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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Time’s a ticking…
* WCIA | Central IL statehouse race focuses on economic development, revitalization of district: The race for the 104th Illinois House District is starting from an interesting position. Republican State Representative Brandun Schweizer is the incumbent for the seat, but he’s only held it for less than a year. Schweizer’s lack of time to establish himself as an incumbent means this race is much more similar to a race for an open seat. Schweizer was appointed to the seat after former Rep. Mike Marron abruptly retired last year. The 21-year-veteran of the Marine Corps is the latest in a line of Republicans who held the seat, which includes Vermilion County and parts of Champaign County outside of the Champaign-Urbana Community.
* Block Club | Midway Armory Can’t Become Police Station, City Says — But Southwest Siders Aren’t Giving Up: “I think what the Mayor’s Office has attempted to do through the ordinance is to try to rewrite state law,” said Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), one of the alderpeople pushing for a new police district. A rally will be held 11 a.m. Saturday outside the Midway Armory to show support for a new police district. The rally is organized by Alds. Marty Quinn (13th), Jeylu Gutierrez (14th), Raymond Lopez (15th), Stephanie Coleman (16th), David Moore (17th), Derrick Curtis (18th), Mike Rodriguez (22nd) and Silvana Tabares (23rd), state Sen. Mike Porfirio and state Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuellar. * Block Club | Englewood Fire Station Left Without A Truck Because City Has No Available Spares: The Englewood fire station at 7101 S. Parnell Ave. has been operating without a truck since Saturday, said Patrick Cleary, Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 president. The truck’s brakes went out, and when a crew from the firehouse brought it to the Fire Department’s “shop” where spare trucks are stored, they were told the city did not have any available trucks, Cleary said. * Block Club | Family Of Man Who Died After Riot Fest Raising Money For Services — And Seeking Answers: Stephen Shult, 58, died Thursday from complications of injuries suffered Sept. 22 at Riot Fest in Douglass Park, according to his family and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. The fundraiser to help pay for Shult’s funeral and burial services has raised over $7,000 as of Monday evening as the local music festival community grapples with his death. To make a donation, click here. * ESPN | DePaul women’s coach Doug Bruno on medical leave indefinitely: CHICAGO — DePaul women’s basketball coach Doug Bruno will be away from the team indefinitely after he suffered a medical incident last month, the school announced Monday. Bruno, 73, is at home recovering and will return to the team when he’s able. Associate head coach Jill M. Pizzotti has assumed the role of interim. * Injustice Watch | Check your judges: Judges are powerful officials whose choices on the bench touch many aspects of our lives, from traffic tickets to divorces, lawsuits, evictions, and criminal cases. They can take or restore someone’s freedom, enforce or overturn state laws, and perpetuate or correct injustices. That’s why Injustice Watch created this guide to Cook County’s judicial elections on Nov. 5, 2024. This year, 75 circuit court judges and two appellate judges are running for reelection in Cook County. Voters will be asked whether each judge should be retained for another term. A judge must receive 60% “yes” votes to keep their seat. * Daily Southtown | Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard tries to make key appointments previously blocked by judge: Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard tried to make appointments to posts including police chief that were recently blocked by a judge, and was mocked and ridiculed by residents during her short visit to a trustee-called meeting Monday night. Henyard arrived an hour after the trustees meeting began and tried to give her report, but residents in the audience kept shouting her down. * Insurance Journal | Illinois Manufacturer to Pay $1.3M After Plant Explosion: Chemical products manufacturer AB Specialty Silicones LLC will pay $1.3 million in penalties after an explosion and fire at its Waukegan, Illinois plant in May 2019 claimed the lives of four workers. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reached a settlement agreement with the company after an investigation revealed AB Specialty Silicones failed to ensure electrical equipment complied with OSHA standards. The company also used propane-powered forklifts to transport flammable liquids in areas where employees handled flammable liquids and gases. * Daily Herald | DuPage Farm Bureau supports horticulture and agricultural education in Glenbard: Student enrollment in this program has grown 70% since its inaugural year in 2023-24. As a part of the courses, students participate in a number of field-based experiences, including leadership development and career exploration. * Daily Herald | Libertyville Mayor Donna Johnson to face challenge in run for reelection: Libertyville Mayor Donna Johnson won office unopposed four years ago, but will be challenged in her bid for a second term next year. Village Trustee Matthew Hickey, whose four-year term is up for contest in April, has launched a campaign for the Libertyville’s top elected post. * SJ-R | Central Illinois first responder dies in two-vehicle crash: Chelsie M. Sonneborn, 32, was an emergency medical technician in Franklin. Sonneborn was driving on Illinois 104 near Rees Station Road on Oct. 3 when her vehicle collided head-on with a pickup truck, according to the Morgan County Coroner’s Office. The crash happened around 4 p.m. […] The crash is being investigated by the Illinois State Police and the Morgan County Coroner’s Office. * Northern Illinois University Alumni Association | Robert Yadgir, ‘86, Receives Alumni Achievement in Public Service Award: Yadgir served as director of communications and senior policy advisor to Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White from 1999 to 2023 and as director of public relations for the Office of the Cook County Recorder of Deeds while White held that position from 1993 to 1999. Yadgir has also served since 2012 as volunteer executive director of the Jesse White Foundation, which supports programs benefiting at-risk youth and provides educational opportunities for low-income students, including the famous Jesse White Tumblers. * AP | Supreme Court seems open to upholding regulations on ghost guns, hard to trace weapons used in crime: In arguments that ranged to classic cars and Western omelets, key conservative justices seemed open to the government’s argument that kits for quickly making nearly untraceable guns at home can be regulated like other firearms. Two conservative justices, Chief John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, previously joined with the three liberals to allow the rule to go into effect and seemed skeptical of the arguments that the Biden administration overstepped by trying to regulate gun parts. * NYT | Tracking Hurricane Milton: Milton was a Category 4 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday afternoon Eastern time, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. The hurricane had sustained wind speeds of 155 miles per hour. Follow our coverage here. * Smithsonian Mag | Explore Abraham Lincoln’s Life and Legacy Through Rare Copies of Historic Books and Documents: A new exhibition—“Abraham Lincoln: His Life in Print”—opened this week at the Grolier Club in New York City. Using books, documents and ephemera, the show follows Lincoln’s rise from a one-room log cabin in Kentucky to the White House. A catalog published by Marquand Books also accompanies the exhibition, with chapters on Lincoln’s political journey, presidential legacy, assassination and many other topics. The more than 200 artifacts on display come from the Americana collection of David M. Rubenstein, an American businessman and philanthropist who recently wrote a new book exploring presidential history.
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Crain’s: Mayor belatedly looking at cuts, tax hikes as deadline looms
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * From one of my newspaper columns last month…
Instead of planning for months to face that challenge - and adjusting this year’s spending and revenues to mitigate future damage - the mayor appeared to ignore the fiscal peril and then when it couldn’t be ignored any longer, he postponed his budget address until the end of the month. * And now this…
It would’ve been a whole lot easier to raise property taxes during his first few months in office than it will be now, when he is embroiled in numerous battles with literally every faction on the city council and will be planning on the fly.
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Rate the new Personal PAC ad
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * Press release…
More background at the link. * Ad… * Script…
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Uber’s Local Partnership = Stress-Free Travel For Paratransit Riders
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] The Pace Rideshare Access Program subsidizes Uber trips, leaving riders with a co-pay of just $2. The impact: “This program has been a godsend for me. It offers flexibility, independence, freedom and the ability to maintain a beautiful life on so many levels,” says one rider. CTA: See how it works.
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‘This is the top of the mountain here, the very very top’
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller * You can follow along in real time by clicking here. The Sun-Times coverage page is here…
The Illinois Street Gang and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law can be found here. Mike Madigan voted for it. * More on the judge’s background…
* Carol Marin’s column on his judicial appointment…
* More…
* Tribune | As Madigan corruption trial kicks off, focus will be on those three taboo words: quid pro quo: Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis was a year into his stunning turn as an FBI mole when he allegedly called up the most powerful politician in Illinois and floated three little words that are virtually taboo in the state’s political lexicon. Quid pro quo. With the feds listening in, Solis told then-House Speaker Michael Madigan, their prime investigative target, that the developers of a West Loop apartment tower understood that in order to get approvals done in City Hall they had to hire Madigan’s private law firm to do their property tax appeals, according to federal prosecutors. “I think they understand they’ve got some issues that they still have to deal with me in terms of zoning,” Solis, then the head of the City Council’s Zoning Committee, told Madigan on the June 23, 2017, call, according to prosecutors. “And I think they understand how this works, you know, the quid pro quo, the quid pro quo.” Madigan allegedly responded, “OK.” * Tribune | Breaking down the charges in the Michael Madigan indictment: Madigan, 82, the former speaker of the Illinois House and head of the state Democratic Party, and his longtime confidant, ex-lobbyist Michael McClain, 77, are charged in a 117-page, 23-count superseding indictment filed in October 2022 with racketeering conspiracy and a host of other crimes. * Jon Seidel | The case against Mike Madigan, laid out in explosive court documents: The former Illinois house speaker is charged with a racketeering conspiracy and other crimes spanning five alleged schemes. While his trial is expected to begin this week, federal prosecutors have already detailed their case in a series of crucial court filings. * WTTW | Michael Madigan to Get His Day in Court, More Than 2 Years After Bombshell Racketeering, Bribery Indictment: Madigan, who represented the 22nd District on Chicago’s Southwest Side for 50 years and who served as House speaker for 36 years, is alleged to have orchestrated multiple corruption schemes, wielding his political power to reward loyal allies and enrich himself. Prosecutors have alleged these various schemes “occurred in parallel” and frequently overlapped with one another, as Madigan and McClain were sometimes recorded on government wiretaps discussing multiple conspiracies over the course of single conversations. * Center Square | Lawmakers recall former Illinois House speaker’s tactics ahead of corruption trial: Democratic State Rep. Kelly Cassidy said she was forced to resign from her job with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in 2018 after she called for an investigation of sexual harassment allegations against a Madigan aide. “My supervisor at the time came to me and said that the speaker’s chief of staff had called to see if I was still employed there and asked me if that was something that they did ordinarily and I said no. She said, ‘I didn’t think so,’ and it seemed ominous,” Cassidy said. Cassidy added that she opposed one of Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s bills a little bit later, and somebody in Madigan’s leadership team turned it into a public issue. “I ultimately had to resign the position because of that controversy they created. All of that, each of these things, were in the immediate aftermath of me speaking up, pointing out problems within his [Madigan’s] administration,” Cassidy said. * ABC 7 | Process to select jury in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s trial begins Tuesday: Charged along with Madigan is former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain. A federal grand jury handed down a superseding indictment in October 2022, adding a new charge of conspiracy. According to the indictment, his job was to conceal and hide the illegal operation of the enterprise shielding Madigan from the criminal activity. * AP | Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan goes to trial Tuesday: But starting Tuesday, as potential jurors first report to court, the spotlight turns to the Chicago Democrat who was once considered the most powerful force in Illinois politics. “This is the top of the mountain here, the very very top,” former federal prosecutor Phil Turner said. * Jon Seidel | Madigan judge has experience with Shakespeare, Michael Jordan — and law used to target ex-House speaker: Judge John Blakey’s father wrote the federal racketeering law that has famously been used to take down organized crime figures. But Blakey also established himself as an authority on the subject long before Madigan’s historic trial. * Jon Seidel | Michael Madigan among the cast of powerful characters ensnared in corruption cases: Most of them were convicted, some went to prison. Here’s a look at the individuals and businesses caught in the crossfire ahead of Madigan’s trial.
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Raoul, other attorneys general file lawsuit against TikTok
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * AP…
The lawsuit is here. * From AG Raoul…
Thoughts?
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Open thread
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: What will Johnson’s CPS power play mean in Springfield? More state funding — or more headaches for mayor. Sun-Times…
* Related stories…
∙ Sun-Times: Mayor Johnson deflects criticism on school board resignations, argues he’s preventing CPS budget cuts ∙ Greg Hinz: Johnson rolls the dice on chaos at Chicago Public Schools * Sun-Times | Madigan judge has experience with Shakespeare, Michael Jordan — and law used to target ex-House speaker: Judge John Blakey’s father wrote the federal racketeering law that has famously been used to take down organized crime figures. But Blakey also established himself as an authority on the subject long before Madigan’s historic trial. * Jill Jaworski | Opinion: The city’s $1.5B bond refinancing plan is a no-brainer. Here’s why: Mendoza’s entire argument against the refinancing rests upon an egregiously repeated false claim that there is some kind of shadowy “additional borrowing” outside of the “cost-saving refinancing component.” Mendoza’s op-ed repeats misinformation, stating that the bond offering would “create a slush fund for operating expenses.” In fact, the authorizing ordinance specifically stipulates that the entire $1.5 billion transaction can only be legally used for cost-saving refinancing purposes. Any other use of proceeds from the sale of the bonds would require another amendment passed by the City Council. Mendoza’s op-ed seems to have been written without any consultation or understanding of the ordinance in question. * PJ Star | ‘More than a sports writer’: Retired Peoria Journal Star columnist dies at age 83: Theobald had a personality as enormous as his talent, handling the biggest stories, standing up to the biggest challenges. He was terrifying in the newsroom when he was irritated, an irascible character who’d strip down to his classic old man undershirt, cigarette between his lips, spoiling for a clash. * KMOX | Illinois State Rep. Jay Hoffman discusses amendment to raise income tax on state wealthiest: In November, Illinois voters will be asked if they would support an additional 3% income tax on those making more than $1 million a year. Illinois State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D) says the trade off would be property tax relief. * Daily Herald | House 51st candidates discuss Democratic control of Springfield: Incumbent Nabeela Syed said she consistently works across the aisle, but defended the record of state Democrats. The Palatine Democrat highlighted the accomplishments of her party by invoking the legacy of former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. “I probably think about Bruce Rauner more often than I would like to, because I hear about the horror stories from when social services all across our state were about to shut their doors,” Syed said. “They were about to stop their services because Gov. Rauner was cutting funding.” * SJ-R | Job postings will look different in Illinois next year. Here’s what you need to know: Employers with more than 15 employees are required to share pay scale and benefits in job postings. In the case that these postings show up on a third-party job site like LinkedIn or Indeed, they would be required to either to show on that site or have that information linked. The Illinois Department of Labor will be receiving complaints of job postings not including this now-required information. From there, the department will notify the employer and give a set date for when it must be remedied. * SJ-R | Frozen food delivery service announces closure, 119 Illinois employees to be laid off: Yelloh, formerly known as Schwan’s Home Delivery, announced last month it’s closing its delivery service this November. The company cited multiple insurmountable business challenges for the decision, including economic and market forces, as well as changing consumer lifestyles. In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN act, filed to the state of Illinois on Sept. 30 by parent group Cygnus Home Service, LLC, 119 Illinoisians will be affected across the state from the layoff. The final day of work for employees will be Nov. 22 of this year. * WGN | City of Chicago shells out millions in overtime pay while CFD needs new ambulances, contract: CFU: Members of the Chicago Firefighters Union (CFU) spoke out Monday, saying the City of Chicago is spending millions on overtime pay for paramedics — money, they say is needed for new ambulances, on top of a new contract. The Chicago Fire Department has been operating for more than three years without a contract, which has capped the department’s expansion of its ambulance fleet. CFD currently has 80 ambulances, but ideally, they would like to have 127, which would move the department in line with the national average when it comes to the residents-to-ambulance ratio in major cities — 21,000-to-1. * FOX Chicago | Chicago Fire Department adopts new cleaning tech to fight cancer risks: “Furniture is no longer made of wood. Carpet is no longer made of typical textiles,” said Mark Smith of Alliance Safety Solutions. “Everything is now petroleum-based. So that petroleum base burns hotter. It burns quicker. And it has more polyaromatic hydrocarbons.” Which is where a new massive machine comes in. It’s called a high-pressure liquid carbon dioxide cleaner. * Tribune | Biden EPA requires Chicago to dramatically speed up replacement of toxic lead pipes: Chicago must replace every toxic lead pipe connecting homes to water mains within two decades — an aggressive deadline imposed this week by President Joe Biden after his administration initially proposed giving city officials twice as long to complete the job. The more stringent requirement is part of a broader package of changes in federal regulations intended to protect Americans from a metal so dangerous it is unsafe at any level of exposure. * Tribune | Lurie, Comer and Advocate Children’s named best children’s hospitals in Illinois by U.S. News: “We’re obviously very proud to be ranked No. 1,” said Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, chief medical officer at Lurie. “I think the rankings are an important tool and guide for families when they might have a complex child and they’re trying to figure out what works best for their families and the specific conditions they might have.” He said he’s confident Lurie will be back in the top 10 nationwide “in the near future.” While it’s important to Lurie to focus on clinical outcomes, the hospital also prioritizes “holistic comprehensive care that really extends beyond the areas that are being ranked,” he said, which includes family support, community outreach and cutting edge treatments. * Block Club | Trump To Address The Economic Club Of Chicago Next Week: The interview, co-hosted by the Economic Club and Bloomberg News, will take place next Tuesday, Oct. 15. Trump’s visit marks his first return to the city since a contentious July interview with members of the National Association of Black Journalists. * Sun-Times | After 23 years behind bars, Chicago man set free as he appeals murder conviction: A Cook County judge on Monday appeared reluctant to release a man from prison while he continues to fight his murder conviction, but did anyway at the order of a state appellate court. Judge Angela Petrone ordered Kevin Jackson, 43, released on electronic monitoring while he appeals her ruling earlier this summer that denied his bid to vacate his conviction in a 2001 gas station shooting on the South Side. * Chicago Mag | Why Is the Chicago Marathon So Fast?: Olympic marathon champion Frank Shorter once said, “There are three reasons Chicago is fast: It’s flat, it’s flat, it’s flat.” (“The only hill is with 400 meters left,” says Rupp.) Knowing they won’t face uphill stretches, runners display “a kind of fearlessness,” says Pinkowski. But flatness is not the only factor: Because of Chicago’s grid system, the course has few twists and turns, with some straightaways going for miles, allowing runners to build up a head of steam. * Daily Herald | Lockport woman sentenced to jail for role in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot: A federal judge sentenced a Lockport woman to serve time in jail for her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol but not her husband, who instead must serve probation, court records show. On Oct. 1, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Kelly Lynn Fontaine, 54, to serve 21 days in jail for engaging in “disorderly or disruptive conduct.” * Crain’s | Hyzon in race against time as it revs up new hydrogen fuel cells in Bolingbrook: Hyzon Motors, a small clean-tech company that came to Bolingbrook three years ago, is about to find out whether its big bet on hydrogen-powered trucks is going to pay off before it runs out of cash. The company is set to begin commercial production of new, larger fuel cells that turn hydrogen into electrical power for semitrucks. Hyzon developed a 200-kilowatt fuel cell to replace a 110-kilowatt model, giving it an edge. The company says the new fuel cells are 30% lighter and smaller and 25% more cost-efficient than using two smaller systems. * Daily Herald | Underwood, Marter blame each other for cancellation of congressional candidate forum: In an email to the Daily Herald on Monday afternoon, league co-presidents Tania Traverso and Nadia Kanhai said the forum was canceled because both candidates wouldn’t agree to a virtual forum. “This decision was made by the LWV Aurora Area alone without any input from either candidate,” Traverso and Kanhai said. The group’s statement didn’t explain why the league moved away from an in-person discussion, as both Underwood and Marter had agreed to such a program. * ABC Chicago | Video shows driver running tanker off road, causing deadly leak in central Illinois: investigators: Investigators showed the girl dashcam video from the tanker. She acknowledged she was at the wheel when her minivan passed the tanker then cut it off to avoid a collision with oncoming traffic. The tanker hit a trailer on the side of the highway. * WSIL | Federal Grant to Address Nursing Education Shortage in Rural, Underserved Areas in Southern Illinois: McKendree University’s Division of Nursing was recently awarded $980,000 from Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS), which Senator Dick Durbin secured as part of the 2024 fiscal year’s Consolidated Appropriations Act. This grant pays the tuition cost for 60 students who have been enrolled in McKendree’s MSN nurse educator program. * Chicago Reader | Champaign-born phenom Somi brings her African immigrant heritage to her vocal jazz: Jazz singer Somi Kakoma is a multihyphenate talent—she’s also a composer, actor, and writer—but she’s best known for her rich, soaring voice. Born in Champaign to parents who’d come to the U.S. from Rwanda and Uganda, Somi split her childhood between Zambia and Illinois. Her father worked as a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where in the early 2000s she earned a dual degree in cultural anthropology and African studies; she then pursued a master’s in performance at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her work is informed by her multinational upbringing and activist spirit, honoring the distinctive traits that make cultures and communities precious while celebrating the universals that connect them—and condemning forces of division such as racism, xenophobia, and misogyny. * Daniel Kaplan | Political ads dominating sports telecasts with seemingly no end in sight: It’s not just you if it seems the commercial breaks of sporting events are inundated with political advertising. Listen to a political podcast, and invariably the host or guests will note they were watching say the LSU game one Saturday and the tsunami of political ads was inescapable (that one comes from The Bulwark podcast). I have even noticed them in solid blue New York, dashing my boast that I live in a city that political advertising avoids.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and some campaign news
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Live coverage
Tuesday, Oct 8, 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)
Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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