* I had never heard of Poi Dog Pondering when I first moved to Chicago in 2000. But some of my city friends quickly educated me. They seemed to play everywhere back then. Here’s the Tribune…
The rock and soul band Poi Dog Pondering will perform at 8 p.m. Aug. 17 at RiverEdge Park in Aurora, park officials announced Wednesday.
The band is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. “Poi Dog Pondering: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life, Love and Music” is a one-night-only show, RiverEdge officials said.
A recreation director was fired by the Park District of Highland Park while on leave for the post-traumatic stress disorder he has experienced since the mass shooting during the suburb’s 2022 Fourth of July Parade. […]
As director of recreation, Maliszewski was co-chair of the 2022 Fourth of July Parade and was one of the first Park District employees to arrive at work that morning.
At the time of the shooting, he was at the start of the parade route, just north of where a gunman fired into the crowd from a rooftop. The mass shooting left seven people dead and dozens injured. […]
For at least nine months, Maliszewski has been receiving treatment for anxiety, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder related to the parade massacre. He said he never suffered from any mental health problems before the incident. He was on leave from the Park District for part of that time.
Maliszewski has a pending workers’ compensation case related to the psychological injury he sustained in the wake of the parade shooting. His case began while he was on leave from his Park District job through the Family and Medical Leave Act.
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate increased +0.1 percentage point to 4.8 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased +1,200 in December, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and released by IDES. The November revised unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, unchanged from the preliminary November unemployment rate. The November monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +6,800 to +4,400 jobs. The December unemployment rate and payroll jobs estimate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.
In December, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month job gains included: Leisure and Hospitality (+3,300), Educational and Health Services (+1,700), and Government (+1,100). The industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll job declines included: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-4,900), Information (-1,200), and Other Services (-400).
“Today’s report adds the finishing touches on a year of strong, consistent job growth and continued accomplishments surrounding the stabilization of the state’s labor market,” said Deputy Governor Andy Manar. “As we head into the new year, IDES remains committed to the services provided for workforce and employer opportunities and bridging the two together.”
Update: As reported by @AVHndz in @BlockClubCHI, the Chicago Rat Hole has been restored to its former glory after local residents braved the cold and icy conditions to scrape out the plaster-like substance from the Rat Hole. This is what community is all about. #twillhttps://t.co/bZjdEKY9vC
* USA Today | Unemployment claims in Illinois declined last week: Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Illinois dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday. New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 12,701 in the week ending Jan. 13, down from 12,890 the week before, the Labor Department said. U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 187,000 last week, down 16,000 claims from 203,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.
* Sun-Times | With end of cash bail, ‘dramatic increase’ in appeals from people ordered held in jail or told to submit to restrictions to be released: Illinois appellate courts have been hit with a “dramatic increase” in appeals since the elimination of cash bail from people challenging orders keeping them in jail or imposing conditions like electronic monitoring for their release. The state’s high court announced Tuesday it is creating a task force of appellate court justices to study the issue. The task force is slated to hold its first meeting in the next two weeks and is expected to give a report to the Supreme Court within 45 days.
* Tribune | Lockport student alleges District 205 failed to monitor student in alleged sexual assault: A Lockport Township High School District 205 student and her parents filed a lawsuit against the district alleging she was sexually assaulted by a junior varsity basketball player and former student in December 2022. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 8 against the district, names Superintendent Robert McBride and Anthony Cundari, assistant superintendent for personnel.
* Sun-Times | Firm tied to former Chicago top cop David Brown back at police academy after being dumped over cost: A Texas firm with ties to former Supt. David Brown is back training officers at the police academy after being dumped by the Chicago Police Department over cost concerns after Brown left the department. Last May 19, then-interim police Supt. Fred Waller told police reform chief Tina Skahill to notify Professional Law Enforcement Training that “CPD will no longer need their services as of June 1,” citing the “significant cost.”
* Patch | ‘Condescending’: DuPage Officials Disagree Over Night Meetings: Two Democratic DuPage County Board members differed over whether to hold a night board meeting this year. One accused the other of being “condescending.”In October, member Dawn DeSart, who represents Naperville-based District 5, proposed two night meetings, as opposed to the usual daytime sessions.
* Crain’s | UChicago grad union adds pressure to university’s poor financial position: Graduate Students United, or GSU, which represents some 3,000 graduate students at the university, told Crain’s that UChicago officials are now using its recent public debt issues and a $239 million budget deficit as reasons not to meet the union’s financial demands.
* SJ-R. | Sangamon County State’s Attorney appoints a new top lieutenant: Mary Beth Rodgers, chief of the office’s felony division, was named First Assistant State’s Attorney Thursday by John Milhiser, who returned to the State’s Attorney office in November after serving as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois during the Donald Trump presidency.
* Daily-Journal | Will County declares emergency, announces opening of nuclear plant warm water siphons into Kankakee River: The Will County Emergency Management Agency has coordinated with Constellation Energy to activate all three siphons of warm water from the Dresden Energy Center cooling lake to accelerate the melting of ice on the Kankakee River. This decision follows a declaration of emergency by county executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant due to the historic flood levels and ice jams along the Kankakee River.
* Center Square | Illinois pays hefty sum to participate in Rose Parade: According to documents obtained by The Center Square, the cost of constructing the Enjoy Illinois float, the performances and the entry fee cost taxpayers $560,000. The 24-foot-tall float took three months to build using about 22,000 volunteer hours and featured 30,000 flowers. The state hired the vocal group Straight No Chaser to ride and sing on the float.
* Sun-Times | Soldier who sold guns used by Chicago gang members in 2 mass shootings pleads guilty: Brandon Miller told investigators he joined the Army to escape the mean streets of Chicago, where he said he was going to “funeral after funeral after funeral.” He was in the field artillery at Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, where he specialized in operating the computers that guide artillery and missiles.
* Daily Herald | Authorities: Glendale Heights village president pushed police chief : According to the charge, Khokhar shoved Glendale Heights Police Chief George Pappas with both hands as Pappas stood in front of him on Oct. 25. The misdemeanor battery charge was added Friday to Khokhar’s disorderly conduct case, in which he is accused of making a false report to police.
* Daily Herald | Six state police vehicles hit in a week serves as reminder of Scott’s Law: The good news is that none of the state troopers suffered life-threatening injuries. The bad? State police say at least three of the drivers who hit the squads were violating Scott’s Law, aka the Move Over Law, when the crashes occurred. Another is accused of driving under the influence.
* Block Club | White Sox Should Stay In Bridgeport, Alderperson Says As Team Eyes South Loop Stadium: Prominent developer Related Midwest owns the land, which was also floated as a casino site before Bally’s won the contract to build it in River West. Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), whose ward includes the site named for what could be the city’s 78th official community area, said in a statement she will “meet soon” with Related Midwest “to discuss the possibility of a stadium being built for the Chicago White Sox.”
* Tribune | The ‘Chicago Rat Hole’ draws devoted fans bringing gifts for the city’s new tourist attraction: Neighbors in the area told Dumaine the spot has been there for nearly 20 years and that the mark was actually left by a squirrel, not a rat. But the rodent-inspired name has endured. “Chicago prides itself on all of the things that make Chicago difficult, and no matter how much Chicago hates rats, they love rats. It’s a part of our culture,” Dumaine said.
* The American Prospect | How Boeing Ruined the JetBlue-Spirit Merger: This week, the sixth-largest and seventh-largest U.S. airlines, JetBlue and Spirit, were denied the opportunity to merge. Stripped from context, it doesn’t sound like an earth-shattering development. But the ruling by Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, signals the end of four decades of unstoppable waves of airline consolidation that have damaged passengers, workers, smaller communities, and commerce. More broadly, it’s another victory for the Biden Justice Department’s aggressive antitrust enforcers, who are drawing the line at additional concentration.
* Daily Herald | Coyotes are more active this time of year. Here’s how to keep your pets safe: The police department post recommends that residents keep unattended dogs and cats indoors or in enclosed areas if they have to be outside, especially at night. It also implored people to keep their dogs on short leashes while walking them outside, preferably six feet or less.
Kullgren said Mayor Johnson saw the alleged incident.
“The mayor gave no indication he didn’t want to talk to me until his staffer started shoving me. He saw the whole thing happen and didn’t intervene,” Kullgren told Fox News Digital via email when asked for additional comment. […]
Two west suburban Catholic grade schools will close this summer, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Thursday.
St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero and St. Odilo School in Berwyn will close their doors in June after the conclusion of the academic year.
School and church leaders said the expiration of the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program in the fall left the schools facing a financial cliff with more than half of students at the schools relying on the program to attend.
The program expired in November after state lawmakers adjourned during the final week of the General Assembly’s last session without taking up a proposal to extend it beyond Dec. 31.
* During the 2022-23 school year, St. Frances of Rome had just 13 Invest in Kids participants. But, according to the PR firm which oversaw the Invest in Kids push, that number jumped to 104 students during the current school year after a major local effort.
St. Odilo went from 27 IIK students during the 2022-23 school year to 60 this year, according to a press release.
Raw data is here. Both of those schools have experienced enrollment declines.
* From that Mac Strategies press release…
“Empower Illinois stands in solidarity with the parents, students, teachers, and communities of St. Frances of Rome and St. Odilo. Without this life-changing scholarship program many of those families simply could not afford to attend the school, forcing its closure,” said Bobby Sylvester, executive director of Empower Illinois. “Sadly, we know that these are unlikely to be the last schools to close unless our legislators act this spring to renew the program. We call on all Illinois General Assembly members to re-engage in the vital work of providing educational opportunities to low-income students through this program by passing an extension this spring.”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Invest in Kids proponents should’ve tried to broker a phase-out compromise that would’ve at least continued funding for students currently in the program. Those two schools were obviously hoping to keep their doors open with a big effort to enroll students in IIK, even though people at the top knew it was quite likely that the program would be allowed to expire at the end of December. They could’ve tried to lock in those gains, but went for an extension instead.
If one Oklahoma representative gets his way, children who act like dogs and cats during school hours could be punished by — animal control. Yes, parents might soon have to collect their erstwhile kids from the pound — if Rep. Justin Humphrey’s bill makes it to the finish line as it stands today. That is, of course, if kids acting like animals at school is really that widespread a problem, which is up for debate.
Humphrey’s bill, which was filed Wednesday, seeks to put in place a law whereby “students who purport to be an imaginary animal or animal species, or who engage in anthropomorphic behavior commonly known as furries at school shall not be allowed to participate in school. … The parent or guardian of a student in violation of this section shall pick up the student from school, or animal control services shall be contacted to remove the student.”
Humphrey tells Rolling Stone he was inspired to write the bill after hearing several reports of students disrupting school while engaging in animal-like behavior. He cites two such alleged incidents in which a grandchild of a friend took to crawling down the hallway while wearing a leash, and another where a student distracted classmates by meowing like a cat. He seemed most concerned, however, with the idea of students requesting litter boxes in the classroom, a favored talking point among right-wing politicians that has been debunked. Similar bills have been introduced in the past as well, but none have included the “animal control” language.
Humphrey says he’s heard “reports” of such instances but did not cite a specific incident. “Why are we going to bring in a litter box and put it in a room? Are they allowing those kids to actually use litter boxes?” he asks, incredulous. “If you think that you’re an animal, that’s a mental health issue, and we need to get you mental health assistance. Some people are going to say, ‘Well, they’re being artistic.’ There’s nothing artistic about mental illness.”
An Oklahoma bill has stirred controversy in the state Legislature for seeking to label Hispanic people who are gang members as terrorists. No other racial or ethnic group is singled out in the legislation.
The bill, written by Republican state Rep. Justin Humphrey, proposes that any person who “is of Hispanic descent living within the state of Oklahoma,” is a member of a gang and has been convicted of “gang-related offenses” would be deemed a terrorist. Humphrey has since apologized for zeroing in on Hispanic people and plans to change the language in the bill to “undocumented.”
Humphrey told NBC News that the bill was meant to focus on “those people who are here illegally and who are coming across the border and trying to do harm to America and to Oklahoma.” […]
“I don’t believe that the Mexican cartel, the Hispanic gangs, are the only bad actors … I don’t really say, ‘I made a mistake’ or that it was racial, because it wasn’t, but it was an oversight and it could be made much, much better by expanding that to say, ‘any undocumented person,’” Humphrey said, adding that he spoke with Hispanic friends who told him they were somewhat offended by the bill.
Humphrey has also said that “Chinese nationals” are contributing to the fentanyl crisis, but did not explicitly mention that group in the bill. There were 3,547 unintentional drug overdose deaths in the state between 2017 to 2021, according to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Fentanyl was involved in 579 of those deaths.
🚨🚨Oklahoma introduces a FELONY BAN on VIEWING pornography.
This is 100% straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. It appears to me with the bills I've read out of Oklahoma that representatives there are testing the waters for Project 2025. pic.twitter.com/sMIPlFmwaP
An Oklahoma lawmaker proposed a bill that would require students to take a gun course at school.
State Sen. Nathan Dahm filed Senate Bill 1699, which would require courses focusing on gun safety, the history of gun confiscation and the dangers of gun confiscation throughout history.
According to Senate Bill 1699, the Oklahoma State Department of Education would develop resources related to implementing gun courses with grade-appropriate instruction and high-quality professional learning opportunities for gun course teachers.
Transgender children who need an adoptive or foster parent could be placed in homes that don’t support their gender identity if a new bill gets signed into law.
Senate Bill 1677, authored by Sen. Julie Daniels, would prohibit the Oklahoma Department of Human Services from requiring a condition for potential foster and adoptive parents that they support a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity if it conflicts with the prospective parents “sincerely held religious or moral beliefs”.
The bill would also prohibit DHS from denying a prospective parent adoption or fostering a child based in part on their religious beliefs regarding sexual orientation or gender identity.
If a parent is denied adoption or fostering a child based on their religious belief, they would be able to seek injunctive relief and damages.
A former state legislator has formed a group that is launching a statewide effort to put parents’ rights on Illinois’ November 2024 ballot.
The Parents Matter Coalition has said that minor children in Illinois should require the guidance of their parents when faced with life-altering medical decisions like abortions or gender identity procedures. The group, in response, has launched a petition seeking to ask voters if parents should have more control over such decisions.
“Shall the written consent from a minor’s parent or guardian be required before any entity, person, clinic or school can provide a minor (under the age of 18 years) any nonemergency medical procedure, medication, pharmaceutical, or any gender modification procedure, gender identification counseling or gender therapy?” the question asks.
Jeanne Ives, a former state representative, said Thursday petitioners hope to get the advisory question on the November ballot.
“We want it on the 2024 ballot, that means we need petition signatures,” Ives told The Center Square. “Our goal is 500,000 signatures. We need less than that, but we are aiming for 500,000, and we would like to collect those by the end of March.” […]
The initiative is just a ballot question and will not change state law regardless of the final vote outcome. However, Ives said this can put pressure on those making the laws.
Matt Dietrich at the Illinois State Board of Elections said the circulators must collect 328,371 valid signatures of registered voters and submit them by May 6. So, 500,000 may not be enough.
State law limits the number of referenda to no more than three at a time. The General Assembly could decide to crowd out the Ives effort (if it’s even successful) by voting to put their own questions on the ballot, including a constitutional amendment.
In an unsurprising decision, the Illinois Supreme Court today ruled unanimously to uphold the 2019 downstate police and firefighter pension fund consolidation law after certain members sued claiming their voting power was diluted. My story from November: https://t.co/YtJZO3lRT7pic.twitter.com/Q9nzhauvCQ
Governor JB Pritzker released the following statement on the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling on local pension consolidation:
“The Illinois Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of this landmark, bi-partisan pension reform law today is confirmation that smart, thoughtful pension reform can be accomplished in Illinois. After 70 years of attempts, my partners in the General Assembly and I were able to accomplish meaningful reform during my first term in office. We ushered in a new era of responsible fiscal management, one aspect of which has been consolidating over 600 local pension systems to increase returns and lower fees, reducing the burden on taxpayers and keeping another campaign promise. Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a victory for Illinois taxpayers, local governments and first responders.”
THE ARLINGTON HEIGHTS POLICE PENSION FUND et al., Appellants, v. JAY ROBERT “J.B.” PRITZKER, Governor, et al., Appellees […]
Plaintiffs filed a complaint against defendants in the circuit court of Kane County seeking, inter alia, a finding that Public Act 101-610 (eff. Jan. 1, 2020) (Act), which amended portions of the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/1-101 et. seq. (West 2020)), violated article XIII, section 5, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. XIII, § 5), commonly known as the pension protection clause, and/or article I, section 15, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 15), commonly known as the takings clause. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants. The appellate court affirmed. 2023 IL App (2d) 220198, ¶ 20. For the following reasons, we also affirm. […]
It is axiomatic that, if plaintiffs have no constitutional right in how their local pension funds are funded or the adequacy of that funding, they similarly have no constitutional right regarding who invests local fund assets. The Act does not change plaintiffs’ right to elect members of their local funds’ boards or the local boards’ authority to determine the amount of benefits plaintiffs are entitled to receive. It only changes the local boards’ power to invest the assets of the local funds. Simply put, the 2020 amendment to the Pension Code has no impact on plaintiffs receiving their promised monetary benefits. […]
Plaintiffs have failed to identify any property right under Illinois law that is affected by the 2020 amendment to the Pension Code. It is undisputed that the Act does not impact the pension payments that plaintiffs are entitled to receive. Additionally, as defendants recognize, plaintiffs’ takings claim must also fail because even if they had a property right in the local funds’ assets, which they do not, the Act would not constitute a taking of that property for the government’s use. The Act simply changes how local fund assets are managed and invested without affecting the ultimate use of those assets to pay the benefits of local fund members
The Illinois Municipal League and the Associated Firefighters of Illinois supported the state’s position.
…Adding… House Speaker Chris Welch…
Today’s ruling shows that smart decision making can produce real savings for taxpayers, while protecting what workers have earned. By advancing commonsense reforms, collaborating with stakeholders, and delivering fiscally and socially responsible budgets, we’re continuing to rebuild Illinois’ fiscal house and move our state forward.
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Changes the names of the offenses of unlawful use of weapons, unlawful use of weapons by felons or persons in the custody of the Department of Corrections facilities, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, being an armed habitual criminal, unlawful use of firearm projectiles, and unlawful use of a firearm in the shape of a wireless telephone to unlawful possession of weapons, unlawful possession of weapons by felons or persons in the custody of the Department of Corrections facilities, aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, persistent unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of firearm projectiles, and unlawful possession of a firearm in the shape of a wireless telephone. Provides that if any person before the effective date of the amendatory Act has been arrested, charged, prosecuted, convicted, or sentenced for unlawful use of weapons, unlawful use or possession of weapons by felons or persons in the custody of the Department of Corrections facilities, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, being an armed habitual criminal, unlawful use of firearm projectiles, or unlawful use of a firearm in the shape of a wireless telephone, the changes of the names and the defendants to unlawful possession of weapons, unlawful possession of weapons by felons or persons in the custody of the Department of Corrections facilities, aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, persistent unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of firearm projectiles, and unlawful possession of a firearm in the shape of a wireless telephone, shall retroactively be made in any criminal background records maintained by the Illinois State Police, law enforcement agencies, clerks of the circuit court, and any other State agencies providing criminal background information to the public under specified timelines. Amends various Acts to make conforming changes. Effective January 1, 2025.
Amends the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Provides that within 90 days after the Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Areas have been designated by the Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Program Board, the Board chair shall appoint 8 public officials of municipal or county (rather than municipal) geographic jurisdictions in the State that include a Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Area to the Board.
Amends the Department of Natural Resources Act. Makes legislative findings concerning the growth of American white pelican populations and their impacts on recreational fish populations in the Upper Mississippi River System. Directs the Department of Natural Resources to collaborate with an accredited university or college in the State to conduct a study of the American white pelican communities that reside, during their migration, in Pool 13 of the Upper Mississippi River System in order to: (1) evaluate the movements and foraging activities of those communities; (2) assess how the migration of those communities impacts fish populations in the Upper Mississippi River System; and (3) collect the data necessary to develop trophic models of the Upper Mississippi River System that incorporate impacts of piscivorous birds, such as the American white pelican. Requires the Department to report the findings of its study to the General Assembly by no later than December 31, 2025. Effective immediately.
Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Provides that, on or before January 1, 2025, the Department of Children and Family Services shall require each licensed day care center to maintain a video security system and maintain video surveillance of all public areas within the premises of the day care center, including, but not limited to, hallways, entrances, play areas, common rooms, and eating areas. Provides that video surveillance shall not take place in private areas within the day care center, including, but not limited to, bathrooms and changing areas. Provides that, if a video security system is deemed inadequate by the Department, the day care center shall have 30 days to correct the inadequacy. Provides that each licensed day care center must notify all parents of children attending the day care center that public areas are under video surveillance and must post a sign at the entrance of the day care center that informs visitors that the area is under video surveillance. Provides that the minimum standards for licensing shall require that each child care institution, maternity center, day care center, group home, day care home, and group day care home require that every staff member involved in the direct care of children be certified in first aid, in the Heimlich maneuver, and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation(rather than have on its premises during its hours of operation at least one staff member certified in first aid, in the Heimlich maneuver, and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
State Senator Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) has taken an important step in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Illinois students by filing legislation aimed at preventing inappropriate relationships between teachers and students.
Senate Bill 2823 makes it illegal for any teacher to engage in sexual activity, whether consensual or nonconsensual, with a high school student even if that student is 18 or older.
“It is our responsibility to create an educational environment that protects students from potential harm and fosters trust,” said Sen. Bryant. “Individuals with custodial authority in other areas of work, like corrections, face criminal charges for the abuse of that authority, no matter the age of the victim. The same should apply in our school system.”
Senate Bil 2823 builds upon existing Illinois law to further protect students from potential abuse of power. Teachers who violate the proposed law would face a Class 3 felony for their first offense and a Class 2 felony for subsequent offenses or if multiple victims are involved. Additionally, Senate Bill 2823 mandates the inclusion of individuals who violate the law in both the sexual predator and sex offender database, ensuring public awareness and continued monitoring.
For years, the media could listen to police scanners in real time to keep track of what’s going on in Chicago neighborhoods.
However, the City of Chicago recently began encrypting transmissions, putting them on a 30-minute delay.
In response, State Representative LaShawn Ford has introduced a bill that would require accredited newspapers and FCC licensed broadcasters, like ABC7 Chicago, to have access to real-time scanners.
Ford spoke to ABC7 about what prompted the bill.
“The police are not the only people that have to help protect individuals as it relates to public safety,” Ford said. “They need partners. It’s all hands on deck.”
Amends the Notice By Publication Act and the Newspaper Legal Notice Act. Provides, in both of the Acts, that the term “newspaper” also includes any digital publication that (1) is posted on a public-facing website, web application, or digital application, including, but not limited to, a social network, ad network, or search engine, that has 3,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors or users with at least 50% of those visitors from the geographic area for which the notice is required to be published during the immediately preceding 12 months; (2) regularly gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, or publishes news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matter of public interest for dissemination to the public; and (3) is paid for by subscribers to the digital publication.
Amends the Illinois Police Training Act. Provides that specified in-servicing training for law enforcement officers must be completed every 2 years (rather than 3 years) and must include at least 30 hours of training.
* ICYMI: Funny messages on Illinois highway signs to be banned, feds say. NBC Chicago…
- The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has given states two years to implement changes outlined in a new manual released last month.
- Overhead electronic signs with obscure meanings, pop culture references or those intended to be funny will be banned in 2026 because they can be “misunderstood or distracting to drivers,”
- Some examples of IDOT signs include “No Texting, No Speeding, No Ketchup” and “OMG, Are you texting? I can’t even.”
* CNI | Smart Start preschool expansion ahead of schedule in first fiscal year: The Smart Start program passed last May as part of the state’s operating budget, which allocated $250 million to expand early childhood education programs, including wage support for child care workers, early intervention programs and home visiting programs. It also included a goal of adding 5,000 pre-k spots in areas where access was lacking – and the state has exceeded that number by over 800 seats.
* Our Quad Cities | Local law enforcement reacts to new Illinois law allowing non-citizens to become police officers: “There’s certain steps to becoming a police officer,” said Sheriff John Booker with the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s not just, ‘Okay, today I’m going to be a police officer,’ take a test and you’re hired tomorrow. It’s a long process.” The Whiteside County Sheriff explained only part of the process to becoming a police officer that takes more than three months to complete.
* Crain’s | Bally’s casino workers vote to unionize: Three groups of workers at the temporary Bally’s casino in River North have voted to unionize. The votes were certified this week and affect hundreds of workers at the company’s temporary casino at the Medinah Temple.
* Wes-Gazette | Casino payout: Pension funds, riverfront among early beneficiaries: Funding for riverfront development, city sewer upgrades, construction of an addition to the Boys and Girls Club and paying down city fire and police pensions: Those will all benefit as a result of the opening of Danville’s Golden Nugget Casino. Planning for some of the projects is underway, while others, like the start of the pension paydown, are ongoing endeavors.
* Daily Southtown. | Two solar energy facililties get green light in Monee Township: Nexamp has proposed a 5-megawatt solar farm on about 44.26 acres of land at 26845 S. Will Center Road in Monee, about 0.2 miles from South Will Center Road and West Pauling Road. The company has also proposed a 2-megawatt solar farm to be built on about 19 acres of a 29.26 acre parcel of land on the northwest corner of South Will Center Road and West Pauling Road.
* WLPO | State AFL-CIO Endorses Candidates, But Not in Every Race: Of 127 candidates backed by the union giant, 126 are Democrats. The lone Republican is Brad Stephens, a candidate for State Representative who’s a union member and the Village President of the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, adjacent to O’Hare. The union has not endorsed a candidate in the 76th District, where three Democrats and two Republicans are vying for the seat being vacated by Democrat and union champion Lance Yednock.
* WBEZ | Black parents are caught in the middle of Chicago’s school choice debate: Blackburn and Presswood are two Black mothers in the middle of an intensifying debate about school choice, the system that allows Chicago parents to send their children to charters, magnets and selective enrollment schools, rather than be tethered to the school in their attendance boundary.
* Daily Egyptian | FAFSA complications causing distress for Southern Illinois families: The old FAFSA would require potential students, or their parents, to fill out a long, complicated form that would feature roughly a hundred questions regarding the family’s living situation.
The goal of the new FAFSA was to simplify the process, with only around 50 questions. The new application was designed to make it much easier for the government to provide benefits to families in need. However, it has been proven to be a more tenuous process, at least in the beginning.
* Sun-Times | Two downstate men accused of trying to break window with flag poles during Jan. 6 Capitol riot: Two men from southern Illinois have been arrested and are facing criminal charges for allegedly trying to break a window at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, joining the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Justin LaGesse, 37, and Theodore Middendorf, 36, both of McLeansboro, about 300 miles south of Chicago, are charged with felony destruction of property, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
* NBC | Capitol Police investigated more than 8,000 threats against lawmakers last year: U.S. Capitol Police investigated 8,008 threats against members of Congress last year, according to new case numbers released Thursday. Last year’s tally marked an increase from a figure released for 2022, but it’s below the 9,625 cases the agency investigated in 2021 when the Jan. 6 riot occurred.
* NPR | How social media algorithms ‘flatten’ our culture by making decisions for us: “[There] are equations that measure what you’re doing, surveil the data of all the users on these platforms and then try to predict what each person is most likely to engage with,” New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka explains. “So rather than having this neat, ordered feed, you have this feed that’s constantly trying to guess what you’re going to click on, what you’re going to read, what you’re going to watch or listen to.”
* SJ-R | How some superintendents decide on closing schools or E-learning days in bad weather: Students can sometimes be on a bus for 40 minutes to get to their schools, Superintendent Fred Lamkey said. If a bus breaks down or loses heat in the middle of the country, it can take 25 to 40 minutes to get a substitute out. That’s just one of the scenarios Lamkey and other superintendents had to consider when deciding whether to implement an emergency day or an e-learning or remote learning day, as they did on Tuesday because of the extreme cold.
* Sun-Times | University of Illinois system freezes in-state tuition at all 3 of its campuses for 2024-25 school year: The Board of Trustees approved tuition rates for the 2024-25 academic year Thursday. Rates will remain unchanged for the seventh year of the last 10 years, the school said in a press release. “I want to thank our trustees for their vote to freeze tuition for in-state undergraduates again,” University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen said. “This decision maintains our ironclad commitment to affordability. Few things we can do have a more positive impact on the working families of Illinois than holding down the cost of a life-changing college education.”
Tom Miller: We talk about these big issues, abortion, nationwide issue, weapons, nationwide issue, but when it comes to your district, the 58th District, a large district too, you probably noticed that already on the maps. Would you have a goal in mind that you could share with us today about something you want to accomplish intrinsic to your Senate district that you’re running for in the upcoming primary election?
Wesley Kash: Well, I mean, there’s nothing special about this district over every other district.
He then went on to talk about lowering state taxes and ending business as usual, and concluded, “So no, I don’t really have a specific plan for the 58th Legislative District.”
The big picture is important, but in reality, about the only thing that Republicans can accomplish in the General Assembly is to push things that specifically help their districts. Almost every legislator in both parties can support that. Sen. Bryant is good at it.
Tom Miller: We listened to you talk about things you’re against. That’s pretty much the line right now, except that with that Democratic majority, you would have to turn the tide and that’s a difficult item, especially when you’re in a super minority. I mean, do you have thoughts on that, the Republicans’ role in Illinois if you win and what you’re able to accomplish with the current Democrat/Republican breakdown?
Wesley Kash: Well, yeah, my thoughts were as I’ve been listening to Dan Bongino a lot and uh, well what can’t continue won’t. And apparently Chicago’s about had it with all the illegals pouring in, and I don’t know that they’ll stay blue much longer, they’ll probably start seeing that the Democrats hate ‘em up there. And we might be able to flip the state. And we need principled conservatives that haven’t been willing to play that Springfield game. We need to stand on our principles, win, lose and draw. I might not be able to get anything done at first, but we got to start somewhere. And I’d ask people to start with me right here and right now. I’m going to be a principled conservative. Getting crumbs off the Democrats’ table hasn’t been working for us so far. We vote and go along with their bloated budgets and tax increases and we’re still in a ton of debt. So that’s not working out. So I’d say even if we can’t do nothing right at the beginning, let’s let’s quit going along with them and making terrible legislation, bipartisan legislation. We could run on, ‘Look at what the Democrats are doing. Vote Republican.’
Chicago’s going to flip to the Republican Party. Right. OK.
Also, those taxes have funded a whole lot of infrastructure spending in southern Illinois, just as one example.
The state’s down payment on the Smart Start program to boost PreK enrollment and eliminate education deserts created 5,823 new PreK spots. The goal was 5,000 for the first year. #twillhttps://t.co/NISElSQkvrpic.twitter.com/QrZw5hNrQB
In 2023, the Illinois State Police’s (ISP) modernization of the Divisions of Patrol, the creation of Special Operation Groups focused on criminal interdiction, and the continued implementation of a data-focused command structure led to a decrease in interstate shootings and fatal crashes. These same enforcement strategies also yielded more arrests, as well as increases in gun and vehicle recoveries.
“ISP saw a growing problem in Illinois, used data and first-hand expertise to efficiently address problems, and achieved results—the absolute model of what state government can and should do for its citizens,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “The decrease in fatal expressway shootings and crashes is an important step on the road to a safer Illinois, and I thank ISP for their innovation and dedication to advancing this work.”
“As an agency, we’ve become more nimble and focused on data, making decisions based on where the greatest threats to public safety emerge, rather than following the same old pattern or habits,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “Over the past several years, we have really demanded more of ourselves, making the tough decisions, executing, and empowering the most effective law enforcement tool there is – the well-trained, professional, crime-fighting trooper. Challenges remain, but we are headed in a good direction.”
2023-2022 Patrol Enforcement Data:
Interstate/expressway shootings: In 2023, ISP saw a 32% decrease in reported interstate/expressway shootings from2022.
Fatal Crashes: In 2023, ISP responded to 7% fewer fatal crashes on interstates than in 2022.
Arrests: In 2023, ISP saw a 3% increase in patrol arrests from 2022 (6,543 arrests in 2023).
Guns Recovered: In 2023, ISP patrol reported a 12% increase in guns recovered from 2022.
Vehicles Recovered: In 2023, ISP patrol saw a 7% increase in vehicles recovered from 2022.
* From the Illinois Local Journalism Task Force’s report this week…
Five of Illinois’ 102 counties have no local source of news, and 33 rely on just a single source, according to The State of Local News 2023, a research project led by Northwestern’s Medill Local News Initiative. The report focused on “news deserts,” which Abernathy defines as “a community, either rural or urban, where residents have very limited access to credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level and nurtures community.”
The five no-local-news Illinois counties are Pulaski, Alexander, Perry, Hamilton, and Edwards.
Jeff Egbert at the Perry County Weekly-Press begs to differ. “I’ve published a newspaper in Perry County for the last 14 years,” he told Rich via email.
He also pointed out that the McLeansboro Gazette operates out of Hamilton County.
Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot is hosting a City Club roundtable on neighborhood investment (her first public event in Chicago since leaving office). Comes as she announces a new non-profit called Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective to help orgs in disinvested neighborhoods. pic.twitter.com/xJtbQRsF1G
Stellantis’ estimated $4.8 billion plan to build a new vehicle at the Belvidere Assembly Plant, construct a battery production facility and establish a parts distribution “mega hub” could require what officials say is a tremendous amount of additional water, power and sewer capacity. […]
But officials say utilities would have to be extended to an area along Irene Road west of the Belvidere Assembly Plant where Stellantis has told the United Auto Workers it intends to build a $3.2 billion “joint venture” battery production facility.
Four Rivers Sanitation Authority Executive Director Tim Hanson said his office is preparing an estimated $32 million plan talked about for three decades to extend sanitary sewer lines to the area from Cherry Valley to service the Stellantis facility and any suppliers that will be needed. […]
A Winnebago County-based agency that cleans 1.5 billion gallons of sewage a year, Four Rivers has the capacity needed for the project, Hanson said. It would require an agreement in which Boone County owns the pipeline and Four Rivers Sanitation manages it, Hanson said.
How the sanitary sewer pipeline — which would have a main trunk more than 3 miles long and a diameter of up to 42-inches — and an estimated $5 million lift station in Cherry Valley would be paid for remains a question.
* Sun-Times | Car insurance rates went up again for Illinois drivers last year, analysis shows: The price of car insurance for Illinois drivers surged by more than $1.25 billion last year — following a $1.1 billion increase in 2022, according to a consumer group’s analysis of rate filings. The report only looked at the 10 largest auto insurers, who represent 81% of Illinois’ auto insurance market, and suggested that rates could have risen even more last year
* SJ-R | Springfield-area candidates file quarterly campaign finance reports: What to know: Springfield-area candidates are beginning their campaign pushes in 2024, buttressing their campaign chests with the primaries just more than two months away. Quarterly reports were filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections this week, showing how much candidates have made and spent between October and December. It was the last full quarter before the primary election scheduled for March 19.
* The Telegraph | Ethics violation by Madison County’s Prenzler under investigation: No action was taken by the Madison County Executive Committee against county board Chairman Kurt Prenzler over a reported ethics violation relating to passing out campaign material on county property during business hours, but the panel could consider the issue next month.
* WTTW | Chicago Won’t Evict Migrants Until Feb. 1, Officials Announce: Initially, Johnson granted approximately 650 migrants a week-long reprieve, until Jan. 22, which is set to be the first day of above freezing temperatures in a week. As many as 1,800 migrants could be evicted from city shelters Feb. 1, according to city data. Another 1,600 people could be evicted Feb. 2. It is unclear how many of the 3,400 migrants set to be evicted will be able to find permanent housing in the next two weeks or obtain work permits.
* Daily-Journal | Manteno also passes migrant bus ordinance: “Due to the recent events with buses dropping off migrants at unannounced and random locations, the village is adopting this ordinance in an effort to prevent those random events,” said Trustee Todd Crockett. “The village has limited resources, and bus drivers who make these random drops are putting the lives of those at risk.”
* WCIA | Kyle Patterson named new Champaign Township Supervisor: Patterson is a Champaign County board member and serves as an Urbana Cunningham Township case manager. Council members said the position is an opportunity to show how the new supervisor handles the position under pressure and during the upcoming election.
* Sun-Times | Pitchfork hit by layoffs, downgrade, but music festival will continue: Pitchfork’s owner, media empire Condé Nast, said Wednesday it has folded the brand into GQ, another title at the company. “This decision was made after a careful evaluation of Pitchfork’s performance and what we believe is the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company,” Condé Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour wrote in a memo to staff.
* Farm Progress | 8 questions with Illinois Pork Producers: Jennifer Tirey, Illinois Pork Producers Association executive director, has a lot of good reasons for folks to come to this year’s expo. “We’re a small but mighty group, and we need their voice. Lawmakers take my calls, but they really want to hear from actual producers,” Tirey says. “I can’t stress enough how showing up for your industry will help everyone in the long run.”
* Sun-Times | Nearly 100 cats and dogs saved from PAWS Tinley Park fire: Fire crews rescued 55 dogs and 42 cats from the building and brought them to Midwest Animal Hospital, where they were treated into the night, according to the Tinley Park public safety department. No injuries were reported, but 14 cats and two dogs showed signs of respiratory distress from smoke inhalation.
* CNN | Uvalde school massacre could have been stopped sooner, DOJ report finds: Critical failures in leadership among specific law enforcement officers who rushed to Robb Elementary are blamed by the Justice Department, whose 575-page report nearly 20 months after the massacre is the fullest official accounting of what happened, though much already was known largely through CNN investigation.
Highland Park and Deerfield joined the growing list of municipalities who have placed regulations on one-way buses dropping off 10 or more passengers.
While the ordinances are generic and apply to all one-way buses, no matter who the passengers are, the regulations come after municipalities around Chicago have experienced an influx of unscheduled buses dropping off groups of migrants at all hours of the day and night. […]
At the recommendation of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, suburban municipalities have started to approve regulations around when and where buses can drop off one-way passengers. The rules also seek advance communication from the bus companies about expected arrival date, times and a manifest of who is on the bus.
I checked and, while IEMA has been drafting some guidance, nothing has yet been officially sent to municipalities.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked today about the fact that home rule governments are imposing some restrictions on buses (whether or not it’s constitutional) while other governments cannot. So, should there be some uniformity across the state on this?…
That’s something that the legislature is looking at now and considering. It certainly seems like if one town can do it and another town can’t then we ought to have some uniformity. So that I know is being discussed in committees.
* Capitol News Illinois has a very good and wide-ranging story on what’s happening with the asylum-seekers, including this fact check…
On Tuesday, a group of four conservative lawmakers announced they were filing legislation that would repeal portions of the TRUST Act, a 2017 state law that bars local law enforcement agencies from participating in federal immigration enforcement, such as by working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents or by detaining people based on their immigration status.
“Repealing the TRUST Act is absolutely required to solve the Illinois illegal immigration crisis and it’s the right thing to do for the citizens of this state,” Rep. John Cabello, R-Machesney Park, said in a statement.
Individuals seeking asylum, like many of the recently arrived migrants, are generally not subject to deportation through Immigrations and Customs Enforcement action.
Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, also on Tuesday criticized the management of two state programs that offer Medicaid-style benefits to some noncitizen residents of Illinois. […]
The Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults and Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors programs, which Syverson proposed cutting back, are designed for people who don’t have legal permission to be in the country and some others. Asylum seekers generally don’t qualify for those programs but do qualify for some federal benefits.
They’re not being serious people, but it’s not like anyone else has come up with a solution. Anyway, go read the rest.
* Tribune | Texas transportation company sues Chicago for migrant bus restrictions: Wynne’s subcontractors have faced 95 separate lawsuits filed by the city for violating the new rules, each seeking $2,000 to $10,000 fines, said the company’s attorney, Michael Kozlowski, of the Chicago-based law firm Esbrook P.C. “It unlawfully interferes with the business and makes the business very difficult to run,” he said. “It’s certainly not chump change.”
* WBEZ | Chicago migrants cook, wash windows and sell candy for cash without work permits: Like other migrants in Chicago, Fernandez is desperate for money. More than 34,000 migrants sent to Chicago from Texas and other states since August 2022 want financial stability. Many are seeking asylum and may qualify for work permits. But these applications can take a long time and not everyone knows how to navigate the process or where to go for help. Most migrants do not speak English, making it harder to find employment.
* CBS News | Man welcomes migrants into building he owns in Chicago: A lucrative investment in cryptocurrency provided the funding for the mission, while Chris Amatore himself provides the kindness. Amatore, chief executive officer of Manage Chicago, owns a South Shore neighborhood building with eight units and 60 beds – and he’s using one big heart to welcome in residents.
* Chalkbeat | Chicago educators ask lawmakers to step up support for schools seeing increase in migrant students: Gabriel Paez, an English learner program teacher at Cameron and chair of the Chicago Teachers Union bilingual education committee, estimate that about 200 migrant students at the school need access to more bilingual education, transportation, and basic needs — a reflection of the wider challenges presented by the arrival of thousands of migrant families to the city.
* NYT | Chicago Warms New Migrants in Idling Buses as the Weather Turns Nasty: A limit of 60 days on stays in city shelters would be set aside temporarily because of the snow and the predicted single-digit temperatures that would follow, the mayor said. “We’re not evicting new arrivals out in the cold this winter,” Mr. Johnson said at a news conference. “Our mission is to continue to live up to our values as we welcome new arrivals.” More than 14,500 migrants are in city shelters.
Will the South Siders be playing baseball in the South Loop?
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, “serious” negotiations have taken place between the Chicago White Sox and developer Related Midwest in regard to possibly building a baseball-only stadium at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street — an area known as “the 78.”
Related Midwest owns the site. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority — which owns Guaranteed Rate Field — has not been involved in the talks, the organization’s CEO, Frank Bilecki, told the Tribune.
“I’m not part of the discussion, at least as of yet,” Bilecki said. “I truly know nothing. I’m a landlord and they’re a tenant, and they’re looking at options as tenants do everywhere.”
* A park that close to downtown would be a great after-work draw. A cool stadium would also bring in tourists. And the view could be just tremendous…
Ownership being what it is means I ain’t holding my breath on any of it.
* Gov. Pritzker has opposed public funding for a new suburban Bears stadium, but the White Sox play in a park owned by a state agency, so he was asked today whether he would support state funding for this…
Nobody’s made the ask yet. So having said that, I think you know my views about privately owned teams and whether the public should be paying for private facilities that will be used by private businesses. Having said that, I mean, there are things that government does to support business all across the state, investing in infrastructure, making sure that we’re supporting the success of business in Illinois. So, as with all of the other, whether it’s sports teams, or other private businesses, we’ll be looking at whatever they may be suggesting or asking for.
* The Question: Your own thoughts on this topic?
…Adding… In response to some comments, here’s NBC 5…
State taxpayers still owe roughly $50 million on bonds used to construct the stadium. The White Sox lease expires after the conclusion of the 2028 season.
One of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s signature priorities — a major tweak to the real estate transfer tax designed to boost funding for anti-homelessness initiatives — has been dealt a significant setback, failing to garner the coveted endorsement of the Chicago Federation of Labor.
In a vote last week, a motion to endorse the referendum measure came up just decimal points shy of the two-thirds weighted vote necessary to receive the official backing of the federation, an umbrella organization that represents more than 300 unions in Chicago and Cook County.
The rejection came despite personal calls from Johnson to some union leaders expressing how important the issue is to this labor-friendly administration. The opposition, meanwhile, was aided by two traditionally progressive unions that represent workers who staff hotels and buildings that would be affected by the proposed increase in taxes on property sales over $1 million. […]
If [CFL President Bob Reiter] decides to allow the CFL to reconsider Friday’s vote, it would be rare and could lead to tension among labor groups. But the fact that the vote was so close and that some unions were absent from the vote because of poor weather allows an opening, sources within unions told Crain’s.
Local 150 of the Operating Engineers and Unite Here Local 1 sided with their members’ employers (real estate developers, hotel owners, etc.) and voted against it. SEIU Local 1 abstained.
* Meanwhile, the CFL endorsements contained two other bits worth noting…
Cook County States Attorney
Neutral
Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court
Maryiana T. Spyropoulos
CFL affiliates are on both sides in the state’s attorney race, ergo the neutrality. And the CFL went with the Cook County Democrats’ slated candidate against incumbent circuit court clerk Iris Martinez.
* Background is here and here if you need it. The gist of NAACP Illinois State Conference President Teresa Haley’s remarks last October…
But these immigrants have come over here, they’ve been raping people. They’ve been breaking into homes. They’re like savages as well. They don’t speak the language and they look at us like we were crazy, because we were the only people in America who were brought over here against our wills and were slaves, sold into slavery. But everybody else who comes over here? We’re so kind we’re so friendly. You need some clothes, you need a place to stay? We’re gonna make it happen. So brother, I feel your pain. I’m right there with you. I’m trying not to be a [N-Word] but you know, I’m pro-Black.
Teresa Haley says her controversial comments about immigrants brought from the Mexican border to Chicago were misinterpreted and taken out of context. […]
Recalling the November Zoom call, Haley said savages isn’t a word that is part of her everyday vocabulary. She said she used the word in the video when she was summarizing and referring to the same term used by at least two other Illinois branch presidents during the meeting.
Illinois NAACP officials were airing concerns about immigrants being transported unannounced by Texas officials to impoverished, predominantly Black Chicago neighborhoods in late fall and winter.
Haley told Illinois Times she regretted repeating her peers’ comments.
“A good leader listens and summarizes what is being said,” she said. “My intent was just to simply have the conversations and let my branch presidents and leaders know, ‘I hear you. I’m listening to you.’”
I guess she has a different understanding of leadership than most.
Haley said it was “out of order” for Gov. JB Pritzker to criticize her comments and call for her to apologize.
Haley said she believes the Democratic governor’s comments were fueled by policy differences between the two, including Haley’s opposition to legalization of adult-use marijuana and the NAACP’s unsuccessful legal challenge of the new legislative redistricting map that Pritzker signed into law.
The Rink, a longtime roller skating rink on the South Side, has a starring role in a new music video by Chicago band Wilco, out Thursday.
The video for “Meant To Be,” a song off Wilco’s 2023 studio album “Cousin,” was filmed at The Rink, 1122 E. 87th St. The Rink was one of the birthplaces of “JB skating,” a flowing, laid-back style often skated to the music of James Brown. According to The Rink’s website, the location has been open for some 50 years and is the sole African American-owned roller skating rink in Illinois.
In the video, the skaters swirling around the band include a number of Chicagoans, according to a band announcement Thursday, including Calvin Small, an originator of JB style, and champion skater Darius Sanders.
Indiana State Rep. Earl Harris Jr. (D-East Chicago) is looking to continue his late father’s dream of luring an NFL team to Northwest Indiana, and with the nearby Chicago Bears mulling the option of leaving Soldier Field, a short move across state lines might not be out of the realm of possibility.
Authored by Harris, House Bill 1174 proposes forming a 19-member sports development commission for Northwest Indiana and assigning the commission the tall task of enticing a professional sports franchise to set up shop in the Region.
While the bill itself doesn’t allocate any funding or target any specific teams — and is just about forming a board to develop a comprehensive plan to attract and develop a sports franchise in Northwest Indiana — there is one specific NFL team that Harris thinks Indiana can entice: The neighboring Chicago Bears.
“With the Chicago Bears looking into options for a new location, this legislation will help make Northwest Indiana a more attractive option for them and other sports teams,” Harris said.
Amends the Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit Act. Renews the program for incentive periods beginning on or after July 1, 2018 and ending on or before June 30, 2025. Removes language concerning the Put Illinois to Work Program for the second series of incentive periods. Provides that the term “full-time employee” means an individual who is employed for a basic wage for at least 35 hours each week (currently, employed for a basic wage for at least 35 hours each week or renders any other standard of service generally accepted by industry custom or practice as full-time employment). Provides that a net increase in the number of full-time Illinois employees shall be treated as continuous if a different new employee is hired as a replacement within 8 weeks after the position becomes vacant (currently, a reasonable time). Effective immediately.
Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Provides that a qualified child care director must be present at the open or close of the facility. Provides that a qualified early childhood teacher who has been employed by the facility continuously for at least 24 months may otherwise be present for the first or last hour of the workday.
A new bill in the Illinois General Assembly would create a board of health care experts that would have the authority to set price limits on prescription medications.
House Bill 4472 was introduced Wednesday by state Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine, and state Sen. David Koehler, D-Peoria.
Using a variety of information related to the medication’s market, including the number of people taking the medication and its out-of-pocket cost, the board would assess a price. If the board finds it to be unreasonable, it could limit the amount wholesalers, pharmacies and hospitals can bill insurers and consumers for the drug.
The bill’s sponsors said it was an effort to limit health care costs across the board.
Amends the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975. Provides that the Illinois Racing Board may appoint the Director of Mutuels to serve as the State director for inter-track wagering and simulcast wagering by inter-track wagering licensees and inter-track wagering location licensees. Provides that the pari-mutuel tax imposed at all pari-mutuel wagering facilities and on advance deposit wagering shall be remitted to the Board (rather than the Department of Revenue). Provides that the Board shall distribute contributed funds to a charitable organization on a schedule determined by the Board, based on the charitable organization’s estimated expenditures related to the grant (rather than by December 31 of each year). Provides that any funds not expended by the grantee in a grant year shall be distributed to the charitable organization or charitable organizations selected in the next grant year after the funds are recovered. Repeals provisions authorizing the Board to make daily temporary deposits of certain fees and provisions requiring the Board and the Department of Agriculture to establish a program to conduct drug testing on horses at county fairs. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
Amends the Counties Code and the Autopsy Act. Provides that autopsies must be performed by board-certified forensic pathologists or, if under the direct supervision of a board-certified forensic pathologist, pathology residents or forensic pathology fellows (rather than a licensed physician must perform autopsies). In the Autopsy Act, further provides that other qualified personnel or other qualified personnel selected by a board-certified forensic pathologist (rather than a physician) may perform (rather than assist) an autopsy. Further amends the Counties Code. Provides that a county in which the body of a deceased person is found shall indemnify and hold harmless a board-certified forensic pathologist who renders services under the provisions for all of the pathologist’s conduct arising out of the pathologist’s testimony as an expert witness in a criminal proceeding based on the service provided under the provisions, except actions involving willful and wanton misconduct of the pathologist. Conditions the duty of the county to indemnify a board-certified forensic pathologist who rendered services under the provisions for a judgment recovered against the pathologist upon receiving notice of the filing of the action. Provides that, if a board-certified forensic pathologist is made a party defendant to an action and the action against the pathologist is based upon the pathologist’s conduct arising out of the pathologist’s testimony as an expert witness in a criminal proceeding, then, within 10 days of service of process, the pathologist shall notify the county in which the body of a deceased person was found of the fact that the pathologist has been made a party defendant to the action. Includes requirements for the notice. Provides that the State’s Attorney of the county in which the body of the deceased person is found may appear and defend on behalf of the board-certified forensic pathologist. Effective immediately.
Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. Provides that a voluntary recipient admitted to a mental health facility who gives a written notice to the treatment staff that the recipient wishes to be discharged from the facility may be involuntarily held at the facility if within 5 days after giving the notice, a copy of the notice and a petition and the 2 certificates executed by a physician, qualified examiner, psychiatrist, advanced practice psychiatric nurse, or clinical psychologist which states that the recipient is subject to involuntary admission on an inpatient basis and requires immediate hospitalization are filed with the court (rather than only the petition and 2 certificates).
Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. Provides that a person who reasonably believes that another person is experiencing an overdose and knowingly fails to seek emergency medical assistance for that person is guilty of a Class 4 felony unless the person experiencing the overdose dies as a result of failing to obtain the emergency medical assistance, in which case the penalty for violating this provision is a Class 1 felony.
Amends the State Universities Civil Service Act. Provides that each academic year, a public university shall offer a 50% tuition waiver for undergraduate education to each child of an employee of the State Universities Civil Service System (”University System”) who has been employed by the University System for an aggregate period of at least 7 years. Sets forth requirements relating to the 50% tuition waiver. Provides that each academic year, a public university shall offer a full tuition waiver for undergraduate education to each child of a person who died while employed full time by the University System or while on leave from full-time employment. Sets forth requirements relating to the full tuition waiver. Amends various Acts relating to the governance of public universities in this State to require full undergraduate tuition waivers for the children of persons who died while employed full time by any public university or while on leave from full-time employment. Sets forth requirements relating to the full tuition waiver. Effective July 1, 2024.
Amends the Acupuncture Practice Act. Provides that none of the provisions of the Act shall prevent an unlicensed person from engaging in a standardized 5-needle protocol if the person satisfies specified conditions. Provides that the treatment utilizing the 5-needle protocol shall be limited to the insertion of disposable, sterile acupuncture needles into the ear and only in compliance with the 5-needle protocol. Provides that the application or insertion of needles anywhere else on the body of another person by a person shall be considered engaging in the practice of acupuncture without a license.
A Texas-based bus company is suing Chicago, alleging discrimination in a city ordinance that controls where buses can and can’t drop off passengers.
Wynne Transportation, which has brought migrants from Texas to Chicago, filed lawsuit in federal court in Chicago. The company says the city’s rules interfere with interstate commerce.
The mayor’s office said the city doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
The city ordinance seeks to govern how and where buses can stand. Violators risk a $3,000 fine or impoundment of the vehicle.
“No owner or operator of any intercity bus shall use any designated bus stop, bus stand or passenger loading/unloading zone, or any other location, for loading or unloading of passengers, luggage or other goods without first obtaining the approval of the Commissioner,” the ordinance reads.
The Supremacy Clause enables Congress to preempt state law. A state law is preempted if Congress: (1) enacts a statute with an express preemption provision; (2) determines that a field must be controlled by its exclusive governance; or (3) when the state law conflicts with federal law. […]
In Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch, 726 F.3d 524 (5th Cir. 2013), an ordinance that required occupancy licenses before renting was deemed to infringe on Congress’s authority over the subject of immigration. The ordinance was seen as forcing undocumented aliens to relocate, which was considered as establishing the city’s own regulations on immigration. The court held that the criminal offense and penalty provisions of the city ordinance and its state judicial review process was preempted by federal immigration laws.
Similarly, the [Chicago] Ordinance is specifically designed to prevent entry of migrants into Chicago by placing stringent requirements and harsh punishments. Therefore, the City of Chicago is creating its own policy and regulations concerning immigration, and hence, violating the Supremacy Clause.
The Ordinance interferes with trips from points outside of Illinois, and hence, it is controlled by the Commerce Clause […]
A statute or ordinance that facially applies even-handedly to in-state and out-of- state market participants may violate the Commerce Clause if it burdens interstate commerce by impacting the out-of-state participants more than their in-state counterparts. […]
Similarly, the Ordinance targets the out-of-state unscheduled intercity buses. The stringent limits placed on these buses, coupled with harsh punishment for violation of the Ordinance, are designed to force Plaintiff to use subcontractors within the Chicago-Naperville- Joliet, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, instead of Texas transportation companies. […]
Additionally, a state law that has an extraterritorial effect violates the Commerce Clause. Therefore, under the Commerce Clause, a state law cannot have the practical effect of controlling conduct beyond the boundaries of the state. […]
The Ordinance punishes the transportation companies working with the State of Texas. Additionally, the Ordinance’s unreasonable permit procedures and its strict arrival time requirements dictate how the transportation companies should arrange their departure date and time in Texas and effectively prohibit cross-country travel. […]
Finally, a regulation cannot impose conditions hampering a right to pursue interstate commerce operations. … Similarly, the Ordinance is hampering Plaintiff’s right to pursue interstate commerce operations by inter alia: (1) creating strict permit procedures, which may result in 32 days delay of a trip; (2) prohibiting operation after business hours; (3) prohibiting operation during weekends; and (4) subjecting Plaintiff to significant fines and seizure of its buses for each violation of the Ordinance.
A. Violation of the Equal Protection rights based on the national origin, alienage, and race of Plaintiff’s passengers.
The Ordinance is intentionally discriminatory based on national origin, alienage, and race and fails the “strict scrutiny” test. Although it may be facially neutral, it has an adverse effect motivated by discriminatory animus and also was applied in an intentionally discriminatory manner. […]
The intentional discrimination is obvious from: (1) the City Council members’ proposed referendums on migrant issues; (2) the purported traffic rules that target only the migrant charter buses; and (3) comments from some city council members such as “[w]e need to set some ground rules on what is acceptable in our city, what we are willing to accept of our new guests, new arrivals.” […]
B. Violation of Plaintiff’s Equal Protection rights due to arbitrary classification.
The Ordinance treats similarly situated persons (bus companies and their passengers) differently. […]
The rules implementing the Ordinance classified the intercity buses into two categories of regularly scheduled and unscheduled intercity buses. The rules then placed stringent limits on the unscheduled intercity buses. The distinction between these two categories of buses is completely arbitrary and unreasonable.
The Ordinance violates the fundamental right of interstate travel of Plaintiff and its passengers. The Ordinance makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Plaintiff to transport people across state lines from Texas to Chicago and even within Illinois.
An ordinance adopted by the governing body of a city must satisfy the same requirement of reasonableness that is applicable to statutes enacted by the General Assembly.
By classifying the intercity buses into two categories of regularly scheduled and unscheduled intercity buses, and then placing stringent limits on the unscheduled intercity buses, the Ordinance confers upon the scheduled buses a special benefit that is denied to the similarly situated unscheduled buses—by allowing the scheduled buses to operate absent the Ordinance’s burdensome restrictions. This violates the State’s constitutional prohibition on special legislation. […]
The Ordinance infringes on the fundamental right of travel, discriminates in favor of a select group and makes an arbitrary classification between regularly scheduled and unscheduled intercity buses. This violates the Illinois Constitution’s mandate that a general law should be made applicable to both groups.
The Ordinance on its face and/or as applied confers a special benefit or exclusive privilege on intercity buses with regularly scheduled service
* ICYMI: Chicago releases emails detailing unsanitary conditions at Pilsen migrant shelter, officials were aware of issues. WTTW…
-The shelter was put under scrutiny in December after 5-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero fell ill and later died at a hospital.
-Nearly two months before Martinez Rivero’s death, Ald. Nicole Lee sent an email to Johnson and top administration officials warning of the alleged conditions at the shelter.
-Despite the stated efforts in late October, complaints about unsanitary and overcrowded conditions from migrants and the volunteers serving them have persisted to the present day.
* Sun-Times | White Sox in ‘serious’ talks to build new stadium in South Loop’s ‘The 78’: The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns and financed Guaranteed Rate Field, has not yet been involved in the discussions, according to the authority’s CEO Frank Bilecki. At some point, the stadium authority would need to get involved in determining the future of Guaranteed Rate Field and possibly in building a new ballpark, if it is publicly funded.
* Bolts | How Illinois Housing Banishment Laws Push People into Homelessness and Prison : That’s why state police came calling in 2013. “You have to move, sir,” the officer repeated. “A day care moved [within] 500 feet.” Orr says he panicked and started calling around, trying to find a place to go. But each time he found an available apartment, police shot down the address saying it wasn’t compliant with Illinois’s dense web of housing restrictions.
Governor Pritzker will be at the Rochester Elementary School at 10 a.m. to celebrate Smart Start investments in early childhood education, and the Peoria Heights Grade School at 12:45. Click here to watch.
* BND | Under new owner, a metro-east manufacturer plans expansion to make electric car parts: Wieland Rolled Products North America, the German firm that owns the former ammunition manufacturer, unveiled plans for a $500 million modernization and expansion project so that it can increase production of copper and copper alloy parts for electric vehicles, charging stations and other renewable energy sources.
* AP | Freezing temperatures complicate Chicago’s struggles to house asylum-seekers: “The city’s favorite word for everything is ‘temporary,’” said Vianney Marzullo, a volunteer who has helped migrants staying at O’Hare International Airport. “It’s their new choice of Band-Aid word. Everything is temporary, temporary, temporary.”
* Sun-Times | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign returns contributions improperly accepted from city contractors: Records filed Tuesday with the Illinois State Board of Elections show Johnson’s campaign fund made refunds to many — but not all — of those people and companies between Nov. 9 and the end of the year. Among those who gave to the Friends of Brandon Johnson despite being city contractors are Michael Tadin Sr., who runs MAT Leasing Inc., and his son Michael Tadin Jr., who runs MAT Construction Leasing Inc.
* Crain’s | Bally’s seeks big change to casino hotel due to ‘unforeseen infrastructure issues’: City water pipes below the Chicago Tribune’s Freedom Center printing plant are forcing Bally’s to find a new location for 400 hotel rooms at the casino and entertainment complex it intends to build on the site, raising questions as to whether the gambling giant will need to clear another public review process and why city officials didn’t flag the problem before choosing Bally’s to run Chicago’s first casino.
* WTTW | Despite Decades of Cries for Help, Chicago Failed to Aid Blind Pedestrians. Now, City Wants Lengthy Timeline to Fix Problem: The Chicago Department of Transportation said it currently maintains 2,703 signalized intersections with pedestrian signals. In March 2022, CDOT told WTTW News it planned to install 150 APS during 2022 and 2023. But the agency only installed nine signals in 2022 — one of which was an upgrade to an existing signal — and 12 signals in 2023, bringing the total number of APS across the city to 45. CDOT said it has yet to determine how many APS it plans to install this year.
* WICS | Illinois State Museum to host “Latinos in Illinois and USA”: Join the ISM as we dive into the cultural history of Latine music in Illinois with Bilingual Chicago-based music journalist, Catalina Maria Johnson. She brings this rich history from the last several hundred years of music in the Latine U.S. to life during this lively virtual presentation.
