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Repeal IFPA Now
Thursday, Apr 10, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.]  IFPA Will Harm our Members and our Communities. “My members are going to come to me to explain something I don’t understand.” Stop the Chaos for Our Hard-Working Union Members! Paid for by Illinois Credit Union League.
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RETAIL: Strengthening Communities Across Illinois
Thursday, Apr 10, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Retail generates $7.3 billion in income and sales tax revenue each year in Illinois. These funds support public safety, infrastructure, education, and other important programs we all rely on every day. In fact, retail is the second largest revenue generator for the State of Illinois and the largest revenue generator for local governments. Retailers like Abby enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.
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Billions Spent, Staffing Still Falls Short: Workers Call For Accountability
Thursday, Apr 10, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Frontline nursing home workers were at the Capitol Tuesday, joined by lawmakers and senior advocates, to release findings from a new report on the state of long-term care in Illinois. Despite $15 billion in public funding over the past five years—including hundreds of millions intended to support staffing—1 in 5 nursing homes still fail to meet the legal minimum staffing standards. These standards were enacted in 2010 to protect residents and improve care. In 2019, the legislature—working with groups like AARP and the Alzheimer’s Association—passed fines to hold facilities accountable, which finally went into effect in January. After 14 years of lead time, the industry is already lobbying to weaken those fines. That’s why workers are calling for action—not only to protect the law as written, but to go further. They’re backing a Direct Care Minimum bill that would ensure public dollars go toward staffing and resident care—an approach used in Illinois home care and other states’ nursing home systems. Meanwhile, the industry was also in the Capitol Tuesday, to ask for more public funding. Any new funding must come with real accountability and transparency. In this moment, as Medicaid faces national threats, it’s more important than ever that we get this right and ensure public dollars serve the people they were meant to help.
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Healing Communities: Illinois Hospitals Are Bringing Care To Communities
Thursday, Apr 10, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] When it comes to stroke care, getting patients to the hospital within the “golden hour” increases their chances for survival and reduces their risk of long-term brain damage, when treated with a clot-busting drug called TPA. What if that hour could be cut in half by bringing the “hospital” to the patient? Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital is doing just that with its Mobile Stroke Unit. This specialized ambulance serves DuPage County’s half a million residents over 150 square miles. The Mobile Stroke Unit is also a prime example of how Illinois hospitals are making needed healthcare accessible to communities, in this case reaching patients within a critical time frame and administering TPA in the ambulance for optimal health outcomes. Other hospitals across the state are similarly meeting the need for accessible care through such initiatives as a women’s wellness center, a mobile van providing mammograms, community health screenings, programs to address youth mental health and more. While most known for the services provided within their facilities, hospitals know healthcare shouldn’t stop there. For healthy communities, care must also be offered in the community. Learn more about how Illinois hospitals are healing communities.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Apr 10, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Illinois schools chief pushes back against Trump administration’s anti-DEI push. Chalkbeat Chicago…
- The U.S. Department of Education last week ordered state education officials to certify within 10 days that their school districts do not engage in any practices the administration says illegally promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. - The administration threatened to pull federal funding from schools in states that failed to do so. Illinois would lose about $6.4 billion in federal funding if the administration follows through with its threat. * Related stories… ∙ WBEZ: Illinois State Board of Education rebuffs Trump administration demand to reject DEI in schools ∙ Chalkbeat: Illinois schools chief tells districts to follow state law, not Trump threats
Federal Medicaid cuts and rising inflation are threatening essential services that thousands of people across our state rely on every day. With reimbursement for support rate expenses currently being paid at 2017 levels in 2025, nursing facilities have already begun closing, leaving staff without jobs and needy Illinoisans without services. Lawmakers should support SB1606/HB2858 to protect the most vulnerable and reform Medicaid reimbursement rates before more people suffer. * BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here. * Subscribers know more. Tribune | Illinois Senate President Don Harmon disagrees $4 million he took in political donations was improper: “I don’t agree with their interpretation,” Harmon said in an interview steps from the Senate floor. The Oak Park Democrat added that he is “confident this will be resolved.” In a certified letter sent to Harmon after a Tribune inquiry in March about his fundraising, state election officials said he has until April 18 to return the excess campaign cash above the limits “to the contributor or donate an equal amount to charity” or to the state’s general fund. * Tribune | ‘You tell me a number’: Ex-red-light camera company exec takes stand in bribery trial of state Sen. Emil Jones III: Then Jones dropped the number: “If you can raise me five grand, that’d be good.” “Done,” Maani replied quickly. That conversation, which Maani secretly recorded for the FBI, was the focal point of a long first day of trial for Jones, the son of former Senate President Emil Jones Jr. Jones III is accused of agreeing to accept bribes from Maani in exchange for his help tamping down anti-red-light camera legislation in Springfield. * Tribune | Democratic-led Illinois Supreme Court rejects GOP challenge to legislative maps that kept Democrats in control: Republicans had argued the Democratic mapping effort was unconstitutional political gerrymandering that limited voters’ choices. But the court’s five-member Democratic majority said the GOP’s “timing in filing the instant motion shows a lack of due diligence.” “Plaintiffs could have brought their argument years ago,” the majority wrote in an unsigned decision. “Their claim that waiting multiple election cycles is necessary to reveal the effects of redistricting is unpersuasive.” * Subscribers were told about this yesterday. Sun-Times | ADL report shows rise in hate crimes across Illinois: Hate crimes, intimidation and extremism are on the rise in Illinois, according to a report released Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League. […] To curtail the increase in threats of violence and intimidation, the ADL called on the state to pass legislation that would provide targeted groups or individuals greater ability to seek damages starting at $10,000. The legislation has drawn opposition from groups that say it could have a chilling effect on individuals’ rights to free speech. * Sun-Times | Illinois politicians, advocacy groups fight back as Trump cuts funding for libraries and museums: Established by Congress in 1996, the agency allocated $266.7 million in 2024 to support libraries, museums and archives, about $11.3 million of that designated for Illinois, though some organizations say they’re still waiting to receive their 2024 grants. Nearly all of the federal agency’s staff has been placed on administrative leave. The Trump administration described the action as a reduction of “unnecessary” federal bureaucracy, and the Department of Government Efficiency boasted on the social media platform X of cutting the institute’s “wasteful DEI grants.” * Teamsters Local 700…
* Tribune | Orland Park trustees backed by Keith Pekau say they want good working relations with Jim Dodge backed candidates: “I think it will be an interesting two years,” Trustee Michael Milani, in the middle of his term, said at Monday’s Village Board meeting. “I don’t think we’ll agree on everything, but we’re going to continue to do what’s best.” Milani and Trustees William Healy and Cynthia Katsenes were first elected in 2019 and won second terms in 2023, running unopposed on outgoing Mayor Keith Pekau’s People Over Politics ticket. * Daily Herald | Three-term Village President Wallace to hand reins to lifelong Bartlett resident Gunsteen: I couldn’t be more pleased with Dan’s leadership moving forward,” Wallace said of the ascendance of the one-term trustee. “It’s been the honor of my life to serve in this role for the past 12 years.” Gunsteen said if he’d had to campaign for the past three months, he would have promised voters a continuation of the growth, stability and professionalism of Wallace’s tenure. * Crain’s | New year, same trend for record-high suburban office vacancy: Fueled by another stretch of companies predominantly shedding workspace, the suburban office vacancy rate edged up during the first quarter to an all-time high of 32.2% from 32% at the end of 2024, according to data from brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle. The new share of available office space in the suburbs is up from 30.8% a year ago, 22.1% when the public health crisis broke out, and has reached new record highs for 17 consecutive quarters. * WGLT | Trump administration revokes visas of some ISU students: Illinois State University is among the many higher education institutions affected by Trump administration revocations of international student visas. “We can confirm that a small number of those students have had their visas revoked. We are directly communicating with the affected students to provide appropriate resources and options,” said a university spokesperson. * WICS | Former Springfield officer pleads guilty to charges of sexual misconduct: Taylor Staff, a former Springfield police officer, pleaded guilty to Aggravated criminal sexual abuse, two counts of official misconduct, custodial sexual misconduct, and criminal sexual abuse. Staff was arrested in 2021 following incidents involving three separate victims that occurred while he was on duty between January and July 2020. * WAND | Springfield police chief announces retirement after 27 years of service: Chief Ken Scarlette announced his plans to retire from the Springfield Police Department this June. Scarlette has been with SPD for 27 years. “After much discussion, thought, and prayer with my family and friends, I have made the decision to announce my retirement. To the former and current police officers and staff of the Springfield Police Department, I want to thank you for your tireless dedication to the Springfield community. I am so blessed to have worked beside you over the past 27 years,” said Chief Scarlette. * BND | They don’t have TV sets or internet, but nuns at a Belleville monastery are going solar: Nuns in the Franciscan Order of St. Clare live in isolation at a Belleville monastery, spending most of their time in prayer, never leaving to visit family, go shopping or even walk in the neighborhood. Known as the Poor Clares, they don’t have TV sets, radios or internet. Private telephone use is prohibited, except in emergencies. But the monastery has electricity, and rising power bills have led the 11 cloistered sisters to make a decidedly modern move: They’ve hired a company to install a solar system on their 8.2-acre property near Frank Scott Parkway West and West Main Street. * Sun-Times | For accused mentally ill killers and their victims in Chicago, help comes too little too late: To try to understand the reasons behind a spate of shocking crimes that occurred in downtown Chicago between 2021 and 2024, the Chicago Sun-Times examined four unprovoked killings and two nonfatal attacks, including a bizarre assault on a flight attendant from Mexico. Most of the attacks happened during the daytime. The victims: people who were just going about their lives. In each case, the people charged — two who’ve been convicted — had a history of serious mental illness or delusional behavior and had drifted in and out of jails and hospitals, sometimes for decades, their conditions never regularly treated. * Chalkbeat Chicago | Where is Chicago’s Black Student Achievement Committee?: Months after the new Chicago Board of Education was sworn in, some advocates are pushing the board to launch a state-mandated Black Student Achievement Committee. The committee in question is required under the state law that defines Chicago’s new elected school board. But Chicago Public Schools came under federal scrutiny in February after releasing its long-awaited Black Student Success Plan. * Tribune | Artists rip Mayor Brandon Johnson’s arts commissioner, department ‘dysfunction’ in letter: The letter, posted to Instagram Wednesday as a petition people can sign, harshly criticizes Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth, appointed by Johnson a year ago. As Chicago artists and cultural institutions face “a unique and critical time” amid inflation, federal funding cuts and declining attendance, “needs are not being met” under Hedspeth’s leadership, the letter reads. “The department’s budget, staff, and influence have diminished during your tenure, and the department has lost invaluable talent—as well as the confidence of Chicago’s creative sector,” the self-dubbed “Artists for Chicago” told Johnson in the letter. * WBEZ | Prosecutor pushes to exclude ex-Gitmo detainee’s torture allegations against former Chicago detective: Assistant State’s Attorney William Meyer argued against including Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s testimony in an upcoming evidentiary hearing on whether former Detective Richard Zuley tortured a confession out of Anthony Garrett, convicted of murdering 7-year-old Dantrell Davis in an infamous 1992 shooting at the Cabrini-Green public housing complex. “It was in a time of war and I think that should be taken into account,” argued Meyer about the years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, saying Slahi “was a person who was accused of aiding and abetting our enemies.” * Tribune | Chicago-based law firm fights Trump executive orders: About a dozen Chicago law firms signed the brief, including Clifford Law, Edelson and Jenner & Block, one of the few so-called Big Law firms on the list. “This isn’t a political issue. This is a constitutional and legal issue regarding the rule of law,” John Sciaccotta, Chicago Bar Association president, said Wednesday. “I think it’s important for people to choose their lawyers, and I think it’s important for lawyers to choose their clients.” * Block Club | Riot Fest Staying In Douglass Park After Organizers Agree To Increase Park Payments: Festival organizers announced Wednesday a deal with the Chicago Park District to host its event at Douglass Park through 2027 with the option to extend the deal through 2029. The deal also triples festival payouts to Douglass Park, 1401 S. Sacramento Drive, for use of the park. Under the new deal, the Park District will send 20 percent of the revenue it collects from Riot Fest to Douglass Park, up from 10 percent previously. Riot Fest will also pay 10 percent of its revenue to Douglass Park to fund capital improvements to the park. * CNBC | Dot-com bust, 1987 crash had massive relief rallies similar to Wednesday’s pop: Of the 25 best days for the Nasdaq, including Wednesday, 22 took place during the dot-com collapse, the 2008-09 financial crisis or the early days of Covid. One occurred on Oct. 21, 1987, two days after Black Monday. The other was in November 2022. Call it a dead-cat bounce, a relief rally or short covering. It’s a familiar reaction during the worst of times for Wall Street. Be prepared for plenty more volatility.
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