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Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* See you next week!…



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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Crain’s

Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren put job creation and economic development front and center last night in his pitch for a new lakefront stadium, speaking to some of the city’s top business leaders about the opportunity that a new venue could create for a downtown in need of a jolt.

“You’re talking about creating 43,000 (construction) jobs,” Warren said of the team’s nearly $5 billion mixed-use development proposal at an Economic Club of Chicago event. Lamenting a lack of construction cranes operating today in Chicago compared to other markets, Warren touted the team’s proposed public-private partnership to demolish Soldier Field and build a domed stadium next to it as a chance for the city to grow its tax base. […]

“There’s ways you can look at money (for a new stadium) — you can look at it as, ‘What do we have to give up?’ or you can look at it as ‘What can we invest to come together?’ This is truly one of those situations that one plus one will equal 100. Because if we don’t wrap our arms around some of these construction projects, we’re going to fall behind as a city. We need to do more here in Chicago.”

It was the latest public jockeying by the NFL team’s top executive to win public support for the stadium project. The Bears in April unveiled their vision with the staunch support of Mayor Brandon Johnson, but the team has thus far gotten a cold reception from Gov. J.B. Pritzker on the idea of the state putting up billions of dollars to help pay for the venue.

Pritzker met with Warren in July and subsequently said it would be “near impossible” for any such financing deal to get done this year.

* Daily Herald

Arlington Heights officials have re-upped their contract with two lobbying firms for another year — to the tune of $120,000 — representing their interests in the stalled, yet ongoing, Bears stadium saga.

The $10,000-a-month consulting agreement with Mac Strategies Group gives the Northwest suburban municipality a seat at the table in Springfield, where the NFL franchise’s ask for subsidies for a new stadium — at either the 326-acre Arlington Park site the team owns, or the Chicago lakefront — have been rejected so far.

Mac is led by political and media operative Ryan McLaughlin, and counts former Palatine Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy among its top advisers. Murphy has worked behind the scenes with Arlington Heights officials on their proposed settlement of the long-running Arlington Park property tax dispute between the Bears and three local school districts, the Daily Herald reported last December.

Half of Mac’s monthly retainer paid by the village is funneled to a subcontractor, GR Consulting, led by former Chicago Democratic state Rep. Art Turner Jr. and Larry Luster, a former communications staffer for the Illinois Senate Democrats and Black Caucus.

* WTTW

The looming closure of Chicago’s intercity bus terminal — which bus providers Thursday signaled is just weeks away — could cut off abortion access for out-of-state residents increasingly traveling to Illinois for care, state lawmakers said.

Democratic legislators sounded the alarm in a letter Thursday to Mayor Brandon Johnson and urged him to “act swiftly.”

“Many patients traveling to our city to access the legal health care they’ve been denied at home have struggled to find the resources to get here, and that often means relying on the least expensive means of transportation,” the letter reads. “Eliminating bus travel as an economical option would be devastating to them.”

The letter is signed by members of an Illinois House group dedicated to developing state policies to protect and expand reproductive care following the 2022 Dobbs decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that felled the right to an abortion previously secured by Roe v. Wade.

Click here to read the full letter.

*** Statewide ***

* Daily Herald | ‘An entire life of pensions and six-figure incomes’: Officials tout $8 million grant for apprenticeship programs: Roughly $8 million in federal funding will help Illinois high schools train students for positions operating heavy machinery and secure high-paying careers in fields facing critical workforce shortages. U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi visited South Elgin High School on Thursday to announce the grant provided through the Apprenticeships Build America program. Representatives of industry groups and a national apprenticeship program joined local school officials for the announcement in an automotive shop classroom.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | CTA’s high violent crime rate keeps away what’s needed to ward off crime: passengers: The number of violent crime victimizations per CTA passenger trip nearly quadrupled between 2015 and 2021 and remains elevated today, according to the analysis. Violent crimes on buses, trains and other CTA properties during this year’s first eight months totaled 656. All but 19 of those crimes were robberies, aggravated batteries and aggravated assaults that didn’t get much public attention. But homicides have also increased since the start of the pandemic, despite steps by CTA and the Chicago Police Department to boost security.

* Crain’s | Target for the O’Hare terminal revamp quietly slips to 2034: The timetable for completing O’Hare’s massive $8.5 billion terminal overhaul and expansion has been pushed out another two years. Previously, the Department of Aviation had predicted it would complete the project in 2032. When the terminal project was first announced in 2018, the completion date was expected to be 2026.

The project is expected to be completed by 2034, according to a timeline published in connection with a new $1 billion bond offering.

* WTTW | Chicago Fair Trade Museum Aims to Highlight Overlooked Stories Behind the Products We Use Every Day: The Chicago Fair Trade Museum opened its first permanent location in Uptown this summer with the aim of educating more people about common exploitative and unsustainable trade practices behind the items we use and consume daily. “Every single day when we wake up, when we figure out what clothing we’re going to wear or what we’re going to eat for breakfast, there’s a chance for us to try to find out what we’re consuming and consume better,” said Katherine Bissell Córdova, executive director of Chicago Fair Trade.

* Crain’s | Chicago federal judge on broker commission cases replaced for conflict of interest: On Sept. 4, Andrea Wood, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, withdrew herself from the cases known as Moehrl, Batton (I and II) and Sawbill. The cases all relate to claims that the National Association of Realtors and brokerages have colluded over the years to keep real estate agents’ commissions high and thus cost buyers and sellers more than they should. Wood recused herself, she wrote, because a distant family connection to a defendant’s attorney “has come to my attention.” According to Wood, “the spouse of a person related to me within the third degree of relationship is a partner in a law firm representing” the Moehrl case.

* Sun-Times | How right-wing podcaster from Chicago landed at center of federal probe into Russian meddling: Tim Pool, a Chicago high school dropout who became an alt-right media superstar, was apparently paid $100,000 per episode by a covert propaganda campaign funded by Russia, according to a new federal indictment.

* Block Club | West Garfield Park Is No Longer A Food Desert After Save A Lot Grocery Store Reopens: The West Side grocery store is the first of six Save A Lot stores owned and operated by Yellow Banana scheduled to reopen this year. The Ohio-based company, which operates grocery stores under the Save A Lot name, is planning to reopen locations before Thanksgiving in West Pullman, 10700 S. Halsted St.; South Shore, 7240 S. Stony Island Ave.; South Chicago, 2858 E. 83rd St.; Auburn Gresham, 7909 S. Halsted St.; and West Lawn, 4439 W. 63rd St., CEO Joe Canfield said.

* Sun-Times | Reputed Chicago Outfit figure Peter DiFronzo faced, ah, dogged surveillance, FBI files show: The FBI released 220 pages of records on the reputed onetime boss of the mob’s Elmwood Park street crew, whose brother John “No Nose” DiFronzo was suspected of running the Outfit. Observations include DiFronzo shoveling snow and walking a dog.

* Sun-Times | Hazmat suits and headlamps: Subterranean salvaging at the Music Box Theatre: It’s an infrequent occurrence, maybe once a month. And Carr is one of the few staff members who will go into the basement, climb a ladder, enter a small hatch and crawl into the vents beneath the seats to retrieve lost items for customers. They are called plenum vents — used for heating and cooling — and you don’t see them like this modern theaters.

* WGN | Chicago priest asked to step down from parish, school due to child molestation allegations: “I write you with difficult news. The Archdiocese has been notified that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has opened an investigation into allegations they termed child exploitation and child molestation during a public penance service against Father Martin Nyberg,” archbishop Blase Cupich wrote in a letter. He went on to say Nyberg “strenuously” denies the allegations and is cooperating after being asked to step aside from ministry.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Triibe | Cook County residents push for lasting programs as American Rescue Plan funding winds down: The meeting was part of a series of “Community Voices Events” hosted by the Cook County government. The meeting was led by Mykel Selph, Cook County’s deputy chief of staff of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She helped facilitate the meeting, which ran nearly two hours and featured participants gathering in intimate groups where they were able to give recommendations and voice concerns as the dollars from the program dwindle.

* Daily Herald | Former DCFS caseworker convicted in AJ Freund case is released from jail: A former employee of Illinois’ child welfare agency convicted of mishandling the AJ Freund case months before the Crystal Lake boy was killed by his mother completed his jail term this week. Carlos Acosta, 58, was convicted in October of two counts of child endangerment. He was sentenced to six months in jail along with fines, 30 months of probation and 200 hours of public service, a sentencing order filed in the McHenry County court said.

* Sun-Times | Ex-Gangster Disciples leader says he wants justice in son’s killing in Dolton: When he was shot to death by masked gunmen in a restaurant parking lot in the south suburbs last year, James Yates Jr., the son of a onetime Chicago gang leader, became the Cook County medical examiner’s office’s case No. ME2023-03844. He was the sixth of 11 homicide victims last year in Dolton, population 20,000. More than a year later, his parents say they want the Dolton Police Department to treat their 29-year-old son as something more than just another number. Since a face-to-face meeting with police a few months after the killing, they say they haven’t heard anything from the department — no calls, emails, texts or meetings.

*** Downstate ***

* Capitol News Illinois | East St. Louis forum to tackle persistent childhood poverty: Illinois has the potential to eradicate childhood poverty, but it will require a concentrated, sustained effort in partnership with families and disadvantaged communities, says Tasha Green Cruzat, president of Children’s Advocates for Change, a Chicago-based nonprofit focused on childhood wellbeing. This hope drives the focus of the policy forum her organization is hosting in East St. Louis next week. The event will bring together social service providers, educators, health officials, and lawmakers to address the barriers to lifting families out of poverty in one of the nation’s most disadvantaged cities.

* WGLT | Illinois State University enrolls largest incoming class: The annual enrollment report following the 10th day of classes showed nearly 4,285 first-year students came to campus for classes. That’s up 3%. Total enrollment is also up by 2.7% at 21,546. Executive Director of Admissions and Recruitment Marketing Jeff Mavros said the entire campus community makes intentional recruitment and retention efforts.

* WCBU | Sheriff Watkins: Options for Peoria County Jail upgrades coming soon: Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins says an analysis of options to upgrade the jail facility is nearly complete. Last year, the jail addressed some of its exterior infrastructure issues and roof replacement work. But Watkins says they’re looking at more long-term needs. “For the last six months, we’ve been working on a jail master study with a consultant, and that study is almost finished,” said Watkins. “It should be presented with the next month or two to our county board to give them options of what to do: Build a new jail, do an addition, or just revamp what we have.”

* Rockford Register Star | Rockford area veterans clash with Winnebago County Board over funding: Services like health care transportation and assistance for homeless vets could be cut in the coming year if the Winnebago County Board declines to fund the Veterans Assistance Commission of Winnebago County’s largest ever funding request. Commissioners approved a $1.6 million budget for 2025 so it can provide its nine employees with health benefits in accordance with a new state law and give them raises in an effort to retain accredited veteran service officers, said VAC Superintendent Jesus Pereira, a retired U.S. Army veteran. […] A county committee proposed $1.3 million, 15% more than last year’s $1 million in funding.

* PJ Star | Suspect in Macomb police shooting taken into custody after 20-hour standoff, police say: A suspect who shot two police officers in Macomb was taken into custody without incident, according to the Macomb Police Department. Macomb police said Shaiking M. Mathis, 38, of Macomb peacefully surrendered at about 2:10 p.m. Thursday after 20 hours of extensive negotiations. He was transported to the McDonough County Jail and has been charged with four counts of aggravated battery to a police officer, one county of aggravated discharge of a firearm. Additional charges are pending.

* WCIA | Flesor’s Candy Kitchen celebrates 20th anniversary of reopening, mural completion: Flesor’s Candy Kitchen recently wrapped up a project to modernize the 150-year-old building it’s housed in. Part of those renovations include the Coca-Cola mural on the side of the building. The business worked with Cola-Cola on the project, getting access to the soda company’s original painting guidelines from the 1920s, which the original painters used 100 years ago.

*** National ***

* The Athletic | Peak Honey Deuce season at the U.S. Open means more drinks than ever before: Last year, approximately 460,000 Honey Deuces were sold, according to Chris Studley, the USTA’s managing director of event services. At $22 per drink, that’s $10.1 million in sales. The drink’s price was raised by a dollar this year to $23, the sixth time the price has gone up in the last 12 years. Studley said the tournament is on pace to sell more than 500,000 Honey Deuces at this year’s tournament. That would push sales to $11.5 million, well over $1 million more in additional revenue compared with last year.

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Court preserves provision of the Illinois Reproductive Health Act

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here for some background. Attorney General Kwame Raoul

Attorney General Kwame Raoul today issued a statement highlighting a Sangamon County Circuit Court decision in Illinois Baptist State Association v. Illinois Department of Insurance. The court granted Attorney General Raoul’s motion for summary judgment, preserving a provision of the Illinois Reproductive Health Act that requires Illinois health insurance products regulated by the Illinois Department of Insurance that cover pregnancy care to also cover abortion care.

“This decision is a win in a years-long fight that is by no means over. My office is continuing to fight for reproductive care on all fronts because abortion care is health care. Full stop. We are committed to protecting access to comprehensive reproductive health care that includes abortion. However, coverage for reproductive health care is just as critical as access to reproductive health care. We will continue to fight to ensure that all women are able to access the reproductive and abortion care they need and deserve without having to worry about the cost.”

The suit sought to have the Illinois Reproductive Health Act, which requires health insurance plans in Illinois which provide pregnancy-related benefits must also provide coverage for abortion ruled unconstitutional.

  2 Comments      


Illinois school district that called police on students “every other day” agrees to reform disciplinary practices

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ProPublica in 2022

Administrators at the Garrison School call the police to report student misbehavior every other school day, on average. And because staff members regularly press charges against the children — some as young as 9 — officers have arrested students more than 100 times in the last five school years, an investigation by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica found. That is an astounding number given that Garrison, the only school that is part of the Four Rivers Special Education District, has fewer than 65 students in most years.

No other school district — not just in Illinois, but in the entire country — had a higher student arrest rate than Four Rivers the last time data was collected nationwide. That school year, 2017-18, more than half of all Garrison students were arrested.

Officers typically handcuff students and take them to the police station, where they are fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a holding room. For at least a decade, the local newspaper has included the arrests in its daily police blotter for all to see.

The students enrolled each year at Garrison have severe emotional or behavioral disabilities that kept them from succeeding at previous schools. Some also have been diagnosed with autism, ADHD or other disorders. Many have experienced horrifying trauma, including sexual abuse, the death of parents and incarceration of family members, according to interviews with families and school employees.

* Today from ProPublica

An Illinois school district that had the nation’s highest student arrest rate has agreed to change its disciplinary practices and provide help to those who missed class time while being punished.

The agreement with the U.S. Department of Education will end a federal civil rights investigation into the Four Rivers Special Education District that was launched following a 2022 ProPublica and Chicago Tribune investigation that found the district turned to police with stunning frequency to discipline students with disabilities.

Under the deal, students who were referred to police or sent to a “crisis room” multiple times during the past three academic years could be eligible for services including tutoring, counseling or remedial education.

Four Rivers operates one public school: the Garrison School, in west-central Illinois, for students in an eight-county area of the state who have severe emotional and behavioral disabilities; some also have autism or ADHD. […]

In the 2021-22 school year, investigators found that students were sent to police 96 times — more than the total number of students enrolled that year — for reasons including “noncompliance,” “disruption,” “inappropriate language” and violating a phone policy. Students also “spent extensive time out of the classroom” even when police weren’t involved; one student was sent to a “crisis room” 143 times in one school year and spent four hours and 20 minutes there one day.

Under the agreement, Garrison employees should no longer call police for behaviors that a specialized school like Garrison “should be fully equipped to manage,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said in a written statement.

* From the agreement

Student Remedies

By December 20, 2024, the District will notice and properly convene an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting for each student with disabilities who was subjected to law enforcement contact or were sent to the crisis/regulation room multiple times and missed instructional time in the 2021-2022 through 2023-2024 school years. At each meeting, the District will:

    - a. Invite the student’s parents/guardians to share any concerns with the District’s use of law enforcement or the crisis/regulation room.

    - b. Through the IEP team, revise and/or more clearly define any provisions concerning the use of law enforcement or the crisis/regulation room in the student’s IEP as appropriate to meet the individualized needs of the student;

    - c. Determine whether its use of law enforcement or the crisis/regulation room for the student resulted in a denial of a free appropriate public education (FAPE), taking into account the extent of missed instruction and/or related services during law enforcement contacts or a crisis/regulation room visits and any instances in which the student was sent home early or required to stay home after a law enforcement contact or the crisis/regulation room visit, and if so, what compensatory education and/or remedial services are necessary to provide the student a FAPE.

In the event the team determines that compensatory and/or remedial services are necessary, the team will develop a written plan for providing the student with any compensatory education and/or other remedial services deemed necessary, include the plan in the student’s IEP, commence promptly to provide such services, and complete the delivery of such services within a timeframe identified by the team that will not exceed six (6) months from the date of the IEP meeting.

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A closer look at the money: Chicago’s school board elections

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Chicago’s school board elections
* Sun-Times

Two groups that support “school choice” and charter schools and are critical of the Chicago Teachers Union have amassed $3.6 million from prominent business leaders — including a few billionaires — looking to shape the city’s first-ever school board elections.

While the groups haven’t yet reported any spending on the school board races, their coffers represent, by far, the biggest expected infusion of money supporting and opposing candidates. It’s more than six times the cash that all 32 candidates have brought into their election campaigns and 20 times more than the teachers union’s political action committees reported holding at the end of June.

One of the independent expenditure committees, Urban Center Action, was formed earlier this summer by Juan Rangel, who recently worked for a private school tax credit program and previously was fired amid controversy from UNO Charter Schools, a large network he founded. Paul Vallas, the former Chicago Public Schools CEO who lost against Mayor Brandon Johnson in last year’s mayoral election, is also affiliated. The group has raked in $671,000 in less than two months, state election records show. […]

The Illinois Network of Charter Schools, which advocates for privately managed, publicly funded schools, is operating the other big-money fund that sits at nearly $3 million, records show. The group reported a $100,000 contribution last month from California-based Reed Hastings, the billionaire co-founder and chairman of Netflix, and a whopping $986,300 in June from James Frank, an automotive fleet leasing and management executive who serves as chairman of the Intrinsic Schools charter network in Chicago. Frank, who reported a suburban Des Plaines address, is an INCS board member. […]

Traditional political action committees have limits on donations of $13,700 for individuals and $24,700 for companies. But independent expenditure committees like the ones for INCS and Urban Center are set up like super PACs so they can accept an unlimited amount of money from donors to run ads, send fliers and provide other indirect campaign support without contributing directly to or coordinating with candidates. They can oppose candidates, too.

$553,230 has been raised by all candidates for Chicago’s elected school board.

* Tribune

Since filing their nomination paperwork in June, 15 candidates have fallen out of the running in Chicago’s historic school board election this November. […]

How they and others have been spending their money as candidates have been knocked off the ballot likely won’t be apparent until the next round of disclosures are due Oct. 15.

CTU said it has endorsed grassroots candidates running against campaigns “funded by Walmart heirs, Netflix billionaires, charter school operators, and corporate education ‘reformers’ like Juan Rangel and Paul Vallas, who will continue to pour millions into these races.”

Since the start of the year, Walmart heir Jim Walton has contributed $350,000 to Illinois Network of Charter Schools PACs, and Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings has contributed another $100,000, according to state elections board data.

Vallas, the former CPS CEO who lost his 2023 bid for mayor, and Rangel, former head of the UNO charter school network, which disbanded after the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated Rangel for fraud, co-founded the Urban Center PAC in March. The committee supports school choice, according to its website, and contributed a cumulative $3,000 to two school board candidates, Andre Smith and Eva Villalobos, as of the Urban Center’s most recent disclosure, which also includes a $5,000 contribution from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools’ INCS Action PAC, Illinois State Board of Elections data show.

Click here for Chalkbeat Chicago’s updated list of Chicago school board candidates.

  13 Comments      


Meet the athletes representing Illinois at the 2024 Paralympics

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* CBS

DePaul University graduate Noelle Malkamaki is bringing home a gold medal with a world record in the shot put at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Malkamaki broke her own world record in the Women’s F46 shot put final with a throw of 14.06 meters. She’d set the previous world record this summer at the U.S. Paralympic trials.

She’s also a two-time Para Athletics world champion in shot put.

Before competing in track & field and volleyball at DePaul, Malkamaki was a high school athlete in Decatur in central Illinois.

* Tribune

Olympian Valerie Tarazi is proud to swim for her country.

It was a dream of hers since she was a child watching the Olympics as a fan, said Tarazi, 24. However, the Crystal Lake native did not swim for the United States, where she was born and raised, but was one of eight athletes who competed for Palestine.

She placed 32nd when she competed at the Olympics in Paris this summer and set a new personal best in the 200-meter individual medley. Tarazi was one of the flag-bearers for the opening and closing ceremonies and continues to use her exposure at the Olympics to promote a message of peace.

“It was the biggest honor carrying the flag on my shoulder and representing the millions of Palestinians in the world,” she said.

Tarazi’s Palestinian heritage comes from her paternal grandfather, who was born in Gaza, she said. Her roots go even further back, though. The Tarazi family is one of the oldest Christian families in Palestine, she said, and she has traced her ties all the way to the year 400.

* WSIL

A former Saluki will represent Southern Illinois in the upcoming 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Chuck Melton will compete in the Wheelchair Rugby. This is Melton’s third time in the games, having previously competed with Team USA in the 2016 and 2020 Paralympics. […]

Forty-five-year-old Melton was bound to a wheelchair after a C7 spinal cord injury in 2002 that occurred in a diving incident. He began his journey with rugby in 2007.

Melton also has experience in the World Championships for Wheelchair Rugby in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

* The Telegraph

The United States wheelchair rugby team will be bringing home a silver medal from the Paris Paralympics. […]

Chuck Aoki and Sarah Adam led the U.S. with 14 and Josh Wheeler added 7.

Aoki, of Minneapolis, is co-captain of the U.S. team with Newby. Adam, a native of Naperville, Illinois, is an assistant professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at Saint Louis University.

Newby also scored three in an earlier U.S. win over Canada.

Newby, who was born in Alton, lives in Godfrey with his young family. As a youth, he moved with his family to Nashville, Illinois and graduated from Nashville High School. He attended Maryville University in St. Louis. He had family in the Godfrey/Alton area and he and his wife, Megan, settled there. He previously also lived in Colorado.

* WCIA

Eva Houston is competing in 100-meter and 800-meter wheelchair racing. The recent U of I alum competed in the 2020 games but said the lead-up feels different this time around.

“Because of COVID, we didn’t really have a fan experience,” Houston said. “You know, my parents couldn’t join. So to have all this support and to be able to share this with our people and our community is so special.”

For others, like Aaron Pike, the games are nothing new.

“It’s sweet that we get to find a day like this, to get everybody out and meet everybody and see faces, and it’s a lot of fun,” Pike said.

Pike is a staple, competing seven times in both winter and summer games over the last 12 years. This year, he’ll race in the 1,500 and 5,000-meter events and cap it off with a marathon for good measure. The Illini alumnus said it’s no accident so many athletes have ties to the orange and blue.

* Fox Chicago

The Paralympic Games kick off this week in Paris with nine athletes from the University of Illinois representing the United States.

Susannah Scaroni blew her previous marathon record out of the water when she won the Boston Marathon in wheelchair racing. This week she’s going for the gold in Paris. […]

Susannah moved to Illinois after she was injured and paralyzed in a car accident when she was five years old.

“Fortunately for me, I learned about adaptive sports when I was ten and that led me to Illinois. So I started with wheelchair basketball and was happy to do whatever I could, so when I learned about wheelchair racing I started doing that,” she said.

* More…

    * Shaw Local | Huntley grad Owen Cravens just misses medal at Paris Paralympics: Owen Cravens, a Huntley High School graduate and Algonquin resident, finished in fourth place and just missed out on a medal in the men’s PTVI paratriathlon Monday at his Paris Paralympics debut. The PTVI category consists of athletes with visual impairments. Cravens was diagnosed with Stargardt Disease as a child, which causes vision loss in children and young adults. Cravens just barely missed taking home the bronze medal. He finished in a time of 1:00.43, according to the Paralympics results.

    * 2 Houston | Rice swimmer Ahalya Lettenberger heads to Paralympics: Lettenberger, who was born with arthrogryposis amyoplasia, a muscular skeletal disorder that affects her lower limbs, plans to swim 200 meters and 400 meters this year, the latter event being her favorite. She races in the SM7 category, which is for swimmers with movement affected from a low to moderate level in the arms, trunk and legs, moderately down one side, those with short stature, or the absence of limbs. All these swimmers have to work harder at stroke timing or getting hold of the water, according to LEXI - an explainer of Parasport classifications. […] Lettenberger, a Chicago area native also relishes the opportunity to represent Team USA again.

    * 21st Show | Marco De La Rosa: A Vet, a Hero, and a Paralympian: The 2024 Paralympics are underway in Paris. Marco De La Rosa, originally from Chicago, now based in San Antonio, Texas is a para-shooter who competes professionally in the 10-meter Air Pistol category. He will make his second Paralympic appearance at the 2024 games after previously competing in the Rio 2016 games.

    * IPM Newsroom | Local athlete heads to Paris for his fourth Paralympic Games: Brian Siemann, a local resident, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate, and four-time Paralympian, will compete in the 100m, 400m, 800m, 5,000m, and marathon events for the US Paralympic Track and Field Team. Morning Edition host Kimberly Schofield, who has Siemann since 2008, recently interviewed him about the upcoming games and his journey to becoming athlete.

    * NAU Athletics | Keegan Knott Earns Roster Spot for 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games: Following the Paralympic trials in Minnesota this weekend, NAU’s Keegan Knott has been officially announced the U.S. Paralympic roster for the Paris games. The Illinois native will be returning as a Paralympian for Team USA after previously competing in her first-ever games in Tokyo as the youngest on the 2021 roster. Knott will be chasing her first Paralympic podium finish in Paris.

  5 Comments      


Cynical, practical, or no big deal?

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* WGN TV

If you’re staying in an Illinois hotel, you won’t find those complementary mini-bottles of shampoo waiting in your room anymore soon.

A new law, signed by Gov. JB Pritzker last month, will ban hotels in the state from providing small, single-use plastic bottles containing personal-care products to lodgers staying at a hotel or guests using a hotel’s public bathroom. […]

In a statement provided to WGN, the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association said many state hotels have already switched to providing personal-care products via more environmentally-friendly options and that the association worked with state legislators on the Small Plastic Bottle Act.

“While most hotels are already in compliance with this bill and have proactively replaced these products with more environmentally-friendly options, we remain committed to strengthening sustainability efforts and reducing waste within our industry,” Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, said in the statement.

* Sen. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) wrote a provacative “How the sausage is made” op-ed about the bill last month…

Most of us know the process of how a bill becomes a law. While that process directs the flow of bills that are filed, just how do thousands of policy ideas each year become bills in the first place?

As of this writing, just under 3,000 Senate and House bills have been filed this year alone. Generally, these policy ideas come from one of four places.

Many good bills are the result of a constituent who contacts their elected Senator or State Representative with an issue that cannot be resolved through existing systems. In those cases, a lawmaker writes a bill that provides a solution. The legislator files the bill, talks with colleagues to gain support, and the bill moves through the legislative process of hearings and votes in both chambers of the General Assembly. Some of our very best laws begin as ideas brought forward by Illinoisans.

Other laws are the result of a legislative agenda pushed by individual lawmakers. Most people get involved with politics because there are specific issues that are very important to them. For example, I am a vocal advocate for Second Amendment rights, ethics, traditional family values, and support for our men and women in blue. As such, every year my legislative agenda is comprised of bills that address these ideals and seek to improve or safeguard protections.

Additionally, advocacy groups that hire lobbyists to push an agenda are responsible for a large number of the bills that are filed each year. These groups have their place, and their lobbyists form relationships with lawmakers in an effort to build support for their policy ideas. Lobbyists can also be good sources of information on issues for which they have a depth of knowledge.

Unfortunately, there are also many instances when leaders from special interest groups come to lawmakers and ask them to legislate issues that do not and should not require legislative involvement. In these instances, those representing these large groups are being disingenuous and are asking the legislature to pass legislation that could be viewed as unpopular. We saw the perfect example of this during the 2024 spring session when the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association asked lawmakers to pass a bill that prohibits the use of small single-use plastic bottles of products like shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion in hotels with more than 50 rooms. The Association partnered with two environmental advocacy groups to seek passage of Senate Bill 2960.

Many hotels have already moved away from the small bottles as a way to save money. The decision was made internally and without legislative assistance. The only reason to involve the legislature is to provide cover when patrons complain about ridiculous state mandates that limit consumer choice.

Nevertheless, the Association asked for a legislative mandate and received it through Senate Bill 2960. And now, the same group that lobbied for the change will say “Illinois law prohibited our ability to provide these products” when patrons ask why they no longer have access to popular single-use bottles. The Association limited consumer choice and used a fake vehicle to make it happen. It was clearly about their financial bottom line and had nothing to do with the environment.

The legislature should be focusing its efforts on issues like tax relief, reducing regulations on job creators, improving ethical standards, and realigning priorities so that Illinois citizens come first. We should not be in the business of adopting private industry regulations like prohibiting the use of single-use shampoo bottles all in the name of protecting the environment.

Folks, this is how the sausage is made. Welcome to your state government and the operations of the General Assembly.

Sen. Chesney was one of just 17 “No” votes in the Senate.

* Since this law was in the news again, I reached out to the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association for comment about Sen. Chesney’s claims…

“Most hotels have been in compliance with this new law for several years, as they proactively replaced single-use toiletries to meet demands of consumers who widely support more sustainable options,” said Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association. “Following months of negotiations with advocates of this bill, we chose to support a measure that had minimal impact on the day-to-day operations of our members and their customers. We appreciate the sponsors of the legislation for working directly with the hospitality industry on this issue, which simply codifies common practices into law.”

* The Illinois Environmental Council pushed the bill and included it in its candidate ratings. So, I also reached out to them…

The truth is plastic pollution has rapidly become a widespread crisis that we cannot recycle our way out of. It is estimated that 11 million pounds of plastic enter Lake Michigan each year alone. Scientists are finding plastic particles in the human body that cause physical issues like lung and organ damage and that leach cancer-causing chemicals and disrupt hormones. Hotels transitioning away from small single-use plastic bottles will drastically reduce the plastic that the hotel industry sends to community landfills.

We also think it’s a good thing when we can find common ground on common sense solutions like this. That should be what we’re all striving for in our work at the Capitol. So, we were pleased to work with the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association to come to an agreement on the bill that reduces plastic pollution from hotels.

While Sen. Chesney misses the mark on the importance of protecting people from the harmful impacts of plastic pollution, it is good to see that we agree on at least one thing– reducing pollution is good for Illinois businesses.

Many hotels are already going in this direction. Here is an example of how impactful opting for small single-use bottle alternatives can be: When fully implemented across the globe, Marriott International’s expanded toiletry program is expected to prevent about 500 million tiny bottles annually from going to landfills; that’s about 1.7 million pounds of plastic, a 30 percent annual reduction from current amenity plastic usage. That’s a good thing.

The IEC’s original press release is here.

Thoughts?

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Uber Partners With Cities To Expand Urban Transportation

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Uber is leading the charge to close critical transportation gaps, ensuring reliable access to its services in places that need it most, such as underserved areas like Englewood. This is a part of Uber’s broader commitment to augment and expand the reach of Chicago’s transportation ecosystem, focusing on overcoming the first-mile/ last-mile hurdles that have long plagued residents in farther afield neighborhoods. Uber aims to extend the public transit network’s reach, making urban transportation more accessible and efficient for everyone. Discover the full story on how Uber is transforming city transportation for the better.

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Clever

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I saw this Illinois Republican Party email earlier this week and thought it was quite clever…

I ran into the party’s new executive director last night at the Illinois vs. Missouri softball game in St. Louis and he said the email got a huge response.

Thoughts?

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Open thread

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Illinois legislators dominated their Missouri counterparts in the annual Greater St. Louis Inc. Bi-State Softball Showdown played at Busch Stadium since the series began in 2019…


Subscribers know more.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | ‘Everything is on the table’ to eliminate $982.4 million budget shortfall, top mayoral aide says: Budget Director Annette Guzman said options range from layoffs and pay cuts on the expense side to a property tax increase, video gaming and volume-based garbage collection fees on the revenue end.

* Crain’s | Chicago Sun-Times knocked down its paywall. Now it’s putting up fences: Two years after eliminating its paywall and giving people access to articles with just an email registration, readers today were met with a message inviting them to sign up for recurring donations or watch a video with advertisements. It appears to be a light reversal of one of the bigger changes to the Sun-Times since its acquisition by WBEZ parent Chicago Public Media in 2022.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Patch | IARF Names Four Legislators Champions for Supporting Wage Increases: The state association representing community providers of services for this disabled is publicly praising four legislators for stepping up to improve care. The Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities has honored the four legislators for their support of funding to hire workers to provide high-quality care.

* Daily Herald | Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza to talk about fair pay and economic equity for women: Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza will speak about the status of “Fair Pay and Economic Equity for Women in the state of Illinois” on Wednesday, Oct. 2. This program is sponsored by the AAUW Elmhurst Branch, League of Women Voters Elmhurst, and the Elmhurst Public Library,

* WSIU | A south-central Illinois lawmaker launches a petition drive to halt the Illinois flag redesign: Republican State Representative Adam Niemerg from Dieterich says the effort to change the Illinois flag is a blatant attempt to infuse far-left ideology onto the state’s flag and he is calling on Illinois citizens to join him in opposing the redesign efforts. says he’s concerned about the direction of the flag redesign after Governor JB Pritzker said it may be time to create a new flag that exemplifies the values of Illinois.

* WSIL | Giannoulias Announces Libraries Receiving Grants: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announces more than $496,000 in grant funding to improve local library services. Library districts will receive funding to help ensure all residents have access to quality resources and programming. Libraries throughout the 58th Senate District, serving over 126,000 people, receive a combined $496,783 in grants.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Ahead of the DNC, City Hall spent $814,000 on a fence to lock out homeless: The massive barrier was part of an “emergency” effort to permanently lock out unhoused people from the location near the United Center, where the convention was held, the records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show. The Johnson administration had refused to say how much taxpayer money went toward blocking off the green strip of land between the 1100 block of South Desplaines Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway just north of Roosevelt Road until after the nationally televised gathering was over. The Sun-Times has been asking for those records, which should be public under state law, since July, when that tent city was cleared of its residents, the tents and the items they left behind.

* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson facing potential labor fight as spending cuts set to begin: Without easy revenue sources, Johnson has said more drastic personnel options are on the table, including eliminating vacancies, furloughs for city workers and, if all else fails, what one member of the City Council described as the “L word”: layoffs. “The L-word is a bad word. Layoffs, that’s a very, very bad word,” said Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, who chairs the Workforce Development Committee. “Not on the back of city workers do we balance this budget.”

* WBEZ | Chicago school board elections see big ’school choice’ cash, including from billionaires: Two groups that support “school choice” and charter schools and are critical of the Chicago Teachers Union have amassed $3.6 million from prominent business leaders — including a few billionaires — looking to shape the city’s first-ever school board elections. […] One of the independent expenditure committees, Urban Center Action, was formed earlier this summer by Juan Rangel, who recently worked for a private school tax credit program and previously was fired amid controversy from UNO Charter Schools, a large network he founded. Paul Vallas, the former Chicago Public Schools CEO who lost against Mayor Brandon Johnson in last year’s mayoral election, is also affiliated. The group has raked in $671,000 in less than two months, state election records show.

* Tribune | With CTU and school choice proponents investing in elected school board races, do ‘independent’ candidates stand a chance?: Since filing their nomination paperwork in June, 15 candidates have fallen out of the running in Chicago’s historic school board election this November. With the exception of one candidate, each of the hopefuls either withdrew their names or were knocked off the ballot during the objections process. Challenging the validity of the constituent signatures that every candidate running for office in Illinois is required to file, the more than 40 objections to school board candidates were filed by only a handful of nine lawyers whose ranks include high-profile political operatives and lobbyists.

* NBC Chicago | Bears CEO says team is open to working with White Sox on stadium funding bid: Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren said that the team would still prefer to build a new stadium within city limits, and expressed a willingness to work with another team in securing funding for the project. Speaking at the Economic Club of Chicago, Warren said that he’s aware of “how difficult” projects like the proposed stadium can be, but that the benefits would far outweigh the drawbacks, bringing marquee events and new jobs to the city.

* Block Club | Workers Leave Gaping Hole On South Side Block — And For Months, No One Has Fixed It: Little work has been done at the site since early June, Green said. The street is still largely inaccessible, and the hole in the middle of the street has become a repository for trash, with people tossing empty fast food bags, bottles and dog waste into it. Steel planks put on the ground to cover it have instead started to shift away from the hole, leaving it exposed. Residents are at the end of their rope, with some ready to leave the block altogether.

* NBC Chicago | Bronzeville child care center closes due to lack of teaching staff: Low-income families that met certain requirements could send their children, ranging from 6 weeks to 5 years of age, to the center for free before its closure earlier this month. According to the non-profit’s CEO, staffing has struggled as workers have left the facility for jobs with better wages. “We have tried to get additional funding so we can have competitive wages. The main issue is, we are competing for staff. And we cannot afford to compete,” Center for New Horizons CEO Lakisha McFadden said.

* Crain’s | Long-awaited O’Hare concessions contracts put out for bid: The city of Chicago is finally putting out for bid the concessions contract for O’Hare’s domestic terminals, one of the most lucrative deals at the airport. But the management and operation of more than 100 restaurants and shops in Terminals 1 and 3 will look very different. Today those deals are largely held by just two vendors — HMSHost and Hudson Group. But a Department of Aviation website shows 20 individual contracts up for bid, as well as another deal to operate duty-free shops.

* Sun-Times | 2 Chicago cops, including deputy chief, charged in tire-slashing incident, sources say: Deputy Chief Roberto Nieves, 53, and Officer Jacob Gies, 26, were both charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property, police said in a statement. They surrendered to police at the Central District, 1718 S. State St., according to an internal police alert. They have both been relieved of their policing powers, and Nieves was demoted to captain, police said.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Evanston shelter mourns former resident killed in Blue Line shooting: ‘Nobody’s really OK’ : Connections for the Homeless helped Margaret Miller Johnson secure housing in 2020. They do not know how she ended up on the Blue Line but said her death is a painful reminder: “Our society can and should do better.”

* Daily Herald | A green resting place: Palatine Catholic cemetery embraces natural burial trend: Run by the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Meadows of St. Kateri, a new section at St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery, now caters to green burials. “Natural burial has been becoming more and more prevalent in society. The requests from families for natural burial have continuously increased every year,” said Ted Ratajczyk, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

* Tribune | Feds flag Chicago-area business magnate over alleged tax fraud involving NFL players: A search warrant recently unsealed in U.S. District Court alleged John Burgess, 75, of North Barrington, directed a scheme to “aid and assist” dozens of National Football League clients in filing false returns that reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in phony charitable contributions and business losses, dramatically altering the players’ tax due. The investigation began in 2017 and centers on two Burgess-owned companies: Valuation Advisory Services, a tax preparation business; and Entertainment Tax Advisors LLC, a consulting services firm that at one point counted around 50 professional athletes as clients, according to the sworn affidavit from a special agent with the IRS criminal investigation division.

*** Downstate ***

* WCBU | Peoria County Board of Health ends efforts to implement Cure Violence: The unanimously-passed motion to terminate the health department’s contract, effective immediately, followed an almost two-hour executive session at a special meeting of the Peoria County Board of Health Thursday night. Board of health secretary Ben Brewer told WCBU the entire discussion was held in an executive session because terminating a contract opens the possibility of potential litigation. He said an additional motion, to have an audit performed on the department’s business with Cure Violence, is typical of any contract termination.

* Madison Record | Class action over $180 million Casino Queen pension wipeout settles: Former owners of Casino Queen settled a claim that they deliberately sold the casino to employees on terms that nearly wiped out their $180 million pension plan. Ryan Wheeler of Washington D.C., one of eight lawyers representing pension plan participants, reported the settlement to U.S. District Judge David Dugan on Sept. 3.

* Pantagraph | Rivian moves toward potential expansion across the street from Normal plant: The company’s plans to subdivide the property, designating two 90-acre parcels for future development, earned a positive recommendation from the Normal Planning Commission on Thursday. The Normal Town Council has the final say on the plans, which also call for an extension of College Avenue.

* WCIA | Lincoln fire under control, building likely a total loss: Aaron Johnson, the Chief of the Lincoln Fire Department, said the fire is under control but the building that burned is likely a total loss. He added that there isn’t much holding the building up. Caution tape has been set up to keep people away from the unstable ruins.

*** National ***

* Bloomberg | How Local Governments Got Hooked on One Company’s Janky Software: Clerks and lawyers were worried, to put it mildly, about North Carolina’s $100 million-plus software upgrade. After more than three years of custom development, the state was finally ready to introduce Odyssey, a digital suite that promised to streamline trial date scheduling, court document sharing, fine collection and communication among divisions. But within the first few months that four counties adopted Odyssey early last year, state administrators discovered 573 defects. Users complained about the “wheel of death” that spun interminably when they tried to load cases. There were reports of glitches resulting in erroneous court summons, inaccurate speeding tickets and even wrongful arrests.

  11 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* You can click here or here to follow breaking news. It’s the best we can do unless or until Twitter gets its act together.

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Friday, Sep 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Shaw Local

Last month’s pro-Donald Trump rally in Woodstock showed a familiar side of McHenry County, one that has long been loyal to the Republican Party.

But while hundreds of supporters of the former president celebrated their GOP affiliation and listened to speeches from prominent party figures like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, McHenry County Board Chair Mike Buehler acknowledged the shift that has taken place in every other collar county around Chicago in recent years: They’ve turned blue. […]

The GOP still holds a large majority on the McHenry County Board and – whatever happens in the Nov. 5 election – will continue to hold most of the countywide elected offices, since the Democrats are not running anyone against the state’s attorney or auditor, and other countywide offices not up this cycle are also held by Republicans. Buehler himself is facing a challenge from Democratic county board member Kelli Wegener, while GOP Coroner Michael Rein faces a challenge from Democrat Chris Kalapodis.

Buehler won his position in 2020 by besting Jack Franks, who four years earlier became the first Democrat to win a countywide elected office in McHenry County since 1978.

And Democrats have made inroads in presidential politics in McHenry County too. In 2016, Trump carried the county with 50.3% of the vote against Hillary Clinton, beating her by almost 11,000 votes. In 2020, Trump still won the county, but this time it was by slightly more than 4,000 votes, and he received less than 50% of the vote.

* A lot going on in Downstate today


* NBC Chicago

Western Illinois University Macomb will be closed Thursday after an “ongoing emergency” near the campus, an alert on the school’s website said.

The closure comes a day after two Macomb police officers were shot Wednesday while trying to serve a warrant. […]

According to the Macomb Police Department, two officers Wednesday evening were shot while in the process of serving a warrant in the 300 block of North Normal Street.

“After knocking and announcing their presence several times, they forced entry into the residence but were immediately fired upon by someone in the residence,” Macomb’s chief of police said in an update late Thursday.

* Freedom From Religion Foundation

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking for the removal of an unconstitutional Ten Commandments display at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

FFRF was informed that a Ten Commandments display was recently installed at the courthouse in Mount Vernon, Ill. The display is nearly 6-and-a-half feet tall and sits in the center of the first floor lobby. The display includes a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments, given its particular language and numbering. At the bottom of the display is the biblical quote for Proverbs 21:15, which reads: “When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to the evildoers.”

“Government promotion of one particular religion deters the nonreligious and minority religions from accessing important government services,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi writes to Jefferson County Board Chair Cliff Lindemann.

By displaying this religious text in its courthouses, the county demonstrates a plain and undeniable preference for religion over nonreligion, and Protestant Christianity above all other faiths. Illinois’s Establishment Clause reads: “No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship against his consent, nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship.” FFRF is confident that state courts will find that a large Protestant Ten Commandments display by the county demonstrates preference for a religious denomination and mode of worship.

* Illinois State Rifle Association…

The Illinois State Rifle Association has released the following statement regarding the tragic events in Georgia yesterday.

“The Illinois State Rifle Association in the strongest of terms, does not condone any act of violence – especially the criminal misuse of firearms to commit violent acts.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed during today’s tragic shooting at a high school in Georgia. We’re also thinking of the other victims and their families and wishing them a full recovery.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | City sees modest improvement in violence figures over the summer: Chicago recorded 186 homicides between June 1 and Aug. 31, data show. Another 764 people suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds in that span. Summer 2023 saw 190 homicides while 747 others were shot and wounded. A year earlier, in 2022, the city recorded 207 homicides with another 957 shot over the summer.

* Sun-Times | Logan Square art gallery founder calls arrest, citations harassment — and neighbors agree: Trejon D’Angelo Williams said he created the gallery at 2334 N. Milwaukee Ave. to highlight marginalized artists, but he says he has been hindered due to harassment by Chicago police. He said police have been a constant presence at the venue, which showcases provocative art — most recently an exhibit about the war in Gaza and police violence. Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said Chicago police told him they were not proactively checking on Williams, but responding to 911 calls when they visited Aug. 21. They claimed they arrested Williams after he shoved officers, which resulted in injuries, La Spata said.

* Sun-Times | Humboldt Park ‘basement’ comedy club shut down after Instagram video goes viral: For five years, the Humboldt Jungle was the cool kids club, an underground comedy and music venue inside a residential basement that provided a space for local performers and audience members in the know. Humboldt Park resident Nathan Weil operated the secret space out of his home. Potted plants adorned the basement venue to give it a jungle feel, and patrons could bring their own alcohol. The shows had become popular enough to attract the attention of the popular Best Date Food Instagram page, which posted a video of the space in late August.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Northwestern | University administration rolls out new demonstration, discrimination policies: The updated Demonstration policy will enforce new requirements, barring overnight demonstration and adding limitations on what the University considers “activity that disrupts classes and other functions of the University, including prohibiting demonstrations at the Rock before 3 p.m. on weekdays and the use of amplified sound in that area before 5 p.m.”

* Tribune | Former assistant state’s attorney who headed wrongful conviction unit amid scrutiny sues Kim Foxx alleging discrimination: Nancy Adduci, who began her career at the Cook County state’s attorney’s office in 1996, filed a federal lawsuit last month that accuses Foxx and the office of demoting and firing her due to her age and race. Adduci, who is white, said in the complaint that Foxx’s deputies in October 2023 demoted her from her position supervising the Conviction Integrity Unit, now called the Conviction Review Unit, telling her they sought someone “more representative of the community” for the role.

* Daily Herald | How many officers does a suburban police department need? Answers vary: “You really need to know what your officers’ workload is and when the peaks and valleys are,” said Leonard Matarese, the managing partner at the Center for Public Safety Management at the International City/County Management Association. “You’ve got to really dig into the details, but that’s not something many police departments are equipped to do.” After keeping its police staffing level steady at about 108 sworn officers for the better part of a decade, Palatine is one of those suburbs ready to increase its ranks. The shift comes after officials identified a greater need for neighborhood-based policing and community services.

* Daily Southtown | Summit Hill District 161 calls for quick changes to ‘inexcusable’ school bus service: The CEO and founder of Safeway Transportation Services Corp. took full responsibility Wednesday for the bus problems that disrupted the start of school at Summit Hill Elementary District 161 in Frankfort. Meanwhile, the District 161 School Board and administration demanded the bus company improve its services as quickly as possible. […] [Board member John Winters] said he was disturbed hearing about kindergarten students riding the bus for two hours in the afternoon and having bathroom accidents during the long ride.

*** Downstate ***

* News-Gazette | Siblings to be honored as grand marshals of Arcola Broomcorn Festival: For many years, Terry and Angie Thornton have let people attending the Arcola Broomcorn Festival know what is going on during the festivities. This year, they will be part of what’s going on. The brother-sister Arcola natives will serve as grand marshals of the 53rd broomcorn festival parade.

* Pantagraph | Illinois State, Wesleyan universities safe after false reports of threats connected to WIU shooting: No active shooter and no credible threats were found, according to statements from ISUPD and BPD. The departments noted the rumors about a threat in Bloomington-Normal came at the same time as a shooting near Western Illinois University, almost two hours west of the Twin Cities.

* WAND | Man who escaped Sangamon Co. jail arrested by marshals in Springfield: The sheriff’s office said that Chane L. Jones, 42, had been booked on Tuesday for burglary and theft and was able to “mingle with three other inmates, who were administratively released from custody” Jones was arrested by sheriff’s deputies and US Marshals in the 1100 block of North 5th Street in Springfield. He is back in custody and faces additional charges.

* WCIA | ‘It left a lasting impact on our family’: Central IL woman urges more Nurse Honor Guard volunteers: When a nurse passes away after a career of serving his or her patients, the care doesn’t stop. The Nurse Honor Guard program aims to remember them even at the end of their lives. Phyllis Rogers called Carle Hospital in Urbana her office for many years. She started in family medicine and eventually switched to a management role. But Ali Boatright, her daughter, said her stethoscope was always close by.

*** National ***

* NYT | Republicans Seize on False Theories About Immigrant Voting: There is no indication that noncitizens are voting in large numbers. And yet the notion that they will flood the polls — and vote overwhelmingly for Democrats — is animating a sprawling network of Republicans who mobilized around former President Donald J. Trump’s false claims of a rigged election in 2020 and are now preparing for the next one.

  13 Comments      


And now for something a little different

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NY Times

Plenty of the submissions in a statewide contest to design Michigan’s next “I Voted” sticker featured cherry blossoms or American flags fluttering in the wind.

Only one entry, however, depicted a werewolf clawing its shirt to tatters and howling at an unseen moon. A smattering of stars and stripes poke out from behind its brawny torso.

“I Voted,” reads a string of red, white and blue block letters floating above the creature’s open maw.

The illustration, which was created by Jane Hynous, a 12-year-old from Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., was revealed on Wednesday as one of nine winning designs that the Michigan Department of State will offer local clerks to distribute to voters in the November election.

* Michigan AFL-CIO chief of staff…


Heh.

  10 Comments      


Sean Grayson’s history of credibility issues includes bringing charges with no evidence

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Invisible Institute

Kyle Adkins was leaving his parents’ house in Kincaid, a small village in central Illinois’ Christian County, to pick up his young children from their mother’s house, just a few blocks away, on the night of May 8, 2021.

Kincaid Police Officer Sean Grayson pulled him over — but he wasn’t sure why.

Grayson told Adkins there was a warrant out for his arrest and issued him a Notice to Appear, a document equivalent to an arrest, recommending felony drug charges against him. The case dragged out for two years before it was dropped, and a new investigation reveals the warrant — and other evidence Grayson said he had against Adkins — never actually existed. Body camera footage shows Grayson admitting to the chief of police he had no evidence to recommend charges, but even after the footage surfaced in court, no other department or agency was notified.

Meanwhile, Adkins, who works as a mechanic, had to show up to court regularly for years, face questions about his reputation — and deal with repercussions for his loved ones pulled into his criminal case. He said he even struggled to get formal visitation with his kids while the case was ongoing — and said he’s just now building a stronger relationship with his oldest child, now 11.

Grayson, now 30, would go on to work at four other police departments across central Illinois, the last being the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, where he would fatally shoot and kill Sonya Massey, 36, in her home in July 2024 after she called the police for help. Grayson shot at Massey, an unarmed Black woman whose family had called police with concerns about her mental health, three times, hitting her once in the head. He’s since been charged with murdering her.

Go read the rest.

* Here is Grayson admitting he had no evidence against Adkins

* The transcript…

Sean Grayson: Hey for the, for that NTA () on the charge for offenses, is it intent to deliver or just possession of meth? What are we putting on that?

Chief of Kincaid: You go anything on him?

Grayson: No.

Chief: On a Notice to Appear? I would just do intent to deliver.

Grayson: OK, and there’s a baggie, but I wasn’t going to mess with fixed testing it. I didn’t really care that much.

Chief: What was it?

Grayson: It was just like a baggie, but I didn’t really care to field test it to be honest with you.

* Back to the story

Carlton Mayers II, an attorney and police reform consultant who worked with lawmakers on some of the original language of the SAFE T Act, said that the original bill didn’t come with any funding for ILETSB’s new responsibilities, which had to be appropriated the next year. He added that the agency also still lacks administrative rules, which are proposed by state agencies and then approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR).

Those administrative rules would lay out not only the processes for discretionary decertification, but could also speak to things like what’s required of a department’s background investigation, which right now is only required to include a check of the Officer Professional Conduct Database.

In a statement, a spokesperson hired by ILETSB pointed to its “multiple mandates to implement” for its delay in “the establishment of discretionary decertification hearings.”

“We are committed to leading this work thoughtfully and deliberately to ensure our law enforcement maintains the highest level of professional standards, and have made significant progress in building this new initiative from the ground up,” the statement continued. “We have engaged a range of partners and studied best practices from across the country to ensure we get this right from day one.”

The spokesperson wrote that the agency “anticipates” that “day one” will come in the “4th quarter of 2024.”

  19 Comments      


Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Retail provides one out of every five Illinois jobs, generates the second largest amount of tax revenue for the state, and is the largest source of revenue for local governments. But retail is also so much more, with retailers serving as the trusted contributors to life’s moments, big and small.

We Are Retail and IRMA are dedicated to sharing the stories of retailers like Gillian, who serve their communities with dedication and pride.

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What in the heck is going on at TopGolf?

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* NCTV

Located just off I-88, Naperville’s Topgolf, 3211 Odyssey Ct., offers a high-tech driving range and full-service restaurant. But just outside the facility, Naperville police have over the past year found numerous guns, sometimes in plain sight, in cars throughout the parking lot.

Since Aug. 1, 2023, there have been 23 gun-related arrests outside Topgolf, according to Naperville Police Commander Ricky Krakow.

Many of the firearms, Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres said, are discovered during officer foot patrols of the facility’s parking lot. […]

Why are guns being left out in plain view inside cars? It’s a question on the mind of Arres and his department.

“I don’t know how to speculate why someone wouldn’t properly secure a firearm. Laziness? Not thinking they’re going to get caught? I can’t really guess. But what I can say is what we do,” said Arres. […]

Despite the influx of incidents outside Topgolf, Arres says gun-related arrests in Naperville have been trending down.

“In 2022, if you take the average out, it’s about 12 gun arrests per month, 2023 that dropped to 10, and actually in 2024, we’ve averaged nine gun arrests per month, so actually, the numbers are going down,” Arres said. “Not as fast as I or anyone in this community would like but we’re going to continue proactively patrolling this with the hope that those gun-related arrests are zero.”

* Make that 24 arrests. Naperville Sun

A 24-year-old from Calumet Park was arrested Friday night for having a firearm inside his car while it was parked in the Naperville Topgolf parking lot, the 24th time a suspect’s been charged with a firearm-related offense since August 2023, officials said.

Demonte G. Dennis was arrested about 9:15 p.m. at the 3211 Odyssey Court lot on one charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a class 4 felony, and a misdemeanor charge for possession of cannabis.

Dennis was taken into custody after police discovered a firearm illicitly stored inside his car while patrolling the Topgolf lot, according to Naperville police Cmdr. Rick Krakow.

Officers were performing a proactive foot patrol of the lot when they detected an odor of cannabis from the area around a parked Buick, Krakow said. The vehicle was unoccupied, but when officers looked through its windows, they observed a handgun in plain view. […]

Consistently making headlines for more than a year now, the trend of people bringing guns into Naperville’s Topgolf parking lot was first observed in August 2023. Since then, Naperville police have been routinely doing foot patrols around the business and making arrests for illegal gun possession, among other offenses.

* The Naperville Sun in April

What have alleged offenders arrested at Topgolf been charged with?

There have been a range of weapons charges, including aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, armed violence, armed habitual criminal and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

* More from the Sun

The city’s strategic response unit conducts foot patrols at the facility “at least a couple times a week,” McLean said. […]

The facility has enhanced security measures.

[Naperville police Sgt. Michael McLean] said police have met with Topgolf “probably three or four times” and that they are taking steps “to try and make things safer out there.”

  33 Comments      


What’s going on at Menard?

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Southern

Last week, State Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) went to Menard Correctional Center after hearing about people at the prison being taken to the hospital after becoming ill. She posted a video to her Facebook Friday after being denied access to the prison.

“I just want you all to know I didn’t come here for some kind of political stunt. I cam here to be responsible to not only the staff you work here but to all of those who are incarcerated here,” Bryant said in the video.

Monday, Aug. 26, five people were sent to the emergency room, according to Bryant. That number included three staff members, one inmate and one emergency services employee. On Wednesday, she said a dozen people from Menard were sent the hospital, which included three or four members of the prison’s medical staff.

Southern Illinois Fire Incidents Facebook page reported St. Clair Emergency Special Services was dispatched to the prison on Wednesday in response to around a dozen people becoming ill. […]

Although the incident was first reported as an exposure to some unknown substance, Illinois Department of Corrections was no longer using the word “exposure.” They just said people became ill. […]

When they called to get permission for her to enter the prison, IDOC Deputy Dir. Angela Locke said she could not go into the prison. She also talked to Liaison Morgan Williams, who told Bryant it was not safe for her to go into the prison.

* From the Illinois Department of Corrections…

On Monday morning [last week], two staff members at Menard Correctional Center reported to the facility’s Health Care Unit after experiencing medical symptoms following their response to a medical emergency involving an individual in custody in North 2 Cell House. Both staff members were treated at an outside hospital and released. During the transportation of the individual in custody to an outside hospital for treatment, the accompanying officer also reported feeling ill and was similarly treated and released. In response, the St. Clair County EMA’s Hazmat Team was contacted to assist with the investigation, and movement within the affected galleries was temporarily suspended. All staff in North 2 were instructed to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and monitor the galleries for any further medical issues. No additional incidents were reported on Monday or Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning [last week], a staff member at Menard Correctional Center experienced medical symptoms and was promptly transported by ambulance to an outside hospital. Shortly after, additional staff members responding to the incident began to experience similar symptoms. Out of an abundance of caution, 11 more Menard CC staff members were transported to an outside hospital for evaluation via state vehicle. All Menard CC staff members were treated and released from the hospital. In response to Wednesday’s events, the facility was placed on a Level 1 lockdown and made personal protective equipment (PPE) available to all staff. The facility leadership took immediate action by contacting the Illinois Poison Control Center and requesting the St. Clair County EMA’s Hazmat Team to conduct another inspection. The St. Clair County EMA’s Hazmat Team did not locate any hazardous materials during their second inspection. Senator Bryant was not on the premises during those inspections. On Friday, when Senator Bryant made an unplanned visit to Menard Correctional Center on Friday without an appointment, her request for access was declined. We appreciate the Senator’s understanding and cooperation and have offered to schedule a visit to Menard on a later date.

The facility has remained on lockdown since Wednesday, 8/28, for safety and security purposes due to staff members experiencing medical symptoms. All impacted staff members have been treated and released from the hospital. We commend our staff for their swift and effective response, ensuring that everyone impacted has received the necessary medical care. The Department is strongly encouraging staff to utilize PPE until further notice. The Department is currently collaborating with our partners at IDPH to investigate the symptoms experienced by Menard staff. The Department is conducting a thorough ongoing investigation into the events at Menard, and we will share further information as it becomes available. Our top priority remains the safety and well-being of our staff and the individuals in our custody.

Menard was still on a Level One lockdown when Sen. Bryant attempted to gain access last Friday.

Also, I’m told that St. Clair Emergency Special Services refused to respond to a third call from the prison because they hadn’t found anything at all on the two prior trips.

More background is here and here and here and here.

  28 Comments      


Stop Credit Card Chaos In Illinois!

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

In less than one year, a new law will create credit card chaos for millions of Illinois consumers, small business owners and workers who rely on tips. The law changes how your credit card is processed and has never been done anywhere in the world. The end result is windfall for corporate mega-stores paid for through costly operational hurdles for small businesses and a loss of convenience and privacy for consumers who could have to pay tax and gratuity with cash. There’s still time to protect Illinois small business owners, consumers and workers by repealing the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act now! For more information, visit guardyourcard.com/Illinois.

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Open thread

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

  2 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Experts say anti-immigrant rhetoric led to viral — and incorrect — allegations of a migrant takeover: Immigration experts — who pointed to similar incidents that have unfolded across the country in recent days — said some people are spreading misleading content about migrants on social media to sway voters for anti-immigrant candidates and causes. Panic over the emergence of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua spread in Colorado last week after Fox News in Denver aired a surveillance video. The footage, which also went viral, showed a group of men armed with semi-automatic long guns and pistols in an apartment complex in the city of Aurora.

* WTTW | Illinois Doesn’t Have Parole. A Group of Incarcerated Men is Working to Change That: At 46 years old, Raúl Dorado is 26 years into a life sentence at Stateville Correctional Center. […] “All of us who formed this nonprofit, we all either had a life without parole sentence or we had a de facto life sentence, or virtual life, which means you have so much time, you can’t outlive your sentence,” he said before his Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project (PNAP) class in Stateville’s education building.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Fox 2 Now | Illinois to soon ban mini shampoo bottles in hotel rooms: The law goes into effect beginning July 1, 2025, for hotels with 50 rooms or more and beginning Jan. 1, 2026, for hotels with less than 50 rooms. […] However, the law says a hotel may still provide personal-care products in small, single-use plastic bottles at no charge to a person, but only upon request at a place other than a room or public bathroom.

*** Statewide ***

* KHQA | Union leaders demand overhaul of Illinois job posting system amid vacancies: Representatives from the local AFSCME took to the streets to let their voices be heard about the frustrations with the Illinois Central Management Services. The Illinois CMS posts job openings for state workers, but has seen some issues in the recent months. Since February, CMShas failed to post job openings for union related positions.

* WICS | Doctors scramble for solutions amid mental health worker shortage: “The whole mental health system suffers, and the whole healthcare suffers when you don’t have access to psychiatrists,” said Dr. Kari Wolf, Chair of Psychiatry for the SIU School of Medicine. Many doctors have been feeling the impact of not having enough mental health professionals, which has been declining since before the pandemic. “Other professionals are left trying to manage psychiatric conditions,” Wolf said, “and they just don’t have the training or expertise.”

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Zone offense? Cardona says he has votes to become Zoning Committee chair — with or without mayor’s support: Business and labor leaders opposed to the mayor’s choice, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, drafted Ald. Felix Cardona to run as a compromise candidate. The Northwest Side alderperson is so confident he has enough support, he’s advising Mayor Brandon Johnson to back off or risk an embarrassing defeat. Sigcho-Lopez is not so sure.

* Sun-Times | City Council’s Budget Committee chair to summon CPS CEO Martinez to explain pension defiance: Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) called it borderline “malfeasance” for Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to push through a $9.9 billion school budget that does not include the pension payment the city had absorbed until then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot shifted the cost to CPS.

* Tribune | Safe Passage workers honored for protecting CPS students on walks to and from school: Glenda Rivera’s teenage son was shot while walking just across the street from his high school in Hermosa. Rivera’s son survived. But eight years later, when her daughter enrolled in the same school, Rivera felt that she needed to do something to protect the children in her neighborhood from violence on their way to get an education. So she joined her local Safe Passage team, donning a neon vest and standing guard every morning and afternoon as local students walked to and from class. She has now worked for Chicago Public Schools’ Safe Passage program for seven years and counting, she said.

* Sun-Times | Pace, CPS paratransit drivers reach tentative contract deal, potentially ending weekslong strike: Nearly 800 drivers walked off the job Aug. 16 in protest of what they said were unfair wages. After reaching a tentative deal with SCR Medical Transportation, they could be back at work by the end of the week if they vote to ratify the contract Thursday. […] Chicago Public Schools said it is “encouraged” that a new deal could soon be reached.

* Tribune | Obama Foundation fundraising slows; new museum teaser video released: The foundation raised $129 million in 2023, its lowest sum of the last seven years, according to IRS Form 990 filings, which are required annually from nonprofits. The year before, it raised $311 million, though the bulk of that sum came from tech titans Jeff Bezos and Brian Chesky. The development team raised $1.5 billion through the end of 2023, foundation spokeswoman Gloria Nlewedim told the Tribune in a statement, but “we saw fewer gifts of $25M+ than in previous years, which led to slightly below-average results,” last year.

* Block Club | Chicago’s Getting A Picture-Perfect Weekend With Sunny Skies, Cooler Temperatures: Thursday is expected to be mostly sunny and warm, with a high near 85 degrees, while Friday will top out at 69 degrees and could see isolated showers, according to the National Weather Service. But the good weather really kicks in Saturday, when the skies are expected to be sunny and temperatures will hit 65 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

* WBEZ | What’s That Building? Old Town School of Folk Music: In the 1990s, a Chicago public library building that had sat unused for a decade got a second life. Or maybe, because of the traditions at the Old Town School of Folk Music, which took over the Art Deco building, it’s more accurate to say it got a Second Half. The building is now a fine place to watch live music — or make some. In the main auditorium, 450-seat Maurer Hall, nobody’s more than 45 feet from the stage, and over that stage hangs a mural from the WPA era.

* Sun-Times | White Sox top Orioles, halt 12-game losing streak: Producing a formula not seen in weeks — three homers, a strong effort from the starting pitcher, scoreless relief pitching and two excellent defensive plays — the Sox improved to 5-38 since the All-Star break. At 32-109, they need to finish 11-10 in their last 21 games against the Red Sox, Guardians, Athletics, Angels, Padres and Tigers to avoid the 1962 Mets’ record of 120 losses.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Attorney for embattled Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard labels trustees corrupt, says she has ‘not committed any crimes’: At what was to have been a regularly scheduled Village Board meeting, Beau Brindley, an attorney hired some weeks ago by Henyard, said trustees who are at odds with her have “taken it upon themselves to try to take away the power of the mayor,” and labeled it “political corruption of the worst kind.” Brindley said that Henyard “is under attack by a corrupt board of trustees that believe they can subvert the will of the people.”

* Fox Chicago | Dolton’s new Village Administrator faces scrutiny over past allegations: The latest appointment by Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard has sparked significant controversy, as newly hired Village Administrator Michael A. Smith faces questions about his past legal troubles, including allegations of sexual harassment involving a 15-year-old girl and a history of multiple criminal charges.

* WGN | Tiffany Henyard’s party goes on, despite trustees’ efforts to stop it: “Let me make sure I’m crystal clear about this: I ain’t never took a goddam thing in my life,” Henyard told Facebook viewers during a livestream from the outdoor gathering. The event was promoted as the “Friends of Tiffany A. Henyard Picnic,” which immediately set off alarm bells among her opponents, who noted that “Friends of Tiffany A. Henyard” is also the name of the embattled politician’s campaign fund.

* Daily Herald | DuPage County clerk sued in dispute over how her bills are paid: The DuPage County state’s attorney’s office has asked a judge to order DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek to comply with county regulations regarding the payment of her bills so vendors can be paid in a timely manner. The lawsuit, called a writ of mandamus, was filed Wednesday. It claims the clerk is breaking state law when she refuses to indicate from where in her budget a bill should be paid when the budget line item for the expense does not have enough money for the payment.

* Daily Herald | Kane County free speech zone questioned by board members, public: Kane County Board Chairman Corinne Pierog said Wednesday that a First Amendment zone was created at the Kane County Government Center to ensure people had a place to speak — not to prohibit them from doing so anywhere else on the campus. But people who have been handing out leaflets at the county campus in Geneva say Pierog established the zone last week because the materials criticized her.

* Daily Herald | Fox River to flow freely through Carpentersville with dam removal: The Fox River will soon flow freely from Algonquin to Elgin. Crews will begin work on a $1.2 million project to remove the Carpentersville Dam this month. The project, which will be finished in November, will create a 10.2-mile unimpeded flow of the Fox River — the longest free-flowing stretch through Kane County. “May this be the model and lead domino in a movement that carries river restoration efforts progressively downstream,” said Friends of the Fox River President Gary Swick at a ribbon-tying event Wednesday to celebrate the start of the project.

* Daily Herald | How a nonprofit is tackling math anxiety in girls: Now Mission:MathMinds has entered into a partnership with the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund and the Herman + Rasiej Mathematics Initiative to further its mission and support innovative programs addressing math anxiety in girls. Programs include mentoring, scholar camps, national conferences, a global literacy campaign, and STEM kit donations to schools, as well as working with partners around the globe.

*** Downstate ***

* KWQC | East Moline mayor helps save veteran’s life after heart attack: Mayor Freeman says he was attending the Rock Island County Democrats Labor Day Picnic at Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council in East Moline. His friend, who is a 76-year-old Navy veteran was also in attendance and collapsed after he had a heart attack. Mayor Freeman’s friend’s grandson alerted him that his grandfather was having a heart attack, and that’s when he jumped in to perform CPR.

* WCIA | ‘We have made no progress on the issues that we organized around:’ UIS non-tenured faculty union file deamand for federal mediation: The non-tenured faculty union at UIS is fairly new, forming at the beginning of the year. Now, they’re hoping to create a more productive conversation to get a new contract. “Many of our non-tenured faculty were suddenly given contracts that asked them to teach additional classes without any additional compensation,” Fenton said.

* Pantagraph | Illinois State University rally denounces discrimination after hate crime report: ozens of students, faculty, staff and others at Illinois State University demonstrated Wednesday afternoon against discrimination of queer students on the Redbird campus. The rally came 10 days after the ISU Police Department issued an advisory on Facebook stating that four suspects confronted a student and knocked him off his scooter in the early morning hours of Aug. 24 outside the Bone Student Center. Investigators said the student was repeatedly punched in the face and called offensive, homophobic terms, prompting the police department to investigate the incident as a hate crime.

* Journal Gazette | Charleston, Mattoon wastewater treatment plants getting solar power: The cities of Charleston and Mattoon are pursuing the construction of solar arrays at their wastewater treatment plants with the goal of helping save money on powering these facilities. In Charleston, construction is underway for the array across from the wastewater treatment plant at 1200 W. Madison Ave. In Mattoon, the City Council voted Tuesday night to approve a power purchase agreement for the planned array at the 820 S. Fifth Place plant. Both cities are working with Renewable Energy Evolution and Commercial Electric Inc. of Lake Forest on these projects.

* WSIL | Low water levels in the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers impact local businesses: With lower water levels, Golcanda’s Marina Manager Keith Collier says they could see fewer people stopping by. “We have a lot of visitors, river traffic, pleasure crafts that come from the Evansville area down here regularly. So if they’re having issues north of us or south of us, it could affect us,” Collier said.

*** National ***

* AP | Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operation, US says: An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition” to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine.

  12 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* You can click here or here to follow breaking news. It’s the best we can do unless or until Twitter gets its act together.

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Thursday, Sep 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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« NEWER POSTS PREVIOUS POSTS »
* Selected react to budget reconciliation bill passage (Updated x2)
* Reader comments closed for Independence Day
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Some fiscal news
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup (Updated)
* RETAIL: Strengthening Communities Across Illinois
* Groups warn about plan that doesn't appear to be in the works
* SB 328: Separating Lies From Truth
* Campaign news: Big Raja money; Benton over-shares; Rashid's large cash pile; Jeffries to speak at IDCCA brunch
* Rep. Hoan Huynh jumps into packed race for Schakowsky’s seat (Updated)
* Roundup: Pritzker taps Christian Mitchell for LG
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition (Updated)
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Live coverage
* Trump admin freezes $240 million in grants for Illinois K-12 schools
* Yesterday's stories

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