Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller ![]() * Politico…
* House Republican Organization…
* And… ![]() * Here’s the rest… * Crain’s | Study shows how much of a boon Illinois’ film tax credit has been: The top-line numbers are eye-popping: The state averaged $404 million in direct production expenditure by Hollywood studios from 2012 to 2022, billions in additional economic benefits over that time and a $6.81 return on investment for every dollar the state spends on the tax incentive. * Peoples Fabric | Financial Wizardry: Paul Vallas Sues to Reveal Fraudster, Finds Another Campaign Error: Two days after last year’s mayoral election, Vallas’ campaign wired $58,001.80 to an account number at Chase Bank. The recipient’s account name entered on his team’s wire transfer was “Vallas for Mayor.” Vallas initiated a lawsuit against Chase to ascertain the identity “of the individual and/or entities that may be responsible in damages related to the April 6, 2023 wire transfer,” as Vallas had “never authorized the transfer.” … It appears the money was transferred to the correct account number, but accidentally listed the wrong accountholder name. Vallas’ campaign had paid $160,260 to the same company just a few days before the wire transfer in question. Since the beginning of the year, Vallas has filed ten amendments to correct previous campaign disclosures of various errors. … In November, a currency exchange filed a lawsuit against Vallas over a campaign check they had cashed for a third party, only for Vallas to later stop payment on the check and refuse to honor it. * Hyde Park Herald | 14 Parish gets $57M contract to supply meals for city’s migrant shelters: Hyde Park’s Caribbean fusion eatery 14 Parish received a $57 million contract with the city to supply meals to more than 7,000 migrants living in temporary shelters across the South and West sides. 14 Parish and Seventy-Seven Communities, a suburban caterer, will take over meal distribution for the city’s 28 shelters, according to a Wednesday press release. In it, the city cited a need to reduce the cost of its meal program and improve food quality as its reasons for choosing new vendors. * Tribune | Niles, Lincolnwood, Norridge pass ordinances to curb unscheduled bus drop-offs of migrants: The ordinances generally have the same language, giving administrative fines to companies that make unscheduled stops and drop off more than 10 people in the village’s boundaries. The three villages don’t have a Metra connection to the city of Chicago but border the city at multiple points and have Pace and CTA bus routes that connect them to the city. * Sun-Times | Chicago’s top cop halting initiative that has sent ‘scarecrow’ police cars downtown: But in an interview, Snelling raised alarms about the overtime spending and the strategy of placing cops at fixed posts. “When we’re putting overtime out there and there’s an overtime initiative, we want to make sure that we’re getting the most effective work from our officers with these overtime initiatives,” he said. “I don’t believe in the scarecrow policing, where it’s just serving as a deterrent. * Sun-Times | Chicago police officer charged with DUI in deadly crash outside House of Blues: Tangie Brown, 40, faces counts of aggravated driving under the influence, unlawful use of communication device, reckless driving and other charges in the Dec. 7 crash. Prosecutors said Brown’s blood alcohol level was .093 when she was tested about two hours after the crash. The legal limit in Illinois is .08. * WTTW | Native Mollusks Are Key to Freshwater Ecosystems. Here’s How One Group is Helping Build Mussel Mass on the Chicago River: Anyone who thinks of science as a sterile occupation should spend a morning hunting for freshwater mussels in the Chicago River. […] So why would anyone sign up for the job? To play a small role in the revival of Chicago’s once thriving waterway, which is still recovering from decades of abuse. * Daily Herald | Waived during the pandemic, student fees reinstated in districts 211 and 214: District 214 will charge $350 per student — less than the pre-pandemic $420 fee recommended for reinstatement by administrators — while District 211 will charge $75, which is less than the $170 amount students paid years ago. * Crain’s | Chicago and Detroit wealth management firms merge: Both firms are part of New York City-based Focus Financial Partners and are forming the second “hub” within the wealth management giant that went private last year in an all-cash, $7 billion-plus deal with private equity firm CD&R. Focus has invested in more than 90 firms across the United States. * Tribune | Chicago man arrested in massive $400 million ‘SIM swap’ scheme allegedly targeting company’s cryptocurrency accounts: SIM swapping is a technique in which attackers gain control of a telephone number by having it reassigned to a new device. Such attacks represent a growing security threat for government agencies and corporations because they can target not only finances but manipulate social media accounts to spread misinformation, authorities have said. * Politico | The anti-abortion plan ready for Trump on Day One: Many of the policies they advocate are ones Trump implemented in his first term and President Joe Biden rescinded — rules that would have a far greater impact in a post-Roe landscape. Other items on the wish list are new, ranging from efforts to undo state and federal programs promoting access to abortion to a de facto national ban. But all have one thing in common: They don’t require congressional approval. * WaPo | Want safer streets? Paint them: Asphalt art projects — collaborations between cities, community groups and artists — have taken off in the past decade, thanks to early-adopting cities such as New York, Seattle and Portland, Ore., with help from the National Association of City Transportation Officials and “tactical urbanism” firms such as Street Plans. They provide street designs that cue drivers to slow down, provide people on foot more interesting places to walk and create new local landmarks. They can even be used to widen sidewalks without digging up streets, giving space back to the public and making the whole street safer. To provide a road map for the increasing municipal interest, in 2019 Bloomberg Philanthropies produced the Asphalt Art Guide and launched the Asphalt Art Initiative (AAI), distributing grants to 90 projects in cities across the United States and around the world to produce and assess their own eye-catching street design projects. * Daily Herald | Got transponder fatigue? New tollway stickers are now at customer service centers, coming to Jewel and online in February: The upgrade is free and totally optional, officials noted. The tollway is gradually phasing in the new devices and I-PASS customers will not be required to switch if they have a working transponder. The stickers will work in other states that are part of the E-ZPASS coalition, which the tollway belongs to. * WCIA | Historic Lincoln Tree topples in Virden, damaging Civil War Era home: The tree towered over the home. It was planted nearly 160 years ago. Town historians say the woman who first lived in the house took the acorn from Oakridge Cemetery in Springfield on the day of Abraham Lincoln’s Funeral. * Chicago Mag | How a U. of C. Professor Wound Up a Prisoner of Iran: When he opened the door, the leader of the group pulled out papers bearing the stamp of Iran’s attorney general and thrust them at Alizadeh, as if presenting the search warrant were a mere formality and not a necessary legal procedure. As Alizadeh scanned the document, a single line stood out to him: He was being charged with espionage, a capital offense in a country rife with subterfuge surrounding its clandestine nuclear weapons program. * NYT | UPS to Cut 12,000 Jobs as Wages Rise and Package Volumes Fall: Carol Tomé, the chief executive of UPS, told analysts on an earnings call Tuesday that it had been a “difficult and disappointing year.” Revenue fell more than 9 percent last year, and profit dropped by a third. Ms. Tomé said most of the job cuts would be made in the first half of the year, reducing expenses by about $1 billion. UPS employs nearly 500,000 people. * NBC | Fake news YouTube creators target Black celebrities with AI-generated misinformation: YouTube videos using a mix of artificial intelligence-generated and manipulated media to create fake content have flooded the platform with salacious disinformation about dozens of Black celebrities, including rapper and record executive Sean “Diddy” Combs, TV host Steve Harvey, actor Denzel Washington and Bishop T.D. Jakes.
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Another area of disagreement between the governor and Chicago’s mayor
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Tribune last week…
* Gov. Pritzker was asked yesterday about the city council resolution and the mayor’s support of it…
Pritzker then went on to say that the resolution will have “no effect on the foreign policy of the United States.” Asked why he believed that, particularly with the Democratic National Convention coming in August, the governor said…
Please pardon all transcription errors, and take like five deep breaths before commenting on this one. Thanks.
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Bears want Arlington Heights site taxed as residential property, push for 62.5 percent appraisal reduction
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Crain’s…
Thoughts?
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Mapes asks for leniency, feds want him to serve 5 years
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * WTTW…
* There’s no doubt in my mind that Mapes lied under oath. The feds had him, he undoubtedly knew they had him, and yet he still lied. Why? The prosecutors’ theory…
* From the defense…
Meh. From the prosecutors…
Also, the prosecution has a different version of Mapes’ immunity…
* Back to the defense…
* More coverage…
* Sun-Times | Madigan’s ex-chief of staff should get up to 5 years in prison for lies ‘calculated to thwart’ probe into former boss, feds say: Defense attorneys Andrew Porter and Katie Hill argued that, between Mapes’ prosecution and his 2018 dismissal by Madigan, “the last five years have constituted a half decade of misery for Tim and his family.” They pointed to more than 130 letters of support and insisted that “sending this nearly 70-year-old man to prison would achieve nothing more than to inflict undue additional suffering and hardship on Tim, his family, and his community.”
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Sounds like a sit-down is in order here
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * January 24…
* Yesterday…
The mayor has been saying lately that the state can build shelters anywhere it wants, including in other towns. * I asked the governor’s spokesperson why there’s been a delay…
The governor has often said the state doesn’t control any facilities that it can use, so it needs the city to choose locations. * Meanwhile, the mayor said yesterday that the influx was costing the city $1.5 million a day, and he reminded reporters that he budgeted $150 million. So, Isabel asked Gov. Pritzker today what he hopes the city will do in April when its appropriation runs out…
* More from Isabel… * Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson postpones shelter eviction dates until March: Migrants who originally had an exit date between Jan. 16 and Feb. 29 will be given a 60-day extension starting from their original exit date, according to Brandie Knazze, head of the city’s Department of Family and Support Services. If an individual was scheduled to leave Jan. 16, for example, their new exit date is March 16. There are 5,673 people who fall into that category. The 2,119 individuals who were scheduled to exit between Mar. 1 and Mar. 28 will receive a 30-day extension. Anyone who enters the shelter system starting today will receive the standard 60-day notice. The 5,910 new arrivals who entered the shelter system between Aug. 1 and Nov. 16, 2023, will also receive their 60-day notice starting Feb. 1. Those individuals are eligible for the state’s three-month rental assistance program. * ABC Chicago | City Council committee to meet on conditions of Chicago migrant shelters: A City Council committee will meet Tuesday morning to discuss conditions at migrant shelters across the city. The meeting comes as Mayor Brandon Johnson has extended the deadline once again for evicting Chicago migrants from city-run shelters. * Center Square | Chicago provides 300,000 meals a week to non-citizen migrants, among other services: The taxpayer cost to care for the migrants is about $1.5 million per day. Johnson said that money has gone to housing, health care and meals. “In response, my administration and our city have stepped up to meet this moment,” Johnson said. “We have stood up 28 temporary emergency shelters, and we have done this across the entire city of Chicago. We have provided over 300,000 meals per week.” * Sen. John Curran | Gov. J.B. Pritzker invited, then mismanaged Illinois’ migrant crisis: This isn’t an argument about the value of immigration and the role it has played in building the United States of America. It’s a question of reality, of management and of what our already overtaxed residents can afford. The people of Illinois cannot afford the misplaced priorities, radical policies and grandiose promises of a governor seeking attention on the national stage. * Austin American-Statesman | Texas paid at least $135,000 to fly migrants from El Paso to Chicago, records show: The $135,000 figure represents a portion of the total cost of flying migrants since the initial Dec. 19 flight. Since then, the state has flown nearly 900 passengers out of the state, said Wes Rapaport, a TDEM spokesperson, in a statement.
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Illinois State Board of Elections bows to precedent, punts on Trump ballot status
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Tribune… ![]() * Background from Rick’s earlier story…
* From the 14th Amendment…
But there’s also Section 5…
Deep breaths, please.
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Jason Isbell will perform at the Illinois State Fair
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Press release…
Very, very cool. * From the new album…
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It’s just a bill
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Rep. Justin Slaughter filed HB4603 yesterday…
* HB4621 from Rep. Justin Slaughter…
* HB4613 from Rep. Maura Hirschauer…
* Rep. Bradley Fritts introduced HB4612…
* HB4602 from Rep. Marcus Evans…
* HB4622 from Rep. Daniel Didech…
* HB4626 from Rep. Janet Yang Rohr…
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Open thread
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Johnson extends shelter stays for migrants for third time. Crain’s…
- People who were expected to leave between January and the end of February -roughly 5,700 people- will now receive a 60-day extension. - As of Monday, more than 14,100 people were staying across 28 city shelters, with a little over 180 staying at O’Hare Airport as they waited for a shelter bed. * Related stories… ∙ WTTW: Chicago Won’t Evict Migrants Until At Least Mid-March, Mayor Brandon Johnson Announces ∙ Tribune: Mayor Brandon Johnson will delay enforcing migrant shelter evictions policy, acknowledges pause on opening new sites ∙ CNI: Pritzker says migrant response should focus on Chicago * Isabel’s top picks… * Sun-Times | Madigan’s ex-chief of staff should get up to 5 years in prison for lies ‘calculated to thwart’ probe into former boss, feds say: [Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz] also wrote that Mapes “still refuses to accept responsibility” and “instead blames the government” for not giving him enough information when he appeared before the grand jury. * Daily Southtown | As Kankakee River water levels decrease after ice jam flash flooding, Will County assesses damage: It was the third-highest level recorded on the Kankakee River and the highest since 1887, according to the Will County Emergency Management Agency. On Sunday morning, water levels were recorded at 5.7 feet. Though the flood warnings have expired, local officials are still monitoring water levels and have advised residents that river conditions can change rapidly. * CNI | Panel of experts suggest legislative measures to reverse journalism decline: Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, said he plans to introduce a bill this session including some of the task force’s suggestions. The policies recommended by the task force are a mix of strategies intended to increase funding, mitigate high operational costs and keep newsrooms local. Many of the recommendations have been implemented or introduced in other states. At 9 am Governor Pritzker will announce the National Science Foundation grant award. Click here to watch. * Here’s the rest of your morning roundup… * STL Today | Holleman: To get things done, Illinois’ Nikki Budzinski says she ignores ‘political noise’: Nikki Budzinski didn’t arrive on time for an interview. In fact, she was early. Should Budzinski, a Democrat who just finished her first year representing part of the Metro East area in the U.S. House, be aiming to position herself as unique among politicians, punctuality is a solid start. * WTTW | Rep. Delia Ramirez on Immigration Policy, Congressional Conflict Over Bipartisan Border Deal: Ramirez: I have felt the urgency to pass immigration reform since the moment my mother crossed the Rio Grande pregnant with me. This isn’t simply an election-year issue to our immigrant communities, it is a 365/24/7 issue. I’ve presented 17 ideas to my colleagues about how we could take concrete action to reform our immigration system rather than waste time and congressional resources on baseless impeachment. * Sun-Times | Brent Manning, former director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, dies at age 70: John Schmitt, the first executive director of the Illinois Conservation Foundation, rattled off an impressive list of accomplishments during Mr. Manning’s time as director: “Conservation Congress, Habitat Stamp, Conservation Reserve Plan, the additions of [Jim Edgar/Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area] and other sites, the World Shooting site Downstate, Illinois Conservation Foundation that I worked for Brent and we raised over $16 million for the IDNR, new IDNR headquarters … the list goes on and on…He was an outstanding mentor and friend.” * Tribune | Support staff at Crystal Lake D47 file unfair labor practice charge after district hires staffing firm: Crystal Lake Association of Support Staff, or CLASS, the union representing Chaix and more than 100 paraprofessionals across 12 schools in District 47, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board in October after district administrators retained a recruiting firm to hire temporary employees. The union said the move was made illegally and without giving them notice. * STL Today | Miscommunication between lawyer, police caused fugitive label for former Town and Country cop: The issues with Fowle’s arrest began when, in an unusual move, before Fowle was in custody, Lozano filed a motion to reduce Fowle’s bond. A hearing was scheduled and approved by a judge even though Fowle had not surrendered. “The timing was just not good,” Lozano said Monday. “Which was my fault. I was out of state … so I scheduled with the court a bond hearing for this morning.” * The Center Square | Illinois partners with Google for AI-driven child behavioral health portal: Gov. J.B. Pritzker was at Google Chicago Monday to announce the creation of BEACON, or the Behavioral Health Care and Ongoing Navigation, a service access portal for Illinois families to access behavioral and mental health resources for children. The plan will incorporate artificial intelligence and create an online portal that provides families with access to behavioral and mental health resources. * Sun-Times | Cook County treasurer mails nearly 2 million first installment property tax bills: Property taxes are mailed twice a year in Cook County. This first installment is equal to 55% of last year’s total. Residents wanting to use exemptions, which reduce their total property taxes, can apply those to the second installment. * WBEZ | Illinois election officials are ramping up efforts to recruit election judges for March primary: “We need help, real help, to prop up democracy. Because if we don’t get the election judges there, it allows these other factors to win,” Ed Michalowski, the Cook County deputy clerk of elections said. “When good people could serve as election judges, and they don’t, it allows for some of that negativity to creep in, and some of those false statements and some of those false expressions on the internet.” * Decatur Tribune | FOP State Lodge endorses Regan Deering in race for 88th District Illinois House: “Regan Deering listens to the concerns of the law enforcement officers who protect our communities, and will fight for the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to keep our citizens safe,” said Illinois FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood. “Regan feels that it’s the heroes in blue, and not the perpetrators in the shadows, that should be backed by state government, and that is why she has our support in this election.” * Sun-Times | Formula One in Chicago? Series applies for race trademarks: There is some indication the city has held initial talks with F1 about a possible Chicago race, downtown Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) says. “I’m told that F1 typically requires a 10-year minimum deal. And that appears to be non-negotiable. The conversation [with the city] did not get much past that,” Hopkins said. * Crain’s | Baseball commish gives thumbs-up to ‘game changer’ Sox stadium plan: Manfred said what’s particularly solid about the proposal is the “proximity to downtown” it would bring a team that now plays several miles to the south in a neighborhood that pretty much shuts down after dark. “Baseball has always worked well close to downtown,” which offers not only other entertainment options but good transit and highway access. * Sun-Times | State Street Macy’s shutters basement candy department — but vows ‘we will always sell Frango’s chocolates’: Now one floor above, there’s a new in-store bulk candy shop called It’Sugar, which opened in November last year. It’Sugar also has locations on the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier. The store offers an array of sugary treats, including vintage candies, giant gummy bears and Japanese sodas, said Megan Peterson, a supervisor at It’Sugar. * Crain’s | Weed sales boom in Dry January as people drink less: Revenues at Curaleaf, Green Thumb Industries Inc., Verano Holdings Corp., Tilray and Canopy Growth Corp. are set to grow about 6% on average in the first quarter. At the state level, Oregon’s cannabis sales have jumped 19% on average in January since 2018 versus 12% on average in other months. In Colorado, cannabis sales grow the fastest in January on average.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - A big campaign update
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Live coverage
Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * You can click here or here to follow breaking news because, as I initially suspected, the widget we had been using didn’t last long.
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