* The Illinois Department of Public Health just published some new self-reported county-by-county numbers and, man, there are a lot of county health departments sitting on vaccines. Click here.
According to IDPH, those county departments had 172,999 vaccines on-hand as of Friday, while their “community partners” (like pharmacies) have another 117,807 doses, for a grand total of 290,806. Some of these could be second doses waiting to be administered, but that appears to be the minority.
Chicago isn’t reporting its data to the state, but suburban Cook County, with more than 2.4 million people, claims it has 44,390 doses at the county level and another 37,967 with community partners, for a total of 82,357 available doses - or about 3.4 percent of its population.
Sangamon County says it has 16,713 total doses available, or 8.6 percent of its population. Even so, Sangamon is restricting its 1B program to only those 85 and above.
Tiny Pulaski County, population 5,510, reports having 3,680 doses sitting around. That’s a whopping 67 percent of its population. The county has only vaccinated 202 people, and only 23 of those are fully vaccinated. What the heck?
I heard last week from a local that there were some issues with Madison County getting people vaxed. The county has 10,674 doses available, with another 1,918 at their community partners’ locations, for a total of 12,592.
* On the other end of the spectrum, 30 county public health departments had no vaccine doses on-hand as of Friday. And 14 of those also report no doses at their partners’ sites. The state delivers vaccines to the counties twice a week (Monday is a big delivery day), so those counties with no doses on hand as of Friday appear to be more efficient at getting doses into arms. I’m told Greene County is one of those high performers.
The local health departments asked that they be allowed to run the local programs because they have experience with similar efforts. Oops.
As the vaccine becomes more available, the local health departments will become a smaller component of the administration chain, the administration tells me.
…Adding… Through an intermediary, Rep. Patrick Windhorst says the Pulaski number is so large because that is where the headquarters is for the Southern 7 Health Dept, a regional health dept. “You’ll notice the counties around it have 0.”
"A Chicago parent and a volleyball coach" (who's also a right-wing radio host, but shh) said Chicago teachers won't teach in-person b/c they prefer their "second homes" in CA & FL. She also blamed kids for an increase in robberies, which are actually down. https://t.co/lhWcAwvdP5
Gun dealers say they are selling more firearms than ever in the Chicago area since the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — and they predict sales will shatter the records set during last year’s civil unrest and in the early days of the coronavirus panic. […]
Greg Tannehill of GT Transfer gun shop in south suburban Merrionette Park traced the gun sales to “straight up fear.”
He blames the news media for not covering the “stolen election,” accusing the Chicago Sun-Times specifically of being a “liberal” outlet.
“This stolen election and the increase of gun sales in the last two weeks alone go hand in hand. They’re spawned by the theft of an election,” he said.
“We’re back not trusting our government. The media really painted the best president in history as a really bad guy. You shouldn’t have done that because a lot of people have had enough of that crap. And you’re gonna see a big backlash coming soon if you haven’t already.”
* Last month, the Naperville City Council rejected a resolution calling on the governor to veto the criminal justice bill. Then the DuPage County Board voted to indefinitely postpone debate on a similar resolution. But, goshdarnit, the Naperville Park District Board is demanding to be heard…
The Naperville Park Board wants Gov. J.B. Pritzker to veto statewide criminal justice reforms approved by the previous Illinois General Assembly because of the effect they will have on the park district’s police officers and others across the state.
Board members unanimously approved a resolution that says the proposed legislative changes pose a “substantial danger” to the 23 part-time and two full-time park officers employed by the park district. […]
Leaders call out others, and a bill of this magnitude approved in the middle of the night without debate and serious discussion is wrong, Janor said.
“If the Naperville Park District ever attempted to pull shenanigans like this, our constituents would be outraged and justifiably so,” he said.
The park board sued the governor last May, arguing that it ought to decide when to reopen, not the governor. A local judge denied the request for a TRO and the board eventually dropped the suit.
Also, the House Speaker and every chair of his approps committees strongly supported that bill, and the new Senate Appropriations Chair Elgie Sims was its principle sponsor. Local governments that make wild accusations about this bill probably ought to keep that in mind, particularly since the state is in a budget bind these days.
Sims said he’s willing to entertain input despite the “fear-mongering” spread by the critical groups who contend they were left out of discussions on the legislation and complain about its Senate approval just before dawn on Jan. 13, the last day of the previous legislative session
“That’s what’s the most disturbing about the discussion of the process,” Sims countered. “The bill passed when it did because we continued to negotiate (with those groups) until the very end.”
Pretrial detention in jails has also swollen the state’s incarcerated population–even as the prison population has fallen. According to the Vera Institute, the state’s jail population has shot up 5 percent since 2000, while the prison population has dropped 12 percent. Pretrial detention accounted for 71 percent of the state’s jail population in 2015.
* From Judge Robbin Stuckert, who chairs the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices…
Comprehensive, sustainable reform takes courage, patience, diligence and faith. Building upon the Bail Reform Act of 2017, the General Assembly recently passed additional reforms of the State’s pretrial detention system. Importantly, the legislation includes a delayed effective date on many of its key provisions. This additional time will be critical to establish an effective statewide pretrial system to support these changes and ensure that individuals who pose a threat to public safety are detained pretrial.
The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices recognizes that for far too long our criminal justice system has criminalized poverty by often detaining low level, non-violent offenders simply because they cannot afford bail. A large percentage of accused persons who enter the criminal justice system are indigent, facing economic obstacles. The General Assembly is commended for addressing these difficult issues. […]
Going forward, the Supreme Court has directed the Task Force to assume a leadership role regarding the implementation of this historic and courageous legislation. We will prepare guidance and training on the bill’s pretrial provisions and will identify areas in the bill for which amendatory language must be considered.
We look forward to continued dialogue with the legislative authors and we will work tirelessly to ensure comprehensive and sustainable pretrial reform is implemented throughout Illinois.
The bill, which would take effect in January 2023, if signed, offers dozens of charges that could compel a judge to detain the accused: first-degree murder, arson, gun-related offenses, sexual assaults and domestic violence and other crimes.
One of the changes that advocates for the legislation tout is that the measure also creates a risk-assessment tool to help a judge determine whether someone should be detained or released.
“We can track the outcome of what happens in bond court, what happens with jail decisions so we can make better decisions about how we should move forward when it comes to pretrial, said Sharone Mitchell, director of the Illinois Justice Project. The group is part of a coalition that advocated for the end of cash bail.
Mitchell says the bill maps the process for determining whether somebody will be detained. “In the status quo, we have like a patchwork of laws, some of them contradict each other.”
I asked Mitchell about the contradicting statutes. He pointed me to People v. Gil, which, he explained, tries to parse out how someone is held without bond and points out contradictions between 725 ILCS 5/110-6.1 and 4(a) of that statute.
* But this is coming at a time of increased violent crime, making it tougher for proponents…
Chicago is off to another violent start to a new year with 51 homicides in January, the most slayings recorded for the month in five years.
Nearly 80 organizations have joined a chorus of calls that the head of the Chicago police union be fired over allegations he made racist remarks in a series of social media posts. […]
When reached Monday about the letter, Catanzara was unbowed, saying he will continue to represent the FOP members. He urged the organizations to focus on efforts to address Chicago’s escalating violence, including carjackings and homicides.
“Maybe they should worry about things like that,” he said. “Crime that really matters.”
A Worth Township trustee with ties to several Illinois politicians through his commercial printing business admitted to a federal magistrate judge Monday that he failed to file tax returns in 2017 and 2018 despite making hundreds of thousands of dollars those years.
Richard J. Lewandowski, 61, of Palos Heights, also agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. He was first charged in early January.
The case against Lewandowski is the first public-corruption shoe to drop in 2021, following a flurry of public corruption cases in 2020. Though it’s unclear exactly how Lewandowski fits into that puzzle, the prosecutor handling his case has handled several defendants caught up in an investigation into the politically connected red-light camera company SafeSpeed. […]
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Stetler told U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez that Lewandowski made $370,342 in 2018 and $213,516 in 2017 but failed to file his tax returns. That failure cost the IRS $52,365 and the Illinois Department of Revenue $10,350, the prosecutor said.
Lewandowski’s plea makes him the latest Democratic political player to cooperate with federal authorities in a corruption investigation that has stretched from Chicago to the southwest suburbs and Springfield.
Lewandowski, who has served as a trustee in Worth Township since 2013, was closely allied with John O’Sullivan. He’s a former state representative and ally of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan who resigned as Worth Township supervisor last year amid the investigation involving red-light camera company SafeSpeed.
O’Sullivan was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors about the SafeSpeed probe in 2019, shortly after agents raided the offices of then-Democratic state Sen. Martin Sandoval and a host of suburban mayors as part of a sprawling probe. O’Sullivan has not been charged with wrongdoing.
Lewandowski also is the president of Breaker Press, a Pilsen-based printing company that has received millions of dollars for printing services from politicians dating to at least 2011. That includes more than $100,000 from Friends of Michael J. Madigan for the speaker himself and dozens of candidates, ranging from rank-and-file House Democrats to his hand-picked 13th Ward alderman, Marty Quinn.
Breaker Press has done $14.7 million in state and local campaign business since 1999.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 2,312 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 16 additional deaths.
Christian County: 1 male 70s
Cook County: 1 male 40s, 2 males 50s, 2 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s, 3 males 90s
Grundy County: 1 female 70s
Putnam County: 1 male 60s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,128,613 cases, including 19,259 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 61,263 specimens for a total 16,100,555. As of last night, 2,387 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 515 patients were in the ICU and 278 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from January 25–31, 2021 is 3.9%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from January 25–31, 2021 is 4.9%.
A total of 1,333,475 doses of vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 496,100 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 1,829,575. A total of 996,410 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight, including 156,872 for long-term care facilities. We anticipate more than one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine being administered by the end of today. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 43,378 doses. Illinois set a new record for the number of doses administered on a Saturday at 36,851. However, yesterday’s winter weather impacted the number of vaccines administered, which totaled 14,422 doses.
If all the mitigation metrics continue to improve, Region 10 will move into Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced Region 7, Kankakee and Will counties, is moving to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan effective today. Additional information about which tier and phase regions are in can be found at the top of the IDPH website homepage.
The University of Illinois Flash Index continued its slow recovery in January, rising to 96.3 from its 95.9 level in December. This is well below the pre-COVID-19 level, but it is the highest reading since March 2020.
The January results suggest only modest gains for the economy because of the resurgence of the COVID-19 virus with the accompanying mandated closures. The index remains below the 100-dividing line between growth and decline.
“The availability of various vaccines has yet to have a significant impact on the spread of the virus,” said University of Illinois economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the monthly index for the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA). “However, many observers believe the economy is on the cusp of a major resurgence resulting from the eventual effectiveness of the vaccine program along with strong pent-up demand in the economy.”
The unprecedented intervention of both the past and current administrations has created strong untapped demand that may be unloosed once the economy fully reopens. While the long-term impacts of the stimulus may be problematic, the short-term effects are strongly positive, Giertz said. See the full Flash Index archive.
Recent indicators for Illinois have been mixed. Unemployment has increased slightly while revenues have remained strong. For January, all three components of the index (corporate, individual income and sales tax receipts) exceeded the levels of the same month in 2020 after adjusting for inflation. Since the advent of the crisis, receipts for Illinois’ three major taxes have been below pre-crisis forecasts, but well above post-crisis predictions of a revenue disaster. This was confirmed by a recent IGPA study.
The Flash Index is normally a weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income as estimated from receipts for corporate income, individual income, and retail sales taxes. These are adjusted for inflation before growth rates are calculated. The growth rate for each component is then calculated for the 12-month period using data through January 31, 2020. Ad hoc adjustments have been made to deal with the timing of the tax receipts resulting from state and Federal changes in payment dates beginning in March.
State Rep. André Thapedi (D-Chicago) is set to resign from his seat in the Illinois House after 12 years, he told NPR Illinois on Sunday.
Thapedi, who has served as representative for the 32nd District since 2009, said he wants to take an active role in searching for a replacement for his seat. The 32nd District stretches westward from Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood to south suburban Hickory Hills. […]
“All the change that’s occurred over time — we’ve got the first black female vice president of the United States, the first Black secretary of defense, the first Black speaker of the [Illinois] House, the first Latina [U.S.] Supreme Court justice, the first Black female mayor of the city of Chicago, the first Black female president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners,” Thapedi said.
Thapedi said “so many things have happened,” making it impossible for him to pinpoint one big or most memorable accomplishment during his tenure.
You’d think he’d be ready for that question. His most recent newsworthy act…
An emergency rule for businesses to enforce masks and social distancing in Illinois stands didn’t get the required number of votes.
Some on the panel wanted the entire 176-member body to take up the issue as a bill. […]
State Rep. Andre Thapedi, D-Chicago, voted present, asking why the Pritzker administration didn’t bring a bill to pass into law after already having filed one emergency rule that expired after 150 days.
He could’ve filed his own bill, of course.
Thapedi chairs the Judiciary - Civil committee, so this will set off a robust internal contest to replace him.
* Onward…
Thapedi's announcement kicks off another replacement process for members of the Cook County Democratic Party (there's an ongoing process to pick a successor for former Sen. Heather Steans). Here's the weighted vote totals for those who have a hand in picking Thapedi's successor: https://t.co/aS8RXdBZd7pic.twitter.com/fXrxtPSHdh
With the resignation of Rep. Thapedi and a couple other potential departures, it's likely that soon a majority of House Democrats will have been in office for fewer than five years. https://t.co/vmnL6GNwacpic.twitter.com/QRJ2Mr67CH
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump, is launching a political action committee to push back against a House GOP leadership team and party that he says have become too closely aligned to the former president.
The “Country 1st” PAC, unveiled in a six-minute video released Sunday, will challenge the current direction of a GOP that Kinzinger says has wrongly become a “Trump-first party” to the detriment of the nation, as seen by the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
The Illinois congressman cited most Republicans’ seeming unwillingness to hold Trump accountable for his role in encouraging the violent protests, as well as the party’s support of lawmakers such as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has drawn criticism for past social media posts reported by various news organizations in which she’s suggested support for killing Democratic politicians, unfounded QAnon theories and racist views.
The goal of the PAC is to say, “Let’s take a look at the last four years, how far we have come in a bad way,” Kinzinger said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “How backward-looking we are, how much we peddle darkness and division. And that’s not the party I ever signed up for. And I think most Republicans didn’t sign up for that.”
The video is here. Music is too loud, but it’s an interesting approach. We’ve seen much of what he’s warning about here in Illinois, particularly during the pandemic…
“The party that always spoke about a brighter tomorrow no longer does. It talks about a dark future instead. Hope has given way to fear. Outrage has replaced opportunity. And worst of all, our deep convictions are ignored. They’ve been replaced by poisonous conspiracies and lies. This is not the Republican road and now we know exactly where new and dangerous road leads. It leads to insurrection and an armed attack on the Capitol,” he argued.
Former President Donald Trump amassed $31.2 million in his new political operation by the end of 2020, giving him a powerful tool to keep the Republican Party in his grip as he left office.
Save America, a leadership PAC created in the aftermath of the 2020 election, is set to play a key role in Trump’s plans to keep a strong hand in party politics — both to boost loyalists and also to seek retribution against Republicans he believes have wronged him, such as the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in mid-January. Trump cannot spend the PAC funds directly on any future campaign of his own, but he can use it to wield influence in campaigns in the midterm elections, pay his political advisers and travel the country.
I guess we’ll see soon enough if Kinzinger’s new PAC is more about publicity or actually raising the kind of money he’ll need to counter the former POTUS.
Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) going to Wyoming to campaign against Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump was “totally GOP cancel culture.”
Anchor Chuck Todd said, “I’m curious, is there just no room for disagreement in the Republican Party when it comes to Donald Trump? This is to me, a form of cancel culture, is it not?”
Kinzinger said, “It is totally. If you look at Matt Gaetz going to Wyoming because a tough woman has an independent view, and he doesn’t want to explain why he voted for impeachment, that’s totally GOP cancel culture. I think what a significant part of the base wants, we can have a diverse opinion. Peter Meijer from Michigan, good friend of mine, he and I are on other ends of the spectrum on things like foreign policy, but I respect his view. That’s what the Republican Party needs to be, the optimistic party in the future. We need to quit being the party that supports an insurrection, a dead police officer, and other dead Americans on the Capitol. There’s no equivalency to that. We have to run from that as fast as we can.”
…Adding… Maybe he could add this to his repertoire…
Pour out a cold one for all the GOP press secretaries who have to apply extra care and diligence as they type out statements condemning the coup in Myanmar…
“Subverting the will of the people”… no, can’t say that….
Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Sunday offered a glimpse of what it’s like being one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump: Friends and family turned against him, and he was told he’s “possessed by the devil.”
“Look it’s really difficult. I mean, all of a sudden imagine everybody that supported you, or so it seems that way, your friends, your family, has turned against you. They think you’re selling out,” the Illinois congressman said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I’ve gotten a letter, a certified letter, twice from the same people, disowning me and claiming I’m possessed by the devil.”
That appears to be a bit of an embellishment. Here’s what he told the Sun-Times a couple of weeks ago…
“I’ve heard from friends that don’t want to be friends with me anymore. … I’ve had family members who are somewhat distant relatives sign a petition disowning me,” citing “Bible verses and that I was part of the devil’s army”.
In Mississippi, an online vaccine registration system buckled in a sudden onslaught of traffic. Officials at a local health department in Georgia had to resort to counting every dose they receive before scheduling appointments. A $44 million national vaccine scheduling and tracking system is going largely unused by states.
And California, Idaho and North Dakota undercounted vaccinations because workers forgot to click on a “submit” button at the end of the day.
Across the U.S., a vaccination campaign that was meant to reverse the tide of the pandemic and spur the nation’s economic recovery is getting bogged down by technical glitches and software woes. Cash-strapped public health departments are trying to keep their websites from crashing while booking millions of appointments, tracking unpredictable inventory and logging how many shots they give.
The situation unfolding across the U.S., home to technology giants, is frustrating a public eager for the inoculations. Further, gaps in the data could be distorting the national picture of how efficiently vaccines are being used, if some number of doses that are administered don’t get counted.
“Our sense is that it’s a substantial amount,” said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. “That will become more clear as the data systems get improved and we get a better sense about what we’re missing.”
So early in the pandemic, the CDC outlined the need for a system that could handle a mass vaccination campaign, once shots were approved. It wanted to streamline the whole thing: sign-ups, scheduling, inventory tracking, and immunization reporting.
In May, it gave the task to consulting company Deloitte, a huge federal contractor, with a $16 million no-bid contract to manage “covid-19 vaccine distribution and administration tracking.” In December, Deloitte snagged another $28 million for the project, again with no competition. The contract specifies that the award could go as high as $32 million, leaving taxpayers with a bill between $44 and $48 million.
Why was Deloitte awarded the project on a no-bid basis? The contracts claim the company was the only “responsible source” to build the tool.
In reality, many states are choosing to pay other vendors rather than using VAMS for free.
* Meanwhile, a recent poll of Georgians shows that 62 percent of respondents say they are willing to be vaccinated, while 34 percent say they are not. Of those who are not…
After a group of protesters managed to disrupt operations at Dodger Stadium’s mass COVID-19 vaccination site Saturday, some Los Angeles officials expressed fury at the demonstrators while calling for increased security at testing and vaccination installations.
Los Angeles Fire Department officials closed the main entrance to the stadium — one of the largest vaccination sites in the country — for about an hour Saturday after 40 to 60 demonstrators appeared on Stadium Way holding signs that decried masks while shouting unfounded claims about the dangers of the vaccine.
The group dispersed around 3 p.m., and there were no arrests or injuries reported, said LAFD Assistant Chief Ellsworth Fortman, who oversees the department’s COVID-19 response.
Just a couple of weeks into a job that most people couldn’t imagine being held by anyone other than the guy who had it for decades, Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch is putting together a House that looks both familiar and different at the same time.
Welch’s first week included a rollout of his new leadership team, with a Black woman as speaker pro tempore and fresh faces throughout. By the third week, we’ll see committee membership rosters and vice chairs. The following week will be the new rules.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin told reporters he was “pleased” that Welch was allowing his party some input on the rules. Durkin told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Rachel Hinton that Welch suggested the two get together regularly for coffee or breakfast. I seriously doubt Durkin ever received such an invite from House Speaker Michael Madigan.
All of Welch’s new appropriations committee chairs are people of color. I asked Welch if there was any particular reason for this.
“First of all, let me say that I think my list is full of people that are super talented,” Welch said. “I’m really proud of the diversity of our caucus. I think that’s the strength of our caucus, the strength of our state. But also I think you can’t not recognize the fact that those people are high in seniority.”
Welch said that when you look at the new chair list, “you’re gonna find that there’s a lot of consistency,” meaning several representatives retained their committee posts. Rep. Mike Zalewski, for instance, is still chairing Revenue. “I think people were doing a good job. And they should be allowed to continue doing a good job. Again I tried to recognize people’s requests and many of them wanted to continue doing the same thing that they were doing. And I think I was able to accommodate that.”
Up until his ascension, Welch had chaired the Executive Committee, which handles much of the bigtime heater legislation. Rep. Bob Rita will take over that important helm. “He’s someone that I know and trust,” Welch said, “with the tough issues that are going to come through that committee.”
The new House speaker also wanted to point out some new special committees he’s created, including Ethics & Elections, which will be chaired by Rep. Kelly Burke. Immigration & Human Rights will be helmed by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz.
The new Police & Fire special committee will be chaired by Rep. Fran Hurley. Welch didn’t mention this, but considering the law enforcement uproar over the recently approved criminal justice reform bill, putting a Mount Greenwood resident — who has a ton of cops in her district and who voted against the Black Caucus bill — in charge of that special committee should help rebuild some bridges.
“Those new committees should be a signal of where we’re headed,” Welch said. “Ethics reform is very important to me. We need to rebuild trust in the legislature, we need to rebuild trust in our process.”
Some of Welch’s members want Gov. J.B. Pritzker to move legislators into the 1b vaccination phase so they can immediately receive their COVID-19 shots. Pritzker has said they need to wait their turn.
“I understand what the governor’s issues are on that, and I respect his position,” Welch said. “I’m going to take the vaccine when it’s my turn. Other members have their personal thoughts on that, and I’ll defer to them.”
Welch said he expects the new House rules will be “similar” to the Senate’s, which allow for remote committee hearings. The issue of remote floor votes is being researched by lawyers, he said, but he’d like to “put that in the rules so that we have that flexibility.”
Last year, Welch publicly pressured the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to disclose data on the use of Black-owned businesses for Medicaid-related professional services, primarily through managed care organizations. After finally prying the information loose, Welch then called on that state department to penalize managed care organizations for not meeting contract goals, and demanded that Attorney General Kwame Raoul step in.
I asked Welch whether he intended to keep up the pressure.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I know my voice,” Welch said. “I’m looking forward to using my new voice to continue to highlight the issues that are important to me and to the communities that I serve and the core constituencies that our caucus represents, so I want to continue to find a way.”
SPEAKER WELCH RELEASES STATEMENT REGARDING HIS ROLE WITH ANCEL GLINK
“When I was elected Speaker, I promised to model the kind of leadership we need to restore the public’s confidence in our ethics. As a simple first step, I have stepped back from my role as partner at Ancel Glink. I will remain with the firm, but as of yesterday my relationship with the firm is of counsel. This is similar to the course of action taken by other leaders in the General Assembly.
Ancel Glink shares my commitment to improving Illinois government and is supportive of this adjusted role. I thank the firm for understanding my decision to focus on serving the public and leading the state through these immensely challenging times.”
I asked Welch’s spokesperson which other leaders had switched to “of counsel” and was told House GOP Leader Jim Durkin was one. Senate President Don Harmon resigned from his firm after being elected to the chamber’s top job last year.
* First a little news. Haven’t heard Beth Coulson’s name in a while. She’s one of the last liberal Republicans. She replaces former Rep. Steve Andersson, who told me he wanted a new challenge after helping the Human Rights Commission clear its backlog…
Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration:
EMPLOYMENT SECURITY BOARD OF REVIEW
Elbert Walters III will continue to serve on the Employment Security Board of Review.* Currently,Walters III serves as the Director of Powering Chicago where he promotes the unionized electrical industry. Prior to this position, he was the Business Representative at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local no. 134 and has 20 years of experience as an electrician. Walters is a member of the Chicago Building Trades Council and a Chicago Workforce Board Member. He received a Labor Leadership Program Certification from DePaul University.
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Elizabeth Coulson will serve on the Human Rights Commission.* For over fourteen years, Coulson served as the elected State Representative for the 57th and 17th districts. She also was an Associate Professor and Chair of the Physical Therapy Department at Rosalind Frank University of Medicine and Science. Coulson is on the Board of Trustees at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science and is a member of the board at Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook. She received the Legislative Award for Equality Illinois, the Paul Simon Public Service Award from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, and the Legislator of the Year Award from the Illinois Nurses Association. Coulson received her Bachelor of Science from University of Kansas, her Master of Arts from Wellesley College, her Physical Therapy certification from Northwestern University Medical School and her Master of Business Administration from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management.
THE LINCOLN ACADEMY OF ILLINOIS
Lucy Moog will serve as a member of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Moog is a longtime activist and has been involved in politics for three decades. She has led community outreach efforts on four Presidential campaigns, as well as numerous gubernatorial and Congressional races. She has served as the District Director for the 5th Congressional District and also launched the critically acclaimed environmental advocacy campaign and public art project “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet,” which has since exhibited in 13 cities worldwide. Lucy’s personal Cool Globe creation was selected among a myriad of finalists to be displayed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Moog serves on the Advisory Committee of Chicago Ideas Week’s YOU(th) initiative and is a dedicated volunteer with Personal PAC, the Cool Globes/Know Tomorrow movement and Francis W. Parker Parents’ Association. Moog also serves as the Chicago 43rd Ward Democratic Committeeman. Moog studied government and psychology at Connecticut College.
Caralynn Nowinski Collens will serve as a member of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Dr. Nowinski Collens is the CEO of Dimension Inx, a next-generation biofabrication company developing regenerative medical implants that repair tissues and organs. Previously, she served as the co-founder of UI LABS, a first-of-its-kind technology organization focused on the digital future of industries. Nowinski Collens spent her early career in venture capital and corporate finance, primarily focused on technology-based university spin-outs. Nowinski Collens is the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of MxD, Chair-elect of the Board of Imerman Angels, and a member of the Executive Council of Granite Creek Capital Partners. She is a member of the Chicago Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and recognized as one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ “Forty Under Forty” and “Tech 50”. She earned a Bachelor of Science of Northwestern University and Doctor of Medicine and Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
* Appointments pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.
A second federal stimulus package offers some financial support for Illinois colleges and universities, but the money falls far short from covering the pandemic’s sweeping economic toll on higher education.
Public universities, community colleges and private institutions in Illinois stand to receive an estimated $718 million from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Education. Former President Donald Trump signed the law in late December.
Schools can put the money toward emergency aid grants for students, remote learning technology and personal protective equipment, among other approved uses. In all, the legislation provides $21.2 billion to institutions of higher education nationwide — more than the $14 billion in the first relief bill.
Still, the Illinois Board of Higher Education estimates the most recent stimulus package will offset only 27% of pandemic-related costs at the state’s 12 public universities.
* Press release…
The following letter was sent to Illinois’ federal legislators today by presidents of the state’s public universities, seeking additional relief to offset costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dear Senator/Representative:
We write on behalf of Illinois’ public universities to thank you for the pandemic relief Congress approved in December, and to request additional urgent assistance, as President Biden has proposed in his American Rescue Plan.
COVID-19 continues to have a devastating impact on higher education. Our universities have taken extraordinary measures to continue operating during the pandemic, such as purchasing hardware and software for students to take online courses and providing COVID-19 testing for students and employees. At the same time, we have seen significant revenue declines due to closed facilities and room and board refunds, among other issues. All told, the financial impact of the pandemic on Illinois’ public universities through December 2020 was over $533 million, and that figure is estimated to reach $819 million by the end of spring semester.
We are grateful for the support Congress has provided, most recently in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA). Our universities will receive $147 million from CRRSAA’s higher education relief fund, with an additional $69 million in emergency financial aid grants for our students. This support is vital, but further relief is needed.
Specifically, we request:
• Further financial assistance for institutions of higher education and students, for costs incurred since the beginning of the pandemic. We support the request made by the American Council on Education (ACE) and leading higher ed associations for an additional $97 billion in emergency funding.
• Funding to make up for disruptions to research grants, which have been particularly harmful to early-career and female researchers. We support ACE’s request for $26 billion in emergency funding for federal research agencies.
• Funding for state and local governments, so that they can continue to provide essential services.
• Temporary and limited liability protections to help ensure that universities acting in good faith and following applicable public health standards do not face expensive and time-consuming litigation, as detailed in the May 28 letter from higher education associations.
We thank you for your continued advocacy on behalf of Illinois at this challenging time.
With Illinois now in Phase 1B of COVID vaccinations, we applaud the prioritization of PreK-12 employees and teachers by the State of Illinois and the CDC.
However, with a high likelihood of COVID-19 outbreaks at colleges and universities, along with reported community spread associated with these outbreaks, it is necessary for the safety of our students and communities that higher education faculty and staff also be included in Phase 1B. Despite CDC guidance, higher education employees in Illinois are currently left out of this category.
* Oscar loves the snow more than just about anything. He’s always begging to go outside these days. If I have a scheduled phone call, I have to let him out before it starts so he can get it out of his system and doesn’t interrupt my work. I do love this little doggie…
A viewer worried about the vaccine delays reached out to CBS 2 about a legislative hurdle that could further jam up distribution. There are 10,000 dentists in Illinois, but state guidelines leave many unable to administer the vaccine, despite being more than qualified. […]
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation issued an Emergency Proclamation in December 2020, which requires dentists to take a four-hour training on administering injections. Part of the training is in-person.
Milgram said the extensive injection training isn’t necessary.
“We’re more than capable of giving injections. I’ve probably given 20 different people injections today,” he said. “Dentists probably give more shots than any other health care profession.”
Dave Marsh, director of governmental affairs at the Illinois State Dental Society, agreed. […]
Marsh is working with the state to create a one-hour online program so dentists can administer the vaccine at public health sites.
I asked the administration about this the other day and was told today they worked with dentists on new and streamlined training requirements. IDFPR issued an emergency proclamation today. Click here.
Only four days into efforts to get vaccines into the arms of senior citizens, complaints are piling up about clunky websites and scarce appointment times at some of the pharmacies distributing the shots.
Some seniors are giving up in frustration because of the cutthroat competition.
And those without access to a computer or high-speed internet are likely to get left behind.
Americans are unaccustomed to scarcity, particularly when it’s due to the rank incompetence and repeated failures of national “leadership.”
Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates says he has been taken aback by the volume of “crazy” and “evil” conspiracy theories about him spreading on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, but said on Wednesday he would like to explore what is behind them. […]
They include claims that Fauci and Gates created the pandemic to try and control people, that they want to profit from the virus’ spread, and that they want to use vaccines to insert trackable microchips into people.
“But do people really believe that stuff?,” Gates asked.
Five lawmakers are asking Gov. J.B. Pritzker to move the Metro East to the next level of the Restore Illinois COVID-19 plan.
Currently, only Region 4, containing Madison County and six other counties, is not allowed to offer indoor dining at bars and restaurants.
On Thursday, state Sens. Rachelle Crowe, D-Glen Carbon, and Christopher Belt, D-Centreville, were joined by state Reps. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville; Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea; and LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, in delivering a letter to Pritzker urging him to move the Metro East to the next tier which would allow restaurants and bars to reopen for indoor dining at a limited capacity and school sports practices to resume. […]
“As of today, our region has met two out of the three required criteria to move forward a tier – including both a lower positivity rate of COVID-19 and hospitalizations,” they said. “However, our region remains to be held back due to the number of available ICU beds – despite that number not being truly reflective of the actual situation for our region.
The lawmakers said that, as a border region in one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, residents use hospitals and healthcare providers on both sides of the river, particularly in St. Louis. There are many more hospital beds available regionally than reflected in the count of beds when limited to just Illinois, they said.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 4,156 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 71 additional deaths. The state has also administered a record high number of vaccine doses for the third straight day in a row, with 58,357 doses administered in the most recent 24-hour period.
- Bond County: 1 female 70s
- Champaign County: 1 male 60s
- Coles County: 1 male 60s
- Cook County: 1 female 40s, 1 female 50s, 2 males 50s, 1 female 60s, 3 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 2 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 3 males 80s, 1 male 90s
- DeKalb County: 1 female 60s
- Douglas County: 1 female 80s
- DuPage County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 90s
- Effingham County: 1 female 90s
- Fayette County: 1 male 90s
- Iroquois County: 1 female 90s
- Kane County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 60s, 2 males 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Kendall County: 1 male 40s
- Lake County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
- LaSalle County: 1 male 60s
- Logan County: 1 male 50s
- Madison County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s
- McHenry County: 2 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- Peoria County: 1 female 90s
- Piatt County: 1 male 80s
- Pike County: 1 male 60s
- Randolph County: 1 male 80s
- Rock Island County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s
- Saline County: 1 male 70s
- Shelby County: 1 male 90s
- St. Clair County: 2 males 70s, 1 male 90s
- Stephenson County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s
- Tazewell County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s
- Vermilion County: 1 male 60s
- Whiteside County: 1 male 70s
- Will County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- Williamson county: 1 female 90s
- Winnebago County: 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,120,528 cases, including 19,138 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 111,057 specimens for a total 15,844,619. As of last night, 2,735 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 532 patients were in the ICU and 297 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from January 22–28, 2021 is 4.3%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from January 22–28, 2021 is 5.4%.
A total of 1,304,475 doses of vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 496,100 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 1,800,575. IDPH is currently reporting a total of 887,845 vaccines administered, including 131,401 for long-term care facilities. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 38,738 doses. Yesterday, a total of 58,357 doses were administered making it the third day in a row Illinois has seen a record high number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered. On Tuesday, 53,628 doses were administered and 55,865 on Wednesday.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
* One major lesson I learned from cannabis legalization is that the police too often rely on gross exaggeration (or worse) to make their case against bills they oppose. Remember when they were falsely claiming that hundreds of drug-sniffing dogs would have to be euthanized?
There was the Downstate sheriff who warned that drug cartels would buy up houses in Christian County to grow pot if the state legalized home-grown. And then there were all the goofy, hyped up “studies” they used to justify their position against the legislation. The sky did not fall. The world did not end. (OK, it kinda did, but that had nothing to do with legal weed.)
Some of the provisions in the new law are difficult to interpret or, in the guise of being lenient, lay the groundwork for individuals to be charged with a more serious crime than they otherwise would have.
One provision relates to “obstructing or resisting a peace officer.”
It says “a person shall not be subject to arrest … unless there is an underlying offense for which the person was initially subject to arrest.”
That scenario apparently contemplates a situation where a person arrested for one offense commits the additional offense of resisting the arrest.
But what about a situation where a third party intervenes when police are making an arrest?
If that third party obstructs the arrest or helps the primary suspect resist the arrest, is that third party subject to arrest for resisting or obstructing?
The law appears to say the answer is no. But, alternatively, can that third party instead be charged with a more serious offense like aggravated battery to a police officer or mob action?
I checked with the Senate bill sponsor Elgie Sims. He said the above analysis is wrong. If you physically intervene to prevent somebody else’s arrest, that’s enough to be charged with obstructing an officer.
The whole idea of the language, Sen. Sims said, is to prevent the police from arresting people who, for instance, say something harsh about the police while somebody else is being arrested.
Now, maybe Sen. Sims is wrong. But the moral of the story here is reporters ought to remember the old City News slogan: If your mother says she loves you, check it out.
* I saw somebody say somewhere that it was almost like US Rep. Adam Kinzinger was created in a laboratory to run statewide in 2022. This WaPo profile is quite something…
In 2006, Kinzinger encountered another heightened moment. On a night out in Milwaukee, he and his girlfriend were walking along a street full of popular bars and restaurants after dinner with a friend. Suddenly they heard a woman screaming, “He cut my throat! He cut my throat!” The woman, clutching her neck, looked to Kinzinger for help as her boyfriend held the bloody knife.
“I remember going to thoughts of, ‘If I watch her die, I can’t live with myself for the rest of my life,’ ” he says. “But the second thought was, ‘If I fight him, I’m going to die.’ ” […]
He had been worried about violence in the District for weeks. Kinzinger tracks conspiracy theory-addled online chatter and grew concerned about the rhetoric at Trump’s post-election rallies. He told his staff to work remotely the day of the certification vote and advised his wife, a communications staffer for Vice President Mike Pence whom he married last year, to stay home. Kinzinger has a permit to carry a concealed weapon in the District, but almost never brings his gun to the Capitol. That day, he did.
Taking a break from the proceedings, Kinzinger left the House floor, returned to his office and started seeing incoming messages on Twitter: “@RepKinzinger we’re coming for you,” said one. “Tell us where you are right now,” said another. “I hope you know what’s coming.”
“He’s very collaborative, very expeditious,” says Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), with whom Kinzinger co-sponsored legislation to provide funding for European allies to invest in more secure telecom infrastructure. “I think he knows his own mind and that’s really helpful. He’s very adroit.”
More recently he has criticized freshman Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has espoused false conspiracy theories involving QAnon and mass school shootings and has used social media to support violence against Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“She is not a Republican. There are many who claim the title of Republican and have nothing in common with our core values. They are RINOS. She is a RINO,” Kinzinger said […]
“I think in six months it’s not going to be necessarily the party of Donald Trump. But this is the whole point: I do think we are in a battle, that it may be a battle that really needs to happen, for our party to say what is it we stand for now when it comes to policy. But as much as anything, are we aspirational or are we a party that feeds on fear and division?” Kinzinger said.
“If you’re a leader of the Republican Party right now, you need to be focused on one thing — not winning another election, that’s not what we should be focused on right now. What we should be focused on is restoring the integrity of this party,” he said.
* But he’s also trying to maintain his ideological conservative street cred…
Abortion remains one of the most divisive issues of our time. However, Americans from both sides of the divide agree that taxpayer funds should not be used. The Hyde Amendment has been in place for almost half a century & it must be retained. My letter to Congressional Leaders: pic.twitter.com/kNGVb5LB81
For an Administration that spends so much time calling for a one-size-fits-all approach on literally everything, I’m shocked Governor Pritkzer hasn’t used that approach in #Illinois. Every health dept. across IL has a different vaccine registration process & form. What a mess.
I’m assuming that the Democrats will give him the best possible district to encourage him to run for reelection instead of governor or US Senator. But he may not want to stay in the US House after all this.
Obviously, the man knows how to throw a punch, so don’t count him out in either the primary or the general. If he runs for governor, though, I would imagine the Democratic Governors Association will double-down on its 2018 primary strategy and run ads aimed at Republicans claiming he’s not right-wing enough. Because if he gets out of that primary, he’s going to have a heck of a story to tell Illinoisans...
Rep. Adam Kinzinger is willing to lose his seat over his vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump, the Illinois Republican told CNN’s David Axelrod during an episode of “The Axe Files” podcast released Thursday.
“I did it knowing full well it could very well be terminal to my career,” Kinzinger said of his vote. “But I also knew that I couldn’t live with myself having, you know, try to just protect it and just felt like the one time I was called to do a really tough duty, I didn’t do it.”
Parents of four Illinois high school athletes filed a lawsuit Monday against Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois High School Association in LaSalle County Court.
The suit claims Pritzker’s cancellation of the winter high school sports season ‘‘is an unconstitutional violation of the Plaintiffs’ right to equal protection under the Constitution of the State of Illinois.’’ The suit seeks to bar Pritzker and the IHSA from enforcing the cancellation of the winter sports season.
‘‘[Pritzker] is using this emergency statute to create these restrictions,’’ said Laura Grochocki, the attorney for the plaintiffs. ‘‘They are supposed to have a rational basis. We are asking why high school sports have the restrictions and why college sports and pro sports do not. Is there a rational basis for the restrictions on high schools? Or is there something else at work here, why [colleges and pros] are allowed to play and high schools are not?’’
Trevor Till, the son of lead plaintiff Lisa Moore, took his own life in late October in Champaign. He graduated from Seneca in June. Till ran cross-country and track, was class president and participated in multiple school activities.
An Illinois mother of a teenager who killed himself during the coronavirus pandemic is suing Gov. JB Pritzker over COVID-19 restrictions, telling “The Faulkner Focus” on Thursday, “My son died because of COVID isolation.”
Lisa Mara Moore’s son Trevor Till, who was hoping to go to the state championships for pole vaulting in his senior year of high school but couldn’t because of coronavirus restrictions, committed suicide in October. Moore said she believes “100 percent” that the lockdown “changed Trevor from who he was to the person that did this.” […]
The group’s attorney, Laura Grochocki of the nonprofit organization Remember America Action, filed the suit last month in LaSalle County Circuit Court.
Appearing with Moore on “The Faulkner Focus” Grochocki said, “Unfortunately, in Illinois and I think in many, many other places, I think the elites in power, they’ve dismissed high school students.”
A mother has lost her son. She’s clearly devastated and deserves our sympathy and our empathy. Please, do not make her the focus of your comments or you’ll be banned.
* Instead, let’s take a look at Remember America Action. From its home page…
Remember America Action is recruiting, educating and mentoring young conservative lawyers to do battle on social media censorship, election fraud, FEC, education, and civil and constitutional rights violations in courtrooms across America. The legal battlefield will be the most important battlefield of our lifetime - the new TURNING POINT.
Remember America Action is also at the forefront of helping businesses and individuals fight COVID-19 restrictions on fundamental constitutional liberties. President Trump is right – keeping the economy shut down is UNHEALTHY for our country. These shutdowns are destroying lives.
Furthermore, the State of Illinois uses Dominion voting machines and software – machines and software that, it is alleged, can manipulate the vote, change votes, and mark ballots. This must be investigated. If it is determined that Dominion voting machines and software are vulnerable to fraud, we request that public officials take immediate action against the use of these machines and software and ensure that any future technology cannot mark or change ballots or be interfered with from outside third parties, either foreign or domestic.
The 107-page legal complaint in US Dominion v. Giuliani, a defamation lawsuit filed in federal court on Monday, is really an extraordinary read.
It lays out how Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor turned Trump consigliere, allegedly spread a “Big Lie” to an audience of millions, potentially endangering hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of government contracts sought by the voting machine company Dominion Voting Services in the process. Unsubstantiated smears against Dominion began to spread in the Trumpiest corners of social media while votes were still being counted in the 2020 election. Before long, accusations that Dominion was involved in a scheme to hand the election to Joe Biden were picked up by right-wing media, by Trump-aligned lawyers such as Giuliani and Sidney Powell, and even by Donald Trump himself.
None of it was true — and now Dominion is launching its own legal counterattack.
Frustrated by the slow pace of COVID-19 vaccinations at local long-term-care facilities, the health district offered to take over long-term-care vaccinations in Champaign County itself.
The state agreed with the plan last week, health district Administrator Julie Pryde said, but when her agency called nursing homes to offer assistance, they declined.
“We contacted every single place last week when we were going to go in and do it ourselves, and they just didn’t want it,” she said.
That’s likely because long-term-care facilities were reluctant to give up the vaccination appointment dates they’ve been waiting on with CVS or Walgreens, Pryde said.
Not only that, she said, switching vaccination providers would have involved more paperwork, such as obtaining new consent forms for residents being vaccinated.
For example, we've administered 27 million vaccines. If you pick that many Americans at random, you'd expect 640 to die within 24 hours. Post-vaccine deaths are running much less than that, suggesting that they are coincidental. Ignore panic pornographers. https://t.co/rX5OjPI3Lq
Federal authorities have arrested an Illinois man who allegedly appears in a TikTok video fighting with members of the National Guard outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 breach of the building, records show.
Mathew Capsel, who apparently uses the moniker “Mateo Q Capsel” online, was arrested Tuesday, according to the Justice Department. He is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted area and resisting law enforcement.
The feds say Capsel was arrested in southern Illinois. However, a family member who spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times said Capsel was arrested after he got off work in Kentucky, and he was then taken to southern Illinois. The family member said Capsel is from Marseilles, a city in LaSalle County.
Court records show Capsel is in his late 20s.
A former neighbor and a social media friend turned Capsel in to the FBI, according to an 11-page criminal complaint filed against him. The former neighbor said Capsel was “known to be violent” and told the FBI about multiple videos of Capsel “on the frontline of the riot and breach.”
After rioters breached the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, a photo surfaced on social media of a man and a woman wearing “Trump 2020” attire in what appeared to be the Capitol Rotunda, along with the words “Quincy made it inside,” the feds say.
Someone in a Facebook chat replied, “hope they lock yours [sic] a— up,” records show. And someone with the username “Christna Gerding” replied, “well since they let us inside; opened the door for us I think I’ll be just fine.”
Now Christina and Jason Gerding of Quincy have become the latest Illinois residents arrested in connection with the Capitol breach, according to the Justice Department. They were arrested Thursday in central Illinois, records show. […]
Christina Gerding, who is 46, and Jason Gerding, who is 50, are at least the fourth and fifth Illinoisans charged as a result of the riot at the Capitol. But their case appears to be the first from Illinois to directly reference QAnon, described in an 11-page criminal complaint as “a loosely affiliated network and community of people who believe in a number of conspiracy theories. The letter ‘Q’ is utilized by its believers to identify themselves.”
A man from LaSalle County arrested earlier this week, Mathew Capsel, used the online moniker “Mateo Q Capsel,” records show. But the complaint against him did not specifically reference QAnon.
“…Republicans have lost their No. 1 political issue: It’s Mike Madigan,” Edgar said. “I don’t know what they’re going to complain about. I don’t think on issues they do well sometimes. What they do well on is Madigan.”
