An apparent success story at Cook County Jail
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The jail was at one point among the largest outbreaks in the country…
Through the use of “aggressive intervention strategies” and widespread testing, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office was able to successfully mitigate the spread of COVID-19 inside the Cook County Jail, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Penned by members of the CDC as well as medical officials from Cook County Health, the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Sheriff’s Office itself, the report found that jail staff were able to limit the spread of the coronavirus through physical distancing, limiting movement and expanded testing.
“Early in the outbreak, increases in cases among staff and detained persons paralleled that in Chicago, Illinois,” the report states. “After implementation of interventions, cases declined in detained persons and staff, even as cases increased dramatically in Chicago.”
Within two months of the first confirmed COVID-19 case at the jail in March, nearly 1,000 detainees and jail staffers had been infected with the disease, and seven detainees, three correctional officers and one court deputy died after testing positive.
The study is here.
* Tribune…
The paper has not yet undergone peer review, and its authors include medical experts from the jail’s health center and the sheriff’s office, along with the CDC and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Even to an outsider’s eye, however, the drop in COVID-19 cases at the jail is significant. In March and April, the jail counted more than 900 cases among detainees and staffers. Seven detainees died at local hospitals after testing positive.
But as of Tuesday, only 11 detainees out of about 4,800 are positive, Dart said, and eight of them entered the jail with the virus.
“We’re testing at the door now,” he said. “You could literally say being in the jail is one of the safest places to be right now.”
* WGN TV…
Nonviolent offenders were released from the jail early on in the outbreak to reduce its population, with some put on electronic monitoring. Governor JB Pritzker also signed an executive order to stop new inmates from being admitted to state prisons during the pandemic, with only a few exceptions.
Officials also implemented measures including moving inmates to single-person cells, and halting visitation and programming.
“Inmates are tested in intake while in separate housing and not allowed into the general population until a second test,” said Connie Minella, Chair of Correctional Health. “This has proven to be an important part of our containment; no other jail is doing this type of testing.”
The CDC says this plan should serve as a model to jails, prison, nursing homes and other congregate settings. Cook County Jail officials say they can’t let their guard down yet.
* Patch…
And Dart criticized the county’s court system, which has left some pretrial detainees jailed for up to 11 years as they await a trial date.
“You cannot have these cases lingering for a decade waiting for trial,” he said. “We can’t have that happening.”
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If you could ask Gov. Pritzker one question, what would it be? Serious question, serious answers only. Thanks.
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Travel advisory
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* July 1, 2020…
The first day of July continued Indiana’s statewide trend of lower numbers, as the state added 358 cases total and eight deaths.
Indiana’s 7-day positivity rate was 4.9 percent at the time.
* Also on July 1…
Governor Holcomb gave a briefing Wednesday afternoon. He announced that instead of moving forward to stage 5, the state will move to stage 4.5 from July 4-17.
Through at least July 17, the following restrictions will continue:
• Social gatherings following the CDC’s social distancing guidelines will be limited to up to 250 people. This limit applies to wedding receptions, parties, and other events where people are in close physical contact for extended periods of time, particularly indoors.
• Dining room food service may continue operations at up to 75 percent capacity as long as social distancing is observed. Bar seating in restaurants may continue operations at 50 percent capacity. Bars and nightclubs may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity as long as they adhere to social distancing guidelines.
• Cultural, entertainment and tourism sites may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity.
• Movie theaters, bowling alleys and similar facilities may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity.
• Amusement parks, water parks and similar facilities may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity. Reservations are encouraged to limit the number of customers at any one time.
• Raceways may continue operations open at 50 percent grandstand capacity.
Beginning July 4, fairs, festivals and other similar outdoor events may open. Pari-mutuel horse racing and county and state fair racing may begin with 50 percent spectator capacity. Youth overnight camps may open.
On July 4th, when the new phase was entered, Indiana’s case numbers had shot up 61 percent, to 576, and its 7-day positivity rate had risen to 6 percent.
* Today, Indiana reported 700 new cases. Its latest reported average positivity rate was 8.4 percent.
So, even though Indiana’s daily case numbers have risen 21.5 percent in 11 days and its average positivity rate has jumped by 40 percent, the governor next door decided today to just continue with stage 4.5…
Gov. Eric Holcomb is keeping the reopening of Indiana’s economy on pause for at least two more weeks due to the growing number of COVID-19 infections in the Hoosier State.
The Republican chief executive said Wednesday he soon will sign an executive order keeping the state at stage 4.5 of his five-stage Back on Track reopening plan through the end of July.
* One of Illinois’ new triggers for regional mitigation is “three consecutive days averaging ≥ 8% positivity rate.” Not including today (numbers haven’t been posted yet that I can find), Indiana’s last three days averaged 7.9 percent, which is right at what would be the edge here.
There’s also a real problem with testing there…
Dr. Kristina Box, the commissioner of the Indiana Department of Health, said one issue is a lack of supplies. The state had partnered with Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly & Co. and the Indiana Hospital Association to make a $66 million order for reagents to perform testing at Indiana labs. The state still awaits that order to be filled, and the federal government has reduced the amount of supplies it’s providing.
She noted wait times for coronavirus test results have grown longer, and should be no more than three to five days. The current average is up to seven days for Optum sites. She says Indiana is trying to keep the lab work for the testing in the state to assure quicker results. She says the lack of supplies is due to “external factors beyond our control.”
* And here’s their plan for the future…
[State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box] said if Indiana climbs to a 10-15% positivity rate and stays there consistently, the state will re-evaluate what might need to be done and make strong recommendations.
That’s taking an awfully big chance. Texas’ governor said last month that a 10 percent positivity rate was a “warning flag.” You’ve seen what has happened since then. Its positivity rate is now above 17 percent and the state reported more than 10,000 new cases yesterday.
You might wanna steer clear of Indiana for a while.
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* Not surprising…
* Before he talked about Duckworth, Durbin talked about his own campaign…
I have an unusual challenge this time that I’ve never faced, and it’s one that we all need to take seriously, I take it seriously as I take every election seriously. But there is a Republican nominee, that you probably heard of the former Sheriff of Lake County. And now it appears, if he files the appropriate petitions, there will be a third party challenger, to me, an independent candidate, his name is pretty well known, Willie Wilson.
Mr Wilson has an incredible life story emerging from virtual slavery to the point where he became a successful business executive, a franchisee from McDonald’s, and then started his own business making personal protective equipment in China or Mongolia, I’m not sure where, but he has made a lot of money. He’s a multi millionaire. And he gives some of that money around, thank you for doing it in so many instances, it’s a real act of magnanimity on his part to help other people.
However, when it comes to the world of politics, it’s hard for me to follow what I just said, with his politics of today. He admits that he voted for President Donald Trump. He supported Governor Bruce Rauner. In this election cycle he has donated over $30,000 to Republican candidates for the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate is an active participant in the Illinois Republican Party, and yet he styles himself as an independent.
Well, I’ve got some issues I can raise with him if he’s going to be a Trump independent or whatever that means, obviously in the course of this election campaign.
But there’s a party issue here which I want you to think about for a second. Mr Wilson is not just running, Dr. Wilson is not just running to be the United States Senator. He wants to create another political party in Illinois, such as the Libertarian and Green Parties which we already have our state. And he has filed his petitions in a way that he would be creating the new Willie Wilson Party. And you think to yourself well what are the chances that that’ll happen.
Roughly 15% of the vote in November is likely to be African-Americans. If Mr Wilson can bring in 5% of the electorate, one third of the African American voters and others, then he will have established that third party. If he does that on a statewide basis, he’ll be able to field statewide candidates in the Willie Wilson Party in the next election cycle. He could do it as well if he has 5% in a legislative district or a congressional district.
So what’s at stake here is not just his candidacy for the Senate, but the establishment of a new political party and a new political dynamic in the state. I’m appealing to you and appealing to everyone in the state to join me and making certain that he doesn’t get 5% of the vote before it’s all said and done. I’m going to work hard to make sure that that doesn’t happen. I hope you’ll join me in that effort I need your help.
*** UPDATE *** Wilson just dropped $29,411.20 on a cable buy. Mostly in Chicago, but he’s spending about $4K in Peoria-Bloomington and Rockford.
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Casten has large cash advantage over Ives
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Today, Sean Casten announced that his campaign raised over $748,000 in the second quarter of 2020. The campaign’s impressive fundraising haul brings the total raised this cycle to more than $4 million, with over $3 million cash on hand.
“There is incredible enthusiasm from voters in the 6th District for reelecting Sean Casten to Congress,” said Casten for Congress Campaign Manager Chloe Hunt. “Our strong fundraising numbers are a reflection of a widespread outpouring of support for Rep. Casten and his work in the House. Rep. Casten won his seat because he pledged to be responsive to voters’ needs and lead on the issues that matter to them, and he’s lived up to that promise by holding more than 30 town halls and leading on legislation to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and combat climate change. That’s why he was elected in 2018, and that’s how he intends to win re-election in 2020. ”
* Press release…
Illinois 6th District Congressional candidate Jeanne Ives announced a strong Second Quarter fundraising haul of $531,039.03, with $483,239.03 raised for Jeanne for Congress, and an additional $47,800 in funds raised for Jeanne Victory.
The report indicates that Ives’ ability to raise the funds necessary to compete with her opponent continues to exceed the expectations of the chattering class.
Sean Casten, the incumbent Congressman in IL-06, only raised $748k in the second quarter. Ives fundraising has consistently been on pace with her opponent’s - despite the fact that he enjoys the power of the incumbency, and the franking privileges and publicity that come with it.
“A year ago, I launched this campaign from my kitchen table. Since then, we have built an army of hundreds of dedicated volunteers, interns and donors who are tired of Sean Casten’s unfair self-serving agenda of special deals and higher taxes. We’re proud that an overwhelming amount of support came from individual contributors, people mostly inside the state of Illinois. In contrast Congressman Casten relies on corporate PACs and special interest groups for funding. While my donors both large and small are making real sacrifices to reach voters, Sean Casten voted for HR1 which would force taxpayers to fund campaigns - he must have forgotten we have $26 trillion in debt. That’s the difference between us: He’s working to line his pockets. I am running to protect your pocketbook.
“This race was never going to be easy, but if we raise enough money to connect with enough people — we win. I am incredibly grateful for the support and generosity so many have shown. Now we just have to buckle down and take it over the finish line.”
Ives had $366K in the bank at the end of the first quarter.
* Ives fundraising email today…
Dear Friend,
Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.
So I can’t say that I’m surprised about Sean Casten’s latest actions to enrich himself.
Sean just re-introduced green energy subsidies and tax deals from 10 years ago that were included in the 2009 Stimulus Package - the same subsidies and tax deals that he and his company benefited from.
He doesn’t care that these subsidies will make energy more expensive for you. He isn’t bothered that while many families continue to struggle to make ends meet, he is using his position to cut taxes for his friends and raise taxes on everyone else.
Chip in today to help us stop Sean from putting his interests ahead of our hardworking families and small businesses.
Sean lobbied Congress in 2008 for these kinds of tax credits, and his company received over $8 million in corporate welfare.
And now as a member of Congress, he should have been lobbying for the 6th District’s fair share of relief aid.
But Sean was too busy trying to get a second helping of these tax breaks that made him a wealthy man back in 2009.
We need leaders who we can trust to look out for us.
I have always stood up against those who would use their government position for personal gain. I voted against crony special tax credits in Springfield and I will do the same in Congress.
This is not complicated, you can elect someone who stands with you or someone who stands with special interests.
Join our team today and together we will defeat the self-serving grifter Sean Casten and start looking out for our neighbors again.
All In For Ives
* Greg Hinz…
Democrat Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville pulled in $1.2 million and has $3 million in the bank, Politico reports. Compare that to $250,000 in income for GOP challenger Jim Oberweis, who has $373,000 in cash on hand.
However, signs are that national GOP groups believe the 14th is more winnable than the 6th, so they may open their wallets later. Even more on point, dairy-owner and investment mogul Oberweis lent himself $1 million for the March primary and most definitely can do so again in the fall.
Yep.
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* The governor was asked today what would happen if a region is put into mitigation…
There’s a menu of things that I talked about, some of them in my remarks, for example, and I mentioned yesterday bars as an example of something that would certainly be, you know, two thing we look at ,we’ve seen studies of the spread transmission that can take place. If bars are overcrowded, and often even though there’s been a capacity limit of 25%, put on bars, they are not following the rules in many cases and there’s transmission. That’s one example. Another example is youth sports . We’ve seen this summer, just some examples I talked about.
And so those are among the menu of items you’ve heard me talk about. But let’s not focus on the 8% failsafe number. This could happen much before that. In other words, the menu of items that are mitigations beat are about the numbers moving the wrong direction in a sustained period of time that doesn’t mean it got all the way to 8%. It could be that a region is moving very quickly upward, but doesn’t reach 8 percent but over a sustained period of seven days of 10, the seven day average positivity is moving up. That is a trigger along with the availability of hospital beds or the increase in hospitalizations, so those are I mean I know it’s complex but we wanted to lay out for you and be very transparent about what the triggers are what we’re looking at. You know I’ve said to you all every day I wake up and look at these numbers on a daily basis. I look at the rolling averages of these numbers, and so does Dr. Ezike and we’re constantly evaluating and making decisions about what is it that we may need to do, but long before we ever get to those points. As you heard, I call local officials or Dr. Ezike speaks to the local health department to say, there is a problem in your county, what are we doing, how can we be of help to you? What are you doing about it?
Local governments have the ability, more immediately to do things than state government does, and so we encourage that. But where state government needs to step in, we do and we will.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* A question about the impact of other states on Illinois…
It’s an excellent question you’re right on. We asked that question of ourselves too because when you look at areas like St Clair County and Madison County right across the river from St. Louis, Missouri has a, I forget the exact number for Missouri, but I think it’s around a 7% positivity rate. Ours is three.
So, if you live in that area and you’re traveling across the bridge to Missouri, you’re essentially doubling the possibility that you could contract this or at least the number of people tthat you’re end up in front of. It’s very important for people who live in those areas to be aware of following mitigations that we’ve suggested in Illinois.
* Infection rates among young people…
Dr. Ezike: I will say that we’ve made tremendous, tremendous progress with our long term care residents which are obviously a much older population. So that used to be a very significant driver, but in the recent weeks we have seen that the 20 to 29 and again we have so much data when you break it out, it might be the case for, I think, non Hispanic whites 20 to 29. That’s the largest group. Then you also had that in blacks 20 to 29 but then you just you’ve never seen this high rate for the 10 to 19, that is new in terms of the numbers climbing over time they’re now at the highest rate that they’ve ever had from the beginning of this pandemic.
* Kids 10-19 can’t be in bars, so where are they getting it?…
Dr. Ezike: I have teenagers, right, they’ve been on lockdown but they are complaining that their friends are out and about and so kids are congregating, yeah social action social gatherings, home get togethers, trips that are not in schools that are not involving, you know, masking and distancing. … We know that if schools are to happen there has to be masking and distancing, but to get there we have to not have widespread community transmission at rates that are not sustainable to even safely do school. So that’s why our actions today, right now, will determine what school even looks like. And so we need to get the gains that we have achieved. We can’t rest on them, but we need to aggressively and fiercely protected and that will involve universal masking and distancing.
* New IDES phone system. Call-backs aren’t happening in a week or ten days…
This is an enormous challenge. IDES as you know was overwhelmed, there’s just no doubt about it. And I’ve talked about some of the reasons for that. But that’s less important than, you know, how can we overcome the challenges? We have more than 500 additional people answering phones. That’s in addition to the people who are already working at IDES that were in charge of answering phones to begin with. And we’ve moved people from back of the house to sort of front of the house to answer phones phones are absolutely in this ridiculously enormous wave of filings. And don’t forget people have to refile every week you have to recheck in every week.
And to the extent that people are using the phone to do that, or to, you know, in any way to avoid being online I would say, if you can go online if you can work online to get your filing to re-verify, for example, or just to file originally, that is absolutely the best way to do it. Not 100% of people are successful at doing that, but quite a lot because we see the numbers and literally hundreds of thousands of people, much easier for them to have done that online. As to the calls and again this is where there’s no doubt about this is where the big challenge has been. I want to solve this as much as anybody.
The challenge has been even with additional people answering phones that in order for them to deal with your specific case, they have to meet a federal requirement that is about 10 months of training. We haven’t even been in this pandemic for no more than five months. And having said that, we’ve tried to take any goal that doesn’t require that federal level of expertise and move that into a different category and try to get people there.
You’re asking about callback systems, it’s a new callback system. When you’re talking about maybe eight days instead of a few minutes, remember that at the very beginning here, you know, it’s very difficult to get, you know, a call in.
We’re, there’s no doubt, we have a lot of progress that needs to be made. It’s one of the reasons why we reached out and got somebody who’s been working at Employment Security for a lot of her career to come in and be the director of IDES. She’s already providing great ideas for us.
One last thing, and you may have seen this in a Washington Post article just a couple of days ago. Many many states are plagued with challenges in their Employment Security Department and unemployment claims. I just heard from a Senator about a meeting that the Secretary of Labor had at the very beginning, letting everybody know that most state systems are not capable of handling what’s probably coming.
And so this challenge has been, you know, vexing. That’s the best I can say about it. And so we’ve thrown everything that we can think up to throw it out, we’ve gone to outside providers we’ve hired more people we’ve moved people from the back of the house to the front of the house. It’s not that we do it, that we take the applications over the phone less efficiently. There’s only one way to do those. It’s just that the numbers that come in every day and every week, I mean, we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of calls and it’s just, if you think about the amount of time it takes to take an application, or even to just answer a series of questions, and how many you could do in a single day. If you were working at IDESs it would be impossible to have enough people to be able to to answer every call as it comes in.
* Social equity applicants for cannabis…
No new licenses are given until these social equity licenses are given. So, you know, we want to make sure that we’re getting accomplished as fast as possible. The, you know, people of color, having the opportunity to enter this industry to own and to work in this industry. We believe that over the next six weeks that those licenses. I might I might say, by the way, that if I’m wrong I’m off by a week here or there. But that we believe that that there will be movement on this over the net over those weeks. But it’s a absolute goal of ours we see the opportunity this industry. Remember there’s an opportunity for 500 licenses in total, based on the legislation. About 55 of them were granted, or you know before. And now, there’ll be 75 that will be granted to retailers and then the numbers of people who will be transporters and grow cultivators and craft growers and so on. So I’m very, I’m looking forward to finally getting past that milestone.
* Confident he can do this new plan considering the case in Clay County?…
Multiple, multiple courts have issued rulings. This applies to one person, this ruling that has taken place by the way it hasn’t even been entered as a final order. Because the judge held on one of the three items he needed to rule on and then went on vacation. So I know that there may be a ruling in the next few days but suffice to say that even with the final ruling, it only applies to the one plaintiff, that was represented there.
…Adding… I asked the governor’s office about why the governor said the ruling only applied to Rep. Darren Bailey…
It’s not a class action suit, he didn’t ask for it to be and it wasn’t treated as such so in our legal view it only applies to the person who files it. And he did not get an injunction and it’s not a final order.
* President Trump said today he will announce unspecified federal action next week to quell violence in cities, including Chicago. He compared the cities to a war zone…
Well, it’s a sign of desperation by the president to try to improve his own standing somehow by making these declarations. Look, if he really wants to help, we have violence prevention programs that need funding. We have programs that are intended to provide mental health, that are intended to help kids get jobs during the summer, that are funded by federal dollars. We would love to get that kind of help. I fear that the President is really thinking about other things and not thinking about what really would help. In Washington DC he brought out the National Guard when there was a peaceful protest. That seems you know like irrational to me, and you know he’s acted irrationally all along. So that’s, I can’t imagine, frankly on a day to day basis it seemed, everything seems irrational.
* The White House has ordered hospitals to report data directly to it rather than the CDC…
Pritzker: The President has tried to politicize every aspect of this pandemic. This should not be political This is about saving lives. CDC is something that public health departments all across the nation rely upon. They’ve been a trusted source of information, advice, help, and to go politicize it by by interrupting the flow of data. I don’t know what is the purpose of interrupting the flow of the data to CDC, where the data really belongs and where the experts really are. It can only be political. And that really concerns me greatly. Because I’m focused on the health and safety of our people in Illinois, I want to get the best advice that we can get. I reach out to epidemiologists, we have some of the best in the world in Illinois thank goodness, but I also talked about, you know, to get to get the right kind of advice to keep people healthy and safe. But CDC is one of those places that you want to rely upon. And then when you see a president politicizing interrupting data intervening, it gives one pause.
Dr. Ezike: CDC is our foundational public health entity, not just in this country but serves as a leader throughout the world. I’m on the call with representatives from the CDC on a regular basis. Dr. Redfield has reached out to me, has taken my calls consistently, we’ve had dozens of people come from the CDC to help us right here in Illinois, to support us with this effort. We send our hospital admissions data directly to through syndromic surveillance directly to the CDC. And just last week I had a call with people who are looking at that data and telling us things other ways that we can look at the data so that we can make sure we have additional clues to identify outbreaks or anything that may escape detection. I would be very concerned and fearful to move into a new situation where the CDC does not have that ability to intervene and support the states, as it has been. We also want to make sure that we have data that we can trust and that we can use to make sound decisions going forward and there’s never been a question of that when we share all that information with our public health foundational champion, which is the CDC. Ao we will continue at the state level, and all of our state departments will continue to work so closely with CDC, and we are hoping that we will come to a point where we’re all working together for the same goal of trying to achieve the health and safety of the people of this country.
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* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,187 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 8 additional confirmed deaths.
- Cook County – 1 male 40s, 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
- DuPage County – 1 male 80s
- Kane County – 1 female 80s
- Will County – 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 156,693 cases, including 7,226 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 38,161 specimens for a total of 2,079,601. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 8–July 14 is 3.1%. As of last night, 1,454 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 324 patients were in the ICU and 130 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
…Adding… Press release…
A diverse coalition of business groups renewed calls for Illinoisans to wear face masks when in public to save lives and protect the state’s economy.
Recent data from the Illinois Department of Public Health show that the number of Illinoisans infected with COVID-19 and hospitalization rates have increased since Illinois moved to Phase 4 just over two weeks ago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numerous public health studies have demonstrated that masks are effective in slowing the spread of the virus by as much as 85 percent.
“Wearing masks is not a Republican issue or Democrat issue – it’s a public health issue and a jobs issue. We must unite for the sake of our families, businesses, and our communities,” said Mark Denzler, president & CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “We are facing the worst economic and health crisis in generations and every Illinoisan can wear a mask to help slow the spread of the pandemic. If we do not act strongly and quickly, we’ll see manufacturing facilities close and supply chain reductions that will impact consumers across the globe.”
While Governor JB Pritzker issued an order on May 1 directing Illinoisans to wear face coverings when outside the home and unable to socially distance from other individuals, compliance has been uneven. Both the Governor and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot have stated they would consider reverting to previous stages if the metrics increase, including the potential closure of businesses that only recently reopened.
“Retailers must interact with customers every single day and wearing a mask protects both the workers and customers,” said Rob Karr, president & CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. “Wearing a mask is a small act that will literally save lives and help protect one of the state’s largest economic engines. One case of COVID-19 can shut down a restaurant, movie theatre, or grocery store for weeks, threatening lives and livelihoods.”
“It’s very possible we could lose the progress Illinois has made against COVID-19 if people aren’t wearing masks in public,” said Robert W. Panton, MD, President of the Illinois State Medical Society. “Not only is wearing a mask a best public health practice in the fight against this virus, doing so can heal Illinois’ economic condition by slowing the spread.”
“We are now seeing a dramatic and troubling surge in COVID-19 cases in many states, including some of our neighboring states, as well as an uptick in Illinois, threatening to erase the hard-won gains we have made in battling the pandemic,” said Illinois Health and Hospital Association President & CEO A. J. Wilhelmi. “That’s why hospitals that are on the frontlines providing life-saving care and supporting the reopening of our economy urge everyone to take a simple and proven step to help stop the spread of the virus – wear a face mask. Together, by protecting ourselves, our loved ones, and our neighbors, we will get through this.”
Other business organizations calling on Illinoisans to wear masks to protect Illinois’ economic health and public safety include:
Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois
Chemical Industry Council of Illinois
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network
Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers
Illinois Chamber of Commerce
Illinois Credit Union League
Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association
Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association
Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association
Illinois Trucking Association
Illinois Movers’ and Warehouseman’s Association
Mid-West Truckers Association
NFIB Illinois
The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce
Valley Industrial Association
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* Gov. JB Pritzker held a press conference in Chicago today, saying he wanted to talk about how to “preserve the progress” that this state has made on COVID-19. Make sure to pardon all transcription errors…
The people of Illinois have once again proven themselves to be the most resilient dedicated and compassionate people in the United States to put some perspective on this, Illinois now has the lowest infection rates among all of our neighboring states, between one half and one third of their positivity rates. Indeed we have one of the lowest positivity rates in the country. And it’s because of the individual actions of millions of residents. […]
Ours was the first state in the nation to be able to test for COVID-19. Now Illinois is hitting a record weekly average of more than 33,000 tests per day, crossing the 2 million test threshold earlier this week. […]
And we have tripled the number of contact tracers that we had just six weeks ago.
In the first two months, our seven-day rolling average positivity reached over 23% at its peak. Today we’re averaging 3%. […]
That said, many people want to know if we’re out of the woods, and they’re wondering what’s next. So I’m here today to outline the path ahead and make sure that we all know what will cause us to impose further mitigations.
* OK, here we go…
The epidemiologists and professionals at IDPH have determined that we need to take action in a region if we see a sustained rise in the positivity rate, along with either a sustained increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions, or a reduction in hospital surge capacities.
A sustained rise in the positivity rate is defined as an increase in the seven-day rolling average for seven days out of a 10 day period. In addition, if any region hits three consecutive days of an 8% average positivity rate that will require action period. […]
We’re also today changing the boundaries and the number of health regions in Illinois. Unlike when we first introduced the restoring Illinois plan at the beginning of May, our growth in testing and tracing has given us a much more surgical ability to manage outbreaks and address problems locally. […]
For example, the city of Chicago will be in a region of its own. As will suburban Cook County. As for the collar counties, we’ve shifted regions based on geographic contiguity. For example, Kendall and Grundy counties will now be in a region that is not part of the collar counties. […]
This plan lays out an array of mitigation strategies that can be applied if a region breaches the Resurgence metrics. These mitigations cover categories like bars and restaurants, meetings, social events, religious gatherings and organized group recreational activities like adult and youth sports.
I’ll get you those maps as soon as I receive them. Updates in a moment.
* Youth sports…
I’m also deeply troubled by outbreaks that we’re seeing all around the state tied to activities like youth sports, like in Lake Zurich where dozens of students and parents have tested positive in a related outbreak. And in Knox County, where a teen softball league is also experiencing an outbreak. Remember, the degree to which we can reduce risk and restore aspects of our daily lives is still unfolding. We’re continually evaluating what works and what doesn’t work. And we’re taking a good hard look at how youth sports fits into that conversation.
* Regarding the ISBE guidelines for reopening schools…
To be very clear here, any district that intends to disregard this guidance is gambling with the lives of our children, teachers, and families. Districts that don’t live up to public health guidelines and standards and don’t make a genuine attempt to protect their communities from this virus could be held liable in the courts by community members who are ill-affected.
I’m a father. I understand that parents are worried sick about having to choose between seeing their kids miss even more in-person schooling at critical ages and the very real threat of this virus. Good people with good intentions can disagree on how and when kids should go back to school. But let me be clear, I wouldn’t let my own children return to a school where masks are not mandatory and serious effort hasn’t been made to keep students distanced during the day. This should not be controversial.
* Here are the new regions…
NORTH: Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, Winnebago
NORTH-CENTRAL: Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, Woodford
WEST-CENTRAL: Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, Greene, Hancock, Jersey, Logan, Macoupin, Mason, Mason, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott
METRO EAST: Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair, Washington
SOUTHERN: Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Marion, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, Wabash, Wayne, White, Williamson
EAST-CENTRAL: Champaign, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, De Witt, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Iroquois, Jasper, Lawrence, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt, Richland, Shelby, Vermillion
SOUTH SUBURBAN: Kankakee, Will
WEST SUBURBAN: DuPage, Kane
NORTH SUBURBAN: Lake, McHenry
SUBURBAN COOK: Suburban Cook
CHICAGO: City of Chicago
* Metrics that will trigger mitigation…
• Sustained increase in 7-day rolling average (7 out of 10 days) in the positivity rate and one of the following severity indicators:
o Sustained 7-day increase in hospital admissions for a COVID-19 like illness
o Reduction in hospital capacity threatening surge capabilities (ICU capacity or medical/surgical beds < 20%)
• OR three consecutive days averaging ≥ 8% positivity rate
* Mitigation…
Some mitigation strategies in higher risk settings, like indoor bars and restaurants, will be automatically applied in a region that meets resurgence criteria to prevent rapid spread of COVID-19. A larger list of mitigation strategies relating to settings like retail, fitness, and salons and personal care will be available if testing and contact tracing data at the local level indicate those mitigations to be prudent.
* Contact tracing…
The state has also worked to expand its contact tracing operation, with approximately 1,450 contact tracers now working across Illinois. Over the next week, 26 local health departments will receive additional funding from the state, representing over $127 million of available grant funds for contact tracing. With these funds, local health departments will hire approximately 1,330 contact tracers over the next few months and significantly expand their contact tracing efforts.
The state currently has about a third of the tracers it needs.
* Back to the governor…
When you go out without a mask, or host secret parties, stuff your bar or restaurant to capacity despite the warnings, ignore common sense in your worship practices, it’s not a political statement. You’re hurting your neighbor who is desperate to keep their business open, or your friend who has an immunocompromised child who has been inside for months, or your parents who don’t have the same defenses against this virus that you may.
I’ll have questions on another post.
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* From Speaker Madigan’s chief of staff Jessica Basham to all House members…
The purpose of this memorandum is to communicate protocols for the conduct of committee hearings for the foreseeable future. Protocols will be subject to ongoing changes, based on public health and safety guidelines, experience and member feedback. As usual, committee chairs interested in scheduling a subject matter hearing should contact me or committee staff.
COMMITTEE GUIDELINES
Going forward, committees conducted will adhere to the following guidelines. These guidelines were developed in consultation with the Department of Public Health and comply with the recent changes made to the House Rules (HR 846).
1. Attendance at committee hearings, including members, staff, and members of the public, will be kept to the lesser of 50 people or 50% of the committee room capacity. This will limit our largest hearing rooms, 114 Capitol and C-600 Bilandic to not more than 50 attendees. Public participation may be further limited to protect the health and safety of actual or potential participants for the duration of the COVID-19 disaster proclamation.
2. Social distancing practices must be maintained at all times. Seating will be arranged to accommodate 6 feet of distancing.
3. Face coverings that cover the mouth and nose must be worn by all participants at all times (1), even while speaking to a legislative issue.
4. All participants must submit to and pass a temperature check of 100.4F degrees or lower prior to entrance into the committee room (unless such check was required for admittance to the building). Those with elevated temperatures will not be permitted to enter.
5. Witnesses who want to testify are encouraged to provide written testimony in advance, rather than appear in person. Those who wish to provide in-person, oral testimony must wear a face covering at all times; witness table settings will be sanitized after every witness.
6. Members of the public who seek to engage with the democratic process are encouraged to do so by live streaming or engaging with their legislator by means of communication that include emails, telephone, or by filing an electronic witness slip.
7. Committee hearings will be streamed on ilga.gov. Additionally, one or more remote viewing areas will be available for additional access to live streaming for members of the public. Such areas will be limited to the lesser of 50 people or 50% of the area capacity.
In addition to these guidelines, additional safeguards may be in place relative to the buildings in which hearings are conducted. The Secretary of State (“SOS”) and Central Management Services (“CMS”) may screen all those entering the State Capitol Complex, the Michael A. Bilandic Building or any other building intended for conducting state business for an elevated temperature and/or other COVID-19 related symptoms. SOS, CMS, or other staff will have a robust sanitizing practice for the Capitol Complex, Bilandic Building, or other building intended for conducting state business, with special attention paid to door handles, elevator buttons, and other frequently touched surfaces.
Participants should also follow general guidelines for reducing the spread of COVID-19:
1. Public transportation and ridesharing should be used only when no other means of transportation are possible. If possible, participants should drive themselves.
2. Anyone feeling ill or known to have been in recent close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 should NOT travel to or participate in person at the committee hearing. They should call their doctor, a nurse hotline, any telehealth hotline set up specifically for COVID-19, or an urgent care center. If they are experiencing symptoms, they should return home and follow the guidelines provided by their physician.
3. Members of a vulnerable population should consider not traveling to or participating in person at the committee hearing.
AUDIO/VISUAL SYSTEM UPGRADES
The Office has recently contracted with a vendor for the purchase and installation of new audio/visual (A/V) equipment. Not only will this initiative upgrade old equipment in need of replacement, but it will also allow for remote participation. For now, this new system will be upgraded in 114 Capitol and C-600 Bilandic. Depending on the level of success of this initiative, it may be expanded to other committee rooms in the future.
These upgrades will take place around late September/early October, with 114 Capitol upgraded first and C-600 Bilandic upgraded second. Each room will be unavailable for up to 2 weeks while the installation is in progress.
Given the concerns about remote participation by members expressed during the May session held at the BoS Center, it is not currently contemplated that members would be able to formally participate remotely (i.e., be added to the roll or take votes). Instead, this will facilitate remote participation by witnesses and members in an unofficial capacity. Should the House alter its position on members’ remote participation, this system will be in place to facilitate that.
(1) To the extent medically able and except as reasonably necessary for eating and drinking.
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Three legislators want Douglas statue removed
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Neal Earley at the Sun-Times…
The “Little Giant” has towered over the Bronzeville neighborhood for well over a century — and three Chicago Democrats say that’s far too long.
State Representatives Kam Buckner, Curtis J. Tarver II and Lamont J. Robinson Jr. wrote a letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday calling for the governor to remove a nine-foot-tall bronze statue of Stephen Douglas from atop his tomb on Chicago’s South Side.
“There is an edifice dedicated to allowing a bigot even in his grave to look down upon the Black community,” the three South Side lawmakers wrote. “This is indefensible.”
The three members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus made it clear they are not calling for Douglas’ body to be exhumed from the tomb, just removal of the statue, dubbing it “a tribute to a widely known racist and sexist who even staked his presidential platform on the subjugation of any non-white male in America.”
* The full letter…
* Sun-Times…
Getting the Douglas monuments out of the Illinois Capitol and its grounds — and cutting his legacy down to size in Bronzeville — is a good start toward making amends.
But let’s not forget about the bigger picture: A more economically fair Illinois and nation will go a much longer way toward ending racism.
That’s part of the solution.
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* New polling…
A majority of voters oppose the Trump administration’s demand that K-12 schools and day care centers be fully opened for in-person instruction during the coming academic year, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.
In addition, a decisive 65 percent of voters rejected President Donald Trump’s threat to cut federal funding for schools that don’t reopen, agreeing instead that schools need resources for continued virtual learning or other types of instruction. Only 22 percent said schools should have their federal money reduced if they don’t fully reopen. […]
Fifty-three percent of voters say they are somewhat or strongly opposed to fully reopening day cares or K-12 schools, while a slightly smaller 50 percent say they are opposed to fully reopening colleges and universities. […]
Women were slightly more opposed (53 percent) than men (47 percent) to colleges and universities fully reopening, as well, while 53 percent of suburbanites opposed the idea, somewhat or strongly.
The poll surveyed 1,992 registered voters between July 10 and 12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Toplines are here.
* I told you about this poll yesterday…
* Meanwhile, here’s a press release…
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced on July 14, 2020 that it will defer to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and the Governor’s Office on all of its Return To Play Guidelines moving forward.
“There is an unprecedented level of planning for this school year due to COVID-19, and we have come to understand that there needs to be a greater consistency between the guidelines for returning to learn and returning to interscholastic athletics,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Some of the recommendations by the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) and directives from IDPH have come into direct conflict with each other, especially as it relates to the use of masks by student-athletes. As a result, we feel it is important to let IDPH and ISBE provide a consistent direction for our membership moving forward. We will wait on direction from these organizations for further guidance on Return to Play plans for the 2020-21 school year.”
* Press release…
The Lake County Health Department continues to work closely with Lake Zurich School District 95 in response to multiple cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) identified last week among participants of high school athletic camps and recent social gatherings. In the past week, 36 Lake Zurich High School students have tested positive for COVID-19, and all participants of Lake Zurich High School athletic camps are being instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days from their last possible exposure. […]
On Sunday, July 12, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) contracted with a private company to run a mobile testing site at Lake Zurich High School. Despite high demand for testing which resulted in long wait times, 355 individuals were tested throughout the day.
* And then there’s this problem…
A dramatic slowdown in testing turnaround times is undermining the U.S. response to the coronavirus, rendering tools like contact tracing almost useless in some instances.
Quest Diagnostics, one of the main companies doing coronavirus testing, said Monday that “soaring demand” due to the surge in cases across the South and Southwest had pushed back their average turnaround time for getting results of a coronavirus test to at least seven days for all but the highest priority patients.
LabCorp, another major testing company, said last week that its turnaround times were only slightly better, at four to six days, because of “significant increases in testing demand and constraints in the availability of supplies and equipment.”
The longer delays from previous waits of around two days as recently as late June in getting test results make it much harder to slow the spread of the virus. The fundamental strategy to help contain the virus is to test people quickly so that those who test positive can isolate. Contact tracers can then reach out to people who have been in contact with those infected to avoid spreading the virus on to others.
In Dallas, Texas, there’s a wait of up to 8-10 days for some facilities.
* Related…
* Trump Administration Strips C.D.C. of Control of Coronavirus Data - Hospitals have been ordered to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all patient information to a central database in Washington, raising questions about transparency.
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* Cook County Record…
Illinois landlords who have been barred for months under an order from Gov. JB Pritzker from evicting tenants who either can’t or won’t pay rent will only suffer temporary harm, and shouldn’t be allowed to sue the governor for allegedly illegally taking their property, attorneys for Pritzker have argued in a new court filing.
Pritzker asserted he has the authority under the state’s so-called “police power” to take steps to prevent public health from suffering “devastation,” should landlords begin evicting tenants too soon.
“A resurgence of the deadly virus could undo the State’s hard-won progress and waste the tremendous sacrifices all residents and business have made since March to fight the pandemic,” lawyers from the Illinois Attorney General’s office wrote. […]
“The Governor’s orders merely put a temporary hold on one means to enforce Plaintiffs’ contracts,” Pritzker’s lawyers argued. “Plaintiffs are still entitled to pursue delinquent tenants based on the breach of payment terms and may initiate eviction proceedings as soon as the suspension of evictions ends…”
The state’s brief asserts the governor intends to lift the evictions ban on Aug. 1, as the state expects to then have in place a new rental assistance program, which they said would send assistance payments directly to landlords on behalf of tenants.
“… Any harm Plaintiffs might suffer because they are unable to evict their tenants for a few more weeks is relatively slight compared to the devastation that could result if the Governor’s order were enjoined,” Pritzker’s lawyers wrote.
* The full quote…
Further, the Governor has announced he intends to suspend residential evictions for just a few more weeks until an emergency rental assistance program begins providing help to affected tenants (and their landlords) in August. An injunction would provide minimal benefit to Plaintiffs while threatening to reverse much of the progress Illinois has made in its fight against COVID-19. The law does not require this tragic result.
* So, I asked the governor’s office if it was true that the eviction order will be lifted in August…
The administration is currently assessing what assistance granted through executive order needs to be extended as we continue fighting this pandemic. The state has invested $150 million in rental assistance that Illinoisans will be able to apply for in a few weeks.
* Some background…
• The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) is launching a $150 million program with grants up to $5,000 to provide emergency rental assistance to Illinois tenants who are unable to pay their rent.
• Eligible tenants must already carry an unpaid rent balance from March through present day and certify that the reason they were unable to pay rent was due to a COVID-19 related loss of income on or after March 1, 2020.
• The assistance will be paid directly to a property owner or landlord on behalf of the tenant and as a condition of accepting the assistance, landlords must agree not to evict the tenant for the duration of the ERA.
* The governor is addressing reporters today at noon, so we’ll likely learn more…
What: Gov. Pritzker to give a COVID-19 update.
Where: James R. Thompson Center, 15th Floor, Blue Room, Chicago
When: 12:00 p.m.
Watch live: https://www.Illinois.gov/LiveVideo
Subscribers got a bit of a preview on Tuesday.
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Today’s quotable
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WCIA…
Restaurants and bars have been reopened for indoor seating for a little over two weeks since Illinois moved into Phase 4 of Governor Pritzker’s reopening plan. Some areas are seeing increases in cases of COVID-19 connected to those openings. It is a trend that’s been happening nationally with states like California already making moves to shut down indoor dining. Leaders around the Capital City are looking into ways to stop that from happening here.
Public health leaders are asking people in Springfield to stay vigilant as they go out to eat.
“It really seems to be people’s behaviors that are putting them at risk,” said Sangamon County Department of Public Health Director Gail O’Neill.
Ya think?
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* Rebecca Anzel at Capitol News Illinois…
With fewer than four months remaining until the general election, House Republicans said Tuesday they want to remind Illinoisans of Democratic lawmakers’ “failure” to address corruption in the General Assembly.
It has been 260 days since former Chicago Democratic Rep. Louis Arroyo was charged by federal officials with bribery, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin said during a virtual news conference. Arroyo’s case remains pending.
Durkin, of Western Springs, also mentioned the case of former Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat who pleaded guilty in January to federal charges of bribery and tax fraud.
Democratic representatives “appeared sickened and dismayed” by those ethics violations before the novel coronavirus pandemic hit, Durkin said, but “cannot be found nor heard from today.”
* Mike Miletich…
“The only way to stop the cycle of corruption from continuing is for the taxpayers of our state to show up at the voting booths in November, and earlier these days, and vote them out of office. All of them,” exclaimed Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield). […]
The Republicans also emphasized their disappointment with the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying. The group spent months listening to testimony about changes needed in Springfield, but missed the deadline for a final report to lawmakers.
“This is not a priority for the leadership of the Democratic party. They do not believe ethics reform is a priority,” said Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis). “The things that are a priority for them they move, and they move quickly. Things that are not a priority take forever.”
Windhorst wants the Commission to finish their report so the General Assembly can begin passing reforms. House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) says rank and file members never challenge their leaders due to “the culture of corruption.”
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Open thread
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Talk amongst yourselves. Just please keep it local and polite.
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* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 707 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 25 additional confirmed deaths.
Cass County: 1 female 90s
Cook County: 2 males 20s, 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 4 males 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
DeKalb County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
DuPage County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
Kane County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s
Lake County: 1 female 70s
Madison County: 1 male 80s
McHenry County: 1 female 50s
St. Clair County: 1 male 60s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 155,506 cases, including 7,218 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 28,446 specimens for a total of 2,041,440. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 7 –July 13 is 3.0%. As of last night, 1,416 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 333 patients were in the ICU and 126 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
* Daily Herald…
llinois’ positivity rate has crept up from early July, when it hovered at 2.6%, but compares favorably with other Midwestern averages. Iowa is at 8.9%, Indiana is at 8.4% and Wisconsin is at 6.9%. Michigan’s average also is 2.6%, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
The highest positivity rate occurs in Arizona, with 26.6% and 2,537 daily cases of COVID-19, Johns Hopkins reported. In Mississippi, the positivity rate is 21.5%, and the new case count is 868; South Carolina is at 19.1% with 1,949 more cases, and Florida is at 18.6% and is experiencing a record-breaking surge — 15,300 daily cases on Sunday.
* New poll…
Seven in 10 American parents overall see it as risky for schools to reopen in the fall, including majorities across partisan lines. But as with so many aspects of the pandemic, there are significant differences in how risky Democrats and Republicans see it. Just as striking are the differences between whites and people of color.
• 82% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans say returning to school would be very or moderately risky. Among these, Democrats were more likely to see it as a large risk.
• 89% of Black parents saw returning to school as a large or moderate risk, compared with 80% of Hispanic parents and 64% of white parents.
• Gender wasn’t a big driver of differences — about seven in 10 men and women saw it as risky, though women were slightly more likely to assess the risk as large.
* From the Tribune’s live blog…
Lightfoot to get OK for Cubs weekend night games at Wrigley Field
A Chicago theater is coming back next weekend — yes, next weekend — with ‘Judy & Liza.’
Chicago’s City Colleges will wipe out debt of former students who return, Lightfoot announces
Illinois House Republican leader says he won’t go to GOP convention in Florida: “It’s not going to be a safe environment,” Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said during a videoconference with reporters.
Naperville-area school districts offer parents a choice: send students back to class on part-time basis or do all remote learning
How Chicago restaurants are adapting to draw you back in
Evanston Township High School returning this fall with mix of in-person, remote learning for students
Live concerts are back on a Chicago venue stage — and fans bought tickets to the show, even if they couldn’t be physically present in the room
After Trump retweets game show host saying CDC and doctors are lying, coronavirus task force pushes back: ‘None of us lie’
Surge in US infections hits Delta, with passenger traffic down 93%. A recovery will take more than two years, CEO predicts.
Most US parents see risk in their children returning to school
Whiting’s Whihala Beach to close starting Wednesday because of crowds
5.4 million Americans have lost health insurance in coronavirus-driven recession, analysis finds
* Sun-Times live blog headlines…
Illinois schools to get $50M more in emergency funding to assist with tech
A third scourge quietly stalks Cook County — officials see doubling of ‘needless, preventable’ opioid deaths
Iowa, Oklahoma added to Chicago’s travel quarantine list due to COVID-19 outbreaks
Health and Human Services Secretary visits Chicago Tuesday to study Rush, Haymarket handling of COVID-19
Ban on Friday night games at Wrigley Field to be lifted for pandemic-shortened season
City delays city sticker, parking permit enforcement for 2 weeks
‘Hybrid’ is the new buzzword in higher education
Chicago businesses cited for violating COVID-19 guidelines last weekend
South Side pastor Bishop Larry Trotter has tested positive for the coronavirus, a spokesman for the religious leader said Tuesday.
Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), Chicago’s second-most-senior alderman, tested positive for the coronavirus last month. It was not known whether she remains hospitalized or is recuperating at home.
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* Press release…
Governor Pritzker announced today that the state has earned $52 million in revenue during the first six months of Illinois’ new adult-use cannabis industry. Last year, the Governor signed the bipartisan Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA) into law, the most equity-centric recreational cannabis legalization in the nation. Since the program’s launch on January 1, $52 million has been collected in adult-use cannabis tax revenue, with $34.7 million coming from excise taxes.
“Illinois has done more to put justice and equity at the forefront of this industry than any other state in the nation, and we’re ensuring that communities that have been hurt by the war on drugs have the opportunity to participate,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Since January, over $239 million has been spent on recreational cannabis in Illinois translating to $52 million in tax revenue, and a portion of every dollar spent will be reinvested in communities that have suffered from decades of disinvestment.”
The Pritzker administration collected $34.7 million in cannabis excise taxes in the second half of fiscal year 2020. In addition to the cannabis excise taxes, the Illinois Department of Revenue collected $18 million in sales taxes that will be shared with local governments. In total, the department estimates $25.9 million will be directed to the state’s General Fund from excise and sales taxes.
* Go get that cheesehead money…
Illinois’ largest recreational marijuana dispensary opened Monday about 1,000 feet south of the border with Wisconsin, where marijuana use is prohibited, and 5,000 feet from a proposed casino.
The city’s mayor says the sales tax revenue from the store and the development prospects surrounding it are huge.
“This store is going to lead to further development,” Mayor Ted Rehl said at a news conference. The 7,208-square-foot Sunnyside South Beloit dispensary at 7000 First Ranger Drive is visible from highly traveled Interstate 90.
“At a dozen different levels, this is a gift to South Beloit,” Rehl said.
Hopefully, they’ll stop in at other Illinois stores while they’re in South Beloit and stock up on Doritos.
* Tax revenues in action…
Jacksonville, Ill., city leaders could take the next step tonight toward establishing a citywide fiber optic network. […]
If the council agrees on the deal, video gaming receipts and revenue from a cannabis tax have been discussed as sources of funding.
* More on that topic…
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara has joined the state’s Restore, Reinvest and Renew program.
Overseen by Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, the program determines how to reinvest 25% of tax revenue from legal marijuana sales and redistribute it to communities “hardest hit” by the United States’ 40 year “War on Drugs” campaign.
* Maybe next year we can get some celebs into the state…
Cannabis, illegal just last year in Illinois, will now have its own competition to see what’s best in the state.
The High Times Cannabis Cup is coming to Illinois for the first time. Rather than the traditional celebrity/industry insider judging, it will be judged by the public.
The Cannabis Cup rates brands of marijuana on criteria such as looks, smell, taste and, of course, the high. Cannabis connoisseurs like Snoop Dogg, Tommy Chong, Patti Smith, Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi and Method Man have taken hits and passed judgment in past competitions.
Winning has launched brands such as DNA Genetics, which has become one of the leading providers of seeds in the cannabis industry.
* And wealthy NIMBYs strike again…
A group of Gold Coast residents is opposing plans for a marijuana store near their neighborhood, saying the dispensary would be too close to a park and a nearby school, and would add to congestion in the area.
Chicago-based PharmaCann wants to open the marijuana store, called Verilife, at 12-14 W. Maple St., less than a block away from Mariano Park.
“Nobody’s against having a pot dispensary,” said Matthew Newberger, president of the Mariano Park Advisory Board. “It’s just that we think it’s an inappropriate place to put one.”
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* The governor took questions from the media today. First up: “What is your stance on should schools be back in classroom come the fall? The President is pushing for it, the education secretary is pushing for it. Your stance and where do you stand on the issue?”…
Well, let’s start with our number one priority, which is the health and safety of our students, of teachers out paraprofessionals and everybody that’s involved in the schools, including the parents. That’s our number one priority. So, not just pushing everybody back into schools because the president says that he’d like to see that, but rather being careful and following the CDC guidance, the science the data that we have.
And so that’s why the ISBE has put forward guidance for schools to follow, requiring masks requiring social distancing, and so on. And there’s a lot in the guidance that’s been provided. But it’s because we’re trying to keep people safe. And if that means for a parent keeping their child at home because there’s a pre-existing condition because of the child, or perhaps somebody who lives in the home has a pre-existing condition, then the school has to accommodate that.
And school districts will make a variety of different decisions. Remember, each building is different. The capabilities of each school may be different. And so we want to provide all of the opportunities to get kids the kind of education that they should get, and also most importantly, keeping them healthy and safe in the fall.
Please remember to pardon all transcription errors.
* “Have you had any conversations with the mayor because everyone’s waiting to hear about the City of Chicago and of course it has different needs and all of that. What about the city schools, that the city of Chicago can hold school safely, buses, the numbers, in-class instruction?”…
Well, I’m not engaging in the details for each school and for each school district. But what we are providing is guidance to help school districts make the right kinds of decisions. So I know that the mayor is working hard on this. I know that the Board of Education, the school board rather and as well as the teachers’ union, are [garbled], it’s about the safety of everybody that’s in and around a school and engaged in school activities.
* “Are you considering shutting down indoor dining and bars again? At what point would you reinstate those restrictions if you’re not going to do it now?”…
Well, again, we’re watching these numbers very, very closely. I mean, I have I don’t wake up on any day and not look at those numbers first thing. And so as you know, as you’ve seen, we’ve been very measured about how we’ve reopened our state. And there are many people that complain that we are now isn’t open enough.
And so I would just say that I will not hesitate to reimpose some mitigations if we see our numbers moving upward. And so that’s, my concern, again, is all about the health and safety of the people of the state of Illinois…
* “Is there a cut-off number where you say, okay, the positivity rate is, at this point, we can’t have that? What what number do we need to be keeping an eye mostly on?”…
Well, again, I listened to our Department of Public Health director as well as to the many epidemiologists who are advising us. And watching very closely the states in the south and the west that are struggling right now. And wondering, where could we or should we dial, you know, turn the dimmer switches, they say, on some of these items? And the answer is that if we see a sustained upward movement of numbers, that’s something that is an alert for all of us in the governor’s office and in our administration to begin to look at the mitigations that we need to put in place.
* “OK, but you won’t give me a specific number and you didn’t tell me whether the bars or restaurants will be closed”…
All of the things that have beenpart of our Restore Illinois plan that have reopened in phases are things that we look at. To answer the question, if we needed to reimpose mitigations, which of these would be most effective? For example, it was not known earlier that indoor bars in particular, but bars at restaurants, too, can be places where, if it’s not managed properly, there can be significant transmission. That was not well known early on.
We had an idea, we imposed restrictions. But we didn’t have really enough data along the way. The data is now in. And so that’s one of the things we look at. Another is of course, what we watch is not just the positivity rate, but also the hospitalizations. And so when we’re trying to manage our healthcare system, we ask the question, well, how would you create more beds if you had to, or, as we’re moving up, what do we need to do to begin to move back down again? All of those possibilities exist from everything that we did in phase two, phase three are things that we would consider doing here in phase four, to move backward if we needed to.
* He was also asked about the lawsuit filed by the bowling center association…
I don’t know what to say, except that there are challenges that we all face in this world of a COVID-19 pandemic. And what we’re trying to do is to measure what things are less dangerous, that we can allow more capacity for, and what things are more dangerous. And again, I leave that to the scientists and the doctors to make decisions about, there’s nothing political about, you know, focus on one industry or another. It’s just all about, can we maintain safety and health guidance in these kind of settings? That’s all.
* “Are you at all concerned that the this judge could invalidate your executive orders?”…
Every situation in which the executive orders have been challenged at the federal level at the state level with you know, the exception of in one court in Clay County, but in every other situation the courts have sided with us because we are in a national emergency, we are in a disaster declaration within the state of Illinois. We have as everybody can see, a deadly pandemic that is among us. And so we have to act accordingly.
* Are you considering a quarantine order similar to the city of Chicago’s?”…
Well remember, our two major international airports are within the control of the city of Chicago live within the jurisdiction of the city of Chicago. And that’s already been done.
* “But statewide?”…
We don’t have a lot of international travel in other parts of the state. Just to be clear, there’s you know, there’s very little of it. So when you talk about Midway and O’Hare Airport, you’re capturing the vast majority of any international travel. Or, sorry, not just international, but to these other areas of the country. So I think the mayor has done what I think she saw was the right thing to do to manage the inflow of the potential for COVID-positive people to come to the state of Illinois, and I think it was the right thing to do.
* He was asked about growing cases among young people…
Well, I think I want to kind of go back to Mary Ann’s question too about bars. Because it is often been the case that people who are in the category of at least 21 to 29, I hope 20 year olds are not breaking the law, are going to bars and and maybe thinking, you know, as young people that they’re invincible, thinking that they can’t possibly catch it. Well, that’s not the point, you actually will be spreading it. I don’t want anybody to catch it ,but when you’re a young person, you’re often feeling invincible, you carry the virus, you can shed it to other people, may not ever feel any of the conditions that come with the virus. But all I can say is that we’re focusing messaging on young people because this is the largest cohort. It’s the area where, as you know, we focused on our senior citizens for the most part, to make sure and keep them safe and on those who are most vulnerable. But now, we have people who are acting unsafely going into these situations, as young people do. Giving it to each other and then testing positive. So we want to make sure that everybody who’s in the age category 20-29, not to mention everybody else knows the three W’s right, wear a mask, wash your hands watch your distance.
* “You’ve got the 51 million given to the graduated income tax. Why so much money? And is that all you’re going to give personally? Or do you think you might have to give more?”…
Mary Ann, you know, from day one I’ve been an enormous advocate of the graduated income tax. I think it’s the right thing to do. It’s the fairest way for us to to manage our revenues and our budget. Remember, the biggest thing that we have, the challenge we have in the state of Illinois before COVID-19 came along even, was a structural deficit. And so we’ve got to deal with that structural deficit. And so I’ve advocated for it, the legislature passed a bill. We know what the rates would be, and now there’ll be a vote in November.
Discuss.
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* This is bonkers…
More than 121,000 Chicagoans have already registered to vote by mail in the November election, setting a city record.
For the March primary election, 118,000 people submitted vote by mail applications. Before that, the city hadn’t seen so many vote by mail applications since 1944 during World War II, when 116,000 people applied to vote by mail.
The numbers are expected to go even higher, as the Chicago Board of Elections will send 900,000 more vote by mail applications to people in the weeks ahead. They’ll also distribute information about voting by mail to 500,000 city households.
To make sure people are confident in the vote by mail system, the election board is also rolling out ballot-tracking measures so voters can know when their ballot is received and approved.
Holy moly that’s a lot of people.
* Meanwhile, in suburban Cook…
* This Republican pollster is right to start worrying…
Illinois Republicans pioneered vote by mail programs.
* Florida…
The state elections office data shows Democrats with a more than 400,000-voter advantage over Republicans in vote-by-mail enrollment in the state. At the same time, a CBS News Battleground Tracker poll published on Sunday reveals a partisan divide over support for voting by mail, with just a quarter of likely Trump voters saying they prefer to vote by mail in 2020, compared to 59% of likely Joe Biden voters. […]
Heading into the August primary in 2016, more than 1 million Republican voters had requested mail ballots, compared to about 880,000 Democrats. As of Monday, Democrat vote-by-mail requests outnumbered Republican requests by about 1.6 million to 1.2 million.
And it’s not just Florida…
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Schools eye reopenings
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* ABC 7…
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said there could be some students in Chicago Public Schools classrooms this fall, if the city continues to control COVID-19 cases.
CPS parents and students have been anxiously awaiting word from Chicago Public School officials on whether schools would open for in-person instruction.
“I broadly feel good that if we are able to keep our outbreak basically in control, as it is here, we will be in a position to have some capacity for in-person instruction,” Arwady said on a call with reporters Friday.
* ABC 7…
Both Naperville School District 203 and Indian Prairie District 204 held school board meetings Monday night to detail the plan for the upcoming school year.
Both districts said they will offer families the choice between hybrid learning and an Online Academy - which would be completely remote learning.
Under hybrid learning, students do both E-Learning and in-person instruction. Students would attend class on alternating days to limit the number of students in schools.
School officials emphasized that the plans are fluid and subject to change, pending case numbers.
* ABC 7…
Most of the students at Oak Park and River Forest High School will likely start the fall semester at home, the superintendent said Monday.
Though the plan is not finalized yet, the district has proposed that only some students will return for on-site instruction.
* WICS TV…
The Champaign Unit 4 School District Board of Education talked about its reopening plan at a board meeting on Monday, July 13.
The board members discussed the options of a virtual academy and blended learning for the upcoming year.
Board members shared concerns about safety of students and teachers, and about the potential of the state as a whole going back to remote learning.
* Evanston…
* Crystal Lake Patch…
Students are expected to return to school in the coming weeks, and District 47, like most school districts throughout the Chicago area, is still weighing its options on how to do that safely amid continued concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. Denise Barr, director of communications and public engagement for District 47, told Patch that the Board of Education discussed the pros and cons, as well as the logistics behind various instructional models, during a July 7 meeting.
The Board is expected to vote on one of these three options during its July 20 meeting:
full-day, in-person instruction every day on Monday through Friday
half-day in-person instruction every day on Monday through Friday
full-day in-person instruction two to three days per week
* On to higher ed…
Most of Loyola University’s classes this fall will be online, according to an email sent to students, faculty and staff Monday.
The email, sent from university President Jo Ann Rooney and Provost Norberto Grzywacz, announced that in-person classes will only be offered for courses that need face-to-face instruction — things like labs, research and experiential learning classes.
* Meanwhile, we’re unfortunately going to see lots more stories like this…
An employee at Mt. Pulaski CUSD 23 has tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee has been in isolation since being tested last week.
Officials with the school district said the employee has come in contact with other employees and students.
* And…
The O’Fallon Illinois Y summer camp is closed for the next two weeks, after three employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Gateway Region YMCA confirmed the two employees tested positive last week. A third was confirmed through a release issued Monday.
* And…
A Macomb day-care center has closed temporarily following an outbreak of the disease coronavirus causes.
COVID-19 cases were traced to the Wesley Christian Child Development Center, 1212 W. Calhoun St., according to the McDonough County Health Department. The 46-year-old day-care facility for children is located at Wesley United Methodist Church.
What else are you seeing out there?
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* From a couple of weeks ago…
A pro-life group in Illinois is suing the governor over their right to assemble during COVID-19 restrictions.
Illinois ‘Right to Life’ claims it followed the stay-at-home mandate but says Gov. J.B. Pritzker has unconstitutionally allowed certain groups to disregard the state’s limits on the number of people who can gather together while holding other groups to a different standard.
The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order allowing the organization to gather in groups of more than 50 people.
* A federal judge ruled against the group yesterday…
The Court held a hearing on the plaintiff’s motion on July 13, 2020. At the hearing, the plaintiff’s counsel confirmed that the arguments advanced by IRLC are substantively identical to the arguments advanced by the Illinois Republican Party in Illinois Republican Party v. Pritzker, Case No 20 CV 3489 (N.D. Ill.). In that case, Judge Sara Ellis issued a thorough and persuasive opinion denying the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunctive relief.
Judge Ellis denied IRP’s expedited motion for an injunction pending appeal and the plaintiff then filed an emergency motion before the Seventh Circuit seeking injunctive relief pending appeal of Judge Ellis’s order. The Seventh Circuit denied the motion for injunctive relief pending appeal, holding that the plaintiff-appellant IRP was unlikely to succeed on the merits and that the balance of harms “strongly favors the governor.”
* But the lawsuits keep coming. WTVO…
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is facing a legal challenge from bowling alley owners, suing over COVID-19 capacity restrictions at their facilities.
The Illinois State Bowling Proprietors Association filed the lawsuit in Lee County on Tuesday. The suit asks the state court to invalidate Prtizker’s “unconstitutional and improper” exercise of authority to issue consecutive emergency declarations and restrict the number of people allowed in a bowling alley.
“Our members are suffering serious and irreparable harm in the form of insolvency or the permanent loss of their business and reputation as a result of these illegal orders,” ISBPA executive Director R. William Duff said. “While we tried to work cooperatively to find a solution, the state was unwilling to work toward a fair solution, so we were left with no choice but to seek a court order. We believe that we have both the facts and law on our side, and we look forward to presenting our case to the court.”
Under Phase 4 of the governor’s plan to slow the spread of coronavirus, bowling alleys are among the businesses restricted to allow a maximum of 50 people inside at any given time.
* And…
A southern Illinois lawyer who has tangled with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration over pandemic-related shutdown measures is suing the Illinois High School Association, claiming the group exceeded its authority by placing new limits on sports participation.
Thomas DeVore, who practices in the St. Louis area, sued on behalf of his two children, athletes who will be seniors in Hillsboro Community School District No. 3. He claims they will be irreparably harmed by participation rules the IHSA introduced this month.
The organization announced July 3 that athletes could return to summer practice and competition if schools followed a detailed plan of social distancing and sanitizing. But less than a week later, it announced drastic changes it said the Pritzker administration had required, including an end to scrimmages in basketball, football, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
The lawsuit claims that change came after a COVID-19 outbreak at Lake Zurich High School. According to a July 7 email included in the filing, the school saw positive tests among 10 students who participated in Lake Zurich sports camps, along with one parent who was hospitalized.
…Adding… Forgot to include this…
The Naperville Park District spent at least $24,499 to sue Gov. J.B. Pritzker in May for authority to reopen park facilities and restart programs on its own schedule, rather than the state’s, amid the coronavirus pandemic. […]
After losing the first round in court and with some park facilities being reopened under the governor’s plan, the board voted 4-3 a month later to drop the lawsuit.
*** UPDATE *** I also forgot to include this one…
A hearing Friday in a lawsuit state Rep. Darren Bailey filed to challenge Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders could lead to a full-blown appeal.
Clay County Judge Michael McHaney sided with Bailey, R-Xenia, on two counts regarding the governor’s orders just before the Independence Day Holiday weekend. The judge ruled July 2 that any COVID-19 executive order beyond April 8 is invalid. McHaney didn’t rule on the first count, which deals with the definition of an emergency and if the COVID-19 meets that definition. […]
A circuit court hearing to bring finality to the case is scheduled for July 17. It’s then expected to be filed to the appellate court.
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Everyone has their own priorities
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Peter Hancock at Capitol News Illinois…
A program that helps vendors get paid even when the state is late paying its bills might be in danger, the head of one financial company said, because of the way Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is prioritizing the bills that she does pay.
The program is called the Vendor Payment Program and it allows third-party financial companies, known as “qualified purchasers,” to buy the debts owed to state vendors and then collect the late interest penalty owed whenever the state does pay the bill.
The problem, said Andrew Greta, president of Illinois Financial Partners, one of the program’s participating companies, is that Mendoza’s office has put a priority on paying off the principal owed on invoices so they stop accruing interest. But she only rarely, and sporadically, makes payments on the interest that is already due.
“They have been few and far between,” Greta said of the interest payments during an interview Friday.
Go read the rest if you can.
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Lots of hopes pinned on new IDES director
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has not had a lot of luck with the Illinois Department of Employment Security since taking office in 2019.
Pritzker appointed Gustavo Giraldo as his IDES director in March of last year. Giraldo abruptly walked out of the office two weeks later. The Pritzker administration has never explained why.
A couple of months later, Pritzker appointed Tom Chan to lead the agency. Chan was a former state Senate Republican legal staffer who had been named acting general counsel for IDES by Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018. Chan was willing to take the top job last year, so, despite being a Republican holdover, he got it. By all accounts, he’s a decent guy who helped negotiate a crucial unemployment insurance revamp this year.
Acting Director Chan faded into obscurity until March, when the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the world’s economy and hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans rushed to apply for unemployment benefits. Every state’s unemployment insurance application system was completely overwhelmed. It’s too early to say how poorly Illinois fared compared to other states, but it didn’t matter a bit to the people who suddenly found themselves unable to apply for benefits that they were legally entitled to receive.
Serious problems persist with the IDES response. As I’ve already told you, most legislators in both parties are up in arms about how constituents who’ve been out of work for months still haven’t been able to reach IDES.
Something had to give. Last week, IDES announced that it was changing its unemployment benefits application process. Callers are now promised a callback, instead of having to spend all day, every day waiting on hold.
And then Chan was suddenly replaced with Kristin Richards.
Richards was named Senate President John Cullerton’s chief of staff in 2016 after serving as Cullerton’s policy and budget director. Senate President Don Harmon kept her on after he was elected to replace Cullerton several months ago, mainly because she’s a serious policy wonk and he needed her help to transition into his new position. She’s also beloved and respected by his caucus members.
Richards is super-smart and knows government back and forth. Yeah, she can be tough when times demand it, but she is also a naturally empathetic person. She is, I think, just the sort of person that IDES desperately needs right now. She has worked on unemployment issues for years and has been particularly involved since the pandemic began. Illinoisans are hurting and IDES staffers are over-worked and over-wrought. The state needs a no-nonsense technocrat as well as a human touch in that position.
Richards also, of course, knows how to handle legislators, which is a hugely important skill right now because legislative fury at IDES (and, by extension, the governor) is all too real. At the very least, her appointment immediately gets most Senate Democrats off the governor’s back. It’ll take her more time to calm everyone else.
Results are the main thing, but having the unique skill of effectively handling legislative egos is crucial for Pritzker’s ability to govern going forward. I wrote not long ago that the governor needed to find a way to calm the uprising, and this is a smart way to do it.
“She can manage the bureaucracy,” said Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill), who hired Richards away from the governor’s office back when he was John Cullerton’s chief of staff. “She values customer service. She gets very critical of government when it doesn’t function well. I would say that was her greatest strength as chief — she was always working for members in the caucus and that, by extension, helped the Senate President. She’s as professional as I’ve ever seen.”
The appointment also helps smooth things over with Senate President Harmon. Pritzker was widely seen as a supporter of Senate Majority Leader Kim Lightford as a replacement for Cullerton. Hiring Richards allows Harmon to pick a new chief without suffering any internal pushback from those who still aren’t on board.
The only downside for the governor is you shouldn’t hire somebody you can’t fire. This hire is certainly a gamble, but it’s also likely his best bet. The Pritzker people didn’t seem all that outwardly concerned about the legislative grumbling before, but they wouldn’t have made this move if they didn’t have some worries. It’s a course correction worth noting.
All Richards has to do now is right a sinking ship amidst the worst jobs crisis in anyone’s living memory and save the administration from public ire and legislative wrath. Piece of cake.
* Washington Post…
Four months into the worst recession since the Great Depression, tens of thousands of workers like Herdez across the country have filed for jobless claims but have yet to receive payments. Many are now in dire financial straits. […]
The issue has spilled back into public view in recent weeks, as thousands of frustrated workers awaiting payments have camped out, sometimes overnight, in front of unemployment offices in states like Oklahoma, Alabama and Kentucky.
A flood of new jobless applications — about 50 million — has overwhelmed state unemployment offices over the past four months. The agencies themselves are hampered by years of neglect. They rely on reduced staffs and badly outdated technology after years of budget cuts, often at the behest of business groups and Republican legislatures. Issues with fraud and user confusion over the new rules and filing process have further bogged down the process. […]
In Wisconsin, where about 13 percent of claims remained unprocessed as of July 7, residents told local reporters that they had waited 10 weeks or longer for their claims to be processed, leaving some on the brink of bankruptcy and eviction. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development said through a spokesman that the average time from application to payment is 21 days. In Pennsylvania, another 15 percent of claims were still in review as of mid-June.
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Open thread
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Talk away, but keep the discussion to Illinois issues and please be nice to each other. Thanks.
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* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,317 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 25 additional confirmed deaths.
Cass County: 1 female 80s
Cook County: 3 females 60s, 2 males 60s, 1 unknown 60s, 3 females 70s, 2 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
DuPage County: 1 male 70s
Lake County: 1 female 70s
McHenry County: 1 female 80s
Peoria County: 1 female 90s
Will County: 1 female 70s
Winnebago County: 1 male 60s, 2 males 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 151,767 cases, including 7,144 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 32,987 specimens for a total of 1,911,743. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 3 –July 9 is 2.9%. As of last night, 1,436 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 306 patients were in the ICU and 155 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
The trend is not our friend, but we’re still better off than a lot of other states. Even so, today’s positivity rate is 4 percent. That’s up a point and a half over the past week or so.
* Back on May 8th, Wirepoints was strenuously arguing against large IDPH regions…
The governor continues to impose a top-down lockdown strategy that makes no sense for most areas of the state. Some of his required conditions risk Illinois being shut down for an impossible length of time.
Individual counties and their respective health departments should be ready to set their own policies, suited to the particular risks and situations of their own communities. That’s particularly true now that the curve in Illinois has been flattened and the original emergency order has expired.
On May 8, IDPH reported 4,768 COVID-19 patients in the hospital (3.3 times as many as are in the hospital today) and 1,220 in the ICU (4 times as many as today). The curve was indeed “flattened,” but it flattened at a high plateau back then. They were flat-out wrong.
* Today, Wirepoints is now arguing for a single, statewide approach to reopening schools…
Full reopenings must be the standard. School districts should have the choice to do less, but anything other than a full reopening should result in a refund to taxpayers.
Pick a lane already.
* Tribune live blog headlines…
Chicago Catholic schools to require masks, temperature checks when students return this fall
Glenview’s Flick Aquatic Center closes after 2 lifeguards test positive for COVID-19
PPP loans were meant to help small businesses save jobs amid the pandemic. So why does official data show thousands of recipients retained zero jobs?
City tightens bar and restaurant regulations to help prevent COVID-19 spread
City expands reopening of Riverwalk, restoring path to full, daylong use
After historic responses to COVID-19 and civil unrest, Illinois National Guard winds down its deployment
* Sun-Times live blog headlines…
All bars must now close by midnight to prevent ‘late-night congregating,’ city says
United, pilots reach tentative furlough deal
Starbucks in-store customers will be required to wear face masks starting July 15
Employers report 15,600 job cuts to state in June
Would you go to the beach or a public pool if you could? What Chicagoans told us.
We can’t fly; we can’t hug; at least let us grin
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* Quincy Herald-Whig…
A Quincy woman has filed suit against the Quincy School Board over requiring face masks and temperature checks for her child to attend school.
Roni Quinn seeks an injunction barring the School Board from enforcing the mandates against her child, a fourth-grader attending Quincy Public Schools, and says the board overstepped its authority in issuing the requirements.
A hearing is set for 11 a.m. Thursday in Adams County Court. […]
“This is about our children’s right to an education and allowing decisions such as these to be left to the parents not our government/local officials,” Quinn said in a post on the Re-Open Adams County Illinois Facebook page.
“If you want to send your child to school in a mask, by all means you have that right. As it stands right now, no one has the right to choose to send their child to school without a mask. That is not ok. These rights belong to the parents.”
* WGEM…
In the lawsuit filed Friday morning, Quinn alleges that she, and her child, will suffer irreparable injuries based on the implementation of the mask and temperature check mandates because they infringe on the child’s right to an in-person education within the public school.
Quinn’s lawsuit goes on to allege that the mandates are not lawful as they were not implemented by legislature.
Quinn states that the requirement of a face mask to be admitted to a public school building is beyond the board’s authority or otherwise in violation of Illinois law.
Quinn is being represented by attorney Thomas DeVore, who recently filed a lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker accusing him of abusing his emergency powers with his Stay-at-Home order.
Click here and scroll down to read the lawsuit.
* Meanwhile, here’s some background on our next story. From May…
A judge on Thursday sided against an Illinois organization that claimed restrictions implemented to combat the novel coronavirus made it impossible to gather the necessary signatures to place a constitutional amendment on November’s general election ballot. […]
The Committee for the Illinois Democracy Amendment is advocating for a constitutional change that would obligate the General Assembly to take roll call votes on bills proposing “stronger ethical standards for Illinois public officials.”
It would also allow residents to propose related bills by submitting a petition with at least 100,000 signatures.
Former Gov. Pat Quinn is one of the lawyers in the case.
* The plaintiffs appealed and lost this week. From the decision…
One important question, when a plaintiff seeks emergency relief, is whether the plaintiff has brought the emergency on himself. The district judge concluded that Morgan had done so. During most of the time available to seek signatures, Morgan did absolutely nothing. He did not evince any interest in the subject until early April 2020, several weeks after the Governor began to issue orders requiring social distancing. The other plaintiffs did not do anything of substance until the suit was on file. Plaintiffs had plenty of time to gather signatures before the pandemic began. That’s a good reason to conclude that they are not entitled to emergency relief.
We add that plaintiffs also have not established that the Governor’s orders limit their speech. The orders concern conduct (social distancing), not what anyone may write or say. Orders regulating conduct often have incidental effects on speech, but this does not require courts to treat them as if they were regulations of speech. See, e.g., Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. 288 (1984). Plaintiffs do not question the propriety of those orders. Cf. Jacobson v. Massachuse=s, 197 U.S. 11 (1905); Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church v. PriJker, No. 20-1811 (7th Cir. June 16, 2020). Although the orders surely make it hard to round up signatures, so would the reluctance of many people to approach strangers during a pandemic.
One more consideration bears emphasis. The federal Constitution does not require any state or local government to put referenda or initiatives on the ballot. That is wholly a mafer of state law. If we understand the Governor’s orders, coupled with the signature requirements, as equivalent to a decision to skip all referenda for the 2020 election cycle, there is no federal problem. Illinois may decide for itself whether a pandemic is a good time to be soliciting signatures on the streets in order to add referenda to a ballot.
The order denying the motion for a preliminary injunc- tion is affirmed. The plaintiffs remain free to contend to the district court that a permanent injunction would be justified if social-distancing rules are indefinitely extended, but that long-term question does not require immediate resolution.
…Adding… Rebecca Anzel has more on the decision…
Former Gov. Pat Quinn, an attorney representing the committee, said in an interview Friday he and his clients are “disappointed.”
They brought this lawsuit, he said, because “it’s impossible” to comply with state law mandating petitions be circulated in person and with the governor’s social distancing order.
“The state should not be allowed to try to cancel out the rights of voters to circulate petitions to put issues on the ballot,” Quinn said. “It makes the whole process very dangerous. We’re going to keep fighting.”
Their options, he said, include appealing the decision — the committee is “free” to pursue the issues in this case in a district court, the judges wrote in their ruling — or attempting to change the law “so voters have the option to sign petitions electronically during the pandemic, which is not going away.”
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* From Facebook…
“Will not hesitate “, “cut funding “, “comply”, are words and phrases from history that we should not forget.
Illinois needs a shakeup from top to bottom!
Posted by Darren Bailey for State Senate 55th District on Thursday, July 9, 2020
* If you click the link, there’s zero mention of funding cut threats in the story. However, if you pull up the Google cached version, you’ll see this…
…”If a certain school district or individual school disobeys these measures meant to ensure safety, ISBE will not hesitate to move forward with funding cuts and additional measures to ensure that our students and faculty remain protected from COVID-19″ the statement read.
* I asked Jackie Matthews at the ISBE why the board changed its statement…
ISBE tracks all of our correspondence regarding COVID-19 to media and others. We have no record of ever providing the statement that was originally quoted in the article, and we wouldn’t have, as it did not reflect our current or any past position.
The news outlet was not able to show how, when, or from whom they sourced that statement. I reached out this morning with the accurate information and they updated their story.
Wow.
* So, I called the station and talked with the boss. He said the story was posted by a reporter he’d hired a week ago. The reporter claimed that he got a statement from ISBE. But, the executive said, “I looked back at our emails, and I’m not saying he’s lying, but I found no confirmation that he got a statement from them.”
Yikes.
Meanwhile, ISBE is being inundated with furious phone calls and emails over what is literally (and deliberately) fake news.
* In other news, this is causing a huge uproar in the Anna area. WSIL TV…
The Union County Fair Board has issued a full statement explaining why they canceled the Union County Fair.
During a special board meeting by the Union County Fair Board on July 7, 2020, a motion was made to cancel the upcoming 2020 Union County Fair. […]
The Board stated in late June they were notified that all food vendors were not being issued permits in the state of Illinois and carnival vendors received the same news in early July.
According to the Board, after trying to get permits from the state, they received a call from the Governor’s office telling them to cancel the fair. The Board told the office they were still attempting to have the annual event. Members say they were told if the fair was held, they would lose funding for the remainder of the Governor’s term.
* From the fair’s Facebook page…
With all of our dealings to the State of Illinois in the attempt to get vendors permits, we must have caught the attention of the Governor’s office. We say this because not 10 minutes after trying get permits issued, a board member received a call from Governor Pritzker’s office. The caller stated that we will need to cancel our fair. Our board member proceeded to tell him that we WOULD be having a Union County Fair one way or another. His response was quickly met with a statement that we will paraphrase for you:
If you attempt to have a fair……in any way……then your funding from the State of Illinois will be cut……not only for this year, but for the remainder of Governor Pritzker’s term and if re-elected, that term too.
* Jordan Abudayyeh at the governor’s office…
The Governor’s Office has no record of a call with Union County representatives where these alleged comments were made. Counties around the state have made the tough decision to cancel their fairs to protect the health and safety of their residents and the Governor understands how unfortunate it is to have to cancel an event that people look forward to all year because the administration was also forced to cancel the Illinois State Fair. The virus knows no borders and the Governor’s top priority is ensuring the people of this state stay healthy.
So, I called the number listed for the Union County Fair’s board. I spoke with the board’s secretary, Dale Moreland. Mr. Moreland said he did not receive the call, the board president did. Moreland didn’t have the name of the person who was allegedly from the governor’s office because the board president didn’t catch it.
We talked some more (some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around the Iroquois County Fair, so we have several things in common), and it became apparent that this probably wasn’t somebody from the governor’s office who made that call.
As you know, a lay person may just say “governor’s office” when they mean somebody at a state agency. And Mr. Moreland after a bit said, “I don’t know if he was from the governor’s office. He probably was in the permit division.”
Whatever the case, state employees shouldn’t be making these sorts of threats. Whoever it is ought to be found and harshly sanctioned.
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Audit finds cybersecurity issues at IDES
Friday, Jul 10, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mike Miletich…
The Illinois Auditor General has released a two year compliance report for the state’s Department of Employment Security.
While the audit addresses issues with finances and equipment records, the biggest takeaway is weakness in cybersecurity. The report only covers issues within the department from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019. So, it does not include the massive data breach within the IDES unemployment system discovered this May.
Auditor General Frank Mautino wrote IDES is responsible for computer systems with large collections of confidential information: names, addresses, social security numbers and tax information. However, the audit explains the Department failed to classify data to ensure that information would be protected from cyber attacks.
“Department officials indicated due to the nature of the work done by the Department, almost all data sets are classified as high risk,” stated Jim Dahlquist, Administrative Manager for the Auditor General’s office. “However, this documentation could not be provided during the engagement, which resulted in the finding.”
The audit findings are here.
* Meanwhile, IDES’ problems continue…
Thousands of people are continuing to call the Illinois Department of Employment Security, hoping for a different result. Tira Clement has been on that merry-go-round since she was laid off in early May. Within days, she applied for unemployment but was rejected. She then applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), but was told to try for regular unemployment instead.
“I kept trying to call in, kept trying to call in, it was always busy; and then the system would just hang up on you, so you could never actually speak to someone regarding the problem,” she explained. Finally, she heard back.
“I get a call on a Saturday morning, from someone and they said that yes, I was eligible for PUA, they didn’t know why the system was doing this. They said that it was a glitch and that they had to put a ticket in with their supervisor,” she explained. She was told that, in about a week, she should be able to apply. But instead, nearly two weeks later, she’s still couldn’t get anywhere.
“We’re calling ourselves the PUA Illinois glitchers. There’s a whole group of us who are in this situation.” Clement says she’ll likely be brought back to work in the fall, but she’s afraid of what will happen in the meantime. “Savings is running out, and I need someone from IDES to look at what’s going on with me and tell me what I’m supposed to be doing. I have no idea, and no one to talk to.”
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Schools prepare to reopen
Friday, Jul 10, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* CTU press release…
Nearly 5,000 educators responded to a member-wide Chicago Teachers Union survey, issued in mid-June, which asked them to begin thinking about the conditions required for Chicago Public Schools to safely re-open in the fall without risking the health of students and their families, and school staff and communities. Caught between the gross ineptitude of Donald Trump’s U.S. Department of Education, and the uncertainty from Chicago Public Schools, more than 85 percent of CTU member respondents feel they should not or might not go back to work in the fall without a detailed plan and resources that will help guarantee the safe re-opening of our schools. […]
The Union is currently in negotiations with CPS on guarantees that schools will have what is necessary to open safely when appropriate. More than two-thirds of members surveyed said they would not return to work without masks, gloves and other PPE provided by the district, and required for everyone who enters a school building; the daily sanitizing of every surface in the building; a plan that would limit the number of students physically present in classrooms; class sizes that allow for students and staff to always be six feet apart; and multiple hand-washing stations throughout a building.
More than 85 percent of CTU member respondents feel they should not or might not go back to work in the fall without a commitment to school-based safety teams providing input on safety needs and plans; daily COVID-19 testing and temperature screening for everyone entering the building; a nurse or other health professional in every school, every day; remote learning options for particularly vulnerable students and staff; a transportation plan for students that involves distancing on school buses as well as Chicago Transit Authority buses and trains; and a social worker or counselor dedicated to helping students and staff in every school, every day.
Ninety-six percent of members said adequate devices and Internet connectivity for every student must be in place before returning to school, highlighting the digital void that exists for many Black and Brown students on the South and West sides of the city. Nearly 70 percent of rank-and-file members were not at all comfortable or mostly uncomfortable with the idea of medically compromised educators being forced to work in-person, in school in the fall.
Members in more than two dozen positions, from clinicians, social workers and special education, to art, Pre-K and PSRPs, submitted to the Union detailed concerns about what a return to in-person work must look like for their particular job and job duties.
Clinicians, for example, cited adequate space to meet with students (“i.e. not a closet”); special education teachers spoke of the need for PPE working in therapy situations or with students who do not comprehend social distancing (“Keeping students with autism or cognitive disabilities six feet apart will be a problem”); speech/language pathologists must have a way for their mouths to be visible to students so they can provide articulation therapy with speech sound errors; and primary teachers noted that “little people want to hug and they need a teacher’s touch,” while in Pre-K, keeping preschoolers social distant from one another may negatively impact them educationally, socially and emotionally.
School clerks, often in the most trafficked part of the building, should no longer be required to perform nurse duties of administering medicine or tending to injuries and illnesses.
* DuPage ROE press release…
The DuPage Regional Office of Education (ROE) announced that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have partnered with BloomBoard, a leading platform for educator advancement, to support DuPage County schools in providing effective blended instruction. The partnership will make BloomBoard’s Fall Readiness Program available to DuPage County school districts.
“As our schools make decisions on how best to educate students this fall, we welcome the opportunity to partner with BloomBoard to provide DuPage educators with a comprehensive professional learning option to prepare themselves for blended instruction,” said Darlene Ruscitti, regional superintendent of DuPage County Schools.
The advantages of BloomBoard’s programs will be two-fold: its Fall Readiness Program will coach educators to up-level their blended learning instruction to meet students’ academic and personal needs during this pandemic, and its micro-credentialing framework will provide districts a customizable continuing education program that can align with each districts’ needs long-term, support teacher growth, and lead to improved student outcomes.
* East Moline…
At their first in-person school board meeting since March, United Township High School Board members voted to approve a Return to Learn plan that will see students both on campus and learning remotely.
Administrators presented their plan Wednesday at a special meeting. Superintendent Jay Morrow said the blended learning approach would deliver high-quality education while prioritizing staff and student safety.
Administrators said they had been working since March to develop plans that prioritized as much face-to-face instruction while also adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health. […]
Morrow said busing would continue, with about 24 students, one for each seat, on each bus. Morrow said state guidelines allowed for 50 individuals in one space, but the district did not feel comfortable with that. He said he felt confident the district could manage with the reduced capacity.
* Near Peoria…
Nearly 95 percent of parents surveyed with children in Morton schools intend to send their children back to class in August despite the COVID-19 pandemic — according to the school district.
The results of that survey were shared with the school board on Tuesday by Superintendent Jeff Hill — where more than three-quarters of students had parents participate in the poll, upwards of 2,400 in all out of a total school population of approximately 3,100.
Hill said more than 64 percent of parents indicated that their children will return to school, without conditions. Another 30 percent said their kids would be present with certain stipulations.
According to the release, of that 64 percent, more than half said they felt strongly that students should be permitted to take a break from the mandatory wearing of masks at some point during the school day.
* On to ISU…
[Illinois State University President Larry Dietz] rolled out a list of safety measures aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19, including a requirement for students, staff and faculty to wear face coverings in all campus facilities. The university will have a mix of classes that are online, face-to-face or a hybrid of both. […]
The fall semester will begin Aug. 17 and end Dec. 11, but all classes will be online after Nov. 20.
“This decision is being made in an effort to provide students who can stay home with the opportunity to do so and to de-densify campus immediately following fall break and the Thanksgiving holiday — when many students, faculty and staff visit with friends and family, as well as travel,” said Dietz.
* UIUC…
To anyone considering taking in this weekend’s Greek Reunion activities, University of Illinois officials have a request: Don’t.
Danita Young, the UI’s vice chancellor for student affairs, wrote a lengthy letter to students detailing her concerns in advance of the annual event, set for today through Sunday.
“The continuing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic makes any large gatherings a significant risk for the spread of this deadly virus,” Young wrote.
The Greek Reunion has no status as a university-endorsed event. It isn’t sanctioned by the UI and has no ties to the school’s Fraternity and Sorority Affairs programming.
* Big Ten…
Almost four months after the college sports world halted because of the coronavirus pandemic, another seismic change happened Thursday.
Illinois, along with the rest of the Big Ten, will play a conference-only schedule with its fall sports teams this upcoming school year. That is, if it’s able to do so.
Those are the words from the Big Ten, which released a lengthy statement Thursday afternoon announcing the news but offering up no specifics.
No revised game schedules were released. No updates about whether fans would be able to attend said sporting events — again, if they even happen.
What’s happening in your own school districts and colleges?
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* Jennifer Smith Richards of the Chicago Tribune and Jodi S. Cohen of ProPublica Illinois…
A 16-year-old boy in Kalamazoo, Michigan, died this spring after workers pinned him to the floor at the residential facility where he lived — after he’d thrown a sandwich at lunch. While held on the ground, he told them: “I can’t breathe.”
At least 70 people have died in law enforcement custody in the last decade after saying the words “I can’t breathe,” a recent New York Times investigation found. But just as adults have died after being restrained, so have children.
And though we encountered no fatalities, we also repeatedly saw those words among the 50,000 pages of school incident reports on restraint and seclusion that we reviewed for The Quiet Rooms investigation, published last year. School workers documented they had restrained a child in a face-down, or prone, position and the student pleaded to be let up, saying he or she couldn’t breathe. […]
The Quiet Rooms investigation, published by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois, found that in 100 public school districts, children were physically restrained more than 15,000 times between August 2017 and December 2018.
School employees often took detailed notes on these incidents; they wrote down that students said “I can’t breathe” while being restrained at least 30 times over the time period we investigated, according to our analysis of the records. It likely happened more often than that, as we didn’t track every incident in which it was noted that students had trouble breathing.
We found that in about 1,800 of the restraint incidents we logged, school workers used face-down restraints, which at least 31 other states have banned at schools.
* They then provided three examples. Here’s one of them…
At the Southwest Cook County Cooperative for Special Education in Oak Forest in August 2018, a boy who refused to finish his classwork and kept repeating “I want to die” was sent to a seclusion room.
He tried to get out of the padded room by throwing himself against the door. Workers then restrained him because he did not “get his body under control,” according to the incident records.
“Oh my God, I can’t breathe, ow. God, I swear to God you broke my right arm,” school employees recorded him saying.
The school has since stopped using prone restraint, the executive director, Gineen O’Neil, said.
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Rivian raises another $2.5 billion
Friday, Jul 10, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
Electric vehicle startup Rivian says it has raised another $2.5 billion in funding from accounts advised by investment firm T. Rowe Price.
The company has a contract with Amazon to build 100,000 electric delivery vans starting next year at the former Mitsubishi plant in Normal. Rivian also is rolling out a pickup truck and an SUV for sale to consumers next year.
The company said Friday that investors in this round include Soros Fund Management, Coatue, Fidelity Management and Research, and Baron Capital Group. Amazon and hedge fund BlackRock have invested previously and also are part of this round, Rivian said.
* CNBC…
Rivian’s all-electric product plans, which were delayed several months due to the coronavirus pandemic, include the R1T pickup, R1S SUV as well as a line of vans, which Amazon pre-ordered 100,000 of last year for its delivery fleet over the next decade.
The all-electric pickup and SUV are expected to launch early next year, while Amazon expects to have 10,000 of the vans in its fleet by 2022. Rivian has said the pickup and SUV, which debuted in late 2018, will achieve a driving range on a single charge of more than 400 miles – in-line with Tesla’s top Model S Long Range Plus.'’
Rivian will produce the vehicles at a former Mitsubishi Motors plant in Normal, Illinois, which was purchased for $16 million in 2017. The company is spending more than $750 million to equip, renovate and expand the facility ahead of production.
The fact that Rivian already has the 2.6 million-square-foot plant, including a paint shop that’s nearing completion, puts it ahead of others such as Nikola and Tesla, which has yet determine a location for production of its Cybertruck.
* Axios…
The bottom line, via Axios transportation reporter Joann Muller: Rivian is biting off an extraordinary series of manufacturing challenges all at once for a startup that has never built a vehicle. Even experienced automakers struggle to launch new vehicles smoothly.
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Question of the day
Friday, Jul 10, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From yesterday…
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement Thursday:
“While reading Sidney Blumenthal’s book ‘All the Powers of Earth’ concerning the pre-Civil War period a few months ago, I learned of Stephen Douglas’ disturbing past as a Mississippi slave owner and his abhorrent words toward people of color. I advised my staff to research and confirm the history to support removing the Douglas portrait from the House chamber.
* The Question: What book should Madigan read next? Explain.
54 Comments
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Open thread
Friday, Jul 10, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Keep it Illinois-centric and please be polite to each other. Thanks.
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