandatory parole and in August pushed the issue into the headlines when a parole board voted to free Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.
This is one of those debates where people of goodwill can have opposing views. You could argue that Sirhan’s crime is so vile, not only snuffing out the life of a father of 11 but a beloved leader who inspired millions, that he should never go free. I can see that.
Or you could counter that 53 years in prison is punishment aplenty, that keeping Sirhan in jail until he dies won’t bring RFK back, that we are too punitive a nation already, with 1.8 million incarcerated at any time. I can see that too.
Burlet is pushing Senate Bill 2333, which would allow convicted criminals in Illinois who have served 20 years in prison to be eligible for a parole hearing.
“It restores parole for people serving the longest sentences,” she said.
Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that notwithstanding to the contrary, any provision of the Code, the Post-Conviction Hearing Article of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, or the Habeas Corpus Article or the relief from judgment provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, a person serving a term of imprisonment, including a term of natural life, in a Department of Corrections institution or facility is eligible for earned discretionary reentry if he or she has served a term of imprisonment of at least 20 years. Provides that petitions for earned discretionary reentry shall be administered by the Prisoner Review Board. Establishes procedures for the hearing. Removes provision that no person serving a term of natural life imprisonment may be paroled or released except through executive clemency. Provides that if any incarcerated person is released on earned discretionary reentry, his or her sentence shall be considered complete after the term of mandatory supervised release. Applies retroactively. Contains a severability provision.
We believe in the power of redemption and transformation; and that it is inhumane to order people to spend decades in prison until they die there without any periodic assessment of whether such sentences are necessary for public safety. We therefore stand against policies that sentence people to death by incarceration, whether that be life-without-parole or excruciatingly long sentences that people cannot outlive.
We recognize that excessive sentencing laws have piled up in Illinois, to the point that few people understand them and thousands of people are now required to die behind bars. We also recognize that each of these problematic sentencing laws needs to be repealed. And we recognize that each ameliorative law needs to be applied retroactively. However, we don’t believe that we can wait to establish a fair parole system until each of those battles are won individually, because many people will die behind bars in the meantime.
Therefore, our first course of action is to bring to Illinois a fair, inclusive, and retroactive system of Earned Discretionary Release. We are building a grassroots movement and working with legislators to promote parole legislation that is inclusive and that prioritizes rehabilitation and return to full citizenship. In addition, this legislation must distinguish the initial trial (which focuses on responsibility for the crime) from the parole hearing, which should focus on a person’s level of rehabilitation and current risk to public safety.
We believe that such a system of discretionary release would present the most expeditious way for the many over-incarcerated and wrongly incarcerated men and women in Illinois to obtain their freedom. We don’t take this lightly. We are prepared to devote substantial effort to establishing a fair and inclusive parole system and maintaining a fair and effective parole board.
* The Question: Should Illinois reinstate parole? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch picked a new election czar Tuesday, tapping a former House Democratic staff member — and former ComEd lobbyist — to ensure the party keeps and builds its supermajority in the chamber.
Lizbeth Ramirez, 36, will oversee full and part time staff in the state’s lower legislative chamber, fundraising for the caucus’ campaign fund — Democrats for the Illinois House, as well as the coffers of individual House Democrats. She was chosen executive director of the House Democrats’ campaign fund by a committee of members of the House Democratic Caucus and staff.
Ramirez will also take on recruiting Democratic candidates to run for House seats.
In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times on her first day on the job, Ramirez said Tuesday that she was nervous, but, “more than anything, excited to be here.”
As subscribers know, I also interviewed Ramirez yesterday. This is a significant development in more ways than one.
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board President Kari Steele announced her campaign against incumbent Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi on Monday, pitching herself as a grassroots candidate who would tidy up an office she said was replete with disorganization.
Steele, Kaegi’s first challenger in next June’s Democratic primary, is the first Black woman to lead the agency tasked with managing wastewater and stormwater in Cook County. The debut of her campaign comes a month after Kaegi announced he will seek a second term in 2022.
…Adding… Sigh…
“Accessor”!?!? Really?? Access to what!?!?
File this under “When you just started your campaign and you already have to fire your social media people because they don’t know how to spell the office you’re running for” pic.twitter.com/gKgeEDiuG9
* The rest of this post is about the secretary of state race. Press release…
Today, Anna Valencia, candidate for Illinois Secretary of State, announced the support from Fire Fighters from across Illinois. Both the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois and Chicago Fire Fighters Union - Local 2 will be assisting the campaign through the primary election on June 28th, 2022.
“As Fire Fighters, we know the importance of having strong leadership in all elected offices. Valencia is the leader we need and will be a terrific Secretary of State.” said Chuck Sullivan, President of AFFI.
Both Unions announced that they will provide robust support for Valencia’s bid and are looking forward to supporting the campaign financially and on the ground.
“We are the people that will knock on your door, look you in the eye and tell you the truth. That’s exactly the reason we are supporting Anna Valencia so enthusiastically. Her honesty, transparency and commitment to good government are what we need and align with our values.” said Rodney Shelton, City of Chicago Fire Fighter.
“I am so proud to have earned the endorsement of these great men and women,” said Anna Valencia. “These are our real, everyday superheroes, so to have their support is one of the great honors of my career. With their support, I am even more confident that we can continue to uphold Jesse White’s legacy as Secretary of State.”
Combined, the two Fire Fighter Unions include 15,000 members in Illinois.
“Our volunteers are able to connect with Democrats and Republicans, Chicagoans and Downstaters,” said Joe Sernorski, Chicago Fire Fighters Union - Local 2. “That is why our members are so excited to endorse in this race.”
Valencia grew up in Granite City, IL, a small town in Southern Illinois. Her father is a union painter, and her mother worked for a non-profit. After becoming the first in her family to graduate from college, Valencia dedicated her career to public service. She became City Clerk of Chicago in January 2017 and has worked tirelessly to build a Clerk’s office that benefits all Chicagoans.
As part of his agenda to further modernize the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias wants the State to move toward developing digital driver’s licenses.
Giannoulias, the former State Treasurer, contends people have come to rely more on their phones to prove their identity and provide information. More than a dozen states have already implemented mobile driver’s license pilot programs or are currently testing technology.
In addition, Apple announced earlier this month that eight states will be among the first, allowing residents to add their driver license or state identification card directly to their iPhone or Apple Watch within its Wallet app.
“A mobile driver’s license will make it easier, faster and more convenient for people who don’t have the time to wait at driver’s license facilities or for the mail to arrive,” Giannoulias said. “With more people using mobile wallets and boarding passes for flight travel on their phone, a digital license is a logical next step when it comes to providing proof that you’re qualified to drive and also using it at bars, grocery stores, banks and doctor’s offices.”
A mobile driver’s license or state identification allows individuals to update their information remotely without having to physically visit a driver’s license facility or wait for a new card to arrive in the mail. Allowing for the adoption of contactless identification is especially critical as the nation emerges from the pandemic, Giannoulias said.
Like most states, Illinois already allows drivers to use an electronic copy of their insurance card during a traffic stop.
Giannoulias supports legislation that was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly earlier this year by State Rep. Kam Buckner and co-sponsored by State Reps. Barbara Hernandez and Carol Ammons. Although the bill was not called for a vote, Giannoulias pledged to work with the state lawmakers to pass legislation in the future.
A digital driver’s license would come in the form of a phone app protected by biometrics or a PIN. Instead of handing over a physical license to a police officer or store clerk, an individual could display the relevant information or send it electronically. Nevertheless, Giannoulias wants the technology thoroughly tested to ensure that privacy is protected, and personal information is not compromised in any way.
Unlike plastic cards that can easily be counterfeited or tampered with, mobile licenses are less susceptible to fraud and easier to confirm someone’s identity or authenticity.
Giannoulias said digital driver’s licenses would not totally replace plastic ones. Instead, they would serve as a supplement and that physical driver’s licenses and state identification cards would remain an option for anyone who chooses not to obtain a digital license.
The trouble with linking anything to biometrics is that you can’t just quickly change your eyes or your fingerprints if your identity is stolen. It’s why Illinois has such a strong law on that topic.
*** UPDATE *** From Ald. Pat Dowell’s SoS campaign…
Today, September 22, Alexi Giannoulias proposed a policy that Pat Dowell has presented more than a month ago. It is a good idea, as it was when Dowell talked about it in much great detail and with policy proposals on August 16.
We applaud Apple’s innovation and we do not want Illinois to lag behind other states. Under Pat Dowell’s leadership, the Illinois Secretary of State’s office will be an innovation leader and build on the programs put forth by Secretary Jesse White.
Dowell continues to lead in proposing innovative solutions for the Secretary of State’s office, like digital driver’s licenses, an online personal dashboard for each Illinois resident, and doubling the supplier diversity spending at the Secretary of State’s office.
There’s one “more” candidate in the Illinois secretary of state race.
Sidney Moore is undaunted that he’s never run for an elected position before, acknowledging he’s “worked in those circles” behind the scene of the campaigns of aldermen, judges, state reps and even Barack Obama and Dorothy Brown, the former county clerk of the courts.
“This isn’t something that anyone put me up to. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” he told Playbook. It must just be coincidence that there are now two “Moores” in the race.
Chicago Ald. David Moore is also running for secretary of state along with Ald. Pat Dowell, former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, and Chicago Clerk Anna Valencia.
David Moore’s camp doesn’t believe it’s a coincidence that another Moore joined the race. “Given that secretary of state candidate David Moore’s logo is ‘Moore for Illinois,’ what better way to create confusion, siphon off potential votes and waste money challenging signatures than to put a candidate in the race with the same last name,” said Moore’s veteran campaign spokeswoman, Delmarie Cobb. “This conjures up memories of Jesse Jackson Jr. and Jesse Jackson — a candidate with the same name who was used as a pawn for one purpose only. The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Cobb was referring to the 2002 election, when a mysterious out-of-nowhere candidate named Jesse Jackson emerged to run against the then-four-term congressman.
If Ald. Moore actually had a shot at winning that office, then maybe I’d be more inclined to be upset at this.
The Illinois Department of Public Health has filed emergency rules to make Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s recent executive order regarding schools less vulnerable to legal challenges.
Most of the language in the IDPH rules is identical to the executive order Pritzker filed late Friday. However, the department deleted any references to “modified quarantine” in previous guidance. That previously allowed students to continue in-person learning after coming in contact with someone who had COVID-19.
Attorney Tom DeVore won several cases stating schools couldn’t put any student under quarantine without a court order.
Attorney Brian Bare says by deleting “modified quarantine”, IDPH is sending a message to the courts that they did not agree with DeVore’s interpretation of their previous regulations.
The new rules clarify that school districts don’t need court action to require testing, masks, or excluding students and school personnel.
“By making it clear that these types of things can happen without a court order or without an order from the county health department, that makes it much easier for schools to continue to operate in accordance with the executive orders and the guidance form the State Board of Education,” Bare said.
* Tom DeVore blew his stack on Facebook the other night about the new rules…
Boy, I got a story for you guys. I don’t usually, I try to keep you guys calm as much as I can, but with what I’m getting ready to tell you right now, you need to be so p*ssed off. I don’t, I don’t even know how to tell you to respond to this. Because what I just printed off. What I just printed off, you guys need to see if you can get about a million people to watch what I’m going to tell you right now. What I just printed off right here is tyranny. By definition this is tyranny. Okay. The courts have been protecting you for the last month, saying that your due process rights cannot be violated under the law. That exclusion from school, makes sense right, exclusion from school, putting mass on your babies, sticking a needle in your damn arm or sticking a swab up your nose, you have a right to that integrity as people… and it can’t be taken away from you without due process of law.
Um, that upends a century of clear judicial rulings on stopping the spread of infectious diseases, but whatever.
Do you know what these useless b*stards have done, or they’re trying to do, you know what you’re trying to do? The Department of Public Health just created an emergency rule and you didn’t hear about it on TV. You didn’t hear the governor talk about it. They created an emergency rule. And you know what they tried to say that it says, because COVID is an emergency after 19 months. They are trying to by a rule take all of your constitutional due process rights away from you. That’s what these no good, sons of b*tches are trying to do. They have no shame. They ought to all be in prison in my opinion, they ought to be in a federal prison is what they all ought to be in. […]
These tyrants are coming after your kids, they’re coming after them with this bullsh*t. It’s all bullsh*t.
Keep in mind that this man is running for the appellate court.
* “I need you to leave your houses in droves,” DeVore continued…
Bring this state to its knees. You have the power to do it because otherwise these dirty son of a b*tches. I’m sorry. I’m cussing now because I’m that mad at this. These people are not going to relent, they are not going to relent unless you make them relent.
Hat tip to a commenter for discussing this rant earlier today.
…Adding… If you’d like a bit more insight into the bizarre nature of this small but vocal faction, watch this video from a Vandalia, Illinois school board meeting…
Similar to its last meeting, COVID matters largely took center stage at Monday’s Waterloo School Board meeting.
But this time, the police were called.
After addressing the board stating his discontent with Gov. JB Pritzker’s school mask mandate and Waterloo’s compliance, resident James Link refused to put his mask back on at the meeting.
He was subsequently escorted into a hallway by two Waterloo police officers and arrested for criminal trespass to state supported property, Waterloo Police Chief Jeff Prosise confirmed. […]
When school board member Gary Most told Link he needed to mask up, Link asked Most to present “an order of quarantine,” following up with “You show it to me and I’ll put the mask on.”
Prodding Pritzker further, she predicted union leaders who have blocked meaningful pension reforms would step up to negotiate a comprehensive solution to prevent pension plans from running out of cash to pay retirees.
“The leaders I have talked to understand the importance of doing something,” she said. “I think if there was leadership by the governor, labor would come to the table.”
Well, here’s what Lightfoot said when I asked if she would back a constitutional amendment eliminating or altering the clause [in the state Constitution forbidding reductions in pension benefits]:
“I don’t favor that,” she said, adding that state pension plans are contracts that must be honored.
That sounds a lot like Pritzker, who says essentially the same thing whenever he’s asked about amending the constitution to eliminate or modify the pension protection clause.
The Illinois Supreme Court has decreed that government-promised pensions are an individual right and therefore cannot be collectively negotiated away.
…Adding… Good point in comments…
So the union leaders who won’t agree to vax requirements for fear of their members are now going to sell out those members’ retirement security?
HermanCainAward, one of the fastest-growing subreddits on Reddit.com, is exactly what it sounds like: an archive of those who have been hospitalized and/or killed by COVID and didn’t believe the disease could harm them. It is named after Republican Herman Cain, the onetime candidate for president who succumbed to COVID some weeks after attending a Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at which he was photographed maskless in the summer of 2020. Cain’s Twitter account would continue to downplay the virus even after his death.
The Herman Cain Award concept is simple and ugly. A single entry to the subreddit consists of anywhere between two and 16 screenshots of a social media profile (usually Facebook, with last names scrubbed out) belonging to someone who died after aggressively rejecting precautions that could have protected them and others. The idea is to track the individual’s journey from COVID theory, so to speak, to COVID practice: what a person posted or commented about masks or shots, or those who advocated for either before getting sick, and how they and their community narrated their disease once they were ill. As the forum has grown, entries have started following a fairly standard format: The first few screenshots typically feature the individual in question deploying a remarkably consistent set (there are 30 or so) of memes. Some vilify Dr. Anthony Fauci or champion the right to be unvaccinated. Others warn people they’re experimental rats or offer scripts that will properly punish wait staff for daring to inquire about vaccination status. Some deride masked liberals as “sheep” and the unvaccinated as proud free lions or refer to immigrants as vectors of disease or compare vaccination requirements to the Holocaust. Most of them treat the pandemic as a joke and frame ignoring it as brave or clever or both. The final few screenshots typically announce the disease, its progress, and the eventual death announcement, frequently followed by a GoFundMe for the family. If someone is merely hospitalized, the flair on that entry reads “Nominated.” When they die, it changes to “Awarded.”
It is cruel, a site for heartless and unrepentant schadenfreude. This is a place where deaths are celebrated, and it is not the only one. While endless ink has been spilled on the anger of Trump voters and Fox News viewers and QAnon adherents, there are other angers that haven’t been nearly as well explored. The exhaustion and fury doctors and nurses feel, for example, as they deal yet again with overwhelmed ICUs. Instead of being hailed as heroes, this time around they’re risking their lives to serve while walking through anti-vax protesters and being called murderers or worse by misled family members demanding or indeed suing for sick unvaccinated relatives on ventilators to be dosed with ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine or vitamin C. There is the anger of family members of those without COVID who are dying or sicker than they should be because treatment was delayed or denied to them at dozens of hospitals that had no beds available. There’s the frustration of parents trying to keep their children safe, the constant, destabilizing calculations and adaptations people are forced into when (for instance) the governor of Texas prohibits schools from taking safety measures and then two teachers at a single school die, forcing closures once again. There’s the run-of-the-mill anger of those weary of living under pandemic conditions and demoralized—in the most literal sense—by the selfishness of their compatriots.
Subscriptions to the HermanCainAward subreddit are increasing exponentially, from 2,000 subscribers on July 4 to 5,000 at the beginning of August to more than 100,000 on Sept. 1 to 243,000 Friday to 276,000 today. If that rate is any indication, rage is growing toward anti-vaxxers deliberately prolonging the pandemic out of an anti-social and deadly understanding of their rights. Now, it’s true that not everyone on the subreddit assents to its spiteful premise: One exhausted nurse wrote a long post about how much one of her anti-vax patients suffered, as an attempt at counterbalance. She acknowledged her own compassion fatigue but also urged readers to think harder about how we got to this sorry pass. Plenty of the discussions do orbit around that basic question. But most of the comments are angry. A collection of screenshots generally elicits a common sentiment: The person got their just desserts.
* My annual medical checkup is this afternoon and then I have some errands I need to run that can only be taken care of during a weekday. So, y’all are on your own for awhile. Hopefully, nothing big happens while I’m away, but I’ll take my laptop just in case.
* Anyway, on to the setup…
Today, Representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), and the Illinois Opportunity Project announced their statewide grassroots campaign to place an Advisory Question of Public Policy on the November 2022 ballot asking voters if they want the power to recall their elected officials.
“Voters should have the ability to hire and fire their elected officials,” said Rep. Batinick. “Illinois’ culture of corruption has gone on for far too long, and the people of Illinois have lost faith in their government. That begins to change today.”
Illinois Democrats have ignored calls to increase accountability and empower voters. Last year, Sen. Barickman and Rep. Batinick introduced legislation to give voters the right to recall elected officials who have broken the public’s trust.
The General Assembly has refused to discuss their legislation; even while a Democratic member of the State Senate is currently under indictment for crimes related to his office. This advisory referendum movement will educate voters on the culture of corruption and the solutions. It will also build political pressure to encourage the General Assembly to end this culture of corruption and give voters the right to recall certain elected officials.
“Single party rule has concentrated power with the political elite and taken away Illinois citizens’ voices in their state government,” said Sen. Barickman. “Giving voters the ability to recall a failing elected official will empower the people and help restore faith and trust in their government.”
The proposed Advisory Question asks, “Shall Illinois voters be given the power to recall their elected officials?” Petitions for advisory questions of public policy require signatures equivalent to eight percent of the total votes cast for candidates for Governor in the preceding gubernatorial election, or roughly 363,000 signatures to be placed on the ballot. These signatures must be submitted six months prior to the election.
“Today, the political establishment, special-interests, and lobbyists have too much power,” explained Mark Cavers, President of the Illinois Opportunity Project. “We are all feeling the consequences. There is a statewide movement of people who want to improve the quality of life in Illinois by returning power to the people. We have faith in average Illinoisans and that if we empower them with the right accountability tools, they will reform their government and save our state.”
“Illinois should be the land of opportunity and prosperity where families can pursue the American dream. To make that a reality, we must have an honest and efficient government that is responsive to the people’s will.”
Corruption costs Illinois taxpayers $556 million per year. This referendum will empower voters with the opportunity to hold politicians accountable before their next election. The petition can be viewed and downloaded at IllinoisOpportunity.org/recall.
* The Question: Do you support the advisory ballot question? Make sure to explain your answer in comments, please.
Governor JB Pritzker announced Monday more than $300 million dollars in new funding to assist struggling residents with rent, utilities, food and other household expenses regardless of immigration status.
With support from the American Rescue Plan Act and increased eligibility provisions by the State of Illinois, residents will have access to more utility assistance than ever before, as well as increased availability of funds per household. The State is leveraging $209 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to expand relief for Illinois families struggling to pay their bills as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
The $327 million is available through two state programs — the Low-Income Household Energy Assistance Program and the Community Services Block Grant Program. The funds can be put toward rent, utilities, food and other expenses related to housing regardless of a person’s immigration status.
Pritzker made the announcement at Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity, one of the 37 community action agencies in the state that helps residents receive payments through the energy and community assistance programs.
Of the funds available, $209 million comes from federal funds Illinois received through the American Rescue Plan Act. Those seeking the aid can go to the state’s Help Illinois Families website to apply.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was at the intersection of Adams Street and U.S. 150 Peoria Monday afternoon to announce investments in the McClugage Bridge project with the goal of bringing improved infrastructure to the Peoria region.
“Investments like the rehabilitation of the McClugage Bridge, which was first built in World War II and carries about 20,000 eastbound vehicles a day, will not only support freight routes on Illinois’ roadways, but make day-to-day life easier for Peoria and East Peoria families who use this bridge to get groceries, see their doctor or visit the pharmacy,” Pritzker said.
Also Monday, Pritzker claimed the ongoing McCluggage Bridge rehabilitation project as a victory for him and for the state.
The $167 million work slated to finish in 2023 is being funded through the state’s Rebuild Illinois Capital plan.
“With a new deck bridge that will nearly double its width, the new structure will not only be safer, smoother, and faster at larger capacity, but we’re adding a protected bike and pedestrian path,” said Pritzker.
The McCluggage Bridge was first opened during World War II.
The Peoria Journal-Star had no coverage of either event that I could find.
Every season the flu sickens millions of people in the U.S., hospitalizes hundreds of thousands, and kills tens of thousands. This season, in addition to flu, the state continues to battle COVID-19. More than 41 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have been reported, including more than 1.5 million in Illinois. More than 660,00 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the U.S. with more than 24,400 deaths reported in Illinois.
“Because of the effectiveness of masking in preventing virus transmission, we saw fewer flu-related ICU hospital admissions in Illinois and no flu-related pediatric deaths,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “However, with inconsistent mask usage, we could see a more severe flu season along with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now is the time to get your flu shot. Flu vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines can be given at the same time if you haven’t already gotten your COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccines are our best protection against severe illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths due to either flu or COVID-19.”
Everyone six months of age and older is recommended to get the seasonal flu vaccine. All flu vaccines this season are quadrivalent, meaning they will offer protection against four flu strains – an H1N1-like strain, H3N2-like strain, and two B strains. More information on the types of flu vaccine, as well as recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, can be found on the CDC website.
Many of the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are the same, but there are some differences. Flu usually comes on more suddenly, a person with COVID-19 can be contagious for a longer period of time compared to flu, and COVID-19 seems to cause more severe illnesses in some people overall. If you have symptoms of either flu or COVID-19, self-isolate and contact a health care provider who can talk with you about testing and other measures you should be taking.
Both COVID-19 and flu can have varying degrees of signs and symptoms, ranging from no symptoms (asymptomatic) to severe symptoms. Common symptoms that COVID-19 and flu share include:
• Fever or feeling feverish/having chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue (tiredness)
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle pain or body aches
• Headache
• Vomiting and diarrhea
• Change in or loss of taste or smell, although this is more frequent with COVID-19.
In addition to getting your flu and COVID-19 vaccine, IDPH recommends staying home when sick, wearing a mask, and frequently washing your hands. These everyday health practices will help protect against becoming infected with either flu or COVID-19 viruses.
Influenza antiviral drugs can be a second line of defense for people who get sick with the flu. Many studies have found that in addition to lessening the duration and severity of symptoms, antiviral drugs can prevent flu complications.
To find a location to get a flu shot in your community, check with your health care provider, local health department, and area pharmacies. More information about influenza can be found on the IDPH website at www.dph.illinois.gov. More information about COVID-19 can be found at www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19.
The state’s moratorium on enforcement of residential evictions will expire on Oct. 3, according to Gov. JB Pritzker’s latest COVID-19 executive order issued Friday.
Pritzker had extended the order each month with minor to substantial revisions since March 2020. The extensions have come in 30-day windows, coinciding with his monthly reissuance of a disaster proclamation in response to the pandemic.
While most of the provisions in Pritzker’s latest executive order were extended through Oct. 16, the section providing for the eviction moratorium is scheduled to be rescinded just two weeks into the 30-day order which was issued Friday.
The most recent iteration of the moratorium, which will expire Oct. 3, allows for court proceedings but prevents law enforcement from carrying out an eviction. It also allows for evictions in health and safety circumstances, and for “uncovered persons,” which include those who refuse to fill out paperwork for assistance, who can’t prove loss of income from COVID-19 or who earn more than $99,000 individually or $198,000 as a joint-filing household.
The Illinois Supreme Court announced today an amendment to Order M.R. 30370 which extends the temporary stay on residential evictions through October 3, the same date that Gov. Pritzker’s moratorium is set to expire.
Amended Order M.R. 30370 is available on the Court website by clicking here.
The extension of the temporary stay through October 3 allows for more rental assistance to be distributed through the statewide Court-Based Rental Assistance Program (CBRAP) which was launched throughout Illinois on September 15. Under the CBRAP, litigants may qualify for up to 12 months of past due rent and 3 months of future rent to prevent eviction and homelessness.
The Illinois Judicial Conference’s Court Operations During COVID-19 Task Force (Task Force) recommended these amendments to the Court. The Court and the Illinois Judicial Conference created the Task Force in June 2020 to serve as a rapid response unit to address ongoing challenges to court operations caused by the pandemic. The Chair of the Task Force is J. Timothy Eaton, Partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, and the Vice Chair is Chief Judge Eugene Doherty of the 17th Circuit.
State Representative David Welter, R-Morris, has filed new legislation in the Illinois General Assembly to defend the right of parents to make medical decisions for their children.
The legislation, House Bill 4149, would prohibit the State or any local entity, agency, institution, official, or person from requiring a minor to obtain a health care service or take a health-related precaution, including facial masking or vaccination. If passed and signed into law, any person aggrieved by a violation would have a right of action in a State circuit court against an offending State or local entity, agency, institution, official, or person. A parent whose case prevailed would be entitled to recover damages in the amount of $1,000 per day for the duration of a violation.
“Protecting public health and respecting individual freedom are not mutually exclusive priorities. Both are essential to our democracy and the well-being of our communities,” Representative Welter said. “I am deeply concerned that parental rights are not being taken into consideration by those advocating one-size-fits-all mandates with regard to COVID mitigation. These actions are setting a dangerous precedent that threaten to eradicate the role of parents in all future public health situations beyond COVID. I cannot stand by and be silent in the face of this fundamental threat to our democracy that would deny a parent the ability to make medical decisions for their child.”
Representative Welter tested positive for COVID-19 in October 2020 and publicly shared his status including the symptoms he experienced. He is fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and has encouraged voluntary vaccination ever since vaccines became available. During the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak, Representative Welter sponsored a cloth mask collection drive at his district office in Morris, which he then distributed to local individuals and organizations who had reached out requesting them. During his cloth mask collection drive, Representative Welter shared the specific CDC guidelines for how to make and wear a homemade face covering. Welter has met with local hospital and health department officials and frontline health care workers throughout the pandemic, publicly praising and supporting their efforts.
As I told subscribers, this legislation is so broadly written that kids might not be barred from, or disciplined for pooping in public swimming pools.
Creates the Parental Medical Choice Act. Provides that no State or local entity, agency, institution, official, or person shall require a minor to obtain a health care service or take a health-related precaution. Provides that no State or local entity, agency, institution, official, or person shall discriminate against a minor because the child has or has not obtained a health care service or has or has not taken any health-related precaution. Provides that no public institution of higher education shall require any health care service or health-related precaution to be taken as a condition on enrollment or in-person classroom attendance. Makes other requirements concerning the prohibition against compulsory health care service or health-related precautions for children. Provides that any person aggrieved by a violation of the Act shall have a right of action in a State circuit court against an offending State or local entity, agency, institution, official, or person. Provides that a prevailing party may recover liquidated damages in the amount of $1,000 per day for the duration of a violation of the Act.
…Adding… From comments…
As written doesn’t this get rid of any vaccine mandates in schools? Also, doesn’t this mean that if my kid has a gaping infected wound he can’t be made to stay out of the school swimming pool?
Do these people think through what it is they are actually writing?
Three children in Effingham County can’t be forced to wear masks without an official quarantine order from the county health department, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The attorney who brought the case anticipates more such cases across the state.
Earlier this month, attorney Thomas DeVore won several cases on behalf of parents of school kids being kept from in-person learning because of possible COVID-19 exposure.
Courts in multiple counties said only county health departments can issue quarantine orders.
* DeVore filed another lawsuit against a school district in Christian County this week. Click here. The Christian County coroner revealed last week that Taylorville High School senior Alexia Garrison died “due to natural causes, with COVID-19 being a contributing factor.” Her parents were told she died of COVID pneumonia.
Schools in Illinois should exclude students and staff with confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases or those who come in close contact with sick people, according to a new executive order Gov. JB Pritzker filed late Friday night.
Under this executive order, schools are obligated to exclude students or school personnel with confirmed or probable COVID cases. The order states schools must refuse entry to the premises, extracurricular activities, or any other events organized by the school. […]
“The schools and local health departments are helping to separate people, to quarantine them, to keep them from infecting other people and to give them the opportunity to test and then come back into the institution,” Pritzker said Monday. […]
“I know that there are people that are attempting to challenge these things in court,” Pritzker said. “I would just say that this is a very unhelpful thing to do and it is going to make schools and health care settings less safe.”
• All Schools must take the following measures to ensure the safety of Students and School Personnel:
1. Exclude any Student or School Personnel who is a Confirmed Case or Probable Case for a minimum of 10 days following onset date if symptomatic or date of test if asymptomatic, or as otherwise directed by the School’s local health authority.
2. Exclude any Student or School Personnel who is a Close Contact for a minimum of 14 days or as otherwise directed by the School’s local health authority, which may recommend options such as Exclusion for 10 days or 7 days with a negative test result on day 6. As an alternative to Exclusion, Schools may permit Close Contacts who are asymptomatic to be on the School premises, at extracurricular events, or any other events organized by the School if both the Confirmed Case or Probable Case and the Close Contact were masked for the entire exposure period and provided the Close Contact tests negative on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 following the exposure.
3. In addition to (b)(i) and(b)(ii), Schools shall Exclude any Student or School Personnel for a minimum of 10 days who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 until they are fever free for 24 hours and until 48 hours after diarrhea or vomiting have ceased.
• All Schools shall make remote instruction available consistent with the requirements declared by the State Superintendent for Education pursuant to Section 10-30 and 34-18.66 of the School Code, 105 ILCS 5/10-30 and 105 ILCS 5/34-18.66, for Students Excluded from in-person instruction pursuant to this Executive Order.
• State agencies, including but not limited to the Illinois Department of Public Health, may promulgate emergency rules as necessary to effectuate this Executive Order and aid in its implementation.
• Nothing in this Executive Order prohibits a local health authority from issuing orders for isolation or quarantine pursuant to the Department of Public Health Act, 20 ILCS 2305/1.1 et seq., and regulations implementing that Act, or requiring schools to take more stringent measures than described in this Executive Order.
Jacksonville School District 117 Superintendent Steve Ptacek says it clarifies orders confusion after court rulings in Macoupin and Adams County on the state’s rules: “The governor and the ISBE definitely have the desire to keep all close contacts out of the physical schools, so in response to the legal challenges about the use of the term ‘quarantine,’ they have altered it with a new executive order to mandate to school districts that we must exclude students from schools who have been determined to be a close contact. We are no longer issuing a quarantine. The health department isn’t issuing a quarantine. We are excluding those individuals from the physical school, and that is mandated and it says we must follow it.”
Ptacek says this circumvents the necessity of a local health department or court order to issue a quarantine order. Ptacek says the district has received a statement from the Illinois State Board of Education that they will enforce the rule based upon further clarification in the Executive Order granting them the authority of enforcement.
* From Katherine J. Wu, Ed Yong and Sarah Zhang at the the Atlantic…
If vaccines are working, how could vaccinated people make up such a large proportion of an outbreak?
The answer is simple: They can if they make up a large proportion of a population. Even though vaccinated people have much lower odds of getting sick than unvaccinated people, they’ll make up a sizable fraction of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths if there are more of them around.
Let’s work through some numbers. Assume, first, that vaccines are 60 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infections. (There’s a lot of conflicting information about this, but the exact number doesn’t affect this exercise much.) Vaccinated people are still less likely to get infected, but as their proportion of the community rises, so does the percentage of infections occurring among them. If 20 percent of people are fully vaccinated, they’ll account for 9 percent of infections; meanwhile, the 80 percent of the population that’s unvaccinated will account for 91 percent. Now flip that. If only 20 percent of people are unvaccinated, there will be fewer infections overall. But vaccinated people, who are now in the majority, will account for most of those infections—62 percent.
Register now to join Ed Yong alongside Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci at the 2021 Atlantic Festival
That is why this particular statistic—the proportion of vaccinated people in a given outbreak—is so deeply misleading. “The better the vaccine uptake, the scarier this number will seem,” wrote Lucy D’Agostino McGowan, a statistician at Wake Forest University. By extension, the safer communities become, the more it will seem like the sky is falling—if we continue focusing on the wrong statistics.
“If you’re trying to decide on getting vaccinated, you don’t want to look at the percentage of sick people who were vaccinated,” McGowan wrote. “You want to look at the percentage of people who were vaccinated and got sick.”
Note percentage. In July, an NBC News article stated that “At Least 125,000 Fully Vaccinated Americans Have Tested Positive” for the coronavirus. In isolation, that’s an alarming number. But it represented just 0.08 percent of the 165 million people who were fully vaccinated at the time. More recently, Duke University reported that 364 students had tested positive in a single week—a figure that represents just 1.6 percent of the more than 15,000 students who were tested. The denominator matters.
The denominators in these calculations also change, dragging the numerators higher along with them. As surges grow, so too will the number of infected people, which means the number of breakthrough infections will also grow. Even if the percentage of breakthroughs stays steady, though, vaccines will feel less effective if the pandemic is allowed to rage out of control, because …
I do not yet know if this is on broadcast, but it’s a modest $9K cable buy running through September 23.
* Script…
Nancy Pelosi and Adam Kinzinger picked your pocket. Their spending spree sparked record inflation, driving up prices and eating into the value of your paycheck.
Now will Kinzinger support Pelosi’s reconciliation scam? It’s a $3 trillion tax hike that could cost your family $2400. And experts warn its higher investment taxes could slam your retirement savings. Remind Kinzinger he works for you. Tell him to stop Nancy Pelosi’s tax scam.
* I told subscribers this morning that this was probably coming. Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker today announced Illinois’ first union agreement requiring vaccines for certain state workers in congregate facilities. The agreement covers approximately 260 supervisory employees at the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) which are represented by VR-704. Employees must receive their first shot by October 14, 2021. Should an employee elect a two-dose vaccine, they must receive the second shot by November 18.
State employees who remain unvaccinated pose a significant risk to individuals in the Illinois’ congregate facilities. Therefore, if employees do not receive the vaccine or an exemption by the dates identified, progressive disciplinary measures will be implemented, which may ultimately lead to discharge. The agreement includes a process whereby employees can seek an exemption based on medical contraindications or sincerely-held religious beliefs.
“With new variants among us, the quick spread of COVID-19 in congregate settings in Illinois and across the nation continues to harm the most vulnerable among us,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We have a safe and proven tool to end this pandemic, and vaccination remains the most effective way to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities. I’m proud to reach this agreement with these critical labor partners and applaud VR-704 for taking this critical step to combat the virus and keep all of our State residents safe.”
Last month, Governor Pritzker announced that all state workers who work in state run congregate facilities would be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, that includes employees at IDOC and DJJ, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA), subject to bargaining. Negotiations between the unions representing the rest of the workforce impacted by this mandate are ongoing.
“When staff take the life-saving vaccine, they are protecting their colleagues, individuals in custody and communities while moving the agency closer to normal operations,” said Rob Jeffreys, Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections. “This commitment will help IDOC overcome the challenges associated with infection control in congregate living environments.”
To further encourage vaccinations under the agreement with VR-704, employees will receive an additional personal day. If the vaccine administration is not available during an employee’s regularly scheduled shift, the employee may be compensated at their regular pay for the time taken to receive the vaccine. In addition, vaccinated employees will receive paid “COVID time,” so that if a vaccinated employee gets COVID-19, or must quarantine due to COVID-19, they will receive a period of paid time off without using their benefit time.
The administration has taken extensive measures to make the COVID-19 vaccine equitable and accessible. The Pritzker administration established 25 mass vaccination sites. The Illinois National Guard supported more than 800 mobile vaccination clinics on top of an additional 1,705 state-supported mobile sites that focused on communities hardest hit by the pandemic, young residents, and rural communities. The COVID-19 vaccine has been available for healthcare and nursing home workers since December 15, 2020, and open to teachers since January 25, 2021.
Vaccination is the key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and returning to normal life. All Illinois residents over the age of 12 are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at no cost and proof of immigration status is not required to receive the vaccine. To find a vaccination center near you, visit vaccines.gov.
Seems like a deal that, in normal times, AFSCME should’ve been able to live with.
Gov. JB Pritzker’s deadline for some professionals to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was Sunday, Sept. 19.
This requirement is for all PK-12 grade teachers and staff, all higher education staff and students, and all hospital staff.
This mandate was announced by Gov. Pritzker in late August.
Those who do not get vaccinated will be required to do routine testing.
The mandate also applies to healthcare workers and Gov. Pritzker was asked today about if he was concerned that the teacher and healthcare worker shortage could be exacerbated by this mandate…
Of course I’m concerned about people who will refuse to get vaccinated and refuse to get tested. So we don’t want to cause any shortages, but we do want to keep everybody safe. We do have these alternatives available to people, but, again, vaccination is the safest thing that people can do for themselves, for their communities for their schools, as well as healthcare workers in their healthcare settings.
Riverside Healthcare notified what could be hundreds of employees by email on Friday that their religious exemption request regarding the COVID-19 vaccination has been denied.
In the email provided to the Daily Journal, the nonprofit organization — Kankakee County’s largest employer with more than 3,000 employees — stated, “We take all requests very seriously and respect the time you invested to submit it.”
The hospital administration further stated it could not risk having unvaccinated employees caring for patients.
The denial letter, which went to those not willing to participate in the healthcare organization’s COVID Vaccination Program Policy, sets the stage for what could be a showdown between Riverside and a significant portion of its employees.
As of the end of August, Riverside had a vaccination rate of 54 percent. The current rate was not available.
The denial form letter further stated, “Based on our review of your declination request and our COVID Vaccination Program Policy, your request has been denied. Although your religious or strongly held belief may otherwise qualify for an exemption, Riverside has decided to deny your request because you are in a patient-facing position.”
A new online calculator has been created to reportedly compute a person’s chances of contracting COVID-19 based on different circumstances.
Smithsonian Magazine reports the calculator was created by a group of friends who made a mathematical model based on the most recent research including on masks, vaccine efficacy and current COVID-19 cases in each county.
For the first time in Alabama’s known history, the state had more deaths than births in 2020 — a grim milestone that underscores the pandemic’s calamitous toll.
“Our state literally shrunk in 2020,” Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama’s state health officer, said at a news conference on Friday. There were 64,714 total deaths in the state last year, compared to 57,641 births, Dr. Harris said.
Such a gap had never been recorded, not even during World War I, World War II and the flu pandemic of 1918, Dr. Harris said. Going back to the earliest available records, in 1900, “We’ve never had a time when deaths exceeded births,” he said.
Illinois, Minnesota and New York were the only Great Lakes states to have recorded more births than deaths in 2019 and 2020, according to the study…
* To slow the spread of COVID-19, Illinois must decarcerate: Alongside releases, vaccination is key. Pritzker announced a vaccine mandate for state-employed correctional workers effective Oct. 4. But with less than one month until the deadline, only 44% of Illinois prison staff are vaccinated; two facilities, Lawrence and Vienna, are not yet at even double-digit staff vaccination rates.
* Doctor: Youth COVID-19 deaths less likely, but impactful in Illinois: After a Taylorville teen died after recently recovering from COVID-19, we looked into how common it is for youth to die from the virus. 17-year-old Alexia Garrison was a senior at Taylorville High School.
In addition, a mere 17 percent of respondents said they believed that neither face masks nor the coronavirus vaccine are effective.
Keep in mind that this is Illinois, which tends to poll more to the liberal side. So, you can probably safely bump up those national mitigation favorables here.
Conducted September 12-15, 2021 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with 1,002 registered voters nationwide who were randomly selected from a national voter file and spoke with live interviewers on both landlines and cellphones. The total sample has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul Schimpf has mostly followed Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment and avoided speaking ill of his Republican opponents.
Until now.
When a relative unknown named Jesse Sullivan jumped into the race earlier this month with a nearly $11 million out-of-state-funded campaign war chest, state Sen. Darren Bailey and businessperson Gary Rabine both called him a member of the San Francisco/Silicon Valley “elite” because that’s where his business was located and where much of his campaign money came from.
The Silicon Valley angle took hold in segments of the mainstream media. Did Sullivan really live in downstate Petersburg, as he claimed, or did he live in the San Francisco area? Sullivan’s campaign pushed back hard on the out-of-state angle, insisting he was a Petersburg guy who had made lots of influential business friends in California and other states.
But Schimpf, a former state senator, actually welcomed Sullivan into the fray, saying, “another robust campaign spreading the message that J.B. Pritzker is undeserving of reelection is good news for the Illinois Republican Party.”
Schimpf was born on an Air Force base in the Metro East, graduated from Annapolis Naval Academy, then graduated from law school and served 20 years in the US Marines, serving as the chief American adviser to prosecutors in Saddam Hussein’s trial. His service, to my knowledge, has not been questioned, but his ire was raised by some of Jesse Sullivan’s campaign claims.
The neophyte Sullivan has peppered his campaign website and announcement with photos of himself in military uniform.
“I proudly served our nation in uniform doing counterinsurgency work in Helmand Afghanistan with the US Department of Defense,” Sullivan declared in his campaign announcement speech near Petersburg.
Sullivan was part of what was known as the Army’s Human Terrain System, which recruited civilians with social science backgrounds to help military commanders understand the local populations. A 2012 profile of Sullivan in the State Journal-Register mentioned that his team, “left the British military unit stationed in the area with recommendations for strengthening the local police force and reopening a school.”
When I questioned Sullivan’s campaign about this seeming rhetorical contradiction, they acknowledged that he was an Army civilian without veteran status who nevertheless “led and participated in combat patrols in Afghanistan.”
The Army’s unclassified handbook on the Human Terrain Team says its leaders were active duty or retired military officers. So, I asked, how could Sullivan have “led” combat patrols?
Sullivan’s campaign responded with a 300-word background statement which claimed Sullivan’s Army team leader never left the base. Instead, the campaign claimed, Sullivan led a small team consisting usually of “another human terrain analyst, possibly a social scientist depending on the mission, and an interpreter,” which would, “embed with a military unit.” Sullivan, “was responsible for translating military objectives into collection priorities, executing the collection mission, reporting back, and advising the military decision-making process.”
To me, the long-winded explanation looked more like Sullivan had led a small group of advisers alongside soldiers in combat areas than actually leading what most would consider “combat patrols.” That still took courage, so why embellish it?
I sent Schimpf everything I had from the Sullivan campaign along with my own self-directed research. Schimpf was initially reluctant to say anything about Sullivan, but eventually issued this response:
“Although Jesse Sullivan, who is not a veteran and has never been on active duty, should be commended for having worked in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor, his claim to have led combat patrols flies in the face of Department of Defense regulations and established practices. While civilian contractors may be armed and act in defensive roles such as providing security, the use of contractors in contingency operations is specifically limited in DoD Instruction 3020.41 to support operations ‘in a non-combat role.’ If Mr. Sullivan wants to claim unprecedented combat leadership experience as a civilian contractor, he should identify the officer that he directly reported to while in theater in order to verify this extraordinary assertion. Otherwise, he should correct the misleading language on his website.”
Sullivan has managed to make a big splash in the Republican primary. He’s a young, handsome made-for-TV candidate and already has way more money than any of his opponents could ever likely hope to raise. But Sullivan should probably stop digging holes that he’ll eventually have to fill himself. It’s a really bad habit and I’ve seen it fatally backfire more than once. Like I said before, there’s no need to embellish this stuff.
And, for sure, this military combat claim needs to be cleared up right away.
After pushback from the largest state employee union, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday extended his deadline for workers in Illinois prisons and other congregate settings to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by more than a month, to Nov. 18.
When Pritzker announced the vaccination mandate for workers in prisons and other residential state facilities last month, he set an Oct. 4 deadline for employees to be fully vaccinated and called on their unions to come to the bargaining table to work out the specifics. […]
Under the governor’s latest order, those who receive either a two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccine would have to get an initial dose by Oct. 14 and the second shot by Nov. 18. Those getting the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine would have to get it by Oct. 14.
The governor’s office said Friday that progress is being made in bargaining over the mandate, but offered no further specifics on why the original deadline could not be met. “Negotiations are ongoing and productive,” Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh wrote in an email.
