#BREAKING: Tyler W. Massengill, 32, of Chillicothe, IL named as the Peoria Planned Parenthood arson suspect in a federal complaint filed today in Peoria.
The official charge is “Malicious Use of Fire and an Explosive to Damage, and Attempt to Damage, Property Used In and Affecting Interstate Commerce.”
From the complaint: “MASSENGILL also told investigators he thought that, if his actions the night of January 15, 2023 caused “a little delay” in a person receiving services at the PHC, his conduct may have been “all worth it.”
Massengill offered a woman in Sparland $300 to paint the distinctive red door on his pickup truck white the day after the arson, prosecutors said. A paint grinder with red paint residue was found on the scene.
On January 24, 2023, MASSENGILL telephonically contacted the Peoria Police Department and stated he wanted to speak about the incident at the PHC. MASSENGILL arrived at the Peoria Police Department, at approximately 6:00 PM on January 24, 2023. MASSENGILL was advised of his Miranda rights and was subsequently interviewed by Peoria police and the FBI. During the interview, MASSENGILL stated he saw his truck on the news while he was at work. Initially, MASSENGILL denied responsibility for the fire, claiming that he traveled to Peoria on January 15, 2023 and allowed two adult males to borrow his truck.
MASSENGILL then changed his story and told investigators about a relationship he had been in approximately three years earlier. At that time, MASSENGILL’s girlfriend had become pregnant. MASSENGILL’s girlfriend, who was in the Peoria area while he was working in Alaska, informed MASSENGILL, via telephone, that she had elected to abort the child, which upset MASSENGILL. On or around January 15, 2023, MASSENGILL heard or saw something that reminded him of the abortion, again upsetting him. MASSENGILL admitted that, on January 15, 2023, he broke the window out of the PHC and placed a burning container inside of the building. MASSENGILL confirmed that he had driven his truck to SOI-1’s residence and asked her to paint the truck white. MASSENGILL also told investigators he thought that, if his actions the night of January 15, 2023 caused “a little delay” in a person receiving services at the PHC, his conduct may have been “all worth it.
…Adding… Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois…
“We are pleased an arrest has been made in the firebombing of the Peoria Planned Parenthood Health Center on January 15. The damage to the health center is extensive and we are estimating it costing over $1M to rebuild. The repairs will take numerous months before we can reopen stronger than ever.
This senseless act of vandalism has robbed the community of access to birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and gender-affirming care as well as medication abortion services. We appreciate the outpouring of support from the community, state, and nation as we continue to meet our patients’ needs through telehealth and at our other 16 health centers across the state.
If supporters wish to help out in this moment we have information on our website, www.ppil.org, to donate directly to rebuilding the Peoria health center.”
The Illinois Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Transportation have come to a new agreement that will streamline and accelerate the process of delivering proven and scalable safety measures on local roads and state routes within the City of Chicago.
While we’re thrilled with this progress, we still have work to do at the state level. Based on a 2017 state law, all intersections in Illinois must accommodate the turn radius of a semi-truck, regardless of the “design vehicle” being used.
This turn radius law prevents the city from building true protective infrastructure such as bollards or raised curb-bump-outs across the city.
Part of the Safe Streets for All platform calls for repealing or amending that state law to create safer intersections across our state. No neighborhood intersection should be designed to accommodate a semi-truck at the expense of human safety.
I did not know that. But here’s IDOT’s interpretation of that 2017 law…
The new legislation means a WB-65 should now, by policy, physically be able to traverse any intersection, including local street to local street intersections, through the utilization of possible encroachment.
Today, Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) introduced Senate Resolution 27 that calls on the Illinois Senate to protect the will of Illinois voters and reject any progressive income tax measure that is introduced in the 103rd General Assembly.
“The people have spoken, and they could not have been more clear that they do not want a progressive income tax,” Curran said. “The tax failed in the collar counties that I represent, and was crushed downstate where our caucus has the largest geographic representation. It is time to move in a new direction. We are standing behind the people of this state who resoundingly said no, and standing up for families who cannot afford to be overtaxed.”
In 2020, the “Fair Tax” Amendment fell more than 360,000 votes short of a simple majority and more than 760,000 votes short of a three-fifths majority of those voting on the question.
The 3,059,411 “No” votes cast against the proposed constitutional amendment were a majority (53.3%) of the votes cast on the question and were also a majority (50.2%) of the total votes cast in the November 2020 election as a whole.
“Bringing a renewed attempt for a progressive income tax back into the conversation while so many Illinois families are struggling to buy basic groceries is completely out of touch,” said Rezin. “It is time to utilize the increased revenue Illinois is already receiving to provide tax relief, not tax increases. I am proud to sign onto this resolution to help fight against increasing taxes on Illinois families and businesses.”
The Governor’s Office has been sharing news of record growth and financial success. The General Funds base receipts are up $2.034 billion year-over-year, including the one-time federal ARPA reimbursements received earlier in the year. Illinois also has the second-highest effective tax rate and the highest corporate tax rate in the entire nation.
“Nearly every county in the state voted against the amendment,” Anderson said. “This is just another example of the Majority Party saying ‘we know best’ and completely ignoring the will of the people. I am proud to join this resolution to defend their voice.”
Today, Senate Resolution 27 was read into the official Senate record. It now awaits to be assigned to a Senate committee.
Today, the Chicago Federation of Labor launched a digital ad campaign in support of the city’s bid to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention. The ad, which can be viewed here, highlights Chicago’s strong union culture, its many union hotels and restaurants, and its legacy of labor activism.
“There is no better city to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention than Chicago, the hometown of the American labor movement,” said Bob Reiter, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor. “From our many union hotels to our abundance of union convention workers, Chicago can guarantee a union strong DNC like no other city. Holding the convention in Chicago would make it clear the Democratic Party supports and honors the labor movement, a constituency we cannot afford to take for granted in 2024. Democrats must invest in winning the Midwest and winning working class voters, and holding the convention in Chicago will help us do just that.”
The multi-platform digital ad buy will target key decision makers and constituencies involved in the selection process. The Democratic National Committee is expected to pick a host city in the coming weeks. Four cities have applied to host the convention, including Chicago, New York City, Houston, and Atlanta. City and state officials hosted a delegation from the DNC last summer, along with labor and business leaders from across Chicago.
The ad’s narrator details why Chicago is the perfect choice for the 2024 DNC:
“As Democrats, we live our values every day. That means supporting working people. Chicago is the Hometown of the American Labor Movement. We lead the nation in union hotels, event centers and worker advocacy. When you come to Chicago, you’re in the heart of democracy, progress and innovation.”
Since 1896, the CFL has fought for economic, social, and racial justice for all working people. The CFL represents 300 unions, who in turn represent approximately 500,000 working people in Chicago and Cook County
* Press release…
The Park District of Tinley Park today announced it has received support from 14 additional members of the Illinois House and Senate for its proposed plan for the site of the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center and Howe Development Center to transform the long-vacant property into a hub of athletic fields, track and field facilities, a domed sports complex and open recreational space.
This week, the 14 legislators, who represent communities surrounding the Tinley Park area, sent a letter of support, including: Reps. Dagmara Avelar, Kelly Burke, Will Davis, Anthony DeLuca, Marcus Evans, Fran Hurley, Thaddeus Jones, Natalie Manley, Nick Smith, Larry Walsh, and Sens. Napoleon Harris, Patrick Joyce, Elgie Sims, and Rachel Ventura.
The Park District has also previously received the support of three legislators who represent Tinley Park: Reps. Debbie Meyers-Martin, Bob Rita, and Justin Slaughter.
Last November, the Park District formally bid on the property located at 7400-7600 W. 183rd St. and laid out its vision to meet the needs of the Tinley Park residents and expand opportunities for neighboring communities.
The Park District’s Phase 1 of development for the property includes playground and sports facilities fully accessible for people living with special needs, multipurpose athletic fields, a domed sports complex with a full-size soccer field, a stadium with a track, a splash pad, concession stands, spectator stands, lighting, ample parking, as well as a pond, picnic areas and open green space.
In their letter this week to the Park District, the group of 14 legislators said the Park District’s Phase 1 plans would create an opportunity for people across the Midwest to attend tournaments, games and events at the site.
“Additionally, transforming this site into a place for all to enjoy addresses a critical need for many of our communities that could benefit greatly from access to more recreation opportunities,” the legislators wrote.
* Press release…
Today, Congresswoman and House Democratic Senior Chief Deputy Whip Jan Schakowsky endorsed Congressman Jesús “Chuy'’ García for Mayor of Chicago, the latest in a string of endorsements from elected leaders across Chicago.
“My dear friend Chuy García is a progressive champion with a real history of getting things done for everyday people. I proudly endorse Chuy for Mayor because he has the experience – and most importantly, the heart – to be an effective leader for all Chicagoans. He is the proven coalition-builder that Chicago needs in City Hall,” said Schakowsky. “Chuy is focused on the issues that matter – addressing the root causes of crime in our communities, improving our education system, and defending human rights. I trust Chuy to stand up for women’s rights, including the right to an abortion.”
* Nice gesture…
Yesterday we installed a commemorative plaque celebrating former Secretary of State, Jesse White, at the IL AFL-CIO headquarters.
Sec. White has always been a friend to organized labor and we are grateful for his endless service to the working people of Illinois. pic.twitter.com/IYg37YmfDD
* Crain’s | Garcia steps away from House financial panel—a move that resurfaces talk of crypto ties: Through a spokeswoman, Garcia says the decision not to seek a new term on the House Financial Services Committee was his and comes because now-minority Democrats have fewer committee assignments to pass around. Leaving Financial Services will allow him to concentrate on his work on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which is important for the Chicago area, the spokeswoman noted.
* WTTW | García Edits First Television Ad to Remove Uniformed Chicago Cops After Probe Launched: A spokesperson for the García campaign told WTTW News the ad was revised out of an “abundance of caution” after WGN-TV reported that it likely violated police department policy that prohibits officers from engaging in political activity while “wearing a uniform or any part thereof which would identify the individuals as Chicago Police Officer, or use property of the Chicago Police Department.”
* CBS Chicago | Illinois gets mixed marks when it comes to reducing tobacco use: The American Lung Association released its State of Tobacco Control report. More money for the Illinois “quit line” improved the access to services that help people quit. It went up from a “C” last year to “B” this year. One “F” grade was given because the state hasn’t banned the sale of flavored tobacco products, but Illinois got an “A” for its strength of smoke-free workplace laws.
* Daily Herald | Rosemont’s Stephens adds GOP House leadership post: Add one more title to Rosemont Mayor and state Rep. Brad Stephens’ business card: Assistant House Minority Leader. The Republican politician who has been the Northwest suburb’s mayor since 2007 and in the General Assembly since 2019 was named to new House Republican Leader Tony McCombie’s leadership team, which is otherwise composed of downstate Republicans.
* Mother Jones | How Nick Fuentes groomed a new generation of racist hate.: Nick Fuentes grew up in the relative comfort and stability of a two-parent household in the Chicago suburb of La Grange. He has said that his father, Bill Fuentes, a vice president at a ball bearing manufacturer, is half-Mexican, which Nick sometimes uses to claim he’s not a white supremacist—and sometimes brushes off as distant lineage irrelevant after decades of assimilation.
* Daily Herald | Rolling Meadows wants ‘attractive gateway’ to any Bears stadium, so no cars outside for body shop: Rolling Meadows officials may be willing to allow an auto body shop to expand its presence in the shadow of the Arlington Park property — so long as no vehicles are stored outside. The prohibition on vehicles waiting to be serviced from stopping, staging or parking in the lot is included as a condition in Body Builders Automotive’s request to operate a repair facility at 3737 Industrial Drive.
* WTTW | Push to Reopen Public Mental Health Clinics Closed 11 Years Ago Defines Another Chicago Mayor’s Race: A majority of candidates hoping to oust Lightfoot from City Hall’s fifth floor office have pledged to reopen public mental health clinics and expand efforts to respond to calls for help not just with police officers, but also with social workers and counselors. While the candidates have differing plans, none have backed Lightfoot’s approach.
* Bloomberg Law | Jailed Illinois Lawyer Gets License Suspended After Fraud Ruling: he Illinois Supreme Court’s order Tuesday suspended Hassan Ali Abbas from the practice of law in Illinois “until further order of the Court.” Abbas, licensed by the state in 1991, was convicted in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts for wire fraud, money laundering, unlawful monetary transactions, and money laundering conspiracy. He was sentenced to prison in October 2022.
* AP | Chicago White Sox Pitcher Mike Clevinger Investigated by MLB for Domestic Violence: “MLB opened an investigation after learning of these allegations,” the team said in a statement. “The White Sox were not aware of the allegations or the investigation at the time of his signing. The White Sox will refrain from comment until MLB’s investigative process has reached its conclusion.”
* Tribune | EPA considers tougher regulation of livestock farm pollution: Food & Water Watch, whose lawsuit prompted the agency’s reversal, said a new approach was long overdue. “For decades EPA’s lax rules have allowed for devastating and widespread public health and environmental impacts on vulnerable communities across the country,” Tarah Heinzen, the group’s legal director, said Monday.
* CNN | Washington Post lays off 20 newsroom employees, shuts down gaming section: The layoffs hit multiple departments at The Post, and included pulling the plug on Launcher, the newspaper’s gaming vertical that launched in 2019, a spokesperson for The Post said. Spokespeople for The Post have stressed that the newspaper will not reduce headcount in 2023 as it will reallocate resources and invest in other areas.
*** UPDATE *** The Illinois State Rifle Association, along with the Second Amendment Foundation and others has filed a motion for preliminary injunction with the Southern District US Court. Click here to read it.
Two Second Amendment lawyers who helped win a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down a New York concealed carry gun law are now challenging the constitutionality of Illinois’ assault weapons ban — with help from the National Rifle Association.
Paul Clement, who successfully argued the New York case, is one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs in the latest federal lawsuit seeking to overturn Illinois’ two-week old ban.
Clement is a former partner in Kirkland & Ellis’ Washington, D.C., office who served as solicitor general of the United States, representing the government in cases before the nation’s top court from 2004 to 2008, during the George W. Bush administration. […]
Clement and attorney Erin Murphy began their own firm after Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis decided it would no longer handle Second Amendment-related litigation. Murphy, who was part of the New York case, is also working on the challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban, filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Illinois.
An emergency hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning for a second lawsuit against House Bill 5471.
The lawsuit calls the ban unconstitutional and an attack on citizens’ right to bear arms. Tom DeVore, the former Republican candidate for state attorney general, is the plaintiff in the case, and he is joined by former gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey. Last week, a judge in Effingham County granted a temporary restraining order blocking the law.
* While he’s an opponent of the new law, Livingston County State’s Attorney Randy Yedinak told the Pontiac Daily Leader that the written public statements by dozens of county sheriffs vowing not to enforce the law wer unwise…
“I do think there’s a little bit of danger in people making these statements about whether they will or will not enforce the law, or they will or will not charge people,” Yedinak said. “That’s giving up the very discretion they have to use. We saw it a lot during COVID when the governor was passing all sorts of legislation and people were just banging on my door, hounding me on the phone to say that I’m not going to enforce these COVID laws.
“We had one particular person running around here in Pontiac (who tested positive for COVID and said) he was going to cough on as many people (as he could). If I would have gone on record and said I wasn’t going to enforce those laws, then I wouldn’t be able to do something about that guy. That’s something a lot of state’s attorney’s recognize and that’s why you don’t see a lot of state’s attorneys making these statements because there maybe a situation where we want to enforce these brand new laws.”
* Meanwhile, “Steven in Pecatonica” called in to Brian Mackey’s 21st Show today to chime in on the assault weapons ban…
Steven in Pecatonica: I’m calling to see if I could speak to what the gentleman was discussing in terms of the implementation of the law. It’s my understanding that my hometown Dixon, Illinois, county seat of Lee County, recently just this last week had a demonstration for law enforcement officers, showing them what amounted to an armored skid steer that they were being directed, they’re being told that this was going to be used for the implementation of this law. That goes in contrary to what the gentleman just said.
Brian Mackey: All right. Thank you for that. A skid steer. I guess that’s like a piece of heavy equipment, full bulldozer like thing. Sheriff Dart, are you hearing anything about this?
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart: Absolutely not. I mean, that would be contrary to literally every type of law enforcement doctrine that we have. I would imagine it would be something similar to what I said earlier about going to people with revoked FOID cards, where you attempt to approach, knock on the door and see if they are aware of the law and all these other things. That’s been the normal approach that people would take. It would be literally contrary to every law enforcement doctrine I can think of to use something like that.
Brian Mackey: Kathleen Sances, I can’t remember if it was you or one of the other guests who mentioned misinformation from people who are advocating for a broader view of gun rights. Say more about what your perspective is on that.
Kathleen Sances with GPAC: The sheriff touched on this. Nothing in this bill says that we’re going to knock on your door and take your existing collection of weapons and if you do have existing weapons, you have almost a year to get them registered. So I think that that’s the disinformation we’re talking about. This whole notion of confiscation is a typical gun lobby talking point. The gun lobby is motivated by the greed of the gun manufacturers who are worried about their profits. And you know, on the other side, our coalition is a movement of survivors, advocates, policy experts, faith leaders and youth who are motivated to keep our families and communities safe. And we’re going to continue to do so. We’re going to stand up and fight against this disinformation.
Not sure where Steven in Pecatonica got his info, but there’s nothing on the Lee County sheriff’s Facebook page, nothing in the Google and I searched a couple of social media sites and found nothing there, either. Maybe some of you can help track down this rumor.
* Gun rights advocate Todd Vandermyde was on the same show today and said this…
They simply want to make it impossible for people on the South Side, people on the West Side to be able to obtain a firearm either through regulations, red tape, fees, or whatever. This is your modern Jim Crow law.
Um, OK.
* Press release…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Attorney General for the District of Columbia Brian Schwalb led a coalition of 18 attorneys general asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to reverse a lower court decision that enjoined New York’s prohibition on carrying firearms in places of worship and religious observation. In an amicus brief, Raoul and the coalition argue that the prohibition is consistent with U.S. Supreme Court precedent and with a long tradition of similar regulations designed to meet the states’ responsibility to protect their residents from the harmful effects of gun violence.
The coalition argues that states have an interest in limiting the possession and use of firearms in locations where people exercise other constitutionally protected rights, where vulnerable populations like children and older adults gather, and where large groups of people meet in confined spaces. Locations like churches, synagogues, and mosques are the heart of many people’s religious exercise. The brief notes that they are also increasingly targets of gun violence, which may dissuade people from attending religious services and otherwise exercising their First Amendment rights.
“States have the authority to craft policies that best protect their residents from gun violence – including those restricting firearms in places where large groups of people gather in confined spaces to exercise their constitutional right to observe their religious beliefs,” Raoul said. “States’ long-standing authority to tailor firearm regulations to local nuances is essential for policymakers to be able to address gun violence and keep their communities safe.”
The brief explains that though the U.S. Supreme Court recently altered the judicial analysis for Second Amendment claims in N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the court’s decision did not upend the states’ long-standing authority to regulate the carrying of firearms in certain places. The court reaffirmed in Bruen that the Second Amendment has never given Americans an unrestricted right to carry loaded firearms in all public places. Instead, states may enact a variety of regulations to combat the problem of gun violence, including solutions tailored to local needs.
“Modernization and bringing new technology is going to be at the forefront of everything we do,” Giannoulias said in an interview with Capitol News Illinois at the end of his second week in office. […]
Giannoulias also noted modernization will “play a role in every single department,” not just for driver services.
This includes making the lobbyist registration database more accessible, improving accessibility for e-books and online educational resources in libraries, and further streamlining technology services.
I’ll add my two cents.
The other day, I went to the Corporation/LLC search page to look for a company’s officers. Put in the name, hit search, up comes a list. I clicked on one link, but that wasn’t the company I wanted, so I hit the back button on my browser, clicked on a different company and wound up being directed back to the original (blank) search page. Frustrating.
A similar thing happens with the lobbyist search function. Enter a lobbying entity name, get the result, use the back button to go back to the main page, try to search for an expenditure report, and it won’t let you search. You have to reload the page, which not everyone will figure out. Also, why aren’t links to the expenditure reports on the same page with the lobbying entities and the contract lobbyist results? And why isn’t more information showing up on the expenditure report pages? The filing dates are basically all you get, so you have to click numerous links until you find a report with any actual spending.
I could go on, but do you have any ideas or suggestions for the SoS website?
And people have been coming forward in droves, talking openly about the negative effects of taking the COVID vaccine – including airline pilots, doctors, nurses and Illinois’ very own Ryan Cunningham, who wrote on his Twitter,
“I got the COVID vaccine before most could as healthcare provider and emergency manager implementing many of the policies of the “covidians.” Days after I was transported to the hospital with cardiac issue. Today I’m in heart failure.”
That would be this Ryan Cunningham…
🚨BREAKING: Is this video real? Is this really a missile hitting the Pentagon on 9/11? Someone, please help enlighten me. pic.twitter.com/GV0bgj3xc9
In January, Congress must get to work to investigate the Biden Administration and his pandemic police. My campaign manager @rycunni was significantly injured by the vax.
.@rycunni and I are on our way to court to challenge @GovPritzker assault weapons ban. Even @CNN has reached out to follow our case. Stay tuned and follow our page for updates. pic.twitter.com/tUyyHd5SuV
* It seems that almost all candidates for local offices in Chicago are talking about crime these days. Even Chuy Garcia put the crime problem at the center of his campaign TV ad.
So, while I don’t agree with everything in this blog comment from the other day, I think it’s pretty insightful overall…
I think there are a few answers to why the crime rate from 25 years ago is so disturbing to modern day Chicagoans.
First, many Chicagoans moved there during the 2000s when things were better. They don’t remember the 80s. They wouldn’t have moved in if things were like the 80s.
Second, like it or not, we are now in a position to read every detail of every attack on the red line or Logan Square or anywhere else. If it bleeds it leads has always been a thing, but the media back in the day would pick one or two stories, not deluge their audience with a full hour of crime stories. Social media, however, can. I think that’s for the better, too much was hidden back in the day, and social media makes for a better telling of full scope of the crime (not just the primary but secondary and tertiary victims).
3rd where the crimes happen has changed a bit. Violent crime on the CTA was low even in the 80s. Crime didn’t happen in wealthier neighborhoods in the 80s. It was limited to places like Uptown and other poorer neighborhoods. Here I would say that Preckwinkle was both correct and impolitic in her observations about violent crime and wealthier neighborhoods.
* And while folks like the governor and others have been saying that crime is going down, check out these year to date numbers and historical comparisons from the Chicago Police Department…
Yes, it’s only a few weeks of data, but it doesn’t look good. And the election is coming up fast.
…Adding… The vehicular hijacking data for this month is here.
* Crain’s | Midwest economy shows signs of tough times ahead, says Chicago Fed: Answers to a questionnaire sent to key leaders in the Chicago Fed’s five-state area found the overall index of economic activity increased from -41 in December to -27 in January. But, with a score of 0 representing normal economic growth, that latest figure suggests economic growth is “well below trend,” the Fed said.
* Daily Herald | As several support DuPage sheriff, county chair says she’ll seek censure over weapons ban remarks: Saying words matter, DuPage County Board Chair Deborah Conroy Tuesday said she will seek to censure Sheriff James Mendrick. Conroy’s announcement came after more than 200 people gathered at the board meeting on Tuesday to express support or outrage over Mendrick’s refusal to fully enforce the state’s new ban on high-powered weapons and high-capacity magazines.
* Shaw Local | New tax ideas just rumblings before hearing budget speech: State Sen. Robert Martwick, D-Chicago, has suggested taking another run at changing the flat tax system after voters soundly rejected Pritzker’s first such effort in 2020. State Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, told WTTW-TV his colleagues should consider a wealth tax, which would apply to people with assets exceeding $1 billion.
* Brownfield | IFCA anticipating Illinois legislation banning important pesticides : The Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association is keeping a close eye out for any pesticide related legislation being introduced in the new General Assembly. President KJ Johnson tells Brownfield he expects there to be debates about atrazine, chlorpyrifos and Round-Up, but based on congressional action last year, he thinks a ban on dicamba and neonicotinoids could move quickly this year.
* Alfred Ronan Obituary: At 31, Al was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives representing the northwest side of Chicago. In the Illinois House, Al championed important issues such as a statewide seat belt mandate and consistently pushed for increased funding for K-12 education.
* Crain’s | Durbin, Jam Productions CEO slam Live Nation at Senate hearing over Taylor Swift ticket fiasco: “The ticketing and live entertainment markets lack competition and they are dominated by a single entity: Live Nation,” Durbin said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing sparked by the recent problems with Ticketmaster’s handling of sales for a Taylor Swift tour that left fans disappointed and anguished.
* Herald & Review | Pritzker on wind, solar zoning rules: During an unrelated news conference, Gov. J.B. Pritzker answers a question about legislation that would set statewide zoning standards for wind and solar projects.
* Tribune | FBI’s new Chicago boss says he considers job the ‘pinnacle’ of his career: Wheeler, 52, sat down with the Tribune on Tuesday to talk about his new job leading the Chicago FBI, the bureau’s fourth-largest field office with more than 1,000 agents, support staff and other personnel responsible for investigating everything from domestic and international terrorism to public corruption, gang racketeering, bank robberies and white-collar crime.
* WGN | Garcia’s police ad appears to violate police rules: The commercial features images of Congressman Garcia walking down a street flanked by two uniformed officers whose faces are fully visible. While it’s not uncommon for candidates to use imagery of police – or even show a politician speaking with unidentified officers – the police participation in this ad is notable because the officers appear to fully participate in the filming and staged walking shots.
* WBEZ | From downtown Chicago to the neighborhoods, here’s how the mayoral candidates are vowing to strengthen the city’s economy: State Rep. Kam Buckner laid blame directly on the mayor for North Michigan Avenue’s troubles. “I represent the Magnificent Mile in the General Assembly, and the mayor told the shop owners there that it was their fault that what happened to them in 2020 happened,” he said at Thursday night’s debate. “Listen, many of us thought that this administration would raise the bar. But all we’ve seen is raised bridges, an attempt to raise taxes and raise the murder rate. We have to do better.”
* Tribune | Embattled Ald. Jim Gardiner’s fitness is key issue in race for 45th Ward: His time in public office has been marked by allegations he used his power as alderman to target political opponents, including a reported federal investigation into whether he sought to withhold ward services from some residents who opposed his agenda.
* WTTW | Chicago Ethics Board Asks Watchdog to Probe Ald. Gardiner For Harassing Opponent’s Volunteers: The incident represents the second time the Chicago Board of Ethics has asked the city’s watchdog to probe Gardiner’s conduct. In November 2021, the board asked the inspector general to determine whether Gardiner violated the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance twice by using his office to retaliate against his political foes. Mayor Lori Lightfoot also called for Gardiner to be probed after those complaints. WTTW News reported in September 2021 that federal agents are probing whether Gardiner took bribes and demanded payments before taking official actions. He has not been charged. Gardiner apologized [last year] for sending profane and misogynistic texts to a former aide about Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward) and two women who work at City Hall.
* ABC Chicago | Willie Wilson defends cash giveaways as fellow mayoral candidates raise ethical concerns: “We always done that,” Wilson said. “I’d rather lose the election versus see somebody starving to death.” In fact, Wilson came under scrutiny in 2018 for giving out cash at a church where he campaigned with Governor Bruce Rauner. The State Board of Elections investigated, but cleared Wilson of any wrongdoing.
* Capitol News Illinois | Veteran Statehouse reporter Hannah Meisel joins Capitol News Illinois reporting team: Throughout her career she’s been a frequent guest on TV and radio programs throughout Illinois and beyond, including hosting a weekly public television roundtable show and being tapped as a featured speaker and panelist for live events. Meisel has excelled in both print news and broadcast formats, and she has developed a wide-ranging knowledge of state government and extensive sources.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and other pro-Second Amendment organizations filed a lawsuit today challenging the Illinois law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that bans commonly owned firearms and magazines.
“The Supreme Court already ruled that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep arms that are commonly used by the people,” said John Weber, NRA Illinois state director. “Gov. Pritzker’s decision to ignore the court and sign this bill demonstrates a blatant disregard for the rule of law and a willful ignorance of the nightmare he and his anti-gun allies in the statehouse have created with their soft-on-crime policies.”
Originally known as House Bill 5471, the law bans many semi-automatic firearms that law-abiding citizens commonly own for self-defense, competition, and recreation. It also bans certain spare parts for those firearms, handgun magazines that can hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition, long gun magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, and a “combination[s] of parts” from which such magazines can be assembled. Additionally, the bill also expands the duration of “red flag” law restraining orders from six to 12 months.
“Instead of arresting, prosecuting, and punishing the criminals who break the law, Gov. Pritzker is focusing his attention on those who haven’t broken any laws. The people of Illinois deserve better,” Weber concluded.
That’s definitely one to watch.
*** UPDATE *** Another one…
Members of the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance (ILGRA) today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the recently adopted Protect Illinois Communities Act, alleging it to be an infringement on the constitutionally protected activity of Illinois sportsmen, firearms retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, and lawful users of firearms. Defendants are Governor Pritzker, Attorney General of Illinois Kwame Rauol, and Brendan F. Kelly, Director of the Illinois State Police.
Named plaintiffs in this action are:
• Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois, Inc – the FFL Dealers’ Association
• Guns Save Life – an Illinois-based, grass-roots gun rights organization
• Gun Owners of America - a national grass-roots gun rights organization
• Three private citizens
• One local dealer
“We are, or represent, members and supporters who are law-abiding Illinois residents who seek to purchase, sell, and protect themselves, and/or their homes and families with firearms owned and in common use by millions of Americans for self-defense,” the complaint begins.
“We began with the so-called ‘Assault Weapon’ ban,” said Mandi Sano, FFL-IL Spokesman. “As the Governor and General Assembly gleefully strip law-abiding Illinois retailers and gun-owners of their gun rights, property rights, and privacy, we will not stand by. We will act.”
“Our group has said all along that we will not help the State craft a ‘better bill,’ we will not provide subject matter expertise, and that if the State wishes to read our opinions, it may do so in the complaint,” added FFL-IL President Dan Eldridge.
John Boch, Executive Director of Guns Save Life, Inc. holds that, “the so-called Protect Illinois Communities Act does nothing to actually protect Illinois communities. Its only effect is to criminalize law-abiding gun owners. The General Assembly should instead be holding criminals accountable for violent crimes.”
The measure remains broadly unpopular, sparking a surge in purchases before the Act’s effective date and drawing the opposition of more than 80 of the State’s 102 Sheriffs.
“The Supreme Court has reset the table by striking down New York’s concealed carry ‘may-issue’ law and along with it magazine limits in California and New Jersey, and Maryland’s ’assault weapon’ ban. We seek immediate state-wide relief from enforcement of this unconstitutional law and look forward to prevailing in the Federal Court.” concluded Ms. Sano.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced a settlement agreement today with online used-car retailer Carvana, which admitted to violating Illinois law and agreed to abide by new restrictions aimed at protecting consumers. Illinois was the first state in the nation to suspend Carvana’s license in May 2022.
“The admission by Carvana demonstrates what we knew all along: that Carvana was violating the law in a manner that was harmful to Illinois consumers,” Giannoulias said. “Under my administration, I will do everything to ensure that proper safeguards are in place that protect Illinois consumers regardless of how they purchase a vehicle.”
Click here to watch a video statement from Secretary Giannoulias.
Illinois began investigating Carvana’s practices in February 2022 after customers alleged it was issuing out-of-state temporary registration permits and for failing to transfer titles in a timely manner as required by the state’s vehicle code.
The agreement also calls for Carvana to: adhere to Illinois law in the future; surrender its $250,000 bond; and allow for pre- and post-licensing Secretary of State Police inspections to ensure it remains in compliance. Most important, the settlement agreement allows the Illinois Secretary of State to summarily suspend and revoke Carvana’s dealership license once again if it fails to comply with either the agreement or the laws.
Secretary Giannoulias emphasized that Carvana’s actions of putting unregistered license plates on vehicles jeopardized Illinois consumers who were at risk of being ticketed by law enforcement for driving without proper title and registration.
Prior to the settlement agreement, Carvana was allowed to sell cars, but only under strict guidelines set forth by a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) granted by a DuPage County judge. Under these guidelines, Carvana was not allowed to issue temporary registration permits or license plates, but was required to register titles through Illinois remitters, which are third-party entities licensed in Illinois to process title transactions. This ensured titles would be processed expeditiously.
…Adding… From Carvana…
Carvana, a pioneer in the automotive industry, will continue selling and buying vehicles using the Company’s innovative e-commerce platform as well as its iconic car vending machine located in Oak Brook, Illinois under an agreement reached today with the Illinois Secretary of State.
Upon reaching this agreement, the Company issued the following statement:
“For the past eight years, we have been an economic engine in the state by providing Illinoisans with an unmatched e-commerce experience that includes great selection, home delivery and a 7-day money back guarantee and today’s agreement with the Secretary of State allows us to move forward in our journey to becoming the largest automotive retailer,” said Alan Hoffman, Carvana Head of Corporate Affairs. “We look forward to working with Secretary Giannoulias to ensure customers continue having access to the best car buying and selling experience possible.”
Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) today announced that $113.8 million has been awarded to downstate transit providers as part of the historic, bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program. The funding brings the total investment in downstate transit via competitive grants to $337.8 million, supporting the Governor’s mission to create economic opportunity by improving all modes of transportation while boosting safety and efficiency. […]
Today’s announcement, made in Decatur to celebrate three awards that will help expand the city’s transit campus, install solar panels on a bus barn, and replace older vehicles with hybrids, represents the third round of competitive grants in Rebuild Illinois funding to invest in transit outside the Chicago area. Awards are supporting projects that include the purchase of new vehicles as well as the construction of bus shelters, plus stations and maintenance facilities that expand and improve service. The projects provide more transportation options in downstate communities and promote an enhanced quality of life. […]
A total of 32 transit systems are receiving $113.8 million to advance 44 projects, including:
• St. Clair County Transit District, $10.8 million for the electrification of transit vehicles with supporting charging stations.
• Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District, $7.2 million for hybrid bus replacement.
• Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District (MetroLINK), $6 million to replace six buses with zero emission buses.
• Sangamon Mass Transit District, $6.9 million for a secondary transfer center.
• Coles County, $70,000 for new bus passenger shelters.
• City of Macomb and McDonough County Public Transportation, $2 million for new buses.
* Something that’s been noted by many since last year’s campaign is the number of junk polls, mainly GOP in origin, flooding the discourse and skewing the average to make a “Red Wave” look much bigger than it turned out to be. As a result, some money shifted away from competitive races to shore up what had been presumed to be comfortable Democratic incumbents. An argument can be made that this may have cost Wisconsin Democrats a Senate seat, among others. And, right here in Illinois, junk polls were used to try to stir up money for and news media interest in Republican candidates who wound up being clobbered. Is this happening again in the city’s mayor’s race?
Here’s a Paul Vallas campaign press release. The first poll is from a GOP pollster and the second is not verifiable…
According to an independent poll by M3 Strategies, mayoral candidate Paul Vallas is now leading the field in the race for Chicago Mayor with 26% of the vote. Vallas is followed by Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, with Mayor Lori Lightfoot in fourth and businessman Willie Wilson in fifth place among the nine candidate field.
“These polling results prove what our campaign already knew — that Paul Vallas is surging and establishing himself as a frontrunner in the race for Mayor,” said Vallas campaign chief strategist Joe Trippi. “Paul’s message of putting crime and Chicago’s safety first is clearly resonating with the voters and our campaign has the financial resources and support necessary to continue driving that message home over the next six weeks.”
SEIU Healthcare Illinois issued the following response to coverage by NBC 5 concerning a poll attributed to SEIU Healthcare:
NBC 5 recently reported on a poll “conducted by Celinda Lake with SEIU Healthcare” stating that NBC had reached out to SEIU Healthcare concerning the poll but had “not yet heard back” from us.
This is not our poll. Our only knowledge of this poll has come from media sources. We are not currently working with Celinda Lake on any polling projects.
We communicated this information to NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern on Sunday evening.
And yet the Vallas campaign still flung it out there.
* WTVO | New Illinois House Budgeteer first woman, African-American to hold position: The Illinois House of Representatives has a new Chief Budgeteer, and she is making history with the new title. Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth is now the first woman, and first African American lawmaker to run budget negotiations for the House.
* Chalkbeat | Illinois public school enrollment continues to drop, preliminary numbers show: Preliminary data released last week by the Illinois State Board of Education shows overall enrollment dropped by about 31,000 students — or 1.7% — between last school year and the current one, according to numbers as of Dec. 14. Chicago Public Schools accounts for at least a quarter of the decline. The district lost 9,000 students and its place as the third largest school district in the country.
* Tribune | Who are the candidates for mayor of Chicago?: Voters in Chicago will head to the polls on Feb. 28 to cast their ballot for mayor, 50 aldermanic seats, the city clerk and city treasurer. There are nine candidates running for Chicago mayor. Here’s what you need to know about each of them.
* Center Square | Illinois lawmaker demands change at embattled child services agency: State Rep. Dan Ugaste can’t see how Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker can remain silent about all the turmoil now going on at the Department of Children and Family Services. “We’ve been pressing the governor for over a year now about all the chaos at DCFS and he simply chooses not to respond,” Ugaste told The Center Square. “I’m again calling on him to do something about the situation that only seems to be getting worse by the day.”
* Tribune | Chicago is a key battleground as railroads struggle to figure out the future: The turbulent week stands as an apt metaphor for the state of the nation’s railroads, and the role of Chicago and its suburbs as the biggest freight hub. They’re key battlegrounds as the U.S. struggles to decide what sustainable growth means, and whether it’s possible.
* Sun-Times | Is ShotSpotter missing the mark?: We also see it as yet another flaw with the high-priced system. It was sold to the Chicago Police (and other departments more than 140 cities) as a law enforcement tool that is accurate and technologically-advanced — with heavy emphasis on the ‘technology’ part — but time and again, it has proven to be considerably less-than-advertised.
* Crain’s | City touts ’social bonds’ sale as success: According to the city, 8% of the bond offering, or $12 million, went to Chicago retail investors who were able to make investments from a minimum of $1,000 up to $1 million. Illinois residents made up 24%, or $38 million, of the purchases. And $88 million in orders came from “11 ESG-focused investors,” following outreach to the ESG market ahead of the offering to learn how to structure what services the city would fund with the bond proceeds.
* KFVS | Southern Illinois native appointed new IDNR director: SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (KFVS) - A former Illinois State Representative and southern Illinois native has been named the new director of Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Governor JB Pritzker appointed Natalie Phelps Finnie to lead IDNR on Monday, January 23.
* Crain’s | Rivian’s chief lobbyist is leaving the company: His departure comes after several top executives at the startup, including the vice president overseeing body engineering, its supply-chain chief and general counsel, have exited in recent months as the company seeks to implement cost-cutting measures.
* AP | EPA considers tougher regulation of livestock farm pollution: EPA has not revised its rules dealing with the nation’s largest animal operations — which hold thousands of hogs, chickens and cattle — since 2008. The agency said in 2021 it planned no changes but announced Friday it had reconsidered in response to an environmental group’s lawsuit.
* SJ-R | Here’s what you need to know about the snow headed to Springfield and central Illinois: A relatively quiet winter in central Illinois is about to get a bit busier this week, with nearly half-a-foot of snow expected for much of the area. The National Weather Service in Lincoln has issued a winter weather advisory for Sangamon County and areas north of Interstate 72, beginning at 9 p.m. and continuing through Wednesday. NWS says that 2-6 inches of snow are expected for areas in this band, with slick roads coming as a result of the blanketing.
* Sun-Times | Thousands of letters — some sent from Chicago nearly 2 centuries ago — up for auction: One piece of mail on the block features faded red fountain pen looping across an envelope mailed in 1833 from Chicago to Connecticut. Another is an envelope from the 1860s with the words “Death to Traitors” stamped in one corner — which showed support for the North during the Civil War.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked today why he hadn’t yet reappointed DCFS Director Marc Smith to a new term…
Q: Yesterday, your office announced a bunch of appointments to state agencies, reappointments. Obviously, last week,there was a lawsuit filed against DCFS, a class action lawsuit in Chicago. Do you intend on keeping Marc Smith the director of DCFS?
Pritzker: We haven’t made all of the announcements, as you know. We have I think 25 or 26 agencies that we need to announce the appointments or reappointments for and so he’ll be in a subsequent batch of those announcements.
Last week, sources confirmed in several reports that García is the unnamed congressman in the federal ComEd corruption case. Specifically, his name came up in connection with what federal prosecutors allege was a scheme by Madigan to get former Cook County Commissioner Juan Ochoa appointed to the ComEd board.
The Chicago Sun-Times has learned Garcia’s name is mentioned in a recorded phone conversation between Madigan and his longtime confidant, Michael McClain, one of four people set to go on trial for the alleged scheme revolving around ComEd.
The mayor also took swipes at Garcia after sources told ABC7 that Garcia was the unnamed member of Congress that was mentioned in court papers released last week in the Madigan corruption case.
The disclosure, which even the Tribune said only “superficially” involved Garcia, is that Garcia is the unnamed “member of Congress” referenced in a recent federal filing in the pending corruption case against Madigan associate Mike McClain and others. Garcia’s name got mentioned by McClain in connection with a planned meeting in early 2019 on another matter. But McClain feared that a third person, former Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority chief Juan Ochoa, might ask about the status of Madigan’s effort to coerce ComEd into putting Ochoa on its board.
In fact, I’m told the meeting never occurred. I’ve seen no proof Garcia did anything to advance the Ochoa appointment, just as his campaign told the Tribune. As per previous reports by the Tribune and Crain’s, it was another former congressman, Luis Gutierrez, who, starting in 2017, really got Madigan involved in the board matter, along with former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The other matter was a political action campaign that Garcia and Ochoa were putting together. As Greg said, the meeting never happened. And I don’t think the PAC ever even came to fruition. [Actually, it did. Click here.]
* Some reporters may be going over the top here in order to mete out a bit of “street justice” on Chuy after failing to connect some dots earlier. Garcia years ago cut a strategic deal with Madigan. Garcia had free rein to run Latino candidates against any “regular” Democrats he wanted and Madigan wouldn’t make any major moves against his candidates, as long as Garcia steered clear of the 13th Ward and the 22nd House District.
A 28-year-old woman unsatisfied with the way in which House Speaker Michael Madigan handled her accusations of sexual harassment against a top aide is taking her complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“I firmly believe they thought that I was too loyal to ever come forward,” Alaina Hampton said Tuesday of Madigan and his allies.
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, the one-time machine-fighting rebel who three years ago challenged Mayor Rahm Emanuel for re-election, but now is moving to Congress—assuming he defeats a Republican in November—endorsed state House Speaker Mike Madigan today for a new term as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.
“As a progressive Democrat, it is my intention to support a state party chair who will work with me to advance our most fundamental goals,” Garcia said in a statement
* There’s also the schadenfreude angle. One of Garcia’s top guys worked to defeat state Rep. Mike Zalewski in the Democratic primary last year in part by bashing Z’s connections to Madigan. But now, the Madigan spin is going the other way.
* If you go to attorney Tom DeVore’s website, you’ll see a link to sign up to be a plaintiff in his second lawsuit against the state’s assault weapons ban. Registration is now closed.
* Devore’s first lawsuit, filed in Effingham County, has 866 plaintiffs. The second lawsuit, filed in White County, has 1,690 plaintiffs.
This adds up to 2,556 plaintiffs - so far. At $200 a pop, that would be $511,200. He’s also taking donations.
All for filing copy and paste lawsuits over legislative procedural matters that were long ago settled by the Illinois Supreme Court and don’t look to be altered anytime soon, particularly with the new 5-2 Democratic dominance.
Some area Democratic members of Congress, state lawmakers and DuPage County Board members gathered Monday to call on DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick to retract his statement or resign after he said he will not enforce the state’s new assault weapons ban.
Mendrick, a Republican, issued a statement Jan. 13, saying he believes the new bill violates Second Amendment rights and that his office won’t be checking to ensure that lawful gun owners register their weapons with the state nor arresting or housing anyone charged solely with not complying with the act. […]
Lawmakers, including U.S. Reps. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove; Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago; Bill Foster, D-Naperville; and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg, spoke at Monday’s news conference at Danada House in Wheaton, calling Mendrick’s statement irresponsible.
“I just want to say with one voice, we cannot wait another day, we cannot wait another hour, we cannot wait another minute for the sheriff to do his duty because lives depend on it,” Krishnamoorthi said.
The sheriff did not say what he would do about individuals and/or stores if they sell the newly banned assault-style weapons within his county.
In a news conference on Monday, Casten called Mendrick’s position “dangerous and unconstitutional.”
“His actions are going to make future mass shootings more likely,” Casten said. “They are going to compromise the safety not only of civilians who want to go out and celebrate their holidays, but he’s going to put the police officers who are there to protect them directly in the line of fire.”
DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy also has criticized Mendrick’s position, saying the sheriff “should not be playing politics with state laws.”
In a lengthy statement released on Monday, Mendrick again criticized the new law as “poorly written” and for having “no clear direction on who will be enforcing new gun laws.” He said he was contacted by Casten on Jan. 16 about enforcing the law.
“There is absolutely nothing that we are doing or not doing that would make a mass shooting more accessible in DuPage County,” Mendrick said in the statement. “In fact, I have asked on multiple occasions to increase penalties on all existing gun crimes, but it does not appear that they want to have that conversation. They seem more concerned with lawful gun owners than people illegally possessing guns.”
In a statement released Monday afternoon, Mendrick struck back at the lawmakers saying, “When elected officials are blatantly untruthful, maybe they are the ones who should consider resignation.”
“There is absolutely nothing that we are doing or not doing that would make a mass shooting more accessible in DuPage County,” he added. […]
All but a handful of Illinois’ county sheriffs have said they won’t enforce the ban. Many of them did so by posting letters almost identical to Mendrick’s.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said he is not one of them. Speaking at the City Club Monday Morning, Dart said sheriffs take and oath to uphold the law, “not our version of it.” He said it is “wildly premature” to make such pronouncements when the Illinois State Police have not given any clear guidance on how the law will be enforced.
Mendrick, who previously suggested he believed compliance checks would be tied to the law, also took note that lawmakers on Monday said they would not be asking officers to go door to door to ensure weapons were legally registered.
“That is a big win for our law-abiding citizens and for law enforcement,” he said.
In clarifying that house-to-house inspections were not expected, state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, a Naperville Democrat, said the weapons ban would come into play if the person was involved with another crime. Using an example of a domestic violence call where guns are involved, Stava-Murray questioned if Mendrick would follow the new law.
“Is he going to enforce our automatic weapons ban if that’s an unregistered weapon?” Stava-Murray said. “He said no, he’s not going to. That seems very dangerous.”
In his statement Monday, Mendrick, a Republican, said it was “disheartening” to hear Stava-Murray suggest he would not enforce the law when he has said he would enforce the weapons ban when it involves other illegal activity.
Again, no word on whether he’ll enforce the new law on people who buy and sell the banned weapons.
Casten challenged critics to lay out their constitutional arguments.
“By the way, your argument can’t be, ‘Well, there’s different people on the Supreme Court now.’ That’s not a constitutional argument,” he said.
Former State Senator Darren Bailey, the GOP nominee who lost his November bid to unseat Governor Pritzker, was among the downstate Republicans who filed a lawsuit in Effingham last week.
“Well, umm…I think…I don’t know that the FOID card has…the background checks…You know, with the federal background checks, I think we all agree,” he stammered [when asked why he believed the law was unconstitutional]. “I don’t think we have… yeah, we can look at that. There’s an…there’s an area of compromise. You know?
“We can say, alright, ‘Shall not be infringed,’ but yet we understand that sometimes these guns fall into the hands of the wrong person. So we have the federal, you know, firearm background check. That’s exactly what it does, and I don’t see anyone arguing that. But to come here into Illinois and to add the FOID card, and to continue to add these restrictions, that’s an infringement,” Bailey said.
During a nearly hourlong interview over the weekend on AM-560’s “Black and Right” radio program, Mendrick was critical of the weapons ban, claiming sheriffs were not consulted in drafting the new law.
Sheriff Mendrick: And you know, what’s going to happen when we send this three-man team to a citizen’s house and they’ve never committed any crime, but they really don’t want to give up their weapons and we get into some type of standoff, and then somebody gets shot or all these people are gonna back me then?
Host: No
Sheriff Mendrick: And I bet they’ll go and say I should’ve never been doin’…
Host: Especially if it’s a Black person.
Sheriff Mendrick: [Crosstalk] Yep.
Host: A white sheriff a black dude, they will…
Sheriff Mendrick: I’d be eaten alive.
Whew.
Also, if the sheriff thinks assault weapon owners are that mentally disordered that they would shoot at police, why is he defending them?
And wouldn’t it stand to reason that we would maybe increase the penalties for these 3-D-printed ghost guns? We could actually, if they would make that like child pornography make it illegal to possess a program. My digital forensics lab could do a keyword search algorithm and we could find all the illegally being made guns on the program. Nobody will enhance penalties, though. Nobody will increase crimes that could be charged with.
Governor JB Pritzker signed HB4383 into law, banning the sale and possession of so-called ‘ghost guns’ statewide. ‘Ghost guns’ refer to unserialized, privately made firearms that are often sold as a set of parts to be assembled at home, allowing prohibited purchasers to circumvent background checks. Ghost guns cannot be traced by conventional means and can be created on a 3-D printer, leaving no record of their ownership.
* Crain’s | Wealth tax plan pushed in Springfield: Under a proposal being introduced by Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, anyone with a net worth of at least $1 billion would have to pay 4.95% of it off the top to the state each year regardless of whether investment markets are rising or falling and notwithstanding underlying economic conditions.
* Capitol News Illinois | State preparing further defense of assault weapons ban: Raoul’s office filed the petition in the 5th District Appellate Court in southern Illinois, arguing that Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison had abused his discretion and the plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed in their lawsuit, thus the restraining order was granted incorrectly.
* Tribune | Lawmakers call on DuPage sheriff to enforce assault weapons ban: Lawmakers, including U.S. Reps. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove; Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago; Bill Foster, D-Naperville; and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg, spoke at Monday’s news conference at Danada House in Wheaton, calling Mendrick’s statement irresponsible.
* 25 News Now | Pritzker rival Darren Bailey tops list of new plaintiffs in second assault weapon ban suit: This time the suit is based in White County, Illinois, which is near the southern Illinois border. The law offices of Tom DeVore, a Bailey ally and former Attorney General candidate, say around 1,500 residents have signed on to the second suit. The same three state leaders are listed as defendants: Gov. JB Pritzker, Speaker of the House Emanuel “Chris” Welch, and Senate President Don Harmon.
* WGN | Lightfoot takes aim at García over Madigan association, ComEd scheme: ‘Come clean’: Emerging from a session with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board on Monday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot unloaded on mayoral challenger Congressman Jesus “Chuy” García.“Congressman García has got to come clean with the voters of the city about what his connection is, not only to the now-disgraced, indicted, former [Michael Madigan] but also what his connection is to this evolving, deep ComEd scandal,” she said.
* WTTW | Chicago Police Face Renewed Questions About Extremist Cops as Lightfoot Dismisses Concerns: And twice in the past three months, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has declined to answer questions from WTTW News about whether the continued presence of an officer who admitted belonging to the Oath Keepers and another officer with ties to the Proud Boys will complicate efforts to reform the beleaguered Chicago Police Department and rebuild Chicagoans’ trust in the department.
* WTTW | Ethics Board Asks City, CPS Inspector Generals to Probe Lightfoot Campaign Emails Sent to Teachers, College Instructors: The call comes after the Lightfoot campaign sent emails to CPS teachers and City Colleges of Chicago faculty seeking student volunteers to help her win reelection in return for credit. The discussion that led to the vote by the members of the Chicago Board of Ethics took place in closed session and the board’s action did not name Lightfoot, in keeping with the board’s rules.
* The New Republic | Who Is Brandon Johnson? More on the Chicago Mayoral Challenger With a History in Organizing: Johnson, a teacher and organizer, has emerged among the top candidates in a race that requires the winner to cross a simple majority threshold. If no candidate reaches at least 50 percent in next month’s election, which is the likely case, the top two vote-getters will proceed to an April runoff. Johnson, whose candidacy garnered no opinion from more than 70 percent of voters as recently as last month, is already putting up a formidable fight.
* Block Club | South Side Aldermanic Candidate Knocked Off Ballot After Officials Say She Lives In Wrong Ward: City Council candidates generally are required to have lived in their ward for at least a year prior to the election. Because the ward boundaries were redrawn in 2022, candidates can run for office in any ward that includes a part of the ward they lived in before redistricting, the elections board announced in October. But 8th Ward residents are only eligible to run in the 6th, 7th and 8th wards under those rules. The 5th and 8th Ward boundaries never overlapped, so Irmer can’t be elected as 5th Ward alderperson, commissioners said.
* WTTW | Trans Former Bus Driver Sues CTA, Union for Discrimination and Wrongful Termination: In 2019, WTTW News covered his successful push for the transit agency to add gender affirming care to its health insurance policy. That includes a range of health care designed to support transgender people, whose gender identity is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Since that breakthrough, Brown has been fired from his job as a driver. He’s now suing the CTA and the union representing bus operators alleging discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination.
On Monday, former Republican nominee for Attorney General Tom DeVore and former Illinois State Senator and Republican nominee for governor Darren Bailey filed a lawsuit in White County, challenging Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s assault weapons ban, after an Effingham County Judge issued a temporary restraining order late Friday night while the lawsuit proceeds.
The lawsuit raises the same claims as the one filed last week in Effingham County and names Gov. JB Pritzker, State Senate President Don Harmon, D, Illinois House Speaker Christopher Welch, D, and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, D, as defendants.
The lawsuit names over 1,600 plaintiffs, including Bailey; 68 federal firearms dealers and 92 counties, and is based on alleged violations of the Illinois Constitution. One alleged violation is of the Equal Protection Clause, because the Assault Weapons Ban provides exemptions for certain groups – for instance, active and retired law enforcement are exempted from the ban, as well as active military and private security guards.
Retired military, however, much like the general population, are not exempted from the ban. DeVore argues that these exemptions create unconstitutional classes of citizens where legislators have decided who is subject to the ban and who is not.
A hearing is scheduled for this Wednesday at 9:00 am at the White County Courthouse.
* Meanwhile, from the appeal filed today by the attorney general’s office of that aforementioned Effingham ruling…
The circuit court’s determination that plaintiffs had a clear right in need of protection and were likely to succeed on the merits was based on an incorrect view of the law. Accordingly, the court necessarily abused its discretion.
First, the court incorrectly held that the Act likely violates the single-subject rule. That rule prevents “the combination of unrelated subjects in one bill to obtain support for the package as a whole, when the separate parts could not succeed on their individual merits.” Kane Cnty. v. Carlson, 116 Ill. 2d 186, 214 (1987). It “does not impose an onerous restriction on the legislature’s actions” but “leaves the legislature with wide latitude in determining the content of bills.” Johnson v. Edgar, 176 Ill. 2d 499, 515 (1997). Indeed, the legislature must “go very far to cross the line to a violation of the single subject rule.” Id. at 515-16. […]
Rather than examine the provisions of the Act, it looked primarily to the Act’s title and concluded that because the title did not explicitly mention firearms, the Act violated the single-subject rule. SR2010. As support, the court relied on People v. Boclair, 202 Ill. 2d 89 (2002). But in Boclair, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected the circuit court’s approach: the Court explained that “an act’s title is not necessarily dispositive of its content or its relationship to a single subject,” and on this basis “reject[ed]” the “heavy reliance on [the act’s] title to support [the single- subject] claim.” Id. at 109. The circuit court also incorrectly suggested that the Act violates the single-subject rule because it references human and illegal drug trafficking alongside illegal firearms trafficking. SR2010. On the contrary, the trafficking provision relates to the regulation of firearms because all of the crimes identified are frequently perpetrated with firearms. […]
Second, the circuit court wrongly held that plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claim that the Act violates the three-readings requirement in Article IV, section 8(d) of the Illinois Constitution. But section 8(d) further provides: “The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate shall sign each bill that passes both houses to certify that the procedural requirements for passage have been met.” Ill. Const. art. IV, § 8(d). This is known as the “enrolled bill doctrine”; it “mean[s] that, upon certification by the Speaker and the Senate President, a bill is conclusively presumed to have met all procedural requirements for passage,” including the three-readings requirement.
The Illinois Supreme Court has consistently held that the enrolled bill doctrine precludes litigation challenging certified legislation for failure to comply with the three-readings requirement. E.g., Friends of Parks v. Chi. Park Dist., 203 Ill. 2d 312, 328-29 (2003) (collecting cases). The circuit court recognized that the enrolled bill doctrine foreclosed this claim, but declared it was “time to revisit this practice,” and concluded plaintiffs were likely to succeed on this claim based on the Illinois Supreme Court’s decades-old remark that it “‘reserve[d] the right to revisit this issue.’” SR2011 (quoting Geja’s Cafe, 153 Ill. 2d at 260). But while the Illinois Supreme Court reserved its right to revisit this issue, circuit courts cannot declare “precedent a dead letter.” Yakich v. Aulds, 2019 IL 123667, ¶ 13. Because the enrolled bill doctrine unambiguously remains good law, “the [circuit] court committed serious error by not applying it.”
Third, the circuit court’s conclusion that plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their procedural due process claim represents another misapplication of the law. A plaintiff may not base a due process claim on the alleged violation of a different constitutional provision. See People v. Patterson, 2014 IL 115102, ¶ 97; In re A.C., 2016 IL App (1st) 153047, ¶ 60. But that is precisely what plaintiffs are doing here: their due process claim rests entirely on the legislature’s alleged failure to comply with the single-subject and three-readings clauses of the Illinois Constitution.
Furthermore, plaintiffs have failed to identify an individual property interest, which is a necessary element of a procedural due process claim. Vill. of Vernon Hills v. Heelan, 2015 IL 118170, ¶ 31. Plaintiffs have no such interest in the single-subject or three-readings clauses. Not only that, Illinois courts have recognized that the legislative process itself affords any process due. […]
The circuit court recognized these obstacles, yet declined to apply them based on its conclusion that the enrolled bill doctrine should be eliminated. SR2012. But as explained, only the Illinois Supreme Court may overrule its own interpretation of the Illinois Constitution, and the enrolled bill doctrine’s place within it.
There’s lots more. But that appellate court is gonna be a very hostile environment, to say the least.
…Adding… With a hat tip to a commenter, you gotta check this out. It’s like he didn’t prepare for the assignment and was called to the front of the class to explain the topic…
Here’s what Darren Bailey said when reporters asked him to explain why a legal requirement to register assault weapons was unconstitutional and different from other forms of background checks: pic.twitter.com/LD32StHuVG
Immediately after receiving word that Governor Pritzker had signed the budget bill (SB 2801) authorizing repayment of the remainder of the COVID-19 unemployment insurance Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza Monday began making the transfers of $1.37 billion so that IDES could pay the federal government.
The payoff saves Illinois $20 million in interest costs that would have been due in September had the loan not been paid off. Other states such as California, New York and Connecticut have yet to pay off their COVID-19 unemployment insurance loans.
In preparation for this day coming, Comptroller Mendoza had directed staff to begin setting money aside so the check could be sent the moment Governor Pritzker signed the bill passed by the General Assembly in recent days and save on interest.
“We have been preparing for this day to pay back the remainder of the COVID-19 unemployment insurance loan and stop the interest-meter running for taxpayers,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “This is one more sign Illinois is earning the upgrades from the bond-rating agencies who see the work we have done to fix Illinois’ finances.”
The agreement announced by Governor Pritzker in November between business and labor negotiators, bipartisan members of the General Assembly and the administration to use $1.37 billion in better-than-expected state revenues to pay off the remainder of the $4.5 billion loan eliminated the need to ask state businesses to pay more into the fund or to cut unemployment benefits for state workers.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused unprecedented unemployment claims as businesses shut down, patrons stayed home from restaurants and theaters and business owners had to lay off workers. Illinois, like other states, exhausted its reserves of funding for unemployment claims and needed advances from the federal government.
The agreement will contribute more than $1.8 billion in state funds to the unemployment insurance trust fund. In addition to paying off the $1.37 billion to the federal government, an additional $450 million will be placed into the trust fund from state funds as an interest-free loan to help strengthen the fund. As the loan is repaid over the next 10 years, funds will be deposited directly into the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
“Any chance the state has to contribute more money to the Rainy Day Fund, we should take,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “Catching up to other states’ Rainy Day reserves signals to the bond-rating agencies how serious Illinois is about fixing our finances. That leads to credit upgrades, which means lower costs for taxpayers.”
That tweet was shared on a groupchat I’m in and, since I don’t use ChatGPT, I asked the others what I could use the AI site to do. One participant suggested this…
Explain why the Illinois Freedom Caucus is not an effective political force within the Illinois General Assembly.
The Illinois Freedom Caucus is a group of conservative and libertarian lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly who advocate for limited government and fiscal responsibility.
While the group may have some influence on the legislative agenda, it is not considered to be an effective political force within the Assembly for several reasons:
• Lack of numbers: The Freedom Caucus is a relatively small group within the General Assembly, and therefore lacks the numbers to effectively push their agenda or control the outcome of votes.
• Limited influence within their own party: Even among Republicans, the Freedom Caucus’ conservative and libertarian views may not align with the majority of the party, making it harder for them to gain support for their initiatives.
• Limited resources: Without significant financial resources, the Freedom Caucus may struggle to effectively advocate for their positions and influence the legislative process.
• Political climate: In Illinois, the Democratic party holds a large majority in both chambers of the General Assembly, making it difficult for the minority Republican party to advance their agenda.
It’s important to note that the political landscape and situation of Illinois Freedom Caucus may change over time and it may gain more influence and numbers in the future.
* Natalie Finnie will be the new Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director. From a press release…
Finnie has served as Deputy Director of DNR since August of 2021 where she oversaw the Office of Land Management, Legislative Department, Office of Oil & Gas Management, and Office of Mines and Mineral. Prior to this, she was the State Representative of the 118th District from 2017 to 2019. She has experience as an Advanced Practice Nurse and Family Nurse Practitioner. Finnie received her Associate of Science and Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Southern Indiana. She received her Master of Science in Nursing at Vanderbilt University
Former Director Colleen Callahan was asked to leave, according to her…
“I am not angry nor am I ticked off.”
That’s because she understands whether a presidential appointment, which she had earlier in her career, or the state-level, you serve at the pleasure of the leader. She admitted to being disappointed and hurt by the request.
Finnie is from the Phelps family.
According to the same release, the directors of the departments of Human Rights, Human Services, Veterans’ Affairs, Military Affairs, Agriculture, Aging, Financial and Professional Regulation, Public Health and Revenue will all be sticking around, as will the State Police Director, IEMA’s director and the Assistant Adjutant Generals of Army and Air. No word yet on embattled DCFS Director Marc Smith.
Illinois ranked 19 out of 51, including DC, for total energy cost per household. Our annual household energy spending was $1,795 in 2020, compared to the US average of $1,911.
Illinois ranked 13th on energy reliability and performance in 2022, down from 5th in 2021. We were one notch below the national average for restoring power when factoring in “major event days” at 358 minutes in 2020. Without major event days factored in, we were 5th in the nation, at 85 minutes.
Illinois was 12th in the nation on environmental rankings in 2020, up eight notches. The state of Washington was first, West Virginia was dead last. And Illinois was 10th in the nation in renewable electric generation in 2021. As far as “clean” generation goes, we ranked 2nd.
In 2019, Durkin received a “regal invitation” to a private reception for Great Britain’s Princess Anne in Chicago.
“I was stunned,” he said. “Well, well, I’ve certainly come a long way from the small house I shared with my brothers Tom, Kevin, Terry, Mike, Pat, Bob and Bill in our middle-class neighborhood, where I always sat at the little kids table. I had arrived!
“So I followed all the protocols, even curtsied … bowed my head … although Princess Anne seemed to roll her eyes when I told her I was head of the Illinois Republican House.
“But, at the end of the reception, I found out my invitation was a mistake. I had been confused with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin!”
* From Rep. Ann Williams’ constituent newsletter…
Just two years ago, in January 2021, we began the 102nd General Assembly meeting in the cavernous Bank of Springfield Convention Center, with our desks six feet apart amid an ongoing pandemic. Along with 18 of my colleagues, I pushed for new leadership in the Illinois House and welcomed Emanuel “Chris” Welch as the first black Speaker to guide us through a challenging time of transition - and accomplishment. We established Illinois as a global leader in clean energy through passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) and passed a sweeping criminal justice reform package. We supported small businesses and our healthcare system through unprecedented times, balanced our budget and earned six credit rating boosts as a state. It was a whirlwind few years.
The end of the 102nd GA - the remaining few days in January referred to as the ‘lame duck’ session - was no different. We wrapped up the session by passing an assault weapons ban, increasing access to reproductive healthcare and gender affirming care, ramping up renewable development as a follow-up to CEJA, providing for greater investment in the revenue-generating tourism and hospitality industries, and more.
A new poll released today by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign indicates that while her support has softened a bit in the last month as she’s come under strong attacks from rivals, she’s still ahead a tad.
But the poll also indicates that former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas is surging and now is in a statistical tie with Lightfoot for the lead. […]
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Lightfoot 25%
Vallas 22%
Garcia 18%
Wilson 11%
Johnson 9%
Unsolicited advice: Garcia needs to get himself on the teevee and stop talking about Congress. Almost everybody hates Congress.
* Friendly reminder…
Ok. IL lobsters. Don’t forget your 2023 ID badges. 8-4 M-F. Get it done before the rush. Besides, you don’t want to miss the 19th century paint. pic.twitter.com/UN4o1ij458
We received numerous communications from people who believe the Sangamo Club is closing following the SJR article dated January 19, 2023.
We are not closing. Whether we sell the building or not, we intend to remain open. We have a new chef who has greatly improved our menu, our kitchen, and our service. We hope to be in business for another 133 years.
…Adding… Press release…
Today, Congressman Jesús “Chuy'’ García, candidate for Mayor of Chicago, received the endorsement of State Senator Ram Villivalam, 40th Ward Alderperson Andre Vasquez, the 39th Ward Democratic Organization, and Vote Assyrian.
“Chuy is my choice for Mayor. As a state legislator, I know that we will have a strategic partner in Chuy to work together in a collaborative manner and best serve our constituents,” said Villivalam. “I’ve seen how Chuy works with communities across our city and brings their voices to the halls of Congress. I am thankful for his invaluable work to deliver billions of federal dollars and investments during the pandemic that saved our city and paved the way for historic improvements in transit and infrastructure across Chicagoland.”
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…
* Crain’s | Durbin leads Democrats critical of Biden over documents mess: Biden should be “embarrassed by the situation,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said the crisis meant Biden no longer held the moral high ground on an issue that had hurt Donald Trump, the former president and Biden’s 2024 rival. An FBI search last year of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence revealed he had taken boxes of classified material with him to Florida.
* Talking Points Memo | Certainly Illinois Can Do Better Than Dick Durbin: I’ve been hearing from people in and out of the political world saying things like this: folks like Dick Durbin really need to retire. Yes, I’m talking about his Sunday show appearance yesterday and his commenting on the Biden classified documents. What I’m describing here isn’t only about Dick Durbin. But he is one of the prime offenders.
* Pro Publica | Pressure Mounts for Hospice Reform: Industry leaders are not the only bloc pressuring CMS for greater hospice oversight. Senators and government watchdog agencies are also pushing the agency for concrete changes. Last week, the Government Accountability Office released a report asking that hospices be required to report observations of abuse and neglect, regardless of whether the alleged perpetrator works at the hospice. MedPAC, the congressional advisory panel on Medicare spending, has again endorsed modifying the hospice payment structure to reduce part of the financial incentive for enrolling ineligible patients. And in late December, the inspector general’s office at the Department of Health and Human Services announced that curbing the abuse of hospice patients was among its top unimplemented recommendations.
* NPR | Changes appear to be coming for how wind and solar arrays are sited in Illinois: Wind arrays in particular have created controversy, usually from landowners of properties neighboring those participating in the projects. The state law would create a setback requirement of 1.1 times the maximum blade tip height of the wind tower to the nearest point on the property line of nonparticipating properties, or 2.1 times for nonparticipating residences. The law also requires occupied community buildings or nonparticipating residences not experience more than 30 hours of shadow flicker per year. Those are the moving
* Tribune | Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Superintendent Olson resigns: At a December Board meeting, an organized group of district parents called on the board to fire Olson over an attempt to move the traditional Holiday Sing to a Spring Sing. Some parents also questioned the district’s hiring of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultant.
* Crain’s Editorial Board | The Loop crisis merits a higher priority on the mayoral campaign trail: Crain’s and Bloomberg News report, almost $175 billion of real estate credit around the world is distressed—about four times more than the next biggest industry. As the toll from higher interest rates and the end of easy money mounts, many global real estate markets are almost frozen. Weak demand and a surge of sublease offerings from companies trying to shed unneeded workspace are forcing landlords to shell out huge amounts of cash and other perks to get deals done, while pushing some to surrender their properties to their lenders rather than face foreclosure battles.
* Beacon News | North Aurora police say new comfort dog will help them reach out to community: A 26-year veteran, Patrolman David Parr, 47, is now the handler for a new police comfort dog dubbed “Indy” - a 2-year-old black Labrador that joined the North Aurora Police Department last month. Already a dog owner himself, Parr said the new “officer” remains a work in progress but is convinced his new partner – whose full name is Indiana Jones - will deliver in the clutch whenever called upon.
* Journal Courier | State police plan enforcement campaigns in Sangamon: Officers will look for motorists driving in an unsafe manner, driving with a suspended or revoked license, transporting open alcoholic beverages or violating one of the “fatal four” laws — driving under the influence, speeding, driving while distracted, or not using safety belts and child restraints. They are called the fatal four because they are involved in the majority of traffic crashes and deaths.
* WGN | GoFundMe created for man with special needs critically wounded in Back of the Yards shooting: “He has a long road to recovery, so you can imagine how this will forever impact his and his family’s life. We are hoping his vision is not too affected by this as he uses vision boards to communicate,” the fundraiser reads. Police said Rega was waiting for a school bus along with his father and 15-year-old brother, who also has special needs, on Jan. 18 in the 4700 block of South Wolcott.
* WaPo | Even after New Mexico shootings, little GOP reckoning over election denialism: After Peña’s arrest, Republican leaders condemned the attacks, which included a spray of bullets into a 10-year-old’s bedroom, and acknowledged that the former candidate’s criminal history should have been a red flag. There was far less apparent interest in a reckoning over Peña’s beliefs in widespread voter fraud, a false theory pushed relentlessly by former president Donald Trump and his supporters.
* Crain’s | How abortion pills could be advertised after retail pharmacy ruling: Walgreens and CVS intend to become certified to sell the pill, according to brand spokespeople. CVS does not plan to advertise mifepristone or misoprostol, a representative said. Walgreens declined to say if it will advertise the pills.
* Herald-Whig | United Alloy picks Quincy for third manufacturing facility: “We’re going to start out in a 24,000 square foot space we’re leasing on Commercial Drive,” Lodahl said. “Somewhere down the road, we’d like to either find a larger space to get into, or find some dirt that we can build up on.”
* Crain’s | Choose Chicago gets $5.5 million in COVID relief funds: The three-year grant is part of the city’s Chicago Recovery Plan to “amplify once-in-a-generation federal funding to create an equity-based investment strategy to catalyze a sustainable economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
* Vox | Your segregated town might finally be in trouble: The Biden administration’s housing department proposed a new rule last week that would require virtually all communities across the US to create plans to address local housing discrimination or face a penalty, including the potential loss of billions of dollars in federal funding. Essentially, any city or county that accepts HUD grant money — large and small, rural, urban, and suburban — would have to comply.
* Center Square | Feeding deer does more harm than good, forest preserve officials say: “The state has banned the feeding of deer in Illinois because they do not want chronic wasting disease to spread,” she said. Cain said CWD is a cruel disease that causes a long slow death for infected deer. It is impossible to tell by looking at a deer if it has been infected with CWD. It takes at least 18 months for a deer that is infected to show symptoms. The only way to contain the spread of CWD is to keep deer from intermingling.
* WaPo | FDA proposes switching to annual coronavirus vaccine, mimicking flu model: The proposed change is designed to reduce the complexity of the vaccine regimen for the public, doctors and manufacturers. It also reflects a view that “chasing variants” with ever-changing booster formulations is ultimately futile, in part because the public has little interest in getting repeated injections, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it.
* AP | Is tipping getting out of control? Many consumers say yes: Some fed-up consumers are posting rants on social media complaining about tip requests at drive-thrus, while others say they’re tired of being asked to leave a gratuity for a muffin or a simple cup of coffee at their neighborhood bakery. What’s next, they wonder — are we going to be tipping our mail carriers and dentists, too?
* Sun-Times | Bob Dylan’s expanded 1997 masterpiece ‘Time Out of Mind’ reveals new layers: The 17th volume of Dylan’s bootleg series archival release series, reveals even more layers to the record that reset the trajectory of Dylan’s career. It also proves, yet again, that Dylan’s discards are as good or better than most people’s official catalogue.
* AP | Elon Musk testifies in second day of Tesla tweet trial: Musk, who said he “had trouble sleeping last night and unfortunately I am not at my best,” testified that it was important for jurors to know that he “felt that funding was secured” due to his ownership of “SpaceX stock alone.”
Analysis by the Pew Research Center shows that viewership for local news stations has outpaced cable and network TV, especially in the time slots of evening and late-night news.
Though local news is beating out its counterparts, the move also comes at a time when TV viewership is shrinking overall. Pew Research also shared that “more than eight-in-ten U.S. adults (86%) say they get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet ‘often’ or ’sometimes.’” […]
[Jay Smith, WTTW news director and “Chicago Tonight” executive producer] believes there is enough room for everyone to succeed in the time slot. “I think there are some people that will be happy to have an alternative and happy to have a different type of newscast. Certainly, there are the newscasts that everyone is doing at 10 o’clock (that) serves an audience as well. But I do think there’s an appetite for some kind of deeper reporting, analysis and sort of thoughtful looks into stories that we will be providing at 10 o’clock.” […]
Recently retired media columnist Robert Feder said that the move matters less today than it would have 20 years ago, stating that it’s less about getting a bigger audience and more about their online platform.
* I think this has more to do with negativity vs. positivity. Nobody would ever call DeSantis a happy warrior…
No two governors seem to exemplify nationwide partisan divide more than Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida … especially when you see them side by side. https://t.co/alq2wZD5cWpic.twitter.com/1oGP7c2wTZ
DeSantis: We said we would ensure that Florida tax lightly, regulated reasonably and spent conservatively, and we delivered.
Pritzker: We balanced the budget and got credit upgrades. We raised the minimum wage. We legalized cannabis. [Applause] Oh, I see all of you. Yeah.
DeSantis: We said we would end judicial activism by appointing jurists who understand the proper role of a judge is to apply the laws written, not legislate from the bench.
Pritzker: We took nation-leading climate action that’s growing our energy production. We protected reproductive freedom in our laws.
DeSantis: Many of the cities and states have embraced faddish ideology at the expense of enduring principles. We reject this woke ideology. We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.
Pritzker: Amid a rise in intolerance and fascism throughout the United States, Illinois has decisively moved to protect civil rights, human rights and voting rights.
DeSantis: We will enact more family-friendly policies and we will defend our children against those who seek to rob them of their innocence.
Pritzker: That’s why I propose we go all in for our children and make preschool available to every family throughout the state.
DeSantis: And we must ensure that our institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence and the pursuit of truth, not the imposition of trendy ideologies.
Pritzker: Racism, anti semitism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia have existed in some form or another throughout our entire history, amplified by elected officials or political grifters who look to harness the tremendous power of hate for their own ambition.
DeSantis: We will always remain a law and order state. We will always support law enforcement and we will always reject soft on crime policies that put our communities at risk.
Pritzker: When I campaigned for re-election and promised to pass an assault weapons ban, eight states already had one. Very soon, Illinois must be the ninth.
DeSantis: Florida’s success has been made more difficult by the floundering federal establishment in Washington, DC. This has caused many to be pessimistic about the country’s future, some even say that failure is inevitable.
Pritzker: Hate needs two things to thrive. The sense of helplessness that fertilizes hopelessness and the willingness of powerful people to cower in front of a lie.
DeSantis: Florida is proof positive that we the people are not destined for failure, and we thank God and are proud to be citizens of the great free state of Florida.
Pritzker: I’m honored to stand alongside you as we face the battles ahead, as one Illinois
Judges award those certificates, and if anyone is worried that they’ll be treated like Jon Burge, of all people, then why do you want them on the force?
* If they have a room they rent out to the general public, that’s one thing. But they still probably shouldn’t be doing it…
UPDATE: A community member contacted the Fire Dept. to ask whether they are endorsing these candidates.
The Fire Dept. was unaware of the nature of the Stamp Act PAC. They didn’t understand this marketing material was being posted.
A Danville man trying to get his name on the April 4 ballot for mayor got a third no Friday, this time from a Vermilion County judge.
“It didn’t go the way we wanted,” Jacob Lane said.
Lane had petitioned the Fifth Judicial Court to have his name reinstated after the Danville Election Commission ruled last month that he could not appear on the ballot due to insufficient signatures from registered voters. The ruling was the result of an objection filed by incumbent Mayor Rickey Williams Jr.
A minimum of 225 valid signatures from registered voters were required. Lane’s nominating petition contained 231 signatures, but the election commission ruled 22 of those were invalid for various reasons.
When the Feb. 28 primary election rolls around, Kankakee County Clerk Dan Hendrickson’s day will not be as hectic.
There are no contested primary races, thus he can focus on early voting for the April 4 general election.
“It’s the first time in 25 years, I think, that we will not have a contested primary,” Hendrickson said. He has been with the county clerk’s office for 29 years.
* From comments on Friday following ruling by a judge in Effingham County on the state’s assault weapons ban…
This presents an issue. One of [Tom DeVore’s] clients is an FFL [Federal Firearms License-holder]. The ban on sales no longer applies to them. So 2 things.
A. Are they only permitted to sell to the other plaintiffs?
B. Either way on A. those would be legally purchased firearms that were purchased after the effective date. Now if it survives the real challenge the State has to decide how to handle that. Are they grandfathered?
“All they are saying,” claimed Illinois Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Jim Kaitschuk about dozens of his members, is, ‘we’re not going to knock on people’s doors to ask whether they have registered their firearms. And if they’re arrested solely on that charge, we will not house them in our jails until ordered to do so by a competent authority.”
Springfield’s WICS TV reported that Kaitschuk also believes the reaction to what those sheriffs have said about refusing to enforce the state’s new assault weapons ban because of their constitutional objections has been “overblown.”
Well, when you put it that way, maybe so. But if that’s the case, then why even facilitate the release of a nearly identical statement by as many as 90 (according to Kaitschuk) county sheriffs saying they won’t enforce a law?
Kaitschuk admitted to Chicago’s ABC 7 that there’s nothing in the law mandating local compliance checks. “That is not a charge that is provided to us or mandated to us in the bill that passed and was signed by the governor.”
What the sheriffs have basically done is to deliberately inflame the public for no good reason, and then tossed in an empty threat to not house violators in their jails unless they have an order from a judge.
And while there has been much rejoicing in some Downstate areas over their local sheriffs’ performative “virtue signaling,” there has been some strong pushback in the suburbs where, for instance, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick released one of those boiler plate statements vowing not to enforce the new registration law because he believed the statute was unconstitutional.
In response, DuPage County’s 15 Democratic state legislators released a statement saying they were “dismayed and angered by the recent pronouncement by the DuPage County Sheriff to unilaterally direct his office to flout and disregard the duly passed and signed Protect Illinois Communities Act. The sheriff has no authority to determine the constitutionality of a law — that is up to the courts.”
“The sheriff’s words send a clear message that lawbreakers are welcome here,” the statement read.
One of the signatories was Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, who introduced an assault weapons ban and worked her bill for months before it was taken over by more experienced hands.
Mendrick barely won election in 2018, but the Democrats didn’t field a candidate against him in 2022, which turned out to be an even stronger year for the local party.
Elections obviously have consequences.
But the sheriffs currently have significant powers in state statutes, and legislative elections can have consequences, too. Some legislators are obviously starting to get pretty fired up over the sheriffs’ behavior of late.
During the 2019 cannabis legalization debate, for instance, sheriffs disseminated tons of disinformation (one even claimed that sheriffs would be forced to euthanize all their drug-sniffing dogs). Several sheriffs sided with the far right during the COVID-19 mitigation period and refused to enforce executive orders, and many eagerly contributed to the hysteria over the SAFE-T Act. And now this.
Many legislators are former local government officials, so they’ve traditionally been reluctant to take up issues like consolidation, the limits of local authority, etc. I do not know if this latest blowup will change anything. But, at the same time, I don’t recall ever seeing a reaction quite like the one issued by those 15 state legislators today.
Lake County’s sheriff issued a statement in favor of the law, and one of the principal sponsors who helped drag the bill across the finish line, Lake County-based state Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, had this to say on the radio the other day about the other sheriffs’ statements: “I keep coming back to the fact that I think it’s embarrassing for them. They really literally only have one job. Their job is to follow the law and enforce the law. And they’re saying, ‘We’re not going to do that.’ And so, I think they should be pretty embarrassed.”
State statute requires sheriffs, acting as their counties’ supervisors of safety, to enforce all state traffic laws. But there is no requirement to enforce other laws. And their state-mandated oaths of office require them to support the U.S. and Illinois constitutions, but not individual laws.
Law enforcement discretion is a long-accepted policy. But sheriffs issuing written statements flatly declaring they will not enforce a state law no matter what sure does appear to go well beyond that.
Crafting a law to deal with the problem, though, could be difficult.
But that leads me to wonder what these sheriffs, including the DuPage County Sheriff, will do if firearms dealers in their counties continue selling the currently banned weapons, and devices like “switches” [as pointed out in comments, switches are illegal under federal law, so that bit would apply to the other 800 or so plaintiffs and not to FFLs] to anyone not on the above list.
* Good morning! It’s Monday and here’s your roundup…
* Tribune | Chicago radio’s Lin Brehmer, a longtime WXRT DJ, has died at 68: Sunday morning came with snow, and with sorrow, in the form of the news of the death of Lin Brehmer, the hugely popular, buoyant and beloved host on Chicago radio’s WXRT-FM 93.1. The 68-year-old had previously spoken publicly about his treatment for prostate cancer. Sunday morning, fellow WXRT host and friend Terri Hemmert informed listeners of his death and said in part in a statement, “We must inform you that we all lost our best friend. Lin Brehmer fought cancer as long as he could. He passed early this morning, peacefully, with his wife (Sara) and son (Wilson) by his side.”
* Jim Dey | Filing indicates appeasing Madigan was often complicated: The rule at ComEd, the filing asserts, was to do whatever it took to keep the powerful Chicago Democrat happy. In return, ComEd knew from experience, Madigan wouldn’t block ComEd-favored initiatives in the legislature. But what happened if ComEd couldn’t make Madigan happy?
* Daily Herald | Too naughty to drive: Why Illinois rejected nearly 400 license plate requests in 2022: There are nearly 1 million vehicles on the road with vanity or personalized license plates issued by the Illinois secretary of state’s office. But there are 7,387 alphanumeric combinations requested for such license plates over the years that will never make it to a vehicle’s bumper, including 383 rejected in 2022 alone.
* Michael Sneed | Jim Durkin’s shining career had its share of comical miscues : “I worked hard to ensure my identity when I entered the Legislature,” said Durkin, one of eight brothers raised by an Irish Catholic labor union Democrat father in Westchester. “Then… during the last days of my first session…. a senior Republican approached me on the floor and asked me to get her a cup of coffee! In a second, I was mistaken for a House page. My big splash had evaporated.”
* The Atlantic | What the Tech and Media Layoffs Are Really Telling Us About the Economy: Google’s parent company, Alphabet, today announced that it plans to cut 12,000 jobs, joining a tech-and-media layoff list that already includes Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Salesforce, Snap, Twitter, and Warner Bros. Discovery. According to one estimate, roughly 130,000 people have been dismissed from their jobs at large tech and media companies in the past 12 months. That’s roughly equivalent to the total number of people who worked at Apple before COVID hit.
* Bloomberg | Citadel’s $16 Billion Win Tops Paulson’s Greatest Trade Ever: Ken Griffin’s Citadel churned out a record $16 billion in profit for clients last year, outperforming the rest of the industry and eclipsing one of history’s most successful financial plays. The top 20 hedge fund firms collectively generated $22.4 billion in profit after fees, according to estimates by LCH Investments, a fund of hedge funds. Citadel’s gain was the largest annual return for a hedge fund manager, surpassing the $15 billion that John Paulson generated in 2007 on his bet against subprime mortgages. This was described as the “greatest trade ever” in a subsequent book of the same name by Gregory Zuckerman.
* Triibe | 2023 before the polls: Meet Chicago’s black mayoral candidates: Mayor Lori Lightfoot is running for a second term. But there are eight other candidates vying for her seat. In our profile series, Before the Polls, we sat down with each Black mayoral candidate to see if they have what it takes to lead Chicago into an equitable future.
* WMBD | Illinois lawmaker introduces psychedelic therapy legislation: State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) has introduced legislation to create a state-regulated psychedelic therapy program. The Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act (CURE) Act would legalize psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, in licensed medical settings.
* AP | Lawmakers seek to bar insurrectionists from holding office: New York, Connecticut and Virginia are among states where proposed legislation would prohibit anyone convicted of participating in an insurrection from holding public office or a position of public trust, such as becoming a police officer.
* SJ-R | Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, director of Illinois State Museum, passes away: Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, who headed the Illinois State Museum since 2019, died Saturday, according to a statement from the Illinois Museum Association Board. She was 50. Catlin-Legutko recently had been appointed by President Joe Biden to the Route 66 Centennial Commission. The centennial of the Mother Road is in 2026.
* Tribune | $5.5 million grant aims to expand tourism in 12 more underrepresented neighborhoods: This year, Choose Chicago was awarded $5.5 million more by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events to strengthen and expand the program, adding 12 new community areas, making a total of 30 neighborhoods that will benefit from the efforts to promote tourism.
* Sun-Times | Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic can make Illinois healthier than ever: The numbers have left us numb. We have started to shut COVID-19 out of our lives. But the threat remains. COVID-19 took the lives of more than 200 Illinoisans in December, more deaths than from Ebola in the entire world last year. Many of those deaths were preventable. It is time to remind ourselves that in 2023, we have effective tools we didn’t have in 2020. And we have something even more powerful: knowledge and experience. We know now what can protect us: a vaccine, a timely test, a pill, a mask, a portable air filter, an open window or just staying home if sick.
Mayoral challenger Jesús “Chuy” Garcia is an unidentified member of Congress referenced in federal court filings detailing an alleged scheme by then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to appoint one of Garcia’s political associates to a lucrative position on Commonwealth Edison’s board of directors, the Tribune has learned. […]
Ochoa is expected to testify in the ComEd Four case about a meeting he tried to set up with a U.S. congressman and Madigan in February 2019, more than a year after Madigan allegedly agreed to lean on ComEd to put Ochoa on the board, according to a prosecution filing last week. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about a political action committee that the congressman and Ochoa had recently started, but Madigan apparently thought Ochoa was upset over the board appointment taking so long.
That being said, most of the Chicago news media didn’t really play up Garcia’s years-long ties to Madigan, but that is rapidly coming to an end now that Mayor Lightfoot has made it an issue in the campaign.
“Rep. García has never been asked to provide any information to federal investigators about this matter, and has no knowledge of it other than what he has read in news sources following the announcement of the ComEd plea agreement. He has no information to provide, as he was completely unaware of the misconduct alleged in those cases,” the statement said. “Rep. García is not involved in this or any related investigation in any manner.”
…Adding… I’m told the meeting never actually happened.
The Effingham County courtroom was filled on Wednesday at the hearing regarding the new ban on assault weapons.
On Wednesday, January 18th at 11:00 a.m. an emergency hearing was held at the Effingham county court to discuss the lawsuit filed by Former Republican Attorney General Candidate, Tom Devore.
Judge Joshua Morrison listened to arguments from Devore, who was representing several Gun Shops and hundreds of Plaintiffs.
Joshua Morrison. Hmm. Joshua Morrison. Where have I heard that name before? Oh, right…
Fayette County State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison joined the list of State’s Attorneys who have sued Governor Pritzker over the SAFE-T Act.
“After much consideration, I am filing a lawsuit against the SAFE-T Act. As a prosecutor, I believe that this statute unconstitutional on its face and will have far-reaching unintended consequences,” Morrison said.
So, as state’s attorney, Morrison filed suit (and remains a named plaintiff) on most of the same procedural/constitutional issues that were presented to him this week in DeVore’s lawsuit, which is scheduled to be ruled on today.
Remember when Governor Pritzker kept issuing all those executive orders during COVID?
State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison pushed back, working with law enforcement to follow the law and ensure that Fayette County residents were able to go to work and to the store without fear that they would be thrown in jail.
He also pushed back on Attorney General Raoul, sending a letter asking if his executive order was even enforceable and how repeatedly issuing orders past the 30 day period was NOT official misconduct by the Governor. Morrison also wanted to know if officials trying to enforce it were committing misconduct because the Executive Orders did not agree with the Public Health statutes.
From Morrison’s letter, which was sent in May of 2020…
And now I understand the sort of questions the judge asked during the hearing earlier in the week when DeVore presented his case. Click here for that.
Enforcement of Illinois’ gun ban has been temporarily suspended for the 860-plus individuals who sued the state.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the gun and magazine ban into law last week. Tuesday, attorney Thomas DeVore sued in Effingham County state court, arguing the ban is unconstitutional. During an emergency hearing Wednesday, DeVore argued, among other things, that the law violates equal protections by exempting law enforcement officers from the new ban.
A judge issued the TRO Friday evening. The case advances pending an expected appeal by the governor and legislative leaders. A preliminary injunction hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 1.
Governor JB Pritzker issued the following statement on the decision by Effingham County Judge Morrison on the Protect Illinois Communities Act:
“This decision is not surprising. Although disappointing, it is the initial result we’ve seen in many cases brought by plaintiffs whose goal is to advance ideology over public safety. We are well aware that this is only the first step in defending this important legislation. I remain confident that the courts will uphold the constitutionality of Illinois’ law, which aligns with the eight other states with similar laws and was written in collaboration with lawmakers, advocates, and legal experts.
Illinoisans have a right to feel safe in their front yards, at school, while eating at bars and restaurants or celebrating with their family and friends. The Protect Illinois Communities Act takes weapons of war and mass destruction off the street while allowing law-abiding gun owners to retain their collections. I look forward to the next steps in this case and receiving the decision this case merits.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Press release…
Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) issued the following statement after an Effingham County judge granted a Temporary Restraining Order against the assault weapons ban that became law earlier this month:
“We passed the Protect Illinois Communities Act to get dangerous weapons off the street and create a safer state. This ruling will be appealed. We look forward to our day in court to zealously advocate for our neighbors who are weary of the gun violence epidemic.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Press release…
Speaker Welch’s Statement on Decision in Protect Illinois Communities Act Lawsuit
“Far too many lives have been lost because of senseless gun violence, and people have had enough. They’ve told us through marches, at committee hearings, and at the ballot box – and our law to get weapons of war off our streets delivered on their call.
“We’ve also seen that those who put extreme ideology ahead of the common good can attempt to slow change, but they cannot stop it.
“While I’m disappointed in this decision by the plaintiff’s preferred court, this decision will be reviewed and I’m confident we will ultimately prevail.”
…Adding… GPAC…
Today, the Gun Violence Prevention PAC (G-PAC), the state’s leading gun safety organization, released a statement from its CEO Kathleen Sances following a judge’s decision to grant a temporary restraining order against Illinois’ new state-wide assault weapon and large-capacity magazines ban.
“The judge’s ruling today is disappointing and makes light of the gun violence impacting Illinois. The fact remains – this is a pivotal moment for our state. A strong and diverse movement for gun safety is proving that we can wrestle power from the gun lobby, and ensure that our state prioritizes public safety over profits. The ban on assault weapons, large-capacity magazines is proof of this change in our status quo.
“This request for a temporary restraining order and other frivolous lawsuits are on brand for the gun lobby. They’re not kicking up dust to protect anyone’s rights, except their own right to fill up their coffers at the expense of Black and Brown lives and those of innocent children. We see through their greed, and we will not allow it to rule our laws and lives. We are a proud movement of gun safety advocates, survivors, lawmakers and concerned citizens, and we will continue to fight to save lives from this man-made epidemic.”
*** UPDATE 5 *** From AG Raoul’s office…
We disagree with the court’s decision. We have filed a notice of appeal and will ask the Appellate Court to reverse and vacate the TRO.
Everytown for Gun Safety and the Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement regarding the temporary restraining order issued by a state court judge against the Protect Illinois Communities Act, a critical gun violence prevention legislative package signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker earlier this month.
“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision which focused on meritless claims of procedural defects in the passage of the law and included a gross misreading and misapplication of the recent U.S. Supreme Court case interpreting the Second Amendment,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We expect Attorney General Kwame Raoul to be successful in his appeal and in defending this life-saving law against further unfounded legal challenges.”
The omnibus package includes legislation to prohibit assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, rapid-fire devices that dramatically increase the rate of fire of semi-automatic firearms, facilitate better implementation and efficacy of Illinois’s Firearm Restraining Order (FRO) law, and address illegal gun trafficking in the state. The package was introduced following a year that saw at least 26 mass shootings across the country, including one in Highland Park, where seven people were shot and killed and an additional 48 people were wounded at a July Fourth parade by a shooter using a high capacity assault weapon.
…Adding… ISRA…
“The ISRA applauds Judge Joshua Morrison’s ruling this afternoon. This is a clear indication from the court that the General Assembly and Governor Pritzker rammed this law through improperly. The ISRA firmly believes the law is an infringement on all law-abiding residents’ 2nd Amendment rights. We look forward to the proceedings in our federal case, and we will be keeping a close eye on any other cases as well.”
Richard Pearson Executive Director
* Press release…
The Illinois Freedom Caucus today is issuing the following statement on Fourth District Circuit Court Judge Joshua Morrison’s ruling approving a Temporary Restraining Order for the plaintiffs challenging Illinois new weapons ban and gun registry law.
“Today is a significant victory for the rights of free and honest citizens. There are numerous Constitutional issues with not only the law itself but also in the process involving how this legislation became law. The fact that a Temporary Restraining Order was granted to the plaintiffs in this case underscores the Constitutional issues with this new law.
In his ruling, Judge Morrison states, ‘This Court finds that, due to the blatant disregard for Constitutional Law, the Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits of this claim.’
We agree with the Judge’s decision and we warned the backers of this legislation of the Constitutional concerns that are apparent to anyone with even a basic understanding of our Constitution. This is a first and significant step in what will be a long court process but in the end, we anticipate this new law will be found to be unconstitutional and a violation of the oath of office on the part of every legislator who voted for it.”
The Illinois Freedom Caucus is comprised of State Representatives Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich); Chris Miller (R-Oakland); Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville); Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) and Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur). The members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus are members of the Illinois General Assembly who are advocating for limited government, lower taxes and accountability and integrity in government.
Sheriffs in dozens of counties — by some counts, as many as 80 counties — have declared they will not enforce the new assault weapons ban. It doesn’t matter that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed the measure into law — they don’t agree with the ban and apparently have no compunction about ignoring it. […]
To Sheriffs Booker, Mendrick, Boewe and every other sheriff hopping on the “Don’t Tread on Me” bandwagon: You don’t get to choose which laws to enforce and which to ignore. You and every other sheriff, police chief, officer and prosecutor took an oath to uphold the law. And violating that oath carries consequences.
“I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of …. to the best of my ability.”
* And while the US Supreme Court has ruled more than once that police have no constitutional obligation to protect people, there is a general obligation in state law for sheriffs…
Each sheriff shall be conservator of the peace in his or her county, and shall prevent crime and maintain the safety and order of the citizens of that county
Sec. 3-6035. Supervisor of Safety. The office of Supervisor of Safety is hereby created for each county to be held by the Sheriff of the county.
Sec. 3-6036. Powers and duties of Supervisor of Safety. The Supervisor of Safety shall enforce all the laws of this State and, within the municipalities in his county, the ordinances of such municipalities relating to the regulation of motor vehicle traffic and the promotion of safety on public highways.
Sec. 3-6001. Commission. Every sheriff shall be commissioned by the Governor; but no commission shall issue except upon the certificate of the county clerk of the proper county, of the due election or appointment of such sheriff, and that he or she has filed his or her bond and taken the oath of office, as hereinafter provided.
* The Question: Do you support any state law changes that would limit county sheriffs’ powers to defy state laws and executive orders? Explain.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.7 percent, while nonfarm payrolls were almost unchanged, down by just -800 in December, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The November monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +17,500 to +12,100 jobs. The November unemployment rate was unchanged from the preliminary report, remaining at 4.7 percent. The December payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.
In December, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment included: Educational and Health Services (+5,200), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+3,300), and Government (+1,800). The industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll declines included: Professional and Business Services (-3,000), Leisure and Hospitality (-2,500), and Other Services (-2,100). […]
The state’s unemployment rate was +1.2 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate reported for December, which was 3.5 percent, down -0.1 percentage point from the previous month.
* I’m told there was a glitch partly due to human error and payments will be made on Monday. The department is also supposedly trying to revamp the voucher submission process. Press release…
Home Child Care Providers Ring Alarm about Missing Payments
Providers can’t pay their bills, will call for state to invest in a payment system that actually works.
IL - Of the 13,000 home child care providers who are part Illinois Department of Human Services’ (IDHS) Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), thousands are still awaiting payment for work done in December 2022 and many don’t know how they will be able to make ends meet and are struggling to keep their doors open for parents and children. Providers are calling on the State of Illinois DHS to immediately rectify the late payments and invest in a new payment system that actually works.
Greg Kelley, President of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas, issued the following statement on Wednesday, January 18: “These same home child care workers that keep Illinois’ economy running have been experiencing payment delays that are unacceptable and that create serious hardship. Low wages force child care providers to live on razor thin margins without room for a missed paycheck. A delay in payment means home child care workers can’t pay for basic needs like rent, utilities and food.”
* IDPH…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced today that the CDC is reporting 28 counties in the state are at an elevated level for COVID-19, compared to 61 in the previous week. Of those, three Illinois counties are at a High Community Level, compared to five the previous week; and 25 counties are at Medium Level, compared to 56 the previous week. IDPH is reporting 10,967 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois in the week ending January 15, and 78 deaths.
“I am encouraged to see COVID-19 community levels continuing to decrease across Illinois,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “Rates of the XBB ‘Kraken’ variant, spreading throughout the East Coast, are slowly increasing in the Midwest, and we continue to monitor this new variant closely. However, we are fortunate at this time to see no increase in hospitalizations. IDPH is continuing to focus our efforts on preserving hospital capacity and protecting those Illinois residents most at risk for severe disease from COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.”
State Rep. Will Guzzardi, a Democrat from Chicago, also backed the graduated income tax in 2020. Now, though, he’s pitching a so-called “wealth tax.”
Guzzardi described it as similar in concept to property taxes. As the value of a home increases, the property tax burden goes up. His wealth tax would work the same way, but it would apply only to the financial assets of those worth $1 billion or more.
“We’re going to say to billionaires with all their assets — which aren’t so much properties as stocks, financial instruments, investments — we’re going to value their assets, and then when those assets go up in value, we’re going to tax them on the increase in value,” Guzzardi said. “So just like the property tax that we pay, this is a tax on billionaires’ property, which is stocks and financial instruments.”
Guzzardi said the Illinois Department of Revenue already has a decent accounting of these assets and that a qualifying Illinois resident’s assets would be taxed wherever they’re based. […]
Guzzardi said his plan would work like another form of an income tax. […]
Illinois’ income tax rate for individuals of 4.95% would be charged to what he said qualifies as billionaires’ income.
A tax on or measured by income shall be at a non-graduated rate. At any one time there may be no more than one such tax imposed by the State for State purposes on individuals and one such tax so imposed on corporations.
I requested a response from the state’s billionaire governor. I’ll let you know what he says.
* More heat in DuPage…
On Monday, January 23rd at 10am CT at the Danada House in Wheaton, U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (IL-06), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), and Bill Foster (IL-11), and other Members of the Illinois congressional delegation, county board members, and state legislators will host a press conference regarding DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick’s January 13th statement that he will not enforce the Protect Illinois Communities Act (H.B. 5471).
This press conference follows a letter sent by Reps. Sean Casten, Delia Ramirez, Jesús “Chuy” García, Mike Quigley, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Bill Foster, requesting Sheriff Mendrick rescind his earlier statement and provide information as to what other laws he has chosen not to enforce based on his personal beliefs. You can find a copy of the letter here.
Earlier this month, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Protect Illinois Communities Act, subsequently signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker. The legislation bans the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches in Illinois. On January 13th, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick announced that, due to his personal beliefs about H. B. 5471, he would not enforce the law in DuPage County.
* Heat starts rising in Kane…
2/ Not expecting calls for his resignation like what we are seeing in DuPage County. Emphasizing in Kane that Hain said he will not proactively enforce the law rather than being outright opposed.
Awake Illinois became the center of controversy last year when Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas spoke out against “hateful rhetoric” by one member after the group called Gov. J.B. Pritzker a “groomer” for adopting new sex education standards for the state.
The group also called “perverted” a kid-friendly drag show at Uprising Bakery and Cafe in Lake in the Hills. The cafe’s owner temporarily canceled but then held that event after saying it was the target of threats. A man was charged with smashing the cafe’s window.
Awake Illinois did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Adcock advocates on the group’s website for “academics over activism” in school.
“We must work together to stop an entire generation of children from being molded — via public schools — into illiterate, sexualized activists,” Adcock said.
Their “solution” is to essentially stop little kids from learning how to identify and fend off sexual predators.
Pink Floyd updated their profile picture to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dark Side of the Moon, and the replies are… something. pic.twitter.com/e4zNZ2KGOS
* Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action…
“On what would have been the 50th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, in Illinois, we are proud to be a leader in the fight for bodily autonomy and a haven for those seeking essential reproductive health care. When the Supreme Court stripped away the freedom for all people to have equal access to abortion, every state that borders Illinois has either severely restricted or outright banned access. Many of those states hostile to abortion care are also targeting the LGBTQ+ community. Thankfully, together with pro-choice legislators, Illinois now protects abortion care and gender-affirming patients and providers.
However, our work is not done. Senseless and damaging acts of vandalism have been on the rise across the country, and Illinois has become a target as extreme and divisive rhetoric increases. Several of our health centers have been targeted in the past few years, most recently in Peoria.
The damages in Peoria go beyond structural. The vast majority of Peoria Health Center patients depend on us for essential health care services, including family planning, STI testing and treatment, cancer screening, gender-affirming care, and more. While medication abortion was offered at Peoria, it was not a site for in-clinic procedures. This act of vandalism will have a devastating impact on the community’s ability to access the reproductive health care they need and deserve.
We will keep fighting forward for equitable access to essential reproductive health care like abortion and gender-affirming care because all people should have the freedom to make medical decisions that are best for their bodies, their lives, and their families.”
* Sun-Times | Mayor pledges action following WBEZ investigation into criminal registries in Chicago: The failure leaves people convicted of some gun, sex and violence crimes subject to arrest for failure to register. Advocates for survivors of sexual assault expressed concern that the overburdened office is indicative of a department that isn’t prioritizing their safety concerns. Lightfoot said she had been unaware of the problems due to staffing shortages but said she would be taking it up with Police Superintendent David Brown to ensure “we’re doing what we need to do to make sure that they have the ability to register.”
* Fox Chicago | New poll shows Vallas, Garcia as frontrunners: And, despite spending several million dollars on campaign advertising in recent weeks, incumbent Lori Lightfoot has fallen to fourth place, behind teachers union staffer Brandon Johnson. Pollster Matt Podgorski, of the political consulting firm M3, said, “The big takeaway that we saw is that Chuy Garcia and Paul Vallas basically flip-flopped spots. Now I’ve got Paul Vallas in first place with 26% and Chuy Garcia in second with 19%.”
* WTTW | Wealthy Illinois Residents Would Pay More in Income Tax Under New Proposals: State Sen. Robert Martwick is well aware voters rejected the plan, largely he said, due to a lack of trust in government. But, as was first reported by Crain’s Chicago Business, Martwick wants to try again because he said the what the Fair Tax hoped to accomplish remains the same. “We are on course, a crash course, with our finances,” Martwick said. “Eventually we have massive pension debt that we have to pay down; we have commitments to fund public education. And the reality of it is, is that our revenue trajectories long-term don’t match our debt trajectories. And so if we don’t do something — whether this is the best idea of not — then we’re putting the next generation in the position where they’re going to be forced to make draconian cuts just to get by.”
* AP | ShotSpotter document reveals key human role in gunshot tech: A confidential ShotSpotter document obtained by The Associated Press outlines something the company doesn’t always tout about its “precision policing system” — that human employees can quickly overrule and reverse the algorithm’s determinations, and are given broad discretion to decide if a sound is a gunshot, fireworks, thunder or something else.
* Daily Herald | Boys & Girls Club Illinois Alliance names new CEO: The Boys & Girls Club Illinois Alliance recently announced that Awisi Bustos has been appointed the new CEO, effective Jan. 17. Bustos is first-generation Ghanaian American who was born in Benin Cotonou and raised in Ghana, Ethiopia, Cuba, Belgium, and the United States. She most recently served as Senior Policy Adviser to Secretary Grace Hou of the Illinois Department of Human Services, and previously worked as the Northwest Illinois coordinator for Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois.
* News-Gazette | Business owner plans to live among homeless for two weeks: Warren Charter recalls a time, about a dozen years ago, when he was kind of afraid of homeless people. He’d see homeless people on the streets of Chicago, and would buy them orange juice and a muffin, set it down by them and slip away. These days, he spends much of his time helping people who live on the streets. And starting at 8 a.m. Sunday, he plans to join them for 14 days to broaden his understanding of what they go through.
* Crain’s | Allstate piles on another auto rate hike, with average premiums up $760: Allstate CEO Tom Wilson wasn’t kidding when he said the company’s relentless series of auto insurance rate hikes would continue into 2023. Less than a month into the year, Allstate is increasing rates on most Illinois drivers it insures by an average of 7.6%, according to a filing with the Illinois Department of Insurance.
* WSIL | New coats to be distributed to children in Southern Illinois: More than $12,000 was raised and 550 coats were ordered for this campaign making it the biggest year yet. Nearly 20% of Southern Illinois children live in poverty and a warm coat is an essential item during our long winters, according to a WIBH release.
* Tribune | Northwestern men’s basketball postpones another game because of COVID-19: The Wildcats were slated to host Wisconsin on Saturday, but they announced Thursday night that the game would not be played as scheduled. Northwestern (12-5, 3-3) said it would work with Wisconsin and the Big Ten Conference to find a new date.
* Crain’s | U.S. air traffic halt caused by ‘unintentionally’ deleted computer files: The latest preliminary findings by the Federal Aviation Administration indicate that “contract personnel,” who weren’t identified, were attempting to correct discrepancies between a live database and its backup when they accidentally deleted files, the agency said in an emailed statement.
This is progress for bike and pedestrian safety in Chicago on state routes. I appreciate IDOT and CDOT for working together to craft this MOU which makes it easier to consider and approve roadway design improvements that will save lives. This is a start and we’ll keep pushing. 🚴🏿♂️ https://t.co/x7vg3KnNtN
The Illinois Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Transportation have come to a new agreement that will streamline and accelerate the process of delivering proven and scalable safety measures on local roads and state routes within the City of Chicago. The Memorandum of Understanding, signed by Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman and CDOT Commissioner Gia Biagi, establishes preapproval of certain infrastructure designs related to Chicago’s urban street context to improve safety for people walking, biking and driving. […]
The improved collaboration between CDOT and IDOT ultimately will help to streamline the approval and delivery process for implementing proven safety countermeasures to help address the trend of rising traffic fatalities in Chicago, Illinois and across the country, particularly among bicyclists and pedestrians. The MOU will go into effect immediately and establishes:
• A standardized list of traffic safety infrastructure designs routinely submitted by CDOT that will not be subject to comprehensive IDOT review prior to installation. This will allow the city to design and self-certify curb cuts and other sidewalk improvements to make streets more walkable and accommodating for nonvehicular traffic, establishes 10- foot-wide vehicular lanes as the minimum lane width.
• Clarified “Design Vehicle” standards to emphasize pedestrian safety at intersections. A design vehicle is the largest vehicle that is likely to use the facility with considerable frequency and its selection can significantly impact a road’s design and geometry. By agreeing to a more appropriate design vehicle for urban streets, certain state routes will be able to add safety features, such as curb extensions and bump-outs that shorten crossing distances for pedestrians.
• An IDOT-CDOT working group to help formulate future agreements and enhance existing interagency collaboration.
The Cook County public guardian is suing Illinois child welfare officials for allowing foster children to remain locked up in juvenile detention even after they’ve been ordered released — a problem that has only gotten worse, an Illinois Answers Project investigation found last year.
At issue is the inability of the state’s Department of Children and Family Services’ to find appropriate placements for children with behavioral health and emotional problems that often stem from their histories of serious abuse and neglect.
The federal lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, alleges that “children incarcerated in juvenile jail are confined to their cells for the majority of the day, have limited opportunities to exercise and are exposed to unnecessary violence and dangers. Moreover, DCFS is unable to provide them the clinically appropriate mental health treatment and educational services that they need — critical resources for children who have suffered trauma and instability.”
“Detaining children and youth in juvenile jails when they don’t need to be there is cruel, unusual and a violation of our Constitution and laws,” Public Guardian Charles Golbert said at a news conference Thursday. “It’s a profound assault upon the children’s civil and human rights . . . While wrongfully incarcerated the children are denied the everyday joys, experiences and opportunities of childhood. Their schooling is disrupted, and they often fall behind in school.
One of the most profoundly damaging scandals in Illinois history is coming to a head with the filing of a federal class action suit this morning alleging that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has willfully and wrongly incarcerated hundreds of children in its care.
Despite literally three decades of court orders, news reports and letters from informed officials, the wrongful incarcerations by top DCFS officials have continued under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Most of the children suffered physical, sexual or other traumas before they were taken into DCFS’s care, and Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert charges that DCFS imprisonments intensely magnify the harms already suffered. […]
Since the late 1980s, DCFS has been well aware of its recurrent problems of wrongfully imprisoning dozens of children each year, some as young as 11-years-old.
According to the suit, “Children incarcerated in juvenile jail are confined to their cells for the majority of the day, have limited opportunities to exercise, and are exposed to unnecessary violence and dangers. Moreover, DCFS is unable to provide them the clinically appropriate mental health treatment and educational services that they need—critical resources for children who have suffered trauma and instability.”
One of the plaintiffs, Janiah Caine, now 18, was held while still a minor in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center for more than five months even though a judge at that time had ordered her release.
During that time, Caine was unable to go to her grandmother’s funeral because she couldn’t get hold of her DCFS caseworker, she told reporters.
“My caseworker wasn’t answering the phone and she wasn’t reaching out to me,” said Caine.
She also said she didn’t feel safe at the detention center.
“Their parent or their guardian has to come pick them up or take care of them. DCFS doesn’t do that. And they don’t do that a week later — They don’t do that multiple months later. They leave their kids to rot in detention,” Golbert said.
According to the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian, in 2021 there were 84 instances of children left locked up for prolonged periods of time. Seven are in that very situation today.
“They have empty beds right now,” Golbert said. “They just have to pay the money to hire the staff and fill the beds that they have that are empty, that used to have children sleeping in them and now they have children sleeping in jail instead.”
We reached out to DCFS for a comment on the lawsuit. They issued this statement:
“The Department of Children and Family Services works as quickly as possible to place youth in appropriate and safe settings. Of course, we can only place youth where we have availability that meets their needs, which is why the department is also working to expand the capacity that was hollowed out under previous administrations. Thanks to this work, in recent years we have made progress in reducing the number of youth who remain in the justice system past the date they are allowed to be released and we are deeply committed to continued progress. We cannot comment further due to pending litigation.”
After his second-term inauguration amid a frenzied “lame duck” legislative session last week, Gov. JB Pritzker took the global stage this week at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The governor and high-ranking members of his staff joined a bipartisan delegation of U.S. politicians and world business leaders with the goal of “promoting Illinois as a major player on the world stage,” Pritzker said in a call Thursday morning with media outlets back home.
In particular, Pritzker touted Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA – which aims to make Illinois’ energy grid reliant on 100 percent renewable sources by 2050 – and the $45 billion capital infrastructure plan known as Rebuild Illinois. […]
On Tuesday, Pritzker visited the Wieland manufacturing facility in Vöhringen, Germany, an industry leader in manufacturing and converting copper and copper alloys.
Wieland currently has eight locations in Illinois, including in East Alton where the governor recently visited.
* During his press conference the other day, Pritzker was asked which business leaders he met with to convince them to expand to Illinois…
I mentioned some of the larger tech players that are here. And an example of that is that I met with Microsoft and their leadership here. There are other large foreign entities that are here from Asia, as well as from Europe, battery manufacturers, people who are in the development of hydrogen, we’re, as you know, we’re part of a hydrogen hub, that we are partnered on for the Midwest. And so we want to bring players in hydrogen energy to the Midwest. So I really, I’ve been at, I don’t know how many events and meetings throughout each day, and at each one of those I have spoken with, directly with company leaders, as well as with ministers from various governments.
I sat last night with the Swiss ambassador to the United States, as well as the US Ambassador to Switzerland, for, I don’t know, we were at dinner, sitting next to each other for two hours talking about the opportunity to enhance, we already have Swiss businesses in Illinois, but how do we enhance both those existing businesses create jobs, and more productivity or more, more GDP rather? And then how do we attract more business? For example, Nestle is a business that is resident in Illinois. And so this happens that the former, sorry, the current Swiss ambassador to the United States, is a former Nestle executive, and the CEO of Nestle was at one of the meetings that I was at today. So those are examples of companies. But it’s really quite a lot. I mean, I, as you can imagine, you collect cards and take notes and I don’t think I could recite all of them to you now, but that those are good, big examples.
I cleaned up the transcript a little to make it more readable. He said “you know” a lot more than usual.
My team and I have spent the last few days having very important conversations with world leaders and putting Illinois as a major player on the world stage, talking to businesses that are here, including major tech companies as well as other industrial players. We’ve made it very clear that when looking for nation-leading legislation, and leadership on fighting climate change and clean energy development, that you don’t need to stop at the coastal states. We’re making significant progress and passing bold legislation that impacts our state and our region and the nation, and really the world in real and tangible ways.
I would remind everybody on this call, as I remind people here at Davos, that Illinois would be around the 19th largest economy in the world if we were an independent country. And so we would be a member of G20 if we were independent. And we have a major economy even though we are the fifth largest economy in the among the 50 United States. We’ve been a pivotal leader on clean energy, the signing of the Climate and Equitable JOBS Act and the REV Act are just examples of that. We’re continuing to prioritize clean sustainable growth through our infrastructure as a main tenant of the Rebuild Illinois capital plan. Our state committed to 100% clean energy by 2050. That’s an important calling card here. And of course, we’re hoping to put a million electric vehicles on the road by 2030 in Illinois, and we’re actually taking substantive steps to make that and those several goals happen.
We’re also leading the way on responsible gun control. Just last week, I signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act into law, making Illinois the not the first not the second but the ninth state in the nation to institute an assault weapons ban, very much like several of the other states that already have them. And despite the outcry from the gun lobby and those that they fund, this law will make millions of Illinoisans safer, protecting them from constantly living in fear of becoming a statistic in potentially the next mass shooting that splashes across our headlines.
Of course, that’s only part of what’s so great about Illinois. And I always say I am the state’s best chief marketing officer. And I’m making sure that people know about our leadership on safeguarding reproductive rights ,on our focus on fiscal responsibility, our booming manufacturing sector, and the fact that we are full of brilliant talent from our world class universities and our nation leading, third largest in the nation community college system. And so much more than that we’re leading in. We have, we are number six in our K-12 education system in the country, according to US News. And there’s a lot to offer in terms of the talent of the people of Illinois. So I’m really glad to have been invited here to Switzerland to talk about the great state of Illinois, the great people who live in Illinois and make sure that people on the world stage are aware. And I can’t wait to come home and take what we’ve learned here and the connections that we’ve made to make our state even stronger
We’ll be running Chicago from a business perspective. Business perspective. Help bring more business in, keep the ones here, keep families here. We will get a situation that nobody has to be worried about high taxes.
We’ll be tough on crime, we’ll move all the restriction things from our police officer. Somebody run, chase somebody by foot, or car, that police officer should be able to chase them down and hunt them down like a rabbit. K? That’s all I gotta say, that this mayor here will not be in this office coming up the next few months.
Lightfoot fumed: “For a candidate for mayor to say we have to take the handcuffs off the police and let them hunt down human beings like rabbits, is an extraordinary thing,” she told reporters after a debate that saw her take heat from all sides on public safety. The mayor invoked Chicago’s dark history of misconduct at the hands of police commander John Burge, who tortured people in custody. “I fully and utterly condemn it,” she said.
Wilson doubled down. In a statement to Playbook, he said the issue is “personal.” Wilson lost a son to gun violence years ago. “If someone murders another person, police should hunt the perpetrators down at all cost,” he said in a text statement sent by a spokesman.
* Background is here if you need it. If you read this Associated Press story, you’d never know that these unfounded reactions are somewhat common…
Testing to determine the reason two dozen employees at a state prison this week needed medical treatment for dizziness, nausea and vomiting this week has ruled out “narcotics or hazardous materials,” an official said Thursday.
An Illinois State Police hazardous materials team responded Wednesday afternoon to Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro, 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis after staff members responding to an inmate “medical incident” were sickened, according to Department of Corrections spokesperson Naomi Puzzello.
And AFSCME also refuses to look beyond its own nose…
In a statement from AFSCME they say:
While we have not yet seen the preliminary State Police report, we are aware of how the Corrections department has characterized it in the media.
Further investigation is needed to explain the very real symptoms that employees experienced.
No one should be lulled into a false sense of security: Potent, dangerous synthetic compounds like fentanyl and others are present in Illinois communities, employees are encountering them in state prisons, and the Department of Corrections must be better prepared to keep safe employees and offenders alike.
IDOC must do more to prevent and prepare for the next such incident that may not be a false alarm. For just one example, steps must be taken to better equip facilities to identify substances in a much shorter timeframe.
* We’ve discussed this before, but let’s take a quick look again. From the New York Times…
For the past five years, I’ve watched a bizarre news cycle play out on repeat. The most recent recurrence began on June 16, when KCTV5, a local news organization in Kansas City, Mo., published police body-camera footage under a dramatic headline: “ ‘I Knew I Was Dying’: How 5 Rounds of Narcan Possibly Saved KCK Police Officer’s Life.” The operative word in that sentence is “possibly.” The footage shows a police officer standing on a snowy lawn in what looks like a suburban neighborhood, wearing sunglasses and disposable gloves, inspecting pills stashed inside a crumpled piece of paper. “Seal it up — that’s fentanyl, dude,” another officer says. “Get that in a bag quick, so we don’t have an exposure.” The time stamp on the video then jumps to five minutes later. The officer who held the pills is now collapsed on the ground, limbs splayed as though making a snow angel. We hear another officer yell, “Narcan, Narcan, Narcan!” The fallen officer gasps rapidly as his fellow officers, with what seems like genuine panic, spray the opioid-overdose antidote up his nose several times.
The officer was taken to a nearby hospital and later released, and, like clockwork, the vivid footage began circulating. But there’s one major problem with all this: It’s nearly impossible for the symptoms depicted to have been caused by “fentanyl exposure.” The scientific literature shows, definitively, that brief contact with fentanyl is not sufficient for it to enter the bloodstream and cross the blood-brain barrier to cause such a rapid overdose. All the way back in 2017, America’s leading toxicological societies noticed the spread of these viral exposure stories and tried to put them to rest; there have since been countless fact-checks and scientific debunkings by major news outlets, including one from The Times’s editorial board. Last month, a 33-year-old clinical toxicologist and emergency-medicine pharmacist named Ryan Feldman co-published a case study about the time he accidentally spilled a mammoth dose of pure liquid fentanyl all over himself at work; he simply washed it off, with no adverse effects.
It’s not that the symptoms seen on video are feigned. Some psychologists suggest a kind of “mass psychogenic illness” is afoot, or a form of conversion disorder — neurological symptoms without a clear physical cause — or, potentially, simple panic attacks. Police officers have been told, by authorities including the Drug Enforcement Administration, that microscopic amounts of fentanyl can be deadly; they are taught to fear this substance. Their bodies may react accordingly, exhibiting symptoms, like rapid breathing, that are indicative of distress and panic. (Fentanyl produces the exact opposite effect; high doses result in slow and shallow breaths.)
In line with decades of sensationalistic drug policy coverage (Dasgupta et al., 2018), most mainstream media content on casual exposure-linked overdose fails to include voices of scientific experts, public health officials, and people with lived experience. […]
This is an urgent ethical and public health imperative, as failure to effectively address the spread of misinformation can cost lives and resources. First responders and other witnesses may refuse or delay providing lifesaving help during overdoses. Professional responders report elevated levels of stress, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue; unfounded safety concerns can aggravate these occupational mental health challenges. As opportunistic commercial interests (Harper, 2018) exploit the atmosphere of fear and misinformation, public funds continue to be wasted to address non-existent “biohazard” threats.
Misinformation about overdose risk from accidentally inhaling or touching fentanyl is widespread among police in the United States. This may aggravate already elevated burdens of officer stress and burnout, while chilling lifesaving overdose response. Police education has shown promise in reducing false beliefs about fentanyl. To better understand the potential of training interventions in correcting officer knowledge, we administered a 10-min online training with corrective messaging about occupational overdose risk from fentanyl contact to 204 police officers in Indiana. Overall, 129 officers (63%) completed baseline survey and 69 (34%) completed follow-up instrument. Using a 6-point Likert scale, we documented assent with the statement: “First responders who encounter fentanyl are at great risk of overdose by touching it or inhaling it.” At baseline, 79.8% expressed agreement, while 20.2% disagreed. At follow-up, 39.1% agreed, while 60.9% disagreed (p < .001). Baseline responses varied in that those officers without a college degree and those on patrol were more likely to report false beliefs. A brief online training intervention holds promise for correcting false beliefs about the risk of fentanyl overdose under circumstances commonly encountered by police.
In other words, IDOC and other law enforcement agencies desperately need to start helping these workers get past the fear that’s been instilled in them, whether by their union, or the FOP, or online or whatever. This misinformation/disinformation hurts those workers and it can be dangerous for actual overdose victims who may not receive prompt care. And, for crying out loud, the Associated Press should try using the Google every now and then.
Really some of my most underrated work. 3D modeling, texturing, and animating an Illinois shaped piece of popcorn has been my greatest achievement. https://t.co/Twuby2FbqD
* Daily Herald | Des Plaines Theatre operator cancels conservative groups’ event after outcry: The CEO of the company that operates the Des Plaines Theatre has canceled a Feb. 8 event booked at the city-owned venue by conservative groups after LGBTQ advocates encouraged the city to stop it. Ron Onesti did not explicitly give a reason for the cancellation in a statement Thursday night, but he referred to the controversy and suggested he and the theater received threats.
* Sun-Times | Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison took $300K from nonprofit linked to Ken Griffin: What’s clear is that the organization received major funding from the similarly named ballot initiative committee, the Coalition To Stop The Proposed Tax Hike Amendment — supported by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin with more than $53 million and contributions from other wealthy conservatives. w
* WGLT | Watchdog seeks harsher penalties in wake of abuse at Choate: IDHS Inspector General Peter Neumer’s call to action comes on the heels of extensive reporting by Lee Enterprises, Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica last year that revealed a culture of abuse and cover-ups at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in rural southern Illinois. The news organizations detailed how uncooperative staff stymied the state’s ability to hold employees facing serious abuse allegations to account.
* WICA | Danville’s future casino expected to bring in millions of dollars annually: Rickey Williams, Danville’s mayor, knows the income will make a big difference and others feel the same. “There’s going to be people from Indiana, Chicago area, everywhere coming into the casino. Spend money in our community, stay in our hotels, eat our food,” Tim Dudley, Vermilion Advantage’s CEO, said.
* Crain’s | Different visions, different tactics as mayoral hopefuls debate: They agreed that crime has become a huge problem, but disagreed over how huge and what the solution is. They all deplored high taxes and, in general, promised that they would not raise them further. And with one exception, the candidates asserted that incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot has done a bad job—that exception being Lightfoot herself, who gave back as good as she got.
* Tribune | Amtrak is eyeing new rail cars for long-distance trains through Chicago: The purchase, which could be valued in the billions of dollars, would upgrade cars that in some cases have been in use for 40 years, according to the passenger rail service. It could also be one step toward improving on-time performance, though other efforts are also needed, Amtrak board Chair Anthony Coscia said.
* Crain’s | City Council approves fund to redevelop LaSalle Street storefronts: The ordinance, approved unanimously, tweaks the rules of the city’s Small Business Improvement Fund to designate the LaSalle Street corridor, which includes several adjacent streets, as an eligible area to receive the grants, paid for using tax-increment financing funds.
* Crain’s | A worrying sign for U.S. consumers: Discover jolts investors with bleak forecast: Discover Financial Services jolted investors today with a projection that defaults on its consumer loans will roughly double in 2023. Credit card companies like Riverwoods-based Discover experienced extraordinary growth in loan balances from their card customers last year. In Discover’s case, growth topped 20%, and card loans now exceed $90 billion. Investors are jittery about whether consumers are taking on too much debt in the face of inflationary pressures and with the potential for more job losses as the economy slows this year.
* Wall Street Journal | Airlines Are Bumping a Lot More Passengers Lately: More U.S. passengers are being bumped from their flights, reversing steady industrywide improvement and adding to the broader frustrations many have with airlines. The Wall Street Journal’s annual airline scorecard found that airlines have been bumping fliers more often than the previous year, and the comparable prepandemic period. This happens when more people are scheduled to fly than there are available seats.
* Crain’s | Chicago Bears ‘focused’ only on Arlington Heights stadium: Warren also spoke of the need to come up with a “very creative solution to our stadium situation and create an atmosphere that becomes a 365-day environment.” The Bears have yet to close a 326-acre land deal for the Arlington Heights racetrack, which they agreed to buy for $197.2 million in 2021.
* Illinois Times | New 988 hotline has expanded mental health services: Nonprofit MBH, which has answered calls funneled through the national suicide prevention hotline for years, expanded its resources to do so in summer 2022 with federal funding connected to the July 16 launch of the three-digit crisis-care number.
* Crain’s | MacKenzie Scott reveals her Chicago donation spree: Since 2020, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated around $273.7 million to 30 Chicago nonprofits, schools and other organizations, revealing for the first time the extent of her giving spree here.
* The Honest Broker | Did the Music Business Just Kill the Vinyl Revival?: The level of greed is off the charts. Because it’s so hard to make money in music nowadays, the labels have decided to squeeze as much cash as they can from vinyl fans. This is one area where Spotify and Apple don’t call the shots, so why not charge twenty dollars for vinyl? Or maybe thirty dollars is better. Hell, let’s ask for forty, and see who will buy?
* SJ-R | ‘We’re trying our best to stay in business:’ Home of private, fine dining club up for sale: “I’m not good at predicting the future,” club president Jim Ackerman said about listing the two-story building at 227 E. Adams St. with Hurwitz Enterprises Commercial Real Estate. “We’re trying our best to stay in business.” “We aren’t limiting our options. If somebody buys it and says they’d like us to stay, we’ll stay. If it’s bought and they said go, we’d go. Our membership has shrunk over the past decade. We have more building than we need.”
