Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * US Rep. Nikki Budzinski…
* WCIA…
A summary of the report is here. The full report is here. * PHYS | PFAS found in nearly all fish tested from four northern Illinois rivers: Scientists tested nine fish species from four northern Illinois rivers for contamination with per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals found in numerous industrial and commercial products and known to be harmful to human health. They found fish contaminated with PFAS in every one of their 15 test sites. Elevated levels of PFOS, one type of PFAS compound, were found in nearly all fish tested. * Sun-Times | Trump argues with moderator at Q&A with Black journalists in Chicago: ‘I think it’s a very nasty question’: The first question, from moderator Rachel Scott of ABC News, was prefaced with a recitation of Trump’s past statements, including Trump’s claim that former President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States, and Trump’s past treatment of Black journalists. “Why should Black voters trust you, after you have used language like that?” Scott asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” Trump said. * WGN | Protestors flock to downtown Chicago for Trump’s appearance at NABJ conference: During his 2016 campaign, Trump canceled a rally in Chicago over safety concerns after protesters packed the arena. Sometimes there is no two sides, there’s the truth and there’s lies,” former Sun-Times columnist and past NABJ Chicago President Maudelyn Ihejirika said. “I do not see the reason to give him a further audience to continue to spew those lies.”
Click here for NABJ’s fact checker and here for the full Q&A. * Crain’s | Thompson Center developers buy LaSalle Street building for data center conversion: The real estate firms are eyeing a different kind of conversion at 400 S. LaSalle St. Looking to capitalize on booming demand for buildings that can house servers and other technology that stores and processes data — a particularly fast-growing sector with the advent of artificial intelligence in computing — Reschke confirmed in a statement that he and his partners are “focused on building a data center for LaSalle Street” in the former Cboe building. “The demand is high and the building is a great location for a new data center,” Reschke said in the statement. * WBEZ | What another six years of a Maduro presidency in Venezuela means for migrants and Chicago: “We’ve lost the hope of going back to our country,” Edwin Leal said this week in Spanish outside a city-run shelter on the Near West Side where he has been staying since arriving from Venezuela. “With the same president, the situation in Venezuela will most likely stay the same or get worse.” Under Maduro’s regime, Venezuela’s economy has plummeted and millions of citizens have fled over the last decade. The growing exodus of people has contributed to Chicago’s migrant crisis, with tens of thousands of asylum seekers bused or flown here since August 2022, primarily by the Texas governor. This has strained social safety nets not only in Chicago but in many other U.S. cities and countries in South and Central America, including in Colombia, Peru and Mexico. * Tribune | Your next O’Hare flight could be (partly) powered by leftover grease: Sustainable fuel is seen as key to meeting the aviation industry’s goals to cut emissions. The purchase was touted as a win by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who highlighted a recently-enacted state tax credit for sustainable jet fuel. United purchased up to 1 million gallons of fuel from producer Neste to be delivered to O’Hare this year, with the first delivery expected Saturday. The sustainable fuel will go into a centralized system at O’Hare where it will be mixed with traditional jet fuel, and the mix will be available to all carriers at the airport. For now, sustainable fuel must be blended with conventional fuel for use in commercial aircraft. * Block Club | Bike Lanes, Speed Bumps And More Coming To A Dangerous Portage Park Road: Painted bike lanes and plastic posts are being added this week to Long Avenue between Irving Park Road and Grace Street, Ald. Ruth Cruz (30th) said. The lanes are being added to both sides of the road and are part of a two-phase improvement project. The second phase involves repaving Long Avenue between Belmont Avenue and Grace Street. The alderwoman has also introduced an ordinance to lower the speed limit along Long between Belmont Avenue and Irving Park Road to 20 mph. The legislation is being considered in the City Council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety. * Tribune | Pierogi fest, a 115-year-old tradition in Palos Park, highlights Ukrainian culture: One of the biggest changes is what happens with the money raised. Previously, it went toward parish activities, but after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, proceeds have been devoted to Ukrainian causes. But even that focus has evolved. “We used to send a lot of money to aid and cover the cost of shipping (supplies) to Ukraine. People would donate bandages, for instance,” Sendeha explained. “Now we’re focusing more on the people who are here. A lot of people have come, especially to Chicagoland. We’re helping people here in terms of helping them with rent financially or if they need supplies. They come with just a suitcase sometimes or a backpack. They have nothing.” * Slate | The Chicago White Sox Are Making History Now. Terrible, Horrible History: In the whole history of Major League Baseball, only the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, with 86, lost more of their first 110 ballgames than these White Sox. Chicago is tied with the 1932 Boston Red Sox for second-most losses to this point in a season, and the ChiSox are now solidly outpacing any recent team. (The 2003 Detroit Tigers, who lost 81 of their first 110, are next on the list.) Chicago’s .245 winning percentage does not quite touch a handful of teams from the late 1800s, when seasons were shorter and there weren’t as many teams. But in the modern-ish era, just those 1916 A’s would be worse at .235. * Sun-Times | New life for Cook County medical examiner’s office at $15.5 million West Loop site?: The request to purchase the buildings on Ashland and Fulton was referred to the county’s asset management committee during the board’s July 25 meeting. Committee meetings will resume in September. “After more than 40 years of operation at its current location, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO) is working with the County’s Bureau of Asset Management (BAM) to acquire a new location to accommodate a larger, modern facility that can meet the current requirements and evolving needs of the MEO for decades to come,” a spokesperson said in a statement. * Daily Herald | Bremer Team launches 30 Days for 30 Vets program: Thirty deserving McHenry County military veterans will receive the gifts of a lifetime this fall as part of the 30 Days for 30 Vets program coordinated by The Bremer Team Keller Williams Success Realty. Nominations will open Thursday, Aug. 1. Sought are stories of veterans whose lives would be vastly improved by receiving a much-needed home renovation, said Dawn Bremer, owner and president of the McHenry-based Bremer Team. She added that, already, home repair, appliance and improvement firms have stepped up with more than $200,000 in pledges of services and materials. * Daily Herald | Ribfest is done: High costs cited as reason for its demise: “It is with great sadness that we will not be able to continue on with Ribfest in the future,” organizers said in the statement posted Tuesday. For decades, Ribfest reigned over the suburban summer festival season with trophy-winning barbecue, star-studded concerts from the likes of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and Hootie & the Blowfish, thousands of volunteers and the grand finale: a Fourth of July fireworks show over Naperville’s Knoch Park. * NPR Illinois | Illinois State Museum to close until fall: The facility will close to visitors beginning Thursday, Aug. 1. A plumbing project that will involve asbestos removal and construction. The project is expected to last three months. According to the museum, staff who ordinarily work at the main facility adjacent to the statehouse will be based at the Research and Collections Center in Springfield until it reopens. Objects and artifacts that could be damaged by vibrations or proximity to the construction work have been covered or removed for storage and proper care. * SJ-R | Two Sangamon County Board members call on sheriff to resign in wake of Massey shooting: Tony DelGiorno and Marc Ayers, both Democrats on the Republican-dominated board, called on Campbell, who has been sheriff since 2018, to step down. They said they were swayed by public comments Campbell made at a Department of Justice Community Relations Service listening session at Union Baptist Church Monday that resigning “would resolve nothing.”"(Asking for Campbell’s resignation) was the easiest decision I ever made,” said Ayers, reached Wednesday. “We’re human beings before we’re county board members and if this doesn’t rattle you to your core, I don’t know what will.” * WGLT | McLean County Center for Human Services tapped as new regional homeless services lead: McLean County has been a leader in homeless services for years, with the Bloomington-based nonprofit PATH Crisis Center leading the region’s Continuum of Care [CoC] dedicated to ending homelessness. The U.S. Department of Urban Development runs the CoC program nationwide, and the Central Illinois Continuum of Care [CICoC] covers 11 counties, including larger counties like McLean and smaller ones like Kankakee. PATH announced it was stepping down as the collaborative applicant for the CICoC in April, and the CICoC board voted in the McLean County Center for Human Services [MCCHS] as the new lead at the end of June, keeping the role local. * NYT | Trolls Used Her Face to Make Fake Porn. There Was Nothing She Could Do.: Most mornings, before walking into City Hall in Hallandale Beach, Fla., a small city north of Miami, Sabrina Javellana would sit in the parking lot and monitor her Twitter and Instagram accounts. After winning a seat on the Hallandale Beach city commission in 2018, at age 21, she became one of the youngest elected officials in Florida’s history. Her progressive political positions had sometimes earned her enemies: After proposing a name change for a state thoroughfare called Dixie Highway in late 2019, she regularly received vitriolic and violent threats on social media; her condemnation of police brutality and calls for criminal-justice reform prompted aggressive rhetoric from members of local law enforcement. Disturbing messages were nothing new to her. The morning of Feb. 5, 2021, though, she noticed an unusual one. “Hi, just wanted to let you know that somebody is sharing pictures of you online and discussing you in quite a grotesque manner,” it began. “He claims that he’s one of your ‘guy friends.’” * AP | Stephen Nedoroscik waited his whole life for one routine. The US pommel horse specialist nailed it: Nedoroscik will soar into the event finals Saturday with a chance to put another medal in his carry-on before he heads home. His 15.200 qualifying score tied Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan for the tops among the eight finalists. He is ready to ride the wave as far as it will take him. Yet whatever happens on Saturday or for the rest of his life for that matter, it will be difficult to top Monday night, when the guy with the curly hair and the glasses that made him the kind of social media sensation only the Olympics provides struck a blow for his sport, his teammates and himself. “I’m really proud of these guys,” he said while sitting alongside the group that became U.S. men’s gymnastics royalty. “I love you boys.”
|
Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Retail provides one out of every five Illinois jobs, generates the second largest amount of tax revenue for the state, and is the largest source of revenue for local governments. But retail is also so much more, with retailers serving as the trusted contributors to life’s moments, big and small. We Are Retail and IRMA are dedicated to sharing the stories of retailers like Barbara, who serve their communities with dedication and pride.
|
Today’s timeline: State employee headcount
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * From the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability… ![]() Headcount has grown by 3,289 since the nadir of the Rauner impasse.
|
Pritzker signs IL AFL-CIO’s ‘top priority’ into law (Updated)
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Sen. Peters…
* Illinois AFL-CIO…
…Adding… Center Square…
|
Today’s quotable
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Sun-Times…
Emphasis added. Some legal arguments shouldn’t be used by a government. That’s one of them.
|
So many ways to describe how horrible this White Sox team is
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Steve Greenberg yesterday…
* The White Sox ended up losing yesterday, of course…
Part of me hopes they break the Mets’ loss record to make absolutely sure that all the people involved with running this team are permanently stained with shame. Your thoughts?
|
Illinois is an island on yet another issue
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Yesterday, Governor Pritzker beefed up Illinois’ child labor regulations. Tribune…
* So, what’s going on in Iowa? CNN last year…
* Last week from Iowa Capital Dispatch…
* Here is a side-by-side from Des Moines Register…
* More… * The Gazette | Feds fine North Liberty restaurant after state child labor law conflicts with U.S. rules: A North Liberty restaurant is among several in Iowa facing steep fines of $50,000 up to $180,000 from the federal government for following a new state law loosening work requirements for teens that conflicts with federal child labor regulations. […] The Iowa Restaurant Association heralded it as a “legislative win” for its members. Now, it’s warning members to revert to following the stricter federal regulations for workers under 16 as federal regulators have levied hefty fines on establishments. * WaPo | America is divided over major efforts to rewrite child labor laws: Labor experts attribute the spike in child labor violations — which, a Post analysis shows, have tripled in 10 years — to a tight labor market that has prompted employers to hire more teens, as well as migrant children arriving from Latin America. In 2023, teens ages 16 to 19 were working or looking for work at the highest annual rate since 2009, according to Labor Department data. That has led to the largest effort in years to change the patchwork of state laws that regulate child labor, with major implications for the country’s youths and the labor market. At least 16 states have one or more bills that would weaken their child labor laws and at least 13 are seeking to strengthen them, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute and other sources. Among these states, there are 43 bill proposals. * Governing | What’s Driving the Changes to Child Labor Laws?: Last week, the Kentucky House passed a bill that would abolish the state’s child labor laws, in effect replacing them with looser federal standards. The bill would also increase the number of hours that 16- and 17-year-olds can work on school days from six to eight. They’d be able to work up to 30 hours per week during the school year, or even more if their parents approve and they maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average. Several Republican lawmakers joined with Democrats in opposition, including GOP Whip Jason Nemes, but the bill passed easily. “Our current statutes and regulations unnecessarily restrict the number of hours needed to work, often preventing them from seeking an opportunity to help them pay for college, learn new skills and prepare for the future,” said bill sponsor Phillip Pratt, who owns a landscaping and lawn care company. * AFL-CIO | Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Wisconsin Gov. Evers Protects Child Labor Law with Senate Bill 436 Veto: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers delivered remarks Monday at the Wisconsin State Council of Machinists’ 2024 spring conference in Madison and vetoed S.B. 436, which would have eliminated the requirement that employers obtain a work permit in order to employ 14- or 15-year-olds. The work permit process keeps young workers safer at work through parental oversight and gives critical information about where kids work and what jobs they’re doing to Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development, so it can better enforce child labor laws. In 2017, then-Gov. Scott Walker, a national disgrace, signed a bill passed by fellow Republicans in the state Legislature that eliminated the work permit requirements for 16- and 17-year-olds. The bill Evers vetoed would have expanded and built on this exemption. * WVIK | Center for American Progress says Project 2025 will hurt child labor protections: Senior Director for Workforce Development Policy Veronica Goodman at the Center for American Progress says corporate influence in Republican states is weakening child labor protections. “So what we’ve seen is that it’s really a result of sustained lobbying from certain industries like restaurants or hospitality, companies that view working minors as an opportunity for cheap labor to boost profits,” Goodman said in a phone interview with WVIK on July 24th. * New Republic | Louisiana Republicans Love Child Labor, Hate Lunch Breaks: Nobody expects to find good government in what A.J. Liebling famously termed “the GRET Stet of Loosiana,” but it surprised me to learn that the Louisiana state legislature, or its lower chamber at any rate, recently weighed in against eating. Eating is a sort of religion in Louisiana, land of gumbo and shrimp etouffee. But the state House of Representatives last week voted 61-37 to repeal a law requiring employers to provide a 20-minute meal break to any minor who works more than five hours, or pay a $500 penalty. * Kentucky Lantern | House GOP approve bill loosening Kentucky child labor law: House Bill 255, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Pratt, R-Georgetown, repeals Kentucky’s existing child labor laws and aligns them with federal laws, which are less restrictive for minors aged 16 and 17. Kentucky law currently limits the number of hours that 16- and 17-year-olds can work on a school day to six. The limit increases to eight hours on a non-school day and up to 30 hours total during a school week, unless they receive parental permission to work more and maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average. Federal law doesn’t have any daily or weekly hour work limits for ages 16 and 17. * Missouri Independent | After a century, states are loosening child labor laws. Where’s the outrage?: Arkansas, for example, in March did away with the requirement that the state’s Division of Labor had to give permission or verify the age of children under 16 to be employed. Although those under 14 still cannot be employed, the ending of age verification requirements is an invitation to child labor abuses. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in signing the new law, said the change was about removing an “arbitrary burden on parents” that required state permission for their children to work. But let’s get real. This isn’t about the rights of parents, it’s about helping businesses cope with the labor shortages in the wake of the pandemic. If you visited any fast food restaurant in the last three years, you’ve probably experienced worse service than in the past and seen the “help wanted’ and hiring bonus signs. * LA Times | Opinion: Our failed immigration policy is causing a child labor epidemic in the U.S.: The U.S. government’s failure to pass significant immigration reform since 1986 is one reason children end up as workers. U.S. policies haven’t kept pace with the high rates of displacement from migrants’ countries of origin, nor our need for workers. Without pathways for legal migration, many families, individual adults and unaccompanied children have little choice but to migrate without authorization and remain so long term; 2019 data indicate that 62% of undocumented migrants have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years. * NPR | Amid a child labor crisis, U.S. state governments are loosening regulations:[New York Times investigative journalist Hannah Dreier] estimates that some 250,000 children have crossed into the U.S. without their parents in the last two years, and that the majority of them wind up working full-time jobs. “These are jobs working for household brands like Cheerios, Cheetos, Ford,” she says. “These are jobs that used to go to undocumented immigrants. Now they go to undocumented child migrants.”
|
Open thread
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…
|
Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Illinois underfunds public universities by $1.4B, report says. Is there a solution?. SJ-R…
- The legislation comes on the heels of a report from the Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding which found the state needs to increase funding to universities by approximately $1.4 billion in current dollars to meet student needs. - As it is currently written, the bill puts the timeline for meeting that $1.4 billion gap and fully funding public universities within the next 10 to 15 years. The state would invest an additional $135 million per fiscal year if it commits to doing so in the next decade. * Related stories… ∙ WGEM: Illinois proposal would increase funding, change formula for higher education ∙ Inside Higher Ed: Illinois Bill Introduces Novel Higher Ed Funding Model Governor Pritzker will sign workers’ rights legislation at 11:15 am. At 1 pm the governor will be joined by President Don Harmon and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch to celebrate the first Sustainable Aviation Fuel powered United Airlines flight. Click here to watch. * Sun-Times | In Chicago, civil rights leaders want Sonya Massey’s killing to be a catalyst for police reform: Enough is enough. That’s the message civil rights leaders the Rev. Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump conveyed during a rally Tuesday in West Garfield Park for Sonya Massey, an unarmed Black woman who was gunned down by a white sheriff’s deputy in her kitchen near Springfield. Speaking at a news conference at New Mount Pilgrim Church ahead of the rally, Crump and Sharpton called on Congress to pass national police reform legislation in Massey’s name. They blamed the same lawmakers for their inaction in the wake of past killings of unarmed Black people at the hands of police for Massey’s shooting. * Sun-Times | City lawyers say Dexter Reed was stopped by Chicago cops over tinted windows, contradicting earlier claim: The lawyers’ explanation for the deadly traffic stop was detailed in a court filing last week urging a federal judge to toss out key portions of a lawsuit filed by Reed’s mother after the March 21 gunfight in Humboldt Park. Andrea Kersten, chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, previously wrote an explosive memo informing Police Supt. Larry Snelling that COPA was told Reed was stopped because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. * WTTW | What Is Carbon Capture? A New State Law Puts Much-Anticipated and Controversial Plans on Hold — For Now: It’s a technology that’s been eyed by energy producers in Illinois for years, with multiple previous proposals and one that’s expected to resurface soon. And it’s a technology that landowners and environmentalists view with concern at best and fear at worst. […] But One Earth’s proposal to transport CO2 and bury it underground has left some neighbors queasy. While CCS in Illinois is on hold temporarily, the technology will again be under consideration when the moratorium lapses or once further federal rules are in place, subject to additional state regulations created by the new law. * Eye On Illinois | Lawmakers can push, but prescription drug ecosystem unlikely to budge: The Federal Trade Commission is conducting an antitrust probe of pharmacy benefit managers, the for-profit companies that negotiate drug purchase rules and prices with pharmacies and insurers. As those companies consolidate – the top six process 94% of the drugs American pharmacies dispense – consumer choice dwindles, both in the types of medication available and, more importantly, the places to buy those drugs. […] General Assembly members will keep investigating and may be able to effect some small, state-level reforms. But they’re facing billions in corporate money and Congressional stagnation. Don’t get your hopes up. * WBEZ | Abused Chicago lifeguards receive more than $6.5 million in legal settlements: The Chicago Park District’s legal tab for sexual misconduct at the city’s public beaches and pools now exceeds $6.5 million — including a record $4 million settlement for a woman who was underage when a supervisor at Humboldt Park sexually abused her. Officials said it was the largest legal settlement that the Park District has paid out since at least 2001. * Tribune | Donald Trump’s invitation to Black journalists convention in Chicago divides membership: Karen Attiah, a Washington Post columnist, said on Tuesday she was stepping down as co-chair for the NABJ convention. “While my decision was influenced by a variety of factors, I was not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format,” Attiah wrote on X. She didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for additional comment Tuesday. * Block Club | Trump At Black Journalism Conference ‘Makes Members Feel Unsafe,’ Some NABJ Attendees Say: National and local reporters blasted the decision on social media and questioned the timing of the announcement so close to the convention’s start. A convention dedicated to uplifting Black media members will now potentially draw a national crowd and protestors in an already jam-packed weekend in the city while spotlighting a figure who helped coin the phrase “fake news,” they said. * Sun-Times | For a hustling Chicago, the Democratic National Convention is all in a day’s work: Chicagoans can be hard to impress. That applies even to an occasion infused with intrigue and involving the nation’s highest office — the upcoming Democratic National Convention. On the one hand, the city is doing everything it can to present a well-scrubbed face for the four-day TV show. Security and traffic plans have been in the works, a progressive City Hall has cleared out a homeless camp to thwart prying TV eyes, and city crews are lavishing attention on streets that delegates are likely to encounter. * Tribune | City begins to clear out North Park homeless encampment Tuesday, leaving some residents unsure where they’ll sleep tonight: Advocates for the homeless say the only solution for homelessness is permanent housing. If it cannot be offered, they say the homeless should be left in their makeshift shelters until it can be provided, Doug Schenkelberg, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, previously told the Tribune. * Sun-Times | Firefighters union denied permit to protest during Democratic National Convention: The Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2 wants to march near the United Center to light a political fire under Mayor Brandon Johnson to negotiate with firefighters and paramedics waiting more than three years for a new contract. The Johnson administration denied the permit, saying it was “too close” to the United Center. * Sun-Times | How abortion providers in Chicago are preparing for the DNC: Sometimes that’s dozens of people parading around the sidewalks outside Cowett’s clinic, Family Planning Associates, trying to persuade women on their way inside not to end their pregnancies. Cowett said the noise isn’t as loud since the Chicago City Council this summer passed an ordinance to protect the clinic from the booming loudspeakers and bullhorns that could be heard inside the building, making it hard to hear conversations with patients. But as Chicago prepares to host the Democratic National Convention at the United Center about two miles from Family Planning Associates, drawing an estimated 50,000 people, it’s the unknown that Cowett said makes her nervous. * US Bets | Bally’s Chicago Posted 15% Hold On Slots In First Nine Months: Bally’s temporary casino in downtown Chicago posted a robust 15%-plus hold on casino slots and electronic gaming devices (EGD) spanning its first nine months, according to a fulfilled Freedom of Information Act request by the Illinois Gaming Board. That win rate against $396.1 million in coin drop spanning last September through May is the highest among its seven properties where drop and revenue figures are available from state agency reports. * Block Club | Lollapalooza Returns To Chicago This Weekend: Here’s What You Need To Know: SZA, Megan Thee Stallion, blink-182, The Killers, Future x Metro Boomin, Hozier, Stray Kids, Melanie Martinez and Skrillex are among the headliners. There are 170 other artists performing at Lollapalooza; among them are Deftones, Zedd, Dominic Fike, Labrinth, Pierce The Veil, Friko, Sir, Tyla, The Japanese House, Reneé Rapp, Sexyy Red, Kesha and Hippo Campus. * Tribune | Dems choose former Ald. Michael Scott for vacant Cook County Board seat: Scott will serve in the role until December, and his name will be placed on the November ballot to complete the rest of Deer’s term through 2026. The Cook County GOP can also select a name to place on the ballot, but Scott is favored in a heavily Democratic district. * Daily Herald | A ‘concerned advocate’: Arlington Heights trustee who opposed initial Bears plans running for mayor: He said the team’s proposal for a mixed-use transit-oriented development — with restaurants, stores, offices, hotels, homes and more on 206 acres of the 326-acre property — would “negatively impact” what is already in downtown Arlington Heights. And like he told the Bears’ attorneys and consultants during an initial review of site plans in October 2022, Tinaglia said he’d still be a “no” vote. * Shaw Local | McHenry County judge accused of speeding 93 mph in 55 mph zone pleads guilty to lesser offense: Associate Judge Jeffrey L. Hirsch, 55, was accused of driving at least 35 mph over the speed limit, according to the citation and complaint filed in the McHenry County court. McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, which alleged that on June 10, he was driving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle 93 mph in a 55 mph zone north on Route 47 in Hebron Township, according to the complaint. * Naperville Sun | Wayfair planning to open first Illinois outlet store in Naperville this fall: Wayfair’s Naperville outlet will be about 23,000 square feet, the spokesperson said. It will sell returns from online purchases as well as discounted items in good condition across a large number of product categories. Customers will be able to browse the outlet inventory online, but products will only be available for purchase in-store. * SJ-R | Springfield residents seek reform as police chief speaks out after Sonya Massey shooting: Anupama Paruchuri, who lives in Ward 7, said she still wanted to see “thorough, genuine police reform.”Specifically, Paruchuri said, the city should start “a focused committee to develop and implement meaningful reforms. This committee should engage with community leaders and provide regular public updates.”Paruchuri cited two city officers dismissed from the force, Nicholas Renfro and Aaron Paul Nichols, proving it has “similar issues” as other departments. * WCIA | Former EIU athlete wins historic Olympic medal in Women’s Rugby: An Eastern Illinois University alumna and co-captain of the Team USA Women’s Rugby team earned a historic Olympic medal on Tuesday. Class of 2012 graduate Lauren Doyle and her team won the bronze against Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It marks the team’s first-ever Olympic medal. * WCIA | Maize Mexican Grill thanking community for memories after original building was demolished: A fan favorite around the Champaign-Urbana community, the original location of Maize Mexican Grill and has been torn down. Owner Armando Sandoval said the building had to be torn down due to the lease not being renewed by the land owners, the University Group. * AP | Find out which Olympic sport you could play, based on your height and weight: There’s an Olympian inside all of us. We’ll tell you what Olympic sport you might be able to play, based solely on your height and weight. Skills not included.
|
Live coverage
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * You can click here or here to follow breaking news. It’s the best we can do unless or until Twitter gets its act together.
|
Selected press releases (Live updates)
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
|
« NEWER POSTS | PREVIOUS POSTS » |