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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Governor Pritzker…

Far too often, people with disabilities still endure barriers to employment and discrimination in the workplace. Many are paid subminimum wages that devalue their contributions and diminish their likelihood to secure meaningful work and participate in other life enhancing activities.

The Dignity in Pay Act is an unprecedented, crucial leap forward to a future where all individuals, regardless of ability, can maximize their talents and contributions to our workforce—and earn a fair wage. Thank you to Chief Bill Sponsors Representative Teresa Mah, Senator Cristina Castro, bipartisan partners in the Illinois General Assembly, and all of the civil rights, human rights, organized labor, anti-poverty, and trade associations who worked together to achieve a more equitable and inclusive Illinois.

With the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the Illinois Department of Labor, we will join more than a dozen states in phasing out this practice over the next five years. This law will create employment opportunities for people with disabilities by providing a five-year transition period for employers and employees, establishing a support program to provide resources and assistance to service providers, raising the Personal Needs Allowance for group home residents, and increasing Supported Employment Rates to expand competitive, integrated work opportunities statewide.”

* Capitol News Illinois…

A conservative Catholic legal group is suing Illinois over a landmark state law enshrining a “fundamental right” to abortion care and requiring insurance companies to cover abortion and other reproductive health care.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Chicago by the Thomas More Society, seeks to prevent the state from requiring insurers to cover abortion coverage by arguing that doing so violates the First Amendment and 14th Amendment rights of its plaintiffs.

It also argues that the state is in violation of the Comstock Act, which criminalizes mailing abortion-related materials, because it requires health insurers to cover providers who send abortion medication in the mail. […]

The lawsuit also relies on the Coats-Snowe Amendment and the Weldon Amendment, which prevent states that receive federal funding from discriminating against health care entities because they don’t provide abortions.

* Daily Southtown…

Will County Board member reelected to his position spent this month sowing doubts into the integrity of the election via several now-deleted Facebook posts.

Vince Logan, a Republican from Joliet, was the second highest vote-getter among four candidates in the County Board’s 7th District based on results posted both on Election Day and after provisional ballots and all remaining mail-in ballots were counted Tuesday. Voters select two county board members per district, which reelected Logan for a four-year term. Newcomer Dawn Bullock, a Democrat, received the most votes in the District 7 race.

Between Election Day and Tuesday, Logan posted several messages on social media alleging the county clerk’s office may have been cheating. Posts, which have since been deleted from his campaign Facebook page, stated, “Opportunity to cheat is huge,” and “Alarm bells ringing.”

Logan claimed via the posts that the Democrat county clerk knew the exact votes needed for him to lose and questioned his motivation to incorrectly count the ballots, which included to tilt the balance of the board or elect the county executive’s attorney a judge. Some of his posts were shared on Facebook more than 100 times each, further spreading the allegations.

County Clerk Chuck Pelkie said the allegations were false.

* Illinois Department of Employment Security…

Over-the-year, total nonfarm jobs increased in eight metropolitan areas and decreased in six for the year ending October 2024, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (DES). Over-the-year, the unemployment rate decreased in six areas, increased in six, and was unchanged in two.

“Illinois continues to benefit from job growth and positive economic trends in every corner of the state,” said Deputy Governor Andy Manar. “As payroll expansion continues to motivate eager jobseekers, IDES and its local area workforce partners remain focused on providing the necessary services and tools to get workers matched with employers.”

The metro areas which had the largest over-the-year percentage increases in total nonfarm jobs were the Springfield MSA (+1.9%, +2,000), the Champaign-Urbana MSA (+1.7%, +2,100) and the Carbondale-Marion MSA (+1.3%, +800). The metro areas which posted the largest over-the-year decreases in total nonfarm jobs were the Danville MSA (-1.8%, -500) and the Peoria MSA (-1.1%, -1,900). Total nonfarm jobs in the Chicago Metro Division were nearly unchanged (0.0%, -600). Industries that saw job growth in most of the metro areas included: Government (twelve areas); Private Education and Health Services (eleven areas); Other Services (nine areas); and Mining and Construction (eight areas).

The metro areas with the largest unemployment rate decreases were the Rockford MSA (-0.7 percentage point to 5.4%), the Decatur MSA (-0.3 percentage point to 5.8%) and the Kankakee MSA (-0.3 percentage point to 5.4%). The metro areas with the largest unemployment rate increases were the Chicago Metro (+1.2 points to 5.5%), the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island IA-IL MSA (+0.7 point to 5.4%), the Danville MSA (+0.4 point to 6.2%), and the Bloomington MSA (+0.4 point to 4.3%). There was no unemployment rate change in the Carbondale-Marion MSA and Elgin Metropolitan Division.

*** Statewide ***

* Crain’s | Illinois hydrogen project gets initial federal funding: The Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen has inked a contract with the Department of Energy for $22.2 million to start planning a Midwest hydrogen hub. The multi-state hydrogen project called MachH2 could involve up to a $1 billion investment over a dozen years and create more than 12,000 jobs. The goal is to demonstrate how hydrogen fuel cells might work at commercial scale. Illinois plays a central role in the regional project, which also includes Iowa, Indiana and Michigan.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Woman Dead After Judge Declines To Jail Her Alleged Abuser: ‘The System Failed Her’ : Amanda Pyron, president of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, called for Nowinski to be reassigned from the domestic violence division and to no longer preside over any domestic violence cases. “Judge Nowinski’s failure to protect the community has now resulted in two tragic, preventable murders,” Pyron said in a statement. “When survivors go to the courts for protection, that protection must be effective. Judge Nowinski has failed in that duty, and allowing him to continue to hear domestic violence cases sends the wrong message to survivors across Chicagoland.”

* Block Club | ‘Pretty Impressive’: More Than 50% Of Voters Cast Ballots In Chicago’s First School Board Election: Out of a total 1,498,873 registered voters, 801,878 cast ballots for the city’s 10 school board districts, according to Max Bever, spokesperson for the Chicago Board of Elections. That means 53 percent of the city’s registered voters showed up and picked candidates for school board races. According to one estimate from the National School Boards Association, just 5-10 percent of registered voters vote in school board races.

* Tribune | Lake Michigan water levels drop to lowest in years amid warmth and lack of rain: “It’s a complicated picture,” said Lauren Fry, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory A few inches might not seem like a lot, but Fry said “it’s noteworthy” that October was the first time since 2014 that the monthly average was below the long-term average for any month. The lake’s all-time record low was in January 2013.

* Borderless | Sensitive Migrant Data Mishandled, Former Chicago Shelter Contractors Allege: In a complaint submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this month, two former Favorite Healthcare Staffing case managers contracted by Favorite alleged that Chicago’s shelters violated health information privacy laws by allowing shelter staff to access and download sensitive information on their own personal devices. The complaint notes that Favorite, the staffing company the City of Chicago hired to manage the migrant shelters, did not require data to be encrypted and allowed employees and independent contractors to share medical and other personal information over insecure communication channels.

* Crain’s | Johnson’s proposed alcohol tax hike likely dead amid pushback from Chicago’s hospitality industry: The proposal would raise the tax on beer 10 cents to $0.39 per gallon and the tax on spirits almost $1 to $3.62 per gallon. Other alcoholic beverages would also see taxes rise. At the liquor store, that would look like a 3-cent increase on a bottle of wine, a 6-cent increase on a six-pack of beer and a 19-cent increase on a bottle of liquor, according to the mayor’s office. The increase would result in an estimated $10.6 million in annual revenue.


*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WBEZ | Cook County Board unanimously approves nearly $10 billion budget for 2025: Democratic Commissioner Bridget Degnen spearheaded the effort to amend the budget to provide $2 million in grants to community organizations that provide wraparound reproductive health services. These organizations help cover the cost of everything from hotel stays and travel to medical bills for people seeking abortions.

* Coalition to End Money Bond | Cook County Board approves sunsetting the sheriff’s electronic monitoring program: After years of community pressure, Cook County will begin the process of sunsetting the Sheriff’s electronic monitoring program. Today, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed a budget amendment that will reduce funding for the Sheriff’s electronic monitoring program and increase funding for the Office of the Chief Judge in preparation for unifying the county’s duplicative pretrial electronic monitoring programs. The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice celebrates this historic announcement. For years, our coalition has called for the dismantling of the Sheriff’s electronic monitoring program, which expanded mass incarceration and harmed tens of thousands of people subjected to pretrial surveillance as well as their families.

* Sun-Times | Crystal Lake man pleads guilty in Jan. 6 case: Giacchetti was part of a group of rioters who made their way into the U.S. Senate Gallery, where he yelled “Where’d you go?” — as senators had evacuated the building — and “Treason” using the same bullhorn, authorities said. After leaving the gallery, he allegedly confronted journalists, broke Associated Press-owned equipment and pushed over a camera on a tripod, striking a reporter.

* Daily Herald | Wheeling Township to decide on funding for mental health board: Wheeling Township Supervisor Kathy Penner is recommending the township board approve the Wheeling Township Community Mental Health Board’s request of $809,550 for the upcoming fiscal year beginning March 1, 2025. Penner made the recommendation at Tuesday’s township board meeting. The mental health board made the request at its Nov. 13 meeting. The township board will vote on the recommendation in December. She said the township would use funds from available township fund balances, instead of increasing property taxes for township residents.

* WBEZ | West Suburban hospital abruptly cuts ties with midwives and family medicine doctors: Citing the risk of losing liability insurance, West Suburban Medical Center will no longer allow midwives and family medicine physicians to deliver babies at the hospital, abruptly severing ties with a popular group of providers effective next week. The sudden announcement on Monday prompted anger from the midwives and family medicine providers at PCC Community Wellness Center, who have delivered at West Suburban in Oak Park for at least 20 years. The hospital and these providers have become a destination for pregnant people who want a more holistic birth with little medical intervention. PCC mostly treats low-income Black and Latino patients on the West Side, but women from across the region have sought out PCC’s midwifery care.

*** Downstate ***


* WIFR | University of Illinois Chicago-Rockford adds nursing program for non-RNs: Referred to as a direct-entry program, the Master of Science in Nursing Program for non-RNs is designed for students who already have a bachelor’s degree in a different subject and want to become a registered nurse. Students will take six semesters of hybrid courses, with on-campus requirements and clinical site placements.

* WTVO | Historic Winnebago landmark is saved from demolition: The Winnebago County Forest Preserve Board voted against tearing the historic landmark down on Wednesday. An early settler built the home using 400-million-year-old limestone on land that is now considered the Severson Dells Forest Preserve. The aging home is facing major repairs to keep it standing, but one supporter said the building was built to last.

* Riverbender | Former Southern Illinois Police Chief Facing Federal Charges, Accused of Public Corruption: A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the former Wayne City police chief with selling forfeited items confiscated by the department for his personal benefit. Anson Fenton, 46, of Belle Rive, is facing one count of misapplication of property from federally funded programs and one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.

*** National ***

* Columbia Journalism Review | Journalists Are Leaving X for Bluesky. Will They Stay There?: While X hit a yearly traffic peak on Election Day, that was followed by the highest exit numbers since Musk acquired the platform, then known as Twitter, in 2022: over a hundred and fifteen thousand users in the US deactivated their accounts the day after the election, according to The Independent. The exodus has translated, at least in part, into a surge of new users joining Bluesky, a social network launched by Jack Dorsey in 2019, while he was still the chief executive of Twitter.

  3 Comments      


HGOPs whacked for opposing lame duck session

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon have both told their chambers to be prepared to return January 2-7 for a lame duck session. As you will recall, Gov. Pritzker and the two Democratic legislative leaders have talked about “Trump-proofing” the state, starting in lame duck session. In response, here’s House GOP Leader McCombie…

Following the adjournment of legislative veto session in the Illinois House, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie issued the following statement:

“We do not need more time for out-of-touch Democrats to dream up harmful legislation. We need bipartisan legislation that focuses on the issues Illinois families care about most. Until the Democrat majority can get their priorities in order, the House Republicans oppose a Lame Duck session.”

* I asked Speaker Welch’s spokesperson Jaclyn Driscoll for a response…

House Republicans oppose affordable, accessible health care. They oppose protecting our environment and reproductive care. They oppose public education, child care assistance, common-sense and lifesaving gun reform, and affordable housing. They’ve voted against making college more affordable and an increase in MAP grant funding. They oppose labor rights. They’ve opposed multiple balanced budgets that returned our state to A-level credit. It isn’t completely surprising to learn that House Republicans now also oppose coming to work altogether. Thankfully, Democrats remain committed to delivering lasting results for all of Illinois and continuing the people’s work in January.

Discuss.

  15 Comments      


Uber’s Local Partnership = Stress-Free Travel For Paratransit Riders

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

The Pace Rideshare Access Program subsidizes Uber trips, leaving riders with a co-pay of just $2.

The impact: “This program has been a godsend for me. It offers flexibility, independence, freedom and the ability to maintain a beautiful life on so many levels,” says one rider.

CTA: See how it works.

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Report: IDOC’s prison drug test found to be ‘wrong 91 percent of the time’

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Associated Press…

In 2022, New York City’s jails commissioner, Louis Molina, issued a dire warning to local lawmakers: fentanyl was pouring into Rikers Island through the mail, he said, spurring an overdose crisis among the jail’s detainees and putting guards at risk.

As evidence of the insidious threat, Molina passed around a child’s drawing of a reindeer, one of hundreds of seized items he said had been “literally soaked in the drug and mailed to people in custody.”

But that claim was based on faulty drug-testing kits with a stunning 85% false positive rate, according to a report released Wednesday by the city’s Department of Investigation. The report found the city vastly overstated the prevalence of fentanyl sent by mail to detainees. […]

The review by the Department of Investigation found DetectaChem’s test strips had a false positive rate of 79%, while Sirchie’s were wrong 91% of the time.

As I told you in September, the Illinois Department of Corrections uses Sirchie to test items for drugs.

* Back to the AP story…

Detainee advocates have long contended that drugs primarily enter the jail system via employees, who can easily smuggle them inside and sell them to gang leaders. In recent years, dozens of correction officers have been charged in multiple investigations of smuggling rings on Rikers Island.

In its report, the Department of Investigation said corrections officials had failed to implement many of the department’s previous recommendations aimed at screening staff for contraband.

As we’ve told you before, various reports have shown that moving to electronically scanned prison mail has actually resulted in increased drug overdoses.

* And yet, the drumbeat here continues to electronically scan mail. I’m kinda wondering if a private company is behind this push…

    * WBEZ | Here’s why some lawmakers want to ban paper mail going into Illinois prisons: Drug-soaked paper is making its way into Illinois prisons, causing overdoses and staff safety concerns. But banning it could pose legal issues.

    * The Southern Illinoisan | Friess, Windhorst sponsor Illinois House bill to make prison mail electronic: “Instead, we’ve seen a letter from several representatives of the majority party stating that mail services should continue despite clear evidence that this is how dangerous substances are entering our facilities,” Friess said. “While we all value the connections that physical mail provides, it’s hard to ignore the very real risk to safety that comes with it right now.”

    * Center Square | IL Department of Corrections quiet after lawmakers address drug-infused mail: John Howard Association Executive Director Jennifer Vollen-Katz said understanding where the contraband is coming from and what kind of contraband is getting into the prison is the first step. Vollen-Katz called the banning of physical mail a “knee-jerk reaction.” “Mail is one of the ways contraband comes in but it’s not the only one,” said Vollen-Katz. “It could be staff, it could be through vendors who work on contracts with IDOC, it could be visitors. There’s a lot of different ways contraband could get into prisons. Understanding what’s getting in and how is really critical information to solving the problem.”

I have tried and tried to get a response out of IDOC without success. Its silence is absolutely ridiculous.

  12 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Session update (Updated x2)

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Illinois Supreme Court rules state SLAPP law doesn’t automatically protect traditional journalism (Updated)

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Some good background is here and here on Glorioso v. Sun-Times Media Holdings. The state statute in question is here. The Sandholm case referenced below is here.

* Illinois Supreme Court Justice David Overstreet wrote the opinion, with all justices concurring except Justice Rochford, who took no part in the decision…

Defendants, Sun-Times Media Holdings, LLC, and Tim Novak, appeal the judgment of the appellate court, which affirmed an order of the circuit court of Cook County that denied their second motion to dismiss the defamation complaint filed by plaintiff, Mauro Glorioso. On appeal, defendants contend the complaint is subject to dismissal as a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP)” pursuant to section 15 of the Citizen Participation Act (Act). 735 ILCS 110/15 (West 2022). For the following reasons, we find the lawsuit is not a SLAPP and affirm. […]

The [appellate] court noted precedent finding that a newspaper’s investigatory reporting on the activities of government fell into the activities protected by the Act but found major distinctions between those activities and the publication of the articles. Because the articles were published as news, rather than editorial or opinion pieces presenting the thoughts or stance of the writer, and had no bearing on any election, the court found that whether procuring favorable governmental action was the purpose of the articles remained an unsettled issue of fact.

That’s just ridiculous reasoning. Facts can clearly have as much or more bearing on governance and elections than opinion. But the top court bought it…

As we have stated, the first prong of the post-Sandholm test requires defendants to show that the movants’ acts were in furtherance of their rights to petition, speak, associate, or otherwise participate in government to obtain favorable government action. Defendants argue that, because the articles are “investigative reports” about the activities of a public official within a government agency, they address a matter of public concern and thus constitute “acts in furtherance of [defendants’] right to petition, speak, associate, or otherwise participate in government” within the meaning of section 15 of the Act. Plaintiff disagrees, arguing that an act of petition, speech, or association is not in furtherance of the right to participate in government within the meaning of section 15 unless it is aimed at procuring favorable government action or outcome. We agree with plaintiff. The Act’s plain language encompasses acts of “participation in government” and does not contain language extending such protection to speech regarding matters of public concern that do not amount to “government” participation.

* More…

The declared policy of the Act is to protect “the constitutional rights of citizens and organizations to be involved and participate freely in the process of government.” While section 5 speaks to the vitality of “[t]he information, reports, opinions, claims, arguments, and other expressions provided by citizens”, nowhere in section 5, or anywhere else in the language of the Act, is there any mention of news media or the freedom of the press. This is not to minimize or understate the importance of the press and other news media in our democracy. Our jurisprudence is replete with privileges and other protections designed to protect these concerns, many of which remain at issue in this lawsuit. We are simply holding that the Act specifically protects government participation and does not encompass all media reports on matters of public concern as advocated by defendants.

The Illinois General Assembly needs to add the news media to the SLAPP Act post-haste…

[Appellate] Justice Hyman dissented [in the appellate ruling], asserting that appellate decisions since Sandholm have strayed from its reasoning and erroneously required that a lawsuit be “ ‘meritless and retaliatory’ ” in order to be dismissed as a SLAPP. The dissent painstakingly outlined the origins of the test and its application by the appellate court in order to show that the retaliatory requirement has no basis, will encourage the filing of SLAPPs, and is unworkable. In Justice Hyman’s view, the articles were clearly published in sole furtherance of government participation because they reported on government malfeasance and were “undeniably newsworthy and of interest to the public,” which could lead to reform.

Hyman is exactly right. But there’s nothing to be done about it now except change the law.

* It’s important to note that even if the news media was explicitly included in the statute, that still might not have saved the Sun-Times because of another aspect of the court’s reasoning…

Turning to the second element of the Sandholm test, the appellate court agreed that whether plaintiff’s complaint is filed solely based on defendant’s exercise of political rights requires a showing that the suit is both meritless and retaliatory. With regard to lack of merit, the appellate court agreed with the circuit court, finding as follows:

    “We find that [defendants’] reporting could reasonably be read as not fair, accurate, or truthful by creating the implication that [plaintiff] was more culpable in the alleged activity than the anonymous complaint claimed, both in terms of his supposed actions and his supposed authority over PTAB employees. These are questions of fact that allow [plaintiff’s] complaint to survive the pleading stage. Defendants have failed to meet their burden of proving that [plaintiff’s] lawsuit is meritless.”

Turning to the issue of whether defendants showed that plaintiff’s complaint is retaliatory, the appellate court noted that this issue concerns whether plaintiff’s goal in filing the lawsuit was to seek damages for the harm caused to his reputation and character or whether the sole intent was to chill defendants’ rights of petition and speech related to participation in government. The court noted precedent that identified two factors considered on this issue: (1) the timing of the lawsuit and (2) the relationship between damages requested and the injury. In evaluating these factors, the appellate court concluded that defendants failed to show plaintiff’s lawsuit is retaliatory.

In my opinion, this case should never have been brought to the Supreme Court. What a mess.

…Adding… I talked to one of the lead lobbyists on the original SLAPP bill, who said there was no perceived need to mention news media in the language at the time, “because - until this decision today - no court had ever drawn a distinction regarding who was doing the speaking. Speech is speech. It didn’t matter if the speaker was part of the news media or not.”

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‘This is how I reward my good soldiers’: Madigan ally testifies he was rewarded with do-nothing consulting contract

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Courthouse News Service…

Ed Moody, a former Cook County commissioner, Cook County recorder of deeds and Chicago 13th Ward precinct captain, took the stand Wednesday in the ongoing federal corruption trial of ex-Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. His testimony gave the jury a look into how Madigan’s political network in Chicago operated.

Moody testified that he began working in politics in Chicago in the early 1990s alongside his brother Fred. The brothers met Madigan in 1989 or 1990, Moody said, and they earned a reputation as effective political canvassers during the 1992 elections. Madigan’s political office in Chicago’s 13th Ward — which overlapped with his state legislative district — made them local precinct captains, charged with turning out Democratic votes. By 1994, Moody said he and his brother were training other Democratic political workers, and that Madigan attended their training seminars.

Moody stayed active in Chicago Democratic politics for more than two decades afterward, and said he landed a court coordinator job with the Cook County court system in 1993 with Madigan’s help. He kept that gig for 23 years, and was appointed a Cook County commissioner in October 2016 to fill a recent vacancy. He served in that role for two years before becoming Cook County recorder of deeds, a now-abolished position, from December 2018 to December 2020.

Through it all, he credited Madigan as his patron.

“He’s my political leader,” Moody said of Madigan on Wednesday.

* Capitol News Illinois…

In 2011, after two decades of steady campaign work – which eventually turned from volunteer hours to paid labor – Moody approached Madigan with a request. As he approached his 50th birthday, he realized he needed to save more for his retirement, despite the pension guaranteed to him from his years working for Cook County government. Moody asked the speaker if he could connect him with some political consulting work in order to earn an extra $45,000 a year.

But Moody said the speaker didn’t give him an answer in their initial meeting, and he never heard from Madigan afterward. The lack of response from their political mentor made both him and his brother “hurt and upset.” So, Moody set up another meeting with the speaker, this time with his twin in tow.

On Wednesday, he described the emotional meeting and said the normally taciturn Madigan grew upset too.

“He said, ‘calm down, calm down,’” Moody recalled. “He said ‘you’ll get your contract.’ … As the conversation was settling down a bit, Mr. Madigan said, ‘This is how I reward my good soldiers.’”

* Tribune…

According to his testimony, from 2012 to 2019, Moody was sent some $354,000 from ComEd through Madigan-connected contractors for essentially no work, beyond making a few pointless phone calls.

One person he supposedly worked for, Shaw Decremer, never even talked to him about it in person, Moody testified. When he saw Decremer once on the street downtown, he was on his cellphone and looked busy, and simply gave Moody a “thumbs up” before moving on, Moody said.

Throughout his time on ComEd’s payroll, Moody said, Madigan assured him that everyone was happy with the arrangement. In fact, in 2018, when Moody’s contract was moved again to another lobbyist, John Bradley, the speaker told him in no uncertain terms he had “nothing to worry about.”

At the time, Moody was campaigning on Madigan’s block, working against state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s daughter, Angie, who was running for Cook County commissioner. Moody said Madigan had thrown his political resources behind Jesús “Chuy” García’s favored candidate, Alma Anaya.

* Sun-Times…

As part of his deal with McClain, Moody said he made one round of phone calls to state lawmakers each month — a task that took him an entire hour. Between January and April 2013, he said he also made a canvassing effort on behalf of ComEd.

Then, the arrangement changed. Moody’s money began to flow instead through then-City Club President Jay Doherty, and then through firms belonging to Shaw Decremer and John Bradley, who also have ties to Madigan. Jurors have previously been told that all the money originated with ComEd.

Unlike with McClain, Moody said he did no work at all for the others. He also said that, when the arrangement first began, McClain told him it was “one hell of a plum.

“And I owe the speaker big.”

* Moody is back on the stand this morning…


* More…

    * Crain’s | Judge closes book on bribery case against AT&T tied to Madigan: Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso today to dismiss the case, part of a deferred prosecution agreement the telecommunications giant entered into two years ago in the sprawling public corruption investigation, Chicago Sun-Times reports. The judge said he would sign the order. AT&T had admitted paying $22,500 to an associate of Madigan’s to influence legislation in Springfield but did not plead guilty to any crimes. Prosecutors charged former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza with participating in the alleged conspiracy, and his trial ended in a hung jury in September.

  20 Comments      


Illinois Supreme Court rules that Jussie Smollett’s second prosecution ‘is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction’

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is ubiquitous, so use the Google. Definition of Nolle Prosequi according to the Law Dictionary…

Lat. In practice. A formal entry upon the record, by the plaintiff in a civil suit or the prosecuting officer in a criminal action, by which he declares that he “will no further prosecute” the case, either as to some of the counts, or some of the defendants, or altogether. A nolle prosequi is in the nature of an acknowledgment or undertaking by the plaintiff in an action to forbear to proceed any further either in the action altogether, or as to some part of it, or as to some of the defendants; and is different from a non- pros., by which the plaintiff is put out of court with respect to all the defendants.

* And now on to People v. Smollett. Illinois Supreme Court’s Justice Rochford with the opinion concurred by four justices, with two others (Chief Justice Theis and Justice Cunningham) not participating…

“The public justifiably expects the State, above all others, to keep its bond.” - Bowers v. State, 500 N.E.2d 203, 204 (Ind. 1986).

Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants. Specifically, we address whether a dismissal of a case by nolle prosequi allows the State to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain. We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction. […]

That the parties intended finality is also supported by page after page of the [Office of the Special Prosecutor’s] summary report. There is no indication anywhere in the report that the [Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office] intended to further prosecute defendant, and there is every indication that the CCSAO considered the case resolved. […]

Defendant argues that he entered into a nonprosecution agreement with the State, that he fully performed his part of the agreement, and that therefore any further prosecution of him was barred. […]

We agree with Justice Lyle that the assistant state’s attorney’s statement on March 26, 2019, clearly showed that the parties intended finality. Again, the assistant state’s attorney stated that this outcome was a “just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.” This is not the statement of someone who intends to refile the charges. […]

Because the charges were dismissed in exchange for defendant’s community service and forfeiture of his bail bond and because defendant fully performed his end of the agreement, the State is bound by the agreement. […]

Illinois case law establishes that it is fundamentally unfair to allow the prosecution to renege on a deal with a defendant when the defendant has relied on the agreement to his detriment. […]

The proper prosecutor rule exists to protect defendants, not to allow the State to take advantage of its own errors to get a do-over.

* Conclusion…

We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust. Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied. As the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently stated when enforcing a prosecutorial promise not to prosecute:

    “It cannot be gainsaid that society holds a strong interest in the prosecution of crimes. It is also true that no such interest, however important, ever can eclipse society’s interest in ensuring that the constitutional rights of the people are vindicated. Society’s interest in prosecution does not displace the remedy due to constitutionally aggrieved persons.” Cosby, 252 A.2d at 1147.

That court further noted the consequences of failing to enforce prosecutorial promises when a defendant has relied on them to his detriment:

    “A contrary result would be patently untenable. It would violate long-cherished principles of fundamental fairness. It would be antithetical to, and corrosive of, the integrity and functionality of the criminal justice system that we strive to maintain.”

We reverse the judgment of the appellate court, reverse the judgment of the circuit court, and remand the cause with directions for the circuit court to enter a judgment of dismissal.

  20 Comments      


Dignity In Pay (HB 793): It Is Time To Ensure Fair Pay For Illinoisans With Disabilities

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Illinois has an opportunity to advance the promises of the Americans with Disabilities Act by passing the Dignity in Pay Act (HB 793): legislation that would end the practice of paying people with disabilities less than minimum wage by 2030.

This legislation represents years of discussion among the broader disability community and I am pleased to make clear that the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, as the largest Illinois association of disability and mental health service providers, supports Dignity in Pay.

Nearly 20 states across America have voted to end the practice of paying less than minimum wage to working age adults with disabilities. This issue cuts across partisan politics, which is why states such as Washington, Texas, Maryland, and South Carolina have ensured fair pay for an hour of work, regardless of disability status.

Back in May, the Illinois House of Representatives passed this legislation with 78 bipartisan yes votes. IARF believes it is time to invest in the future of persons with disabilities by passing Dignity in Pay in the Illinois Senate so we can continue shared goals of creating job opportunities for people with disabilities.

Josh Evans
President and CEO
Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities

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It’s just a bill (Updated)

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* WGEM…

Illinois is one step closer to requiring workers with intellection and developmental disabilities be paid the full minimum wage.

The state Senate Executive Committee passed the Dignity in Pay Act Wednesday by a 9-3 margin with bipartisan support. It now heads to the Senate floor.

“Old-fashioned stereotypes about the limit and worth of disabled lives must change,” said Ryan Croke from the Pritzker administration. […]

The bill would end Illinois’s 14(c) certificate program, which allows some employers to pay people with disabilities less than the minimum wage. Though administered by the federal government, Illinois lawmakers can outlaw the program from being used in the state.

…Adding… HB793 passed the Senate 43-11. It will be sent to the governor.

* Tribune…

With legislation pending in the Illinois General Assembly to govern coal ash, and proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules under consideration to regulate both coal ash and Ethelyn Oxide (EtO), a local sense of urgency is growing with changes coming in Washington, D.C.

For nearly three years, state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, pushed legislation to require NRG to remove rather than fill the two coal ash ponds at its decommissioned Waukegan electrical power plant. […]

When the 103rd General Assembly convened in early 2023, Mayfield posed her bill again and said she remains five votes short. Some of her Democratic colleagues fear it could cause coal-fired power plants in their districts to close, putting people out of work.

Mayfield said she hopes to get it done in January’s lame duck session which convenes a few days before the 104th General Assembly takes office.

* Sen. Laura Fine…

To ensure patients suffering from chronic pain receive recommended treatment, State Senator Laura Fine passed legislation to authorize physicians to prescribe controlled substances according to updated federal guidelines.

“To combat the opioid epidemic, in 2016 states instituted policies that severely restricted the prescribing of certain opioids,” said Fine (D-Glenview). “As a result, chronic pain patients with a legitimate need for these medications were at risk of self-medicating and putting their mental and physical health in jeopardy.”

House Bill 5373 reflects new guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the prescribing of opioids for chronic pain. The legislation would allow physicians to make necessary prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids, without strict limitations based on dosage amounts except as provided under federal law.

Additionally, Fine’s bill would protect patient confidentiality by preventing the release of opioid prescription and treatment information without a legal order verified by the Illinois Department of Human Services or an administrative subpoena from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. […]

House Bill 5373 passed the Senate on Wednesday.

* Rep. Cyril Nichols introduced HB5917 this morning…

Amends the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Article of the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that, on or before July 1 of each calendar year, each pharmacy benefit manager registered in this State must submit a report to the Director of Insurance detailing specified information concerning pricing discounts, rebates, or other financial incentives received by the pharmacy benefit manager during the previous calendar year; the terms and conditions of any contract between the pharmacy benefit manager and any party related to providing pharmacy benefit manager services to a health plan; and any activity, policy, practice, contract, or arrangement of the pharmacy benefit manager that may directly or indirectly present a conflict of interest. Provides that the Director may, at the Director’s discretion, require additional quarterly reports. Sets forth provisions concerning confidentiality and rulemaking. Effective January 1, 2026.

* 25News Now…

Wednesday in Springfield, Republican State Reps. Charlie Meier, David Friess, and Bill Hauter raised concerns over drug exposure in Illinois prisons.

They said many inmates receive mail, ask for bug fumigation in their cells, and then smoke the mail laced with insecticide as cigarettes. The lawmakers said this is causing other inmates and workers to get sick from the smoke. […]

The representatives are supporting Bill 5893, which will require the Illinois Department of Corrections to implement a policy of electronically scanning and processing all incoming mail for inmates.[…]

Meier said a pilot program for electronic mail is scheduled to start in seven months, but he said prisons cannot wait that long.

* Sen. Mike Simmons…

State Senator Mike Simmons is sponsoring legislation to strengthen workforce recruitment and retention for educators and childcare providers in Illinois.

“We need a plan for Illinois families and childcare providers to be able to find the best employees possible,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “By getting feedback from all parties, we can create a comprehensive plan that sets children, families and providers up for success.”

Under the legislation, the existing State Comprehensive Day Care Plan survey of day care facilities would include feedback from groups and individuals with relevant expertise and lived experiences with the goal of promoting workforce recruitment and retention for educators and childcare providers.

“We need to hear from the folks directly affected by workforce challenges, and with this legislation, we can bring more people to the table while we continue to address this ongoing problem,” Simmons said. “With the help of communities across the state who are struggling with childcare solutions, we can find better ways Illinois can assist in addressing the employment shortcomings.”

House Bill 814 passed the Senate on Wednesday.

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Open thread

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

  10 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: ‘A danger to the people of Illinois’: Calls mount for lawmaker to step down over alleged racist comments. FOX 32…

    -Illinois State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz faces calls to resign after high school teacher Fuzia Jarad and CAIR accused her of making anti-Muslim comments during a personal encounter and on social media.
    -Feigenholtz denies the allegations, calling them baseless, and says she is working to rebuild trust with her community.
    -CAIR has urged Senate President Don Harmon to strip Feigenholtz of committee leadership roles if she refuses to step down.

* Related stories…

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Man suspected of killing estranged wife before being found dead was previously released on electronic monitoring: Weeks before a man allegedly fatally stabbed his estranged wife in a Portage Park attack that also injured a police officer, he appeared before a Cook County judge on accusations that he threw her to the ground and held her in his car, records show. During a detention hearing, Cook County prosecutors argued for detention as the public defender for Constantin Beldie, 57, hit back against the state’s evidence. Judge Thomas Nowinski ordered him released on electronic monitoring, finding that prosecutors did not meet their burden for detention. He criticized the case work, calling it “a little sloppy,” according to a court transcript of the Oct. 9 proceeding.

* Sun-Times | NW suburban state Rep. Martin McLaughlin on track for reelection by just 47 votes: With the final ballots counted this week in the hotly contested 52nd House District that includes Algonquin, Wauconda and Mundelein, Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin, R-Barrington Hills, had 29,520 votes — about 50.04% of the total — compared to 29,473 for Democratic challenger Maria Peterson.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WCBU | Here’s why some lawmakers want to ban paper mail going into Illinois prisons: In a statement, Illinois Department of Corrections spokesperson Naomi Puzzello said while the agency is “exploring additional options to enhance safety,” it has already intensified mail screening protocols, and is encouraging staff to use personal protective equipment when handling mail.

* Tribune | Ex-transportation official gets 18 months in prison in bribery case involving then-state Sen. Sandoval: William Helm, the onetime deputy commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation and a former state transportation official, also admitted in a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this year that he and others helped arrange $40,000 in bribes to other, unnamed officials.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Conservative group asks US Supreme Court to reverse ruling that allows Illinois mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day: The appeal, filed Tuesday by the organization Judicial Watch, also asks the nation’s highest court to clarify rulings about who has the right to appeal post-Election Day challenges, after many lawsuits contesting individual state results of the 2020 election filed on behalf of Donald Trump were tossed for lack of standing. Judicial Watch was among several groups that assisted Trump in seeking to halt the counting of mail-in ballots after Election Day four years ago when Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

*** Chicago ***

* WGN | Chicago ‘solves’ murders in which no arrest is made: Most notably, police closed 117 homicide cases this year due to what’s called “bar to prosecute.” Simply put, it means police believe they identified the killer, but prosecutors would not approve charges. If police included only cases closed by arrest, this year’s homicide clearance rate would be 23 percent, according to police data, reviewed by WGN Investigates.

* Bond Buyer | S&P places Chicago’s GO bonds on watch negative: S&P Global Ratings placed Chicago’s general obligation bond rating on watch negative Tuesday, warning the city against heavy reliance on one-time budget solutions, as reports suggest Mayor Brandon Johnson has slashed his proposed property tax increase in half in order to get his 2025 budget approved by the City Council.

* Press Release | CTU to Hold “Resist Trump’s Project 2025” Rally to Defend Public Schools & Chicago’s Students and their Families: The Chicago Teachers Union’s members will be rallying at the Chicago Temple on Thursday, November 21st, to demand the settlement of their contract, protest the planned closures of schools by Acero, and call for expanded protections against the racist, sexist, anti-LGBTQ, anti-worker agenda being planned by the Trump administration.

* The Triibe | Today’s Chicago City Council regrets the infamous 2008 parking meter deal: “I wasn’t in on the negotiation,” Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward) told The TRiiBE about the parking meters. She was one of the 40 alders who voted in favor of the deal. At the time, she had been in office for eight years. Today, Mitts and other alderpersons in the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus, who also voted for Daley’s deal back then, admit that the deal wasn’t smart but some also say it would’ve done little to solve the city’s current financial crisis. The deal, now 16 years old, has been widely criticized as being one of the most foolish deals in Chicago’s history.

* WBBM | Ex-rideshare driver suing Uber, Lyft, Chicago for violating workers’ rights: Cohran is suing Uber, Lyft and the city of Chicago after she was deactivated from the rideshare apps for allegedly spitting on a passenger, which she said is not true. “That’s assault,” she said. “I’ve never assaulted anyone ever, so it was crazy. My life being turned around, and they wouldn’t even really hear me out.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau says state comptroller trying to ‘inflict harm’ on residents in holding back money: The Village Board approved a resolution Monday accusing the comptroller of singling out Orland Park for harsh treatment while dozens of government entities throughout the state have been late in filing audits but not subject to the same treatment. The comptroller has “decided to try to inflict harm on the people of Orland Park,” Mayor Keith Pekau said. He called the comptroller’s actions “capricious and unacceptable.”

* Crain’s | Evanston looks at eliminating single-family-only zoning: The proposal is one piece of a comprehensive overhaul of all zoning in the North Shore city that officials rolled out in early November and hope to have finalized in the spring. If approved, it will put Evanston in company with, among others, the city of Minneapolis and the states of Oregon, California and Washington. “It’s an important question for the community to consider based on the increasing costs of housing,” said Liz Williams, the city’s planning manager. “Evanston is known historically for its diversity of housing types, and this particular change is intended to expand housing choices for residents at all income levels and life stages.”

* Daily Herald | Just follow the arrows: Tollway unveils I-294 SmartRoad system to give real-time traffic tips: Similar to the Jane Addams Tollway SmartRoad that went live in 2017, the I-294 version introduced Wednesday will stretch between Wolf Road and Balmoral Avenue. The system will expand and eventually there will be 80 gantries placed every half mile on I-294 between Oak Lawn and Rosemont.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Former East St. Louis administrator charged with alleged misuse of city credit card: Carlos Mayfield, 60, was arrested and charged on Oct. 1 after an investigation by Illinois State Police determined he used the card to make personal purchases. Mayfield is accused of taking between $500-$10,000 of Government property, a class 2 felony. He is also accused of fraudulent use of a credit/debit card, a class 4 felony, according to charging documents.

* Illinois Times | Frank Vala helped fund recorder’s race: Langfelder said he sees Springfield businessman Frank Vala’s political fingerprints behind the scenes. Vala helped finance Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher’s successful 2023 campaign to unseat Josh Langfelder’s brother, Jim. […] “I walked into a restaurant where he’s having breakfast with some individuals – some political individuals – and he basically grabbed my hand and said, ‘You know, it’s nothing against you, it’s against your brother.’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve never met you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Josh Langfelder. And he said, ‘Well, I’m just gonna tell you, your brother tried to kick me off the (Springfield Airport Authority) board. That’s the reason I got Frank Lesko to run against you.’ So, do I see fingerprints on it? Yeah.”

* RR Star | ’Please think!’: Anti-abortion protesters convene outside Rockford clinic on opening day : Midwest Reproductive Health Executive Director Ali Kliegman said the protesters did not interfere with the clinic’s opening. “We just, you know, let them do their thing and we ignored them,” Kliegman said. “They yelled at us, which I would say is a type of mental violence, but that was the extent of it.”

*** National ***

* NYT | U.S. Proposes Breakup of Google to Fix Search Monopoly: Beyond the sale of Chrome, the government asked Judge Mehta to give Google a choice: either sell Android, its smartphone operating system, or bar Google from making its services mandatory on phones that use Android to operate. If Google broke those terms, or the remedies failed to improve competition, the government could force the company to sell Android at a later date.

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

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Uber’s Local Partnership = Stress-Free Travel For Paratransit Riders

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

The Pace Rideshare Access Program subsidizes Uber trips, leaving riders with a co-pay of just $2.

The impact: “This program has been a godsend for me. It offers flexibility, independence, freedom and the ability to maintain a beautiful life on so many levels,” says one rider.

CTA: See how it works.

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Subscribers know more. Brenden Moore…


* Governor Pritzker…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), local leaders, and Marshalltown Hammer Company leadership to announce new investments in Bushnell. In support of the project, the State of Illinois provided a $5 million grant to enable Marshalltown Hammer to acquire and establish operations in the former Vaughan & Bushnell facility. […]

With the acquisition and support from Illinois, Marshalltown Hammer has committed to retaining at least 100 full-time jobs at its Bushnell facility, investing in updating manufacturing equipment, and rebuilding the inventory needed to continue to manufacture tools at this site. Facility improvements includes purchasing of material handling equipment, production equipment repairs, and installing robotic grinding.

Since the Marshalltown Hammer acquisition, the quality of work life has improved for employees, with increases in wages, improved health care plan with more affordable benefits, coverage of outstanding medical debt from previous owners, maintaining the years of service for each employee as it pertains to retirement, and reestablishment of a competitive Employee 401(k) Retirement Plan.

* FYI…


*** Madigan Trial ***

* Sun-Times | ‘Do the political work, keep the contract’: Top precinct captain takes the stand against Illinois’ once-powerful House speaker: A former top precinct captain for former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan testified Wednesday that he was paid thousands of dollars through another Madigan ally’s law firm so he’d continue campaigning for the Southwest Side Democrat — and for little else. That money came from ComEd, jurors in Madigan’s racketeering conspiracy trial have been told. It was funneled to Ed Moody through Michael McClain, an ex-lawmaker-turned-lobbyist. The utility ultimately paid $1.3 million to five Madigan allies over eight years, evidence has shown.

* Post-Tribune. | Court filing: Former Portage Mayor James Snyder can be tried on bribery charge: Former Portage Mayor James Snyder could find himself having another go in court on a bribery charge involving the purchase of garbage trucks if the government so chooses, according to a Wednesday filing by the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The appellate court had its say after the case was remanded from the U.S. Supreme Court, which in June overturned Snyder’s conviction 6-3 for accepting $13,000 from the Buha brothers, owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, for alleged consulting work, and deemed the payment a gratuity.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center Square | IL Republicans praise Trump’s Department of Education pick, plan to close agency: Wednesday, state Rep. Blaine Wilhour praised McMahon as Trump’s pick.“Linda McMahon did a great job cutting through the B.S. at the Small Business [Administration] in the last Trump presidency, so we’re pretty excited about it,” Wilhour said.

*** Chicago ***

* Bloomberg | S&P Warns It May Downgrade Chicago’s Credit Rating Amid Budget Fight: S&P Global Ratings late Tuesday put the city on “CreditWatch with negative implications” as officials mull one-time measures to close the shortfall. While the firm affirmed its BBB+ rating, analysts see at least a one-in-two chance of a cut in the next three months. A downgrade hinges on the 2025 budget passage and whether the gap is closed with one-time fixes rather than structural changes, Scott Nees, an S&P credit analyst, said in a statement.

* Press Release | Broad Coalition Launches to Oppose Chicago Alcohol Tax Hike: By hiking a regressive tax, City Hall would disproportionately harm those who can least afford it with low-income Chicagoans and local small businesses bearing the greatest share of the burden. As working families in Chicago struggle to make ends meet with rising costs, the proposed alcohol tax hike will mean paying even more at the checkout counter. “City Hall wants Chicagoans to pay one of the highest alcohol tax rates in the nation,” said the Chicago Alcohol Tax Coalition. “Instead of helping families make ends meet, supporting workers, and growing our small businesses, City Hall is trying to make it even harder to do business in the city of Chicago. As representatives of small businesses, home-grown companies, and working people across this city, we are coming together to tell City Hall that Chicago can’t afford this latest tax increase. We urge the members of Chicago City Council to stand with us and say no to the alcohol tax hike.”


* ProPublica | In Five Years, Chicago Has Barely Made Progress on Its Court-Ordered Police Reforms. Here’s Why: In fact, all told, police have fully complied with just 9% of the agreement’s requirements. And while excessive force complaints from citizens have dropped, complaints about all forms of misconduct have risen. Sheila Bedi, an attorney who represented the coalition of police reform groups that sued the city years ago, called the faltering reform effort a “tragedy.” “It has been a waste of time and money,” said Bedi, a Northwestern University law professor. “It has been nothing more than an exercise in pushing paper.”

* Tribune | Chicago Park District $600M budget includes fee hikes but stable property taxes: The fresh fees included in the proposed 2025 budget would apply to bowling, roller skating, harbor, parking and green fees at district golf courses. Day camp rates will also climb back to pre-pandemic levels, but only for some programs, General Superintendent and CEO Rosa Escareño told the Tribune Tuesday ahead of her budget presentation to the district’s board. “We’re looking at this through an equitable lens, so some of the camps that can absorb and be brought up to the 2019 levels, they will,” she said. In areas with lower-income families, “those will not rise yet.”

* Tribune | Chicago seen as safe haven for homeless youth in uncertain climate: ‘I wouldn’t trade it for the world’: Indeed, as attitudes and legal protections toward LGBTQ+ populations have deteriorated in other parts of the country, some Chicago-based organizations have reported a spike in the past two years of unaccompanied youth from outside Chicago who seek their help. “We’re at a moment where national policy and state policy are pushing people out of their communities,” said Niya Kelly, director of state legislative policy, equity and transformation for the Chicago Coalition to end Homelessness. “They may end up in the state of Illinois or in Chicago because it feels safe, or safer, like you can build a community here.”

* Block Club | State Board Of Ed Closes Investigation Into CPS Restraint, Timeout Practices After Almost Two Years: The district’s office for special education has created a Physical Restraint Time Out Team, which is responsible for documenting incidents, school staff has been fully trained in de-escalation and physical management techniques, and the district is working closely with schools if additional training is needed, according to the district spokesperson. Chicago Public Schools reports that 5,140 staff members across schools are fully trained in both de-escalation and physical management techniques as of this month.

* Chicago Reader | Shedd workers approve union: Shedd Aquarium is the ninth Chicago-area cultural institution to unionize with AFSCME Council 31 in the past three years. Now that they’ve won the union vote, members have set their sights on negotiating their first contract with Shedd leadership. The freshly unionized workers include 110 employees in guest relations, 50 in learning and community, and 15 in development and marketing. Some portion of workers are not yet unionized—like those in the animal care department—but are on track for a union vote soon.

* Sun-Times | Angel Reese, former Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon won’t reunite in Unrivaled league’s inaugural season: On Wednesday, rosters were announced for the league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, and Reese landed on the Rose Basketball Club, coached by Nola Henry. Reese’s teammates include Kahleah Copper and Azurá Stevens, members of the Sky’s 2021 WNBA championship team; three-time WNBA champion Chelsea Gray; guard Brittney Sykes; and shooting guard Lexie Hull. Weatherspoon was tapped to lead Vinyl Basketball Club. Her roster includes Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale, Dream guard Rhyne Howard, Fever forward Aliyah Boston, Dream guard Jordin Canada, Sparks shooting guard Rae Burrell and Sparks forward Dearica Hamby. Weatherspoon was fired after one season with the Sky. The team went 13-27 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

* WBEZ | Without Native Americans, would we have Chicago as we know it?: November is National Native American Heritage Month. Curious City listener Mark Liechty often finds himself wondering what Chicago was like hundreds of years ago, before the city was officially incorporated in 1837, when thousands of Native Americans were living in villages throughout the region. “One of the ways I try to relate to the place I’m living is to try to understand what it was like in the past,” he said.

* Sun-Times | Sake 101: Chicago experts help us navigate the mysterious, elegant Japanese rice wine: Daniel Bennett’s eye-opener came while working for Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. For Bennett, sake provided a window into Japanese cuisine and culture. Since then, he’s passionately explored this ancient beverage, including at his current gig as assistant general manager at Sushi-san and The Omakase Room. His journey includes earning the title of certified sake professional and crafting a private label sake, Sake-san, for the restaurants in partnership with a brewery in Osaka, Japan.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Move judge who released man accused of killing wife despite unsettling abuse charges, advocates say: The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence urged Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans to move Nowinski out of the domestic violence division and ensure that he no longer presides over such cases. Nowinski previously faced criticism for denying a protective order against Crosetti Brand, who later stabbed the pregnant woman who sought protection and killed her son in March. “Judge Nowinski’s failure to protect the community has now resulted in two tragic, preventable murders,” said Amanda Pyron, president and CEO of The Network. “He has repeatedly shown he does not have the judgment necessary to keep survivors safe, and at a minimum he must be reassigned.

* Cook County Record | Controversial Cook County judge loses retention bid, unofficial vote totals show: According to unofficial results posted by the Cook County Clerk and the Chicago Board of Elections, only 57.9% of voters had voted to allow O’Malley to retain his judgeship, more than 2 percentage points short of the 60% approval needed to win another term as judge.

* the Regional News | Peakau, Dodge to duke it out in Orland Park: At one time, Keith Pekau and Jim Dodge were on friendly terms. Pekau said he even supported Dodge for Illinois treasurer in the 2018 election. But things went sour during their time on the village board with Pekau being the mayor and Dodge a senior trustee and the two frequently locked horns until Dodge declined to run in 2021. Now the two will lock horns in the 2025 mayoral election, which will take place April 1.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | U of I study tracks harmful particles in landfills, wastewater plants: Scientists measured the liquid waste released by Illinois landfills and wastewater treatment plants. Although the study did find that landfills keep most of the plastic that’s dumped, and wastewater treatment plants remove 99% of microplastics, both microplastics and PFAS gather in biosolids.

* WCIA | Threats against superintendent ‘not credible’: Danville Police: According to Police Chief Chris Yates, the situation stems from the “bizarre behavior” of a former student who allegedly used racist language and was displaying a Confederate flag on his truck. Geddis first created a police report with Danville Police on Sept. 30. In the report, she said she noticed a truck with Confederate flags following her throughout town and outside her workplace multiple times in late September. After reviewing surveillance camera footage, Danville Police were able to confirm that Geddis had seen multiple different trucks. None of the trucks belonged to the former student that Geddis believed to have been harassing her.

* WCBU | Divided Peoria City Council passes full ban on homeless campsites: Political divisions on the Peoria City Council came to the forefront Tuesday as elected officials again weighed the possibility of adopting an ordinance to ban unauthorized camping in public. Ultimately, the council voted 6-5 to enact the prohibition of homeless encampments with the possibility of jail terms among potential penalties for multiple violations.

* WCBU | Spears ekes out a win over incumbent Ierulli in contested Peoria County judicial race: Spears had 63 more votes than the incumbent after the final tally was completed. The Tazewell County public defender consistently ran ahead of Ierulli, but his lead widened as additional mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day and provisional ballots continued to be counted ahead of the November 19 deadline to close the count out.

* BND | St. Clair County man, a decorated war veteran, fought years to save the home in which he died: Post-traumatic stress disorder, remnant of the firefights he took part in amid the highlands and valleys near the Cambodian border, had left him 70% disabled. Sculpture became his therapy. But neighbors complained to St. Clair County about the vividly colored scraps of metal and plastic bolted together that adorned Euge’s yard. Citations had been written and neighbor threatened a lawsuit, Jason Euge said. The most recent of those complaints was dismissed in 2020, according to St. Clair County Circuit Court records.

*** National ***

* NYT | How Bluesky, Alternative to X and Facebook, Is Handling Explosive Growth:Bluesky was initially financed with a grant from Twitter under Dorsey; Musk cut ties with the Bluesky team after he bought Twitter. Bluesky later raised more than $23 million in two rounds of venture funding from private investors. From there, a team of about a half dozen, led by Graber, began building the “AT protocol.” That is a technical term for the code that would essentially let independent developers create their own social networks atop it, while allowing people to carry their digital identities and information across different platforms. Using this technology, Bluesky executives say, people can tailor their own algorithms to show themselves the kinds of social media posts they want to see.

* AP | 6 monkeys are still on the loose from a South Carolina compound after dozens escaped: Two more Rhesus macaques were trapped Sunday outside the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, bringing the total of recovered monkeys to 37 of the 43 that escaped, Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said in a statement relayed by Yemassee Police in a social media post. Both monkeys recaptured Sunday were examined and were in “excellent condition,” said Westergaard, who was present when they were recovered.

  6 Comments      


Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

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

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

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Some election news (Updated)

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* President…

* Freshman incumbent Democrat Eric Sorensen increased his percentage to 54.3 from 51.98 in 2022…

More congressional results are here.

* Legislative…

Subscribers know more about other contested legislative and judicial races.

* Two years ago, Rep. Syed defeated a Republican incumbent who had managed to unseat a different Democratic incumbent, so she under-performed the top of the ticket. This time around, her percentages were more aligned with the new map…

Click here to read the rest of her thread.

…Adding… Wow…

  19 Comments      


Meanwhile… In Opposite Land

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* North Carolina…

North Carolina Republicans advanced extensive legislation Tuesday that would weaken the powers of the incoming governor, attorney general and schools superintendent — all Democrats who were elected two weeks ago — and shift election board appointments to the GOP state auditor.

The final 131-page measure, which also includes setting aside additional funds for Hurricane Helene relief, became public roughly an hour before the GOP-controlled House met to debate it during a lame-duck General Assembly session this week. The House voted largely along party lines Tuesday night for the measure, which the Republican-controlled Senate was expected to take up on Wednesday. […]

Currently the State Board of Elections’ five members are appointed by the governor based on recommendations by the Democratic and Republican parties. The governor’s party always holds three of the seats. Republican legislators have tried for years to wrest away those appointment powers but have been thwarted by courts. Judges have blocked for now a 2023 law that would move board appointment authority from the governor to the General Assembly.

Even with litigation pending, Tuesday’s measure would move the independent state board to the State Auditor’s Office starting next summer. At that time the new auditor — Republican Dave Boliek, who was elected this month — would make appointments. These changes likely would mean Republican control of the board.

In a likely response to complaints about slow vote-counting this month, the bill also would require in 2025 that county election boards count all provisional ballots by three days after Election Day.

* In 2021, Illinois became the second state to fully repeal its HIV-specific criminal law. Indiana…

Indiana laws criminalizing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission are “outdated” and largely unnecessary, asserts a Thursday report from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. […]

Nearly all are felonies punishable by years-long imprisonments and fines of up to $10,000 — and half include enhancements for actual transmission. None require intent to transmit.

Indiana’s contaminated bodily fluids and semen donations bans are the state’s oldest HIV criminal laws, per the report, which found that current U.S. Food and Drug Administration practices are “highly effective” at keeping the blood and plasma supply, as well as semen donations or transfers, safe. […]

In a separate report, the institute found that Indiana has arrested 18 Hoosiers with HIV on charges of donating plasma since 2000 — but not under provisions penalizing actual transmission. Nearly all were convicted of at least one HIV-related crime.

* Washington DC…

House Speaker Mike Johnson signaled support Tuesday for a Republican effort to ban Democrat Sarah McBride — the first transgender person to be elected to Congress — from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol once she’s sworn into office next year.

“We’re not going to have men in women’s bathrooms,” Johnson told The Associated Press. “I’ve been consistent about that with anyone I’ve talked to about this.”

Johnson earlier in the day emphasized the need to “treat all persons with dignity and respect,” adding, “This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before, and we’re going to do that in deliberate fashion with member consensus on it.”

A resolution proposed Monday by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace said the bill is aimed specifically at McBride, who was elected to the House this month from Delaware.

* South Carolina…

South Carolina now faces a lawsuit stemming from a rule dictating who is allowed to use which restrooms at school.

The people who have filed the legal challenge claim they are now facing “grave violations of their civil and constitutional rights” because of it.

The lawsuit focuses on a temporary law in the current state budget, called a proviso, which requires people, including students, to use school restrooms and locker rooms based on their biological sex at birth.

Schools that violate the law by not enforcing it risk losing a quarter of their state funding.

* Alabama…

When the Alabama Legislature approved a near-total abortion ban in 2019, some Republican members of the Legislature downplayed the impact of the legislation, saying it was meant as a challenge to Roe v. Wade and that the state would revisit the issue if Roe fell, possibly in a “heartbeat” bill that would ban the procedure at about six weeks after conception.

“I have prayed my way through this issue and this bill, because it was hard to give up heartbeat,” Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, said at the time. “I believe we can’t get a heartbeat bill until we get Roe v. Wade turned over.”

More than five years later, and over two-and-a-half years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended federal abortion rights protections, Alabama’s ban seems unlikely to change despite successes of abortion rights advocates in other parts of the country.

Collins, who sponsored the legislation, said in a recent interview she had asked other lawmakers if they were interested in moving to a heartbeat bill, and she did not find that they did. […]

Seven states earlier this month voted to enshrine or expand abortion rights in their state constitutions, but such a move would face high hurdles in Alabama. The state has no referendum process allowing citizens to put proposed laws on the ballot, requiring any changes to be made by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Even if the Legislature was moved to add exceptions to the law, it would likely face major legal action from anti-abortion rights activists.

* Texas…

Texas’ education board on Tuesday advanced a new Bible-infused curriculum that would be optional for schools to incorporate in kindergarten through fifth grades, one of the latest Republican-led efforts in the U.S. to incorporate more religious teaching into classrooms.

The vote moves the Texas State Board of Education one step closer to signing off on what is known as the “Bluebonnet” textbook, which drew hours of often emotional testimony from school teachers and parents earlier this week.

The board is expected to hold a final vote on the measure Friday.

The curriculum — designed by the state’s public education agency — would allow teachings from the Bible such as the Golden Rule and lessons from books such as Genesis into classrooms. Under the plan, it would be optional for schools to adopt the curriculum though they would receive additional funding if they did so.

  58 Comments      


Roundup: Former ComEd board appointee testifies about Madigan’s role in securing his seat

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Courthouse News Service…

Juan Ochoa, a former board member of Illinois’ largest electric utility company ComEd, took the stand Tuesday in the ongoing federal corruption trial of ex-Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Ochoa, current CEO of facilities services company Miramar Group, is a businessman who has been active in Chicago politics for decades. He told jurors Tuesday he had done “election work” for ex-Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and he helped found the Latino Leadership Council PAC in Chicago in 2018.

Blagojevich also appointed Ochoa CEO of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which operates Chicago’s McCormick Place and Navy Pier, in January 2007, though Ochoa left the authority in May 2010.

Ochoa only stayed on the board of ComEd for a year, from April 2019 to April 2020, but how he got his seat — and the $78,000 pay that came with it — informs several of the government’s conspiracy and bribery charges against Madigan. Jurors saw evidence Tuesday that then-House Speaker Madigan pushed ComEd to take on Ochoa as a favor to other influential Latino politicians in the Chicago area, including former Democratic Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez and current Democratic Illinois Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

* Tribune…

The episode of Ochoa’s appointment to ComEd’s board is central to the one of the biggest allegations in the case against Madigan and McClain, a longtime ComEd contract lobbyist and self-described “agent” of the speaker. In exchange, prosecutors allege, Madigan used his position to help with the utility’s legislative agenda.

It’s also a lesson in the strange political machinery of Chicago, where changing demographics in Madigan’s Southwest Side ward led to an unusual alliance with Gutierrez and Garcia, two influential Latino politicians who had never endorsed the speaker until the 2016 election.

In fact, Ochoa had been on the outs with Madigan ever since he had personally fired a McPier employee in 2007 who’d previously served as a Madigan legislative staffer in the General Assembly.

After the employee’s termination, Ochoa hit a brick wall when it came time to negotiate for House approval of legislation to refinance McPier’s high-interest bonds in early 2008. Eventually, Ochoa resigned because he felt the debt refinancing would never pass if he stayed on, according to Ochoa’s statements to investigators

* Sun-Times…

The process took more than a year. It prompted pushback from Latino leaders such as Martin Sandoval and Iris Martinez, who were Democratic state senators at the time. But jurors also heard how Madigan told McClain he wanted then-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore to keep pushing. They also heard McClain pass along the instruction and Pramaggiore agree to it.

“I will keep pressing,” she said of the pending Ochoa appointment, which didn’t become official until April 2019.

Along the way, Pramaggiore told McClain that, “you take good care of me … and so does our friend, and I will do the best that I can … to take care of you.” Jurors have heard that McClain and others often used the phrase “our friend” to refer to Madigan.[…]

Ochoa testified that he prompted the meeting with Gutierrez and Madigan. Todd Pugh, one of Madigan’s defense attorneys, pressed Ochoa on the point Tuesday. He asked Ochoa, “Mike Madigan didn’t reach out to you or Congressman Gutierrez to say, ‘Hey, thanks for helping me out with the election’? That’s not the way it worked, correct?”

Ochoa agreed that wasn’t how it happened.

* Capitol News Illinois…

They spoke once more a couple months later once Ochoa had finally been appointed to the board, asking McClain to pass along his thanks to Madigan. McClain told Ochoa that there was a “bigger team” behind him all along, including Pramaggiore, whom McClain encouraged Ochoa to thank separately.

Late in the afternoon on May 14, 2019 – two weeks after Ochoa’s first ComEd board meeting – Ochoa did just that, emailing Pramaggiore and asking if he could take her to breakfast or lunch that summer.

Unbeknownst to Ochoa, a few hours before he sent his message, FBI agents conducted a coordinated series of searches at the homes of Madigan allies, including McClain. Agents also showed up to Pramaggiore’s door with a subpoena to seize her cell phone, according to her testimony in last year’s “ComEd Four” trial.

Did Ochoa ever end up sharing a meal with Pramaggiore that summer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur asked as she wrapped up her direct examination on Tuesday.

“I did not,” Ochoa replied.

* More…

    * Tribune | Madigan jury expected to hear from precinct captain: Jurors in the Michael Madigan corruption trial on Wednesday are expected to hear testimony from legendary 13th Ward precinct captain Edward Moody, the onetime Cook County Recorder of Deeds who prosecutors say raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars from ComEd through do-nothing consulting contract. Moody, who along with his twin brother, Fred, was one of Madigan’s most trusted election-time door-knockers, testified at the related “ComEd Four” bribery trial last year that the speaker made it clear that the money would dry up if Moody stopped working on campaigns.

  17 Comments      


This judge needs to be pulled off of domestic violence cases (Updated x2)

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From March…

As Chicago’s top cop announced charges Friday against a convicted felon accused of brutally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and killing her 11-year-old son, Police Supt. Larry Snelling repeatedly said the attack “should’ve never happened.”

But questions remained over what should have been done to prevent the attack, including why Crosetti Brand, 37, was released from the Stateville Correctional Center on Tuesday after having been sent back to prison earlier this year for menacing the pregnant woman while on parole.

The next day, Brand allegedly forced his way into the woman’s Edgewater apartment, stabbed her repeatedly, then stabbed her son Jayden Perkins when the boy came to her aid.

The woman had repeatedly asked for help from authorities in the weeks before the attack, including seeking an emergency order of protection that was denied by a Cook County judge. […]

In the meantime, the woman sought an emergency protection order. During a Feb. 21 hearing, the woman told Judge Thomas Nowinski that Chicago police didn’t let her file a report when she called about Brand. Instead, they told her to get a protection order. “They asked me, do I have one currently,” she said, “and I told them no.”

At no time during the hearing did the judge ask questions about the alleged texts or Brand’s visit to the home, according to a transcript.

Nowinski decided against issuing an order, even though the woman testified under oath that she had previously sought one against Brand in 2009.

* Yesterday…

A man suspected of fatally stabbing his wife Tuesday in Portage Park had already been facing charges for allegedly choking and attempting to kidnap her last month, but he was released on GPS monitoring, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Hours after the Tuesday stabbing, the suspect, 57, was found dead inside a car a block away.

An off-duty detective witnessed the stabbing about 2:25 p.m. in the 5600 block of West Leland Avenue and suffered a gunshot wound while trying to intervene, according to a preliminary statement from Chicago police. […]

The man was previously charged in a separate attack against his wife on Oct. 9 — the same day he was served with an emergency order of protection she had sought, court records show.

Prosecutors filed a petition that day to have him held in Cook County Jail pending trial, but it was denied by Judge Thomas E. Nowinski. Nowinski instead released the suspect on GPS monitoring, ordered him to refrain from possessing weapons and forbade him from visiting his wife’s home, work or school.

According to her petition for the protective order, the second the woman had sought against her husband this year, she said he grabbed her as she was walking to the bus, tried to cover her mouth to stop her from screaming and attempted to knock her unconscious.

Judge Nowinski, who serves in the court’s Domestic Violence Division, is Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Iris Martinez’s former chief of staff.

* And before anyone pops off in comments, every major group that works with domestic violence survivors in this state supported the SAFE-T Act because it gave judges and prosecutors far more power to keep abusers behind bars until trial.

…Adding… From The Network, an anti-domestic violence advocacy organization…

Yesterday, a woman was stabbed to death by her husband in Portage Park, who then injured an off-duty police officer before taking his own life. According to media reports, the man was previously charged in a separate attack against his wife in October and prosecutors filed a petition to have him held in Cook County Jail pending trial. However, Judge Thomas E. Nowinski denied the petition and released the individual on electronic monitoring. Now, the woman is dead and a police officer is injured.

Judge Nowinski was also at the center of the tragic murder of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins by Crosetti Brand in March. A few weeks prior to the murder, Nowinski refused to issue an order of protection to Jayden’s mother, who was told by Chicago Police to seek order of protection after Brand sent threatening text messages and appeared at Perkins’ home.

Today, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence is calling on Chief Judge Timothy Evans to reassign Judge Thomas Nowinski from the domestic violence division and ensure Nowinski no longer presides over any domestic violence cases.

“Judge Nowinski’s failure to protect the community has now resulted in two tragic, preventable murders,” said Amanda Pyron, President and CEO of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence. “He has repeatedly shown he does not have the judgment necessary to keep survivors safe, and at a minimum he must be reassigned. When survivors go to the courts for protection, that protection must be effective. Judge Nowinski has failed in that duty, and allowing him to continue to hear domestic violence cases sends the wrong message to survivors across Chicagoland.”

“We also strongly encourage the Pretrial division to review procedures for domestic violence screening to ensure that judges have all necessary information to accurately understand risk, including recent petitions for orders of protection,” said Pyron. “The failure to provide correct information in this case proved lethal.”

…Adding… One of the judge’s longtime friends (who I also know well) wanted to get this into the record…

This is an awful tragedy. If there were tools to perfectly predict human behavior pretrial with zero error, they would be used to prevent these sorts of tragedies.

The facts of this case are that the defendant was served an order of protection to stay away from the victim at the hearing and placed on GPS monitoring. The petition to detain filed by the prosecution stated no history of orders of protection, no prior arrests for assault or threats, and no weapons used.

There are metrics used to assist in risk assessment on whether defendants should be held pretrial, and this defendant had very low pretrial risk assessment scores. He had a 1 for Domestic Violence Screening, no flag for violent criminal activity, and a 2 out of 6 on criminal activity scale. He had no prior convictions or supervisions in his background and no prior arrests for domestic battery based on what was presented in court.

Illinois Appellate Court precedent clearly states that judges must consider GPS and must issue the least restrictive conditions of release. If someone has no background and low scores from pretrial, and without other incidents, detention has routinely been reversed by the appellate court.

The role of protecting the community from violent offenders while also respecting the constitutional rights of the accused is complicated, especially in this modern era. Every case has different facts and must also be viewed in context with hundreds of previous cases that set precedent for the judiciary, public safety professionals, and the attorneys involved in these matters.

The person claims that the office of pretrial services and the state’s attorney claimed there was no history of orders of protection and no prior arrests for assault, harassment, or threats. The judge, he said, doesn’t recall anything brought up by the prosecutors, particularly not a threat to choke her. The state’s attorney didn’t appeal the decision.

  29 Comments      


Caption contest!

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A top Chicago official was in Springfield yesterday…

Another angle on Capitol Avenue…

  29 Comments      


Open thread

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…

  8 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Here’s how the Citizens Utility Board has saved Illinois consumers billions. Sun-Times…

    - The nonpartisan Citizens Utility Board of Illinois has helped save consumers an estimated $20 billion in blocked rate hikes and refunds over the past 40 years.
    -Created by the state Legislature to be a voice for consumers in utility matters, CUB weighs in on proposed rate hikes by electric, gas and water utilities statewide. It also helps educate consumers, from warning people about shady alternative energy sellers to giving tips for lowering cellphone costs, getting heating discounts and obtaining solar power.
    - CUB started in 1984, and within a year, it had won state reforms requiring audits of utility plant construction costs and other spending.
    - Two years later, it notched its first win against a proposed ComEd rate increase that saved consumers $1.9 billion.

* At noon Governor Pritzker will announce a new DCEO grant award. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | LGBTQ+ families brace for Trump’s second term: ‘The stakes are a lot higher now’: The emails began trickling into Carol Jones’ inbox around 4:30 a.m. Nov. 6, shortly after the presidential election was called for Donald Trump. Later that day, the Chicago-based LGBTQ-focused family lawyer said she was inundated with calls and emails from people with questions about what same-sex parents could do to maintain their parental rights.

* Center Square | IL nursing home operators could be fined if they don’t comply with staffing ratios: A law signed in 2023 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives nursing homes until Jan. 1, 2025, to comply with the staffing requirements or they will face fines. Those requirements are based on the hours of care residents in those facilities need per day. Wearing a SEIU brooch and chanting “SEIU” and “put the nursing home industry on notice,” state Sen. Javier Cervantes, D-Chicago, said during his time as an SEIU representative, he heard many grievances about staffing shortages.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | Senate committee unanimously approves bill prioritizing kin-first foster care placement: More than 10,000 youth in care currently live with relatives. Yet, over 60% of those caregivers are denied foster care benefits necessary to care for young people. House Bill 4781 requires DCFS to pursue federal funding to establish a kinship navigator program to help relatives who have youth in care.

* WCIA | Illinois State Capitol Complex security fortified with new rules: “We understand that these changes might present some challenges and – for some – may appear too extreme,” part of the memo reads. “However, in light of the growing number of threats and acts of violence across the nation, we must do everything we can to provide additional layers of security and prevent future tragedies from occurring here.”

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Johnson accuses critics of ‘tantrums,’ says it’s time they ‘grow up’: Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday accused City Council members who engineered the 50-0 vote shooting down his proposed $300 million property tax increase of “having tantrums” and said it’s time for his critics to “grow up.” Johnson said the unanimous vote was an “additional step” created by a “small group of individuals” that blew a giant hole in his $17.3 billion spending plan and only managed to drag an already delayed budget process well into December.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago City Council considers Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new $150M property tax hike proposal: We want to go down to $100 million. In a perfect world, it’ll be none; that’s where we want to be. But, we also don’t want to go to fines and fees because all you’re doing is kicking it back to the taxpayers. So, we’re looking at efficiencies and enforcement,” 20th Ward Ald. Jeanette Taylor said. There appears to be agreement to tax cloud storage services. That would raise $128 million.

* WBEZ | Behind Chicago’s buzziest art destination: a mysterious Democratic megadonor: “The founder really wanted to create a — we don’t really know what to call ourselves,” says Jan Kallish,Wrightwood 659’s executive director. “Some people say ‘gallery’; some people say ‘museum.’ People, when they hear ‘gallery,’ they think we’re selling things. We’re not. When they hear ‘museum,’ they think we have a collection, and we’re not collecting. We used ‘exhibition space’ for a while.” There’s still no consensus inside the building on what word to use.

* Crain’s | Union League Club’s Monet auctioned for $9 million: The most-prized piece in the Union League Club of Chicago’s art collection sold at auction tonight for just over $9 million, topping the median of the predicted range of $7 million to $10 million. “Pommiers en Fleurs,” or “Apple Trees in Bloom,” by Claude Monet was put up for sale to raise cash for the club to pay down debt, fund upgrades and buy other art.

* ABC Chicago | Inside FBI file of Chicago Outfit boss Joey ‘the Clown’ Lombardo: An early mugshot of Joseph Patrick Lombardo set the bar for his public personality. Even though “the Clown” nickname stuck, in Chicago Outfit circles, Lombardo preferred the nickname “Lumpy,” as a reminder of what he liked to leave behind on the skulls of those he beat up.

* Sun-Times | Jesse White Tumblers keep rolling forward after 65 years of local, global shows: Anthony Cavin has been with the organization for 33 years. He’s 54, 5-foot-6 (“and a half”) and muscular with gray in his beard. He’s a coach, but he still tumbles, even though he’s previously torn both Achilles tendons, had reconstructive surgery on his right wrist and, as a kid, was hit by a ricocheting bullet. Oh yes — he also had a kidney transplant in 2002.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | After 40 years, Skokie mayor Van Dusen not running for re-election: Mayor Daniel Biss of neighboring Evanston told Pioneer Press that Van Dusen is a “thoughtful, extremely pragmatic guy. Skokie is like his universe; he loves that town; he knows it like the back of his hand.” Per the village’s website, Van Dusen has been a resident of Skokie since 1974, though he originally hails from Detroit, Michigan, he said in an interview with Pioneer Press. Van Dusen is also a former Niles Township assistant supervisor, per previous reporting.

* Daily Herald | Geneva council member’s critics, supporters speak out over Facebook post: Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns read aloud a review from the city’s appointed ethics adviser, attorney Charles Radovich, about Naperville attorney Lynda Segneri’s ethics complaint against Paschke. Radovich determined Segneri’s letter was not an ethics complaint because it did not allege a violation of either a prohibited political activity or gift ban activity.

* Daily Herald | Critical habitat’: DuPage forest preserve wants to buy oak-studded land: The roughly 43-acre tract features old-growth oaks. By the district’s count, there are some 240 trees on the site, on the north side of North Avenue, a bit west of Route 59. “It is critical habitat that’s already intact, would not need, necessarily, heavy restoration, and obviously, once those trees are gone, they’re gone forever,” Forest Preserve President Daniel Hebreard said.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘I understand why people may have concerns’; Proposed Champaign homeless shelter: “We have a long waiting list that people have been on, and been sitting on for some time,” C-U at Home Executive Director Melissa Courtwright said. “So, it’s really important to us to try to meet the community need and expand our program.” C-U at Home operates seven shelters across Champaign-Urbana but said that isn’t enough. Courtwright said while they’re aware people in the area are concerned, there are regulations for who can be housed.

* WGEM | Students learn about future in trades at Central Illinois career fair Tuesday: Andrae Richardson was one of the union members answering students’ questions. A member of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers, he believes events like Tuesday’s fair are key to showing the next generation they have options. “I think these are very big for the community, for us as a whole as the nation, advising children and some parents and people who are not education to this degree. Knowing that with the trades, you can build a better life. You don’t have to go to college to be successful and you can learn right here in your own backyard and get a great wage at the end of the day,” Richardson said.

* WSIL | Jackson County State’s Attorney race decided: What was a tie at the end of the election night on November 5th, both receiving 10,805 votes a piece, has now been decided after county election officials counted provisional ballots. Cascio-Hale will soon take over as the new Jackson County State’s Attorney, after tallying 39 votes more than Cervantez.

* SJ-R | Illinois Innocence Project based in Springfield helps free man after 32 years behind bars: A southern Illinois man who spent over three decades behind bars for a murder evidence proves he did not commit was freed last week thanks in part to the Springfield-based Illinois Innocence Project (IIP). The court vacated the sentence of Danny Davis, 52, of Cairo, and ordered him freed from the Department of Corrections. The state is appealing the ruling of Circuit Court Associate Judge Tyler Edmonds’ made last week in Alexander County.

* WCIA | Time capsule shows off 100 years of U of I history: The actual time capsule contents were damaged after years of being improperly stored. But thanks to the university archives, staff and students can still take a look at what is inside. The display shows off copies of books, pictures and other items that were in the original capsule.

  10 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Ouch (Updated)

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune op-ed by Dave Nayak…

The results of the presidential election were shocking, not just because of Donald Trump’s landslide victory, but also because of the seismic shift in the electorate. Almost every demographic moved to the right; most strikingly, the working class and minority voters abandoned the status quo in masses.

This should have been a neon warning sign for Gov. JB Pritzker. Yet, he continues to use divisive rhetoric instead of tackling the real issues Illinoisans face daily.

It goes on and on. Nayak, who ran for the open 20th state Senate District in the Democratic primary last spring, asked me to post his op-ed here, but I said it seemed bereft of any actual ideas.

The Tribune identified Nayak as a Democrat, but since the primary he has contributed to the Chicago Republican Party and Republican candidate for the Illinois House Gabbie Shanahan.

* The governor’s chief of staff noted how just a few short months ago, Nayak was touting his connections to JB Pritzker, which apparently didn’t actually exist…


* In what may be related, Nayak just recently loaned his campaign committee $30,000.

…Adding… Nayak recently changed his campaign committee’s party affiliation to Republican. Maybe the Trib could run an addendum.

  18 Comments      


Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* KTVI…

The political battle over the future of EVs is playing out in parts of the St. Louis area and beyond. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to cut EV funding and end what he calls the “EV mandate” on day one of his upcoming presidency.

However, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has other ideas and is charging ahead.

The Democrat governor glad-handed those around at a news conference celebrating the first plug-in at the newest state-funded EV charging station in Joliet, Illinois, Monday. A charging station in Troy, Illinois, is among those already up and running.

Thousands more are in the process of being mapped out and paid for. The state has already awarded more than $60 million from multiple state and federal sources for nearly 1,200 charging ports at 265 locations. An IDOT document reveals the state expects $148 million in federal infrastructure funds for charging stations over 5 years. […]

“There will soon be a charging station along every highway, every 50 miles in Illinois. That’s just the start,” Pritzker boasted in Joliet.

* Illinois Capitol Development Board…

* Elections…

* FYI…


*** Statewide ***

* Kathy Salvi | JB Pritzker puts illegal border crossers before Illinois families: Sadly, but unsurprisingly, we have not heard solutions from Pritzker, just more divisive rhetoric and threats to fight against President Trump and his conservative populist movement. Pritzker’s policy positions stoke fearmongering that “Trump is bad” with nothing to back it up. Illinois is hurting under JB Pritzker’s iron-clad fist. Instead of focusing on solutions, Pritzker has been perfectly clear — his policies promote illegals over Illinois’s working men and women and families.

* WIFR | Illinois workers can claim back wages through I-CASH site: If an IDOL investigation finds an employer has underpaid workers through a violation of state law, back wages are recovered. However, because IDOL investigations take time and a worker’s contact information may have changed, workers may not know they have money that is rightfully theirs coming to them. Through the 2023 law change, the time for wage recovery was extended to three years, giving IDOL more time to find employees owed back pay. After three years, IDOL can send the unclaimed wages to the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund so workers can claim their money.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Friends of the Parks takes aim at South Works quantum plan: The Chicago Plan Commission is scheduled on Nov. 21 to consider approving the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, which will take up a little more than a quarter of the 440-acre vacant site at 8080 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive. In an email sent out last night, Friends of the Parks said it will urge the Plan Commission to vote no on the zoning required for the quantum computing park, and it encouraged supporters to send comments to commission members ahead of the meeting. The group does not intend to pursue legal action, however, a spokeswoman said.

* Borderless Mag | City Contractor ‘Failed’ Clients As Migrant Shelter Complaints Mounted, Staffers Say: In grievances filed later that year, another migrant parent said that Favorite staff blamed the food shortage on the city. “I don’t believe that the government told them to only give us a spoonful of rice,” the resident wrote in Spanish in a December 2023 grievance, adding that workers treated residents with hostility. “Enough with the xenophobia.”

* Block Club | ComEd Fired Him. Now, Urban Historian Shermann ‘Dilla’ Thomas Is Launching His Own Show: But in an 18-month whirlwind, Thomas went from helping ComEd improve its online image to losing his job in a massive layoff spree in September. The company’s new president and CEO, Gil C. Quiniones, went from attending Bears games with Thomas and his family to blocking the historian’s number, Thomas said. … Undeterred, Thomas is using his new free time to share his truth and also put Chicago’s history on the map. On Sunday, he announced he is launching a show about “the positive aspects of Chicago and its amazing history.” The first episode of “You Don’t Know Chi” drops Nov. 29 on YouTube.

* Windy City Times | Ald. Lamont Robinson voted chair of Chicago’s LGBT Caucus: Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th Ward) was voted chair of the city’s LGBT Caucus in September and recently told Windy City Times the group of LGBTQ+ alderpeople plans to meet more regularly and collaborate with other groups to address the community’s most pressing issues. Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) will serve as the LGBT Caucus’ vice chair.

* Block Club | Ukrainian Village Residents Urge Neighbors To Help Fund Private Security Patrol: If the group does raise the necessary funding — $200,000 for a yearlong contract — the security company would patrol the area between Damen Avenue and Leavitt Street and Cortez and Crystal streets. That includes part of the busy Division Street business corridor west of Damen. One patrol car would be in the area for a six-hour shift during the week and an eight-hour shift on Saturday and Sunday, according to a presentation given by P4 leaders at a Monday night community meeting.

* Block Club | CTA Holiday Train, Bus Rides Start Next Week. Here’s The Schedule: The holiday train kicks off Nov. 29 and the holiday bus will roll beginning Nov. 26. Some dates include opportunities for photos with Santa. The schedules and arrival trackers can be found here.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Endeavor Health is spending up to $453 million to settle patients’ claims that a former doctor sexually abused them: Endeavor is one of the largest health systems in the Chicago area, with nine hospitals, including several in affluent northern and western suburbs. It had $5.6 billion in revenue in 2023. The system reported an operating loss of $462 million, including the $453 in settlement costs, for the three months that ended Sept. 30.

* Injustice Watch | Chief judge issues new order aimed at helping tenants facing eviction in troubled buildings: Tenants who live in substandard housing and face evictions got a boost from Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans last week, when he issued a new order making it easier for them to gather evidence against their landlords. The reform is one of several proposals stemming from the Injustice Watch series “The Tenant Trap,” which exposed how gaping inequities and legal loopholes give landlords an unfair advantage in court and often make it nearly impossible for tenants to assert their rights.

* Naperville Sun | New security measures in place at Naperville Municipal Center: With new measures in place, visitors entering the municipal center during regular hours will need first to stop by a visitors services desk. There, a security guard will greet visitors, verify appointments and provide directions inside. Visitors will not be required to show identification, sign-in or pass through a metal detector.

* WTTW | Cook County Finally Tops 70,000 Acres of Forest Preserve Land, Hitting Milestone With Newly Announced Purchase: More than 11% of Cook County — the second most populous county in the U.S. — is forest preserve land, a remarkable achievement given the region’s urbanization, according to Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, which also oversees the forest preserves. “It is unique for a metropolitan area like ours to have such a diversity of important habitats for native plants and wildlife at this scale and readily available to millions of local residents. It’s such an important legacy,” Preckwinkle said in a statement. “I am honored to preside over the moment when we cross over to more than 70,000 acres. This is a celebration of the importance of public land available for everyone to enjoy.”

*** Downstate ***


* WIFIR | Hundreds of northern Illinois residents receive citizenship: More than 200 people from 49 countries become official United States citizens during a ceremony Monday at the Coronado Performing Arts Center. “I was nervous coming here today, but I feel happy. I feel happy for myself, for my family this year with me, and just happy in general for the Hispanic community,” said new U.S. citizen Jesus Cruz.

* KFVS | Turkeys donated to southern Ill. volunteer organizations: State Senator Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) delivered the donated turkeys on Monday, November 18 to eight volunteer organizations in the communities of Mount Vernon, Mt. Carmel, Fairfield and Sesser. The donated turkeys will be used to help provide Thanksgiving dinners to southern Illinois families in need.

*** National ***

* Nieman Lab | Two-thirds of news influencers are men — and most have never worked for a news organization: For the new report, released Monday, Pew conducted a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults, examined a sample of 500 “news influencers” across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube, and analyzed more than 100,000 posts in summer 2024. Each of the news influencers has at least 100,000 followers, regularly posts about news, and is run by an individual (not a news organization). And, yup, Joe Rogan’s Instagram account (19.4 million followers) is among those sampled.

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Illinois Needs Energy Storage Now!

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

In six short months, Illinois families will see their energy bills rise, as much as $30 per month for the average homeowner, due to a recent energy capacity auction. New legislation – HB 5856 and SB 3959 – would help avoid future increases by building battery storage to increase our energy capacity and keep our grid reliable, clean, and affordable.

Keep Illinois energy reliable, clean, and affordable by passing battery storage legislation now to help prevent future rate increases, before it’s too late.

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Caption contest!

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I did not know that Budzinski is a “champion for crypto”…

  18 Comments      


r/movingtoillinois is an interesting read

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Reddit sends me suggested threads every day, and yesterday it suggested “r/movingtoillinois.” It’s full of people looking to move out of their current home states and to this state, mainly for things like reproductive and gender freedoms…

How is Rockford?

Queer, multiracial family with three kids. Two of those kids have special needs and one is medically complex. We’re looking to move [to] Rockford from southern louisiana in the next 4-6 months

* Several posters are also Illinois boosters…

I’ve lived in the lake-mchenry county area, was born here, went to school here, and am thriving! I can try to answer any questions you may have. It’s a beautiful area!

Point being, the Illinois-bashers aren’t the only ones talking about their state.

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It’s just a bill

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Sen. Laura Fine…

Working with advocates for patients with chronic pain and the State Medical Society, State Senator Laura Fine advanced legislation authorizing prescribers to make chronic pain health treatment decisions for their patients. In 2016, states began instituting policies severely restricting the prescription of certain opioids, however, for some patients this is a life-saving treatment.

“Chronic pain patients who cannot access the proper treatments may turn to self-medicating with dangerous alternatives. These alternatives can put a patient’s physical and mental health at risk,” said Fine (D-Glenview). “This initiative allows for healthcare professionals to make medical decisions based on their patient’s needs.”

House Bill 5373 reflects new guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the prescribing of opioids for chronic pain. The legislation allows physicians to make necessary prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids, without strict limitations based on dosage amounts except as provided under federal law.

Additionally, Fine’s bill protects patient confidentiality by preventing the release of opioid prescription and treatment information without a legal order verified by the Illinois Department of Human Services or an administrative subpoena from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

“Patients who need prescriptions that don’t conform to current recommended guidelines continue to suffer from chronic pain or risk health complications from lack of proper treatment,” said Fine. “This legislation will ensure medical professionals can provide the necessary, life-saving services to suffering patients.”

House Bill 5373 passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday.

* Rep. Sonya Harper introduced HB5914 yesterday…

Creates the Enslavement Era Disclosure and Redress Act. Requires each contractor that participates in a competitive bid with the State to review its records for evidence of the contractor’s or a related party’s participation in slaveholding or the slave trade and to make certain disclosures with respect to that participation. Contains notice concerning public hearings following the disclosures. Provides that the Illinois Office of Equity shall appoint an administrator to oversee the program. Provides that each contractor that has disclosed participation in slaveholding or the slave trade shall provide the State with a statement of financial redress at the time of submitting its bid. Contains provisions creating a Redress Fund. Amends the State Finance Act to make conforming changes.

* Yesterday, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie filed HB5915…

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that 90 days before the scheduled discharge of a person committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections, the Department shall provide the State’s Attorney of the committing county with the sentence calculation conducted by the Department, including documentation of completed programs or services that earned the person sentence credit for successful completion of those programs or services while the person was in custody of the Department. Provides that the State’s Attorney may challenge the calculation and request that the Department recalculate the sentence. Provides that upon recalculating the sentence, the State’s Attorney may request the Prisoner Review Board to review and approve the calculation.

* G-PAC CEO Kathleen Sances…

When Illinois lawmakers convene this week for their last days of session in 2024, they must act on Karina’s Bill and Safe at Home legislation to prevent tragedies that result when guns fall into the wrong hands.

We’ve seen the headlines when children and teens or at-risk people access deadly weapons in their homes and use them to inflict tragedy on themselves and others. Or in the case of Karina Gonzalez and her daughter, when a known domestic violence abuser used a gun to end their lives.

Legislators must act on Karina’s Bill to remove guns from known domestic abusers when an order of protection is filed against them. They must pass the Safe At Home package to enhance what it means to safely store weapons and strengthen reporting requirements when firearms are lost and stolen to prevent them from being trafficked to commit crime and violence. The Safe At Home package has two proposals: the Safe Gun Storage Act and the Lost & Stolen Firearms Reporting Bill.

At a time when there are more guns in our country than people, and when one in three children lives in a home with a gun, we need our laws to better prevent minors, at-risk people, domestic abusers and criminals from accessing these deadly weapons.

* WJOL…

In an attempt to address growing concerns about Illinois’ energy demands and potential national security risks, State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) has introduced legislation to prohibits data centers owned by foreign adversaries from operating in Illinois unless they generate their own power on-site, ensuring they do not strain Illinois’ energy infrastructure.

“With Illinois already facing an increased demand on our energy grid due to rapid data center expansion, we must take action to secure our infrastructure and prevent potential threats,” said Sen. Rezin. “This legislation ensures that foreign-owned data centers from known adversaries do not compromise our energy stability or burden Illinois residents with increased utility costs.”

Senate Bill 3890, also known as the Data Center Construction by Foreign Adversaries Act, requires Illinois’ regulatory agencies to jointly assess any proposed data center’s energy impact before allowing the construction of the center if it will be owned by a company tied to a foreign adversary. This assessment aims to confirm that the facility’s energy consumption is fully self-sustained, whether by on-site natural gas generation, battery storage, or renewable sources, so that no additional burden is placed on Illinois’ energy grid. The bill responds to a concerning trend of foreign entities acquiring land in the Midwest for industrial purposes, a trend that experts warn could jeopardize national security.

“Senate Bill 3980 is a necessary safeguard for Illinois and our national security,” continued Sen. Rezin. “We have to be vigilant about protecting our state’s resources and shielding our energy infrastructure from unnecessary risks.”

Sen. Rezin introduced HB3980 earlier this month.

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Roundup: Madigan corruption trial

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Center Square…

Prosecutors on Monday took the jury in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan through nearly a decade of payments to subcontractors who they allege did little or no work for the state’s largest utility despite getting paid.

Jurors watched as Madigan associate Jay Doherty’s lobbying contract with Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison grew from $200,000 a year to more than $400,000 a year as he added subcontractors – without explanation – to his longstanding lobbying contract with ComEd.

Prosecutors allege that Madigan ordered ComEd to hire his political operatives for no-show jobs in exchange for passing legislation in Springfield that was favorable to the utility.

With Doherty’s longtime administrative assistant Janet Gallegos on the witness stand, prosecutors detailed month by month invoices that Doherty sent to ComEd, lobbying registration for the subcontractors and other details.

* Capitol News Illinois…

The arrangement began with former Chicago Ald. Frank Olivo in 2011 and grew to include top precinct captains Raymond Nice and Ed Moody from Madigan’s 13th Ward power base on Chicago’s Southwest Side. Later, former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo and former Chicago Ald. Michael Zalewski would also get in on the deal.

ComEd indirectly paid out more than $1.3 million to the men over the eight years, payments that prosecutors allege were meant to bribe Madigan in exchange for favorable legislation in Springfield. The names on McClain’s yellow legal pad list indicate it was written soon after his retirement in December 2016 before Acevedo was added to the mix. […]

The jury last week and Monday heard from FBI agents who searched Doherty’s downtown Chicago office and his home in a swanky condo in the affluent Streeterville neighborhood. Neither search turned up any evidence of work product put together by the subcontractors for ComEd, and Doherty’s former administrative assistant Janet Gallegos testified Monday that she was unaware of any work the subcontractors did for her boss.

But the agents did recover documents that indicated just how little the subcontractors spoke to the man whose name was on their checks. Olivo, the former alderman who’d been put under Doherty’s contract shortly after his retirement from city council in 2011, would usually write a little note to Gallegos on a fax cover sheet when he sent his $4,000 invoice each month. In two of the notes from 2013 and 2015, Olivo wrote “say hello to Jay.”

* ABC Chicago…

“What did you talk about with Mr. Olivo?” Assistant U.S Attorney Sarah Streicker asked, in reference to subcontractor and former 13th Ward Alderman Olivo.

“We talked about invoices being received, payments and also family,” Gallegos said.

“Did you ever talk to him about any work he was doing?” Streicker asked.

Gallegos said, “no.”

* Sun-Times…

On Monday, prosecutors called several FBI agents to the stand. Among them was Edward McNamara, who told jurors about a May 2019 search of McClain’s home in Quincy.

The panel got a glimpse of McClain’s basement office, including the exposed insulation in the walls and a row of at least 10 filing cabinets. That’s where agents recovered printed-off copies of McClain’s emails seeking internships and jobs for people allegedly tied to Madigan.

In two tote bags found in McClain’s Toyota Avalon, McNamara said agents found a handwritten note that included the words “Speaker” and “Available 24/7.”

Agents also found McClain’s well-known list of Madigan allies, written on stationary from the Talbott Hotel.

Also figuring in McClain’s earlier trial, it’s known as his ‘magic list.’

* Tribune…

Among the five pages was a printed email from McClain, one of Madigan’s closest confidants, describing the pages as a “Magic Lobbyist List” and using his favorite euphemism of “Friend” to refer to the speaker. The recipients of the email had been blind-copied, hiding their names.

“So since I don’t roam the halls like I use to do I do not have the same ‘on site’ engagement that I use to have,” read the email, which was shown to jurors Monday in the corruption trial of Madigan and McClain. “A Friend of ours and myself have gone through the ‘magic list’ and frankly culled quite a few names …There are now a little less than two dozen on the list.”

McClain went on to ask the recipient of the email for help fishing for potential clients.

“If you have a potential client come up to you and seek you as a lobbyist but you cannot for whatever reason please engage him/her and try to get him or her to consider a recommendation from you,” McClain wrote. “Please call me then and I will have a conversation with someone and get back to you asap.”

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Open thread

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

  4 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Demand for abortion pills spiked in Illinois, countrywide after Trump reelection. Sun-Times…

    - Calls to Planned Parenthood Illinois surged 15% in the days immediately after the election, with wait times doubling to as much as 20 minutes.
    - Hey Jane, a New York-based health care company that provides sexual telehealth services, reported a 74% increase in medication abortion patients in Illinois the week after the election.
    - And sales in abortion pills have skyrocketed across the country. Telehealth company Wisp reported a 600% increase in abortion pill orders between Election Day and the following day.

* Related stories…

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Ballot challenges, big money, information gaps: How Chicago’s first school board elections played out: Forty-seven Chicagoans — including 10 in District 10 alone — tried to run for school board. But just four made it on the ballot here: Robert Jones, a pastor supported by the Chicago Teachers Union who once joined a hunger strike to keep a local high school open; Karin Norington-Reaves, a nonprofit CEO and mother of a blind CPS student who had run for Congress and got backing from pro-school choice super PACs; Adam Parrot-Sheffer, a CPS parent, former district principal, and education consultant; and Che “Rhymefest” Smith, a self-funded Grammy Award-winning rapper and activist.

* WGN | NIU Storm Chasers: Researcher team help national effort to advance hail forecasting: A group of 100 scientists, including professors and students from NIU and several other universities, will chase hailstorms next spring with the goal of advancing hail forecasting. The last field campaign to study hail in the United States was in the 1970s, and the results of that still drive the modeling and forecasting methods that we use today.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WGN | City Club of Chicago: Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton : The Lieutenant Governor is a highly qualified, experienced advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, and restorative justice. Her career is dedicated to making Illinois the best state to call home, especially for those who have been historically left out or behind. With any initiative or policy proposal, her focus is on uplifting every resident and ensuring they have the resources to thrive.

*** Statewide ***

* ABC Chicago | President-elect Trump plan to use military in mass deportations raising alarm in Illinois: Gov. JB Pritzker said it would be uncalled for and possibly unconstitutional. “We, of course, are deeply concerned about, you know, the president of the United States calling out military inside the United States, where people are peaceful, even if there may be people who are undocumented,” Pritzker said.


*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Progressive Caucus co-chair accuses mayor of posturing in talks to cut failed property tax hike: Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) characterized the negotiating session he participated in more than a week ago as the “great beginning of a conversation” and a healthy “exchange of ideas.” But there were no agreements made or commitments given. “There was nothing landed on. There was no $150 million [in cuts]. There were ideas on how to bring it down without anyone agreeing to anything,” Vasquez said.

* Crain’s | Chicago hotel owners to Kaegi: We’re not doing as well as you think: “These outrageous assessments by the Cook County Assessor are not commensurate with the reality facing most hotel owners,” IHLA President and CEO Michael Jacobson said in a statement. “While we have seen many improvements and certainly had boosts to visitation from large-scale events this year, we are nowhere near pre-pandemic levels when it comes to profitability or occupancy. As hotels continue to work to recover, invest in our employees, and return to our place as an economic engine for the city, we cannot afford any unnecessary or unjustifiable expenses.”

* Crain’s | Report of extravagant spending is latest blow to National Association of Realtors: The Chicago-based National Association of Realtors, which has struggled for more than a year with the fallout of a broad sexual harassment scandal, took another hit today when The New York Times published a detailed exposé of extravagant spending by top executives and volunteers. Debra Kamin reported for the Times that former CEO Bob Goldberg’s perks included the NAR paying for his memberships at private clubs in Chicago and Washington, where the NAR’s second office is, as well as monthly stipends to cover his utility bills and car, and an agreement to pay for his pet sitter when he traveled. That was on top of his salary, which in five years more than doubled, from $1.2 million to $2.6 million.

* Sun-Times | Joey ‘The Clown’ Lombardo’s FBI files show Chicago Outfit boss complaining about government inspectors: Known for a wicked sense of humor as well as a penchant for violence, the late Chicago Outfit boss Joseph Lombardo was known as “Joey the Clown.” But newly released FBI files on the hoodlum, who died in 2019, showed he also could be, well, kind of prickly.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark to run with a slate for supervisor, Tiffany Henyard, incumbent trustees yet to announce: The Reform Thornton Township Party filed a slate of candidates with Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark running for supervisor and Corean Davis, Rachel Jones, Dominique Randle-El and Jacinta Gholston running for trustee. Davis is Harvey city administrator and Randle-El is Harvey 5th Ward alderman. […] While Henyard and the incumbent trustees did not file, major party candidates in township elections can be determined by caucus, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

* WGN | Two trustees skipping Tuesday’s Thornton Township board meeting amidst Tiffany Henyard’s spending concerns: Trustees opposed to Henyard said skipping the meeting will prevent votes on Henyard’s agenda items. The opponents also said they hope it could force a public vote to appoint a new trustee.

* Daily Herald | Long-serving mayors in Batavia, Geneva to face challengers in spring election: Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke, who has been in office almost 44 years, is being challenged by former alderman Thomas Connelly. Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns will face Karsten Pawlik in his bid for reelection. Burns has been mayor since 2001. Pawlik is operations manager for a demolition company owned by his wife.

* Tribune | As a polarizing eight years comes to an end, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx looks forward to a break from the spotlight: Foxx’s supporters laud her as a trailblazer, noting her early support of the historic bail reform measure that took effect last year, her expungement of past marijuana convictions and a sharp focus on wrongful convictions that led to hundreds of exonerations over her tenure. But she has often been a lightning rod for criticism of her style of progressive prosecution, from conservative critics nationally, Chicago’s former police superintendent and the Fraternal Order of Police, some longtime attorneys in her office and the Democratic candidate who will replace her. Her posture, they said, signaled the office was soft on crime.

* Daily Southtown | More than 50,000 people came to Southland casino in first week, officials say: The casino itself is in East Hazel Crest and adjacent parking garages are in Homewood. The two communities have a revenue sharing agreement that’s been in place since 2012, and some of the gaming revenue will flow to more than 40 other south suburbs. The casino’s parking lot as well as parking garage quickly filled to capacity the first day, and Wind Creek staff at one point had to direct people to turn around.

* Center Square | Governor touts EV charging port in Joliet, state partnership with ComEd: The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded a $480,000 grant to Veterans Energy Team, a local veteran-owned business that partnered with the Joliet Park District to build EV fast chargers at Inwood Athletic Club and Nowell Park. Pritzker said the state has distributed more than $69 million under CEJA since June of last year to support EV chargers across the state.

* NBC Chicago | Southwest suburban DMV location permanently closing: The Illinois Secretary of State’s Lockport facility, 1029 31 E. 9th St., is permanently closing on Nov. 25, according to a Facebook post from Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office. A reason for the closure wasn’t given. Drivers are instead encouraged to visit the Joliet DMV facility, 201 Joyce Rd., which will remain open. While certain services must be performed in-person at a driver’s services facility, a number of tasks can be completed online, such as renewing a driver’s license or ID card, making a facility appointment or submitting an address change.

*** Downstate ***

* The 21st Show | How anti-abortion activists are responding to Carbondale’s controversial “buffer zone” ordinance: Anti-abortion protesters became a regular presence outside a few clinics offering reproductive health services in Carbondale and last year, the city council responded with a “buffer zone” ordinance to protect the clinincs. But that set off a legal fight of its own over free speech rights and even though the city council repealed the ordinance, the fight continues — and could matter far beyond the Carbondale city limits.

* WCIA | Danville School Board to discuss threats against superintendent at upcoming meeting: According to Geddis, the threats have been happening since the summer. In May, Geddis said she asked a truck with Confederate flags to take their flags down during a graduation ceremony. Shortly after that, she said she was being followed by trucks with Confederate flags. said that she continued to see these flags at school offices and at her home.

* WCIA | Massey Commission praises DOJ investigation, makes more recommendations in second meeting: The Sonya Massey Commission is not taking the credit for the U.S. Department of Justice opening an investigation into the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and the Sangamon County Dispatch, but they are happy that it’s happening. “I think it’s important to go back that far in order to really capture some of the underlying issues,” Sunshine Clemons, co-president of Springfield Black Lives Matter and a member of the Sonya Massey Commission said. “I think you don’t go back far enough. We’re just going to have some surface resolutions and maybe not really see the full extent of issues that could be there.”

* SJ-R | Massey Commission endorses resolution for county mental health board: Meeting with full membership for the second time Monday, the Massey Commission passed a resolution throwing its support for the creation of a 708 Mental Health Board in Sangamon County. The referendum could go before voters on April 1 if it passes the Sangamon County Board. Those same voters could also consider implementing “recall authority” for the sheriff’s office.

* WAND | Decatur residents call upon City Council to revise next year’s budget: Many community members are calling on the city to reduce its expenses and explore alternative revenue sources, such as attracting new businesses and permitting cannabis sales. One community member spoke during public comment stating “The city and the council are putting the burden of debt on the backs of the taxpaying citizens. Why is the answer for budget shortfalls- oh let’s just increase taxes?”

* WCIA | Champaign Co. State’s Attorney breaks down legalities behind ‘use of force’ following 2 shootings: Deadly force has been used twice in the past two weekends in Champaign County. After a road rage shooting over the weekend, the Champaign County State’s Attorney is breaking down the law behind uses of force, and when it would be justified to use a gun on someone.

* WTTW | What Happens When a Prison Closes? Dwight’s Demise 10 Years Ago Highlights Current Issues in Illinois Facilities: “I would like to ask the commission and the governor to reconsider this closing,” Bill Wilkey, then the village president of Dwight, said at the hearing. Wilkey was afraid the closure could worsen the economic impact felt on the village that had recently seen two car dealerships close and a printing plant cut its workforce. The shuttering of the prison could leave incarcerated women farther from their families, he said, as many of them were from the Chicago area. It was a similar sentiment shared by Dwight residents.

*** National ***

* WaPo | FBI investigating post-election text threats sent to Latino, LGBTQ people: “Some recipients reported being told they were selected for deportation or to report to a reeducation camp,” the agency said in a statement Friday, adding that some threats were sent by email as well. It was not immediately clear how many messages were sent by the anonymous users, but thousands more messages — and the numbers sending them — were blocked by wireless carriers once they were made aware of the situation, according to Nick Ludlum, senior vice president of CTIA, a trade group for the U.S. wireless communications industry.

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

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to today’s edition

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* IPM News…

On a hot summer day in August, Chelsey Lowe sat in a maroon dress on a bench in the Logan County Courthouse.

Her lawyer had instructed her to arrive early, but she waited nearly three hours before she was called into the courtroom. Inside, a county judge dismissed the nearly two-year-old case against Lowe, which stemmed from her 2022 arrest by then-Logan County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson. […]

Following her 2022 arrest, Lowe filed a complaint alleging that Grayson acted inappropriately while she was in custody—first, by ordering her to remove drugs from inside her body in front of him and another male officer before a female officer stepped in; and later, by pulling back the curtains around her hospital bed, exposing her. […]

Some legal experts wonder if that’s what prompted the Logan County judge to drop Lowe’s case, although we don’t know for sure; Neither her defense lawyer nor the Logan County State’s Attorney’s Office responded to questions about the case.

Regardless, Lowe feels her experience illustrates a problem of inaction — a missed opportunity for Grayson to be stopped before going on to do much worse.

* A small Madigan trial update…

* Governor JB Pritzker…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined representatives from Veterans Energy Team and Joliet officials to celebrate the opening of the first electric vehicle (EV) charging station funded under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). ​ The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) recently awarded the $480,000 grant to Veterans Energy Team, a local veteran-owned business that partnered with the Joliet Park District to build EV fast chargers at Inwood Athletic Club and Nowell Park. […]

Additional grants from the 2nd round of funding for electric vehicle charging will be announced in the near future. Approximately 2,000 fast charging ports will be installed over the next 18 months as a result of funding provided by the Illinois EPA through CEJA and the Volkswagen Settlement. This investment will triple the number of public fast charging ports across Illinois.

*** Madigan Trial ***

* Tribune | ‘Magic list’ of Madigan-connected lobbyists shown to jury in ex-speaker’s corruption trial: “So since I don’t roam the halls like I use to do I do not have the same ‘on site’ engagement that I use to have,” read the email, which was shown to jurors Monday in the corruption trial of Madigan and McClain. “A Friend of ours and myself have gone through the ‘magic list’ and frankly culled quite a few names…There are now a little less than two dozen on the list.” McClain went on to ask the recipient of the email for help fish for potential clients.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Pat Devaney | Fixing Tier 2 pensions would create a fair retirement for Illinois workers : The solution is the Fair Retirement and Recruitment Act, introduced in the Illinois General Assembly. This legislation would bring the final average salary pension calculation back in line with Tier 1, align Tier 2’s retirement age requirements with Tier 1, implement an across-the-board 3% simple interest cost-of-living adjustment for all Tier 2 members and adjust the pension salary cap to comply with federal Social Security requirements. We understand that fully returning back to Tier 1 for all employees is not currently economically feasible, but the changes proposed by the We Are One Illinois coalition are commonsense reforms that would address the major issues driving workers to leave the public sector. Some have suggested the solution lies with simply fixing the Social Security “safe harbor” requirements within Tier 2, which are widely agreed to be out of compliance with federal law. But only fixing the safe harbor issue would affect a sliver of the highest-earning workers and does nothing to address the core problems with Tier 2. That is unacceptable.

* Sun-Times Editorial Board | Illinois must step up as Trump prepares to back away from protecting our environment: In response, environmentalists in Illinois are working to make the Legislature’s January lame-duck session — held before newly elected legislators are sworn in — a busy time. Among their initiatives are copying federal environmental standards into state law so that they remain in place even if Washington weakens or eliminates some of those rules. Many regulations in Illinois are pegged to federal standards, so if the federal government cuts back its requirements on such things as air pollution and water discharge standards, it would automatically affect Illinois. The Legislature should codify existing rules into state law so that won’t happen.

* Tribune | Lobbying is so ingrained in Springfield it’s practically a branch of government, but lawmakers are reluctant to regulate it: Unlike nearly every other state, Illinois until recently had no restriction on how soon former lawmakers could start lobbying their onetime colleagues, creating an environment that can tempt officials to legislate with an eye toward their future employment prospects rather than the public good. The state finally enacted a revolving-door restriction last year, but good-government advocates say the cooling-off period between legislating and lobbying is too short, with a loophole that still allows lawmakers who finish out their terms to become lobbyists the next day, rendering the restriction mostly meaningless.

*** Statewide ***

* Local 916 president JP Fyans | IDOT is turning to nonunion workers, at a cost to the public: According to a summary statement provided by IDOT, these outside contractors currently work the equivalent of an additional 1,013 full-time employees, at a cost of more than $675 million. Internally, IDOT admitted the use of these contractors and consultants has quintupled in the past three years alone. The driving force behind this massive and expensive shift in staffing is the apathetic hiring approach taken by IDOT and Central Management Services. Based on conversations with several applicants, many civil engineers who were deemed qualified after interviews have been waiting for a year or longer to be offered a position.

* Eye On Illinois | Local governments beginning to reinstate grocery tax: With the clock ticking and the budget shortfall approaching, some governments are doing just that: the Normal Town Council voted 4-3 in September to put its own grocery tax in place, preserving about $2.3 million, according to WEEK-TV. The Pekin City Council followed suit earlier this week, also on a 4-3 vote. That community stood to lose $1.7 million. I’m no political strategist, but now is the time to take such actions. We’re still more than a year out from the change, and shoppers won’t actually experience anything different. The alternative approach is letting the state tax expire and hoping the revenue drop doesn’t actually affect operations. But by then, reinstating the tax might feel more like something new than simply local officials taking over what had been a state responsibility.

* KSDK | A forgotten war was lost against crows in Illinois. Here’s why conservationists stopped bombing the birds: “Frank N. Davis, inspector in charge of predatory control, … is said to have perfected one that is less expensive than those used several years ago and also more effective,” according to a 1940 article in the Belvidere Daily Republican. “It’s a cylindrical cartridge about 10 inches long and two inches wide, containing an eight-inch stick of dynamite … (surrounded by)two and one-fourth points of No. 6 1/2 steelblast shot and bits of broken metal.” Officials would set the bombs off in trees where the crows would roost, each one killing between 3,000 to 20,000 birds in a single blast.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Robberies Drop By Half In Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Avondale Compared To 2023: There were 566 reported robberies in Humboldt Park last year compared to 283 so far this year, city data shows. In Logan Square, there were 368 robberies last year and 165 this year. Avondale saw 121 robberies last year compared to 59 so far this year. […] Many businesses hit by burglars have done away with cash to avoid getting burglarized again or they keep very little in the register, but Aylward recommends business owners leave their empty cash drawer open and visible so they don’t get broken into.

* Tribune | University of Illinois nurses reach tentative agreement with hospital, ending strike after four days: Nurses at University of Illinois Hospital & Clinics have ended a four-day strike, after reaching a tentative contract agreement with UI Health late Saturday night. The nurses began their strike Nov. 13, with no set end date. The strike was the second one since August, when the nurses’ last contract expired. About 1,700 nurses are part of the Illinois Nurses Association unit that went on strike.

* Crain’s | Chicago Fire near decision on new downtown stadium site: It’s unclear how far talks have progressed with either developer as both try to jump-start projects that have been stuck in neutral since being approved by City Hall in 2019. But multiple sources said Mansueto and the Fire are expected to move forward with one option in the weeks ahead and are said to be primarily targeting The 78, because it likely presents the quickest path to getting shovels in the ground.

* Crain’s | Union League’s Monet going to auction — but for how much?: Last spring, the club hired an art adviser to see what it could do, only to have the painting consigned to auction. The estimate is $7 million to $9 million, a range that covers the earlier price but not much more. Ahead of the auction, the club and the auctioneer, Christie’s, have clammed up, not saying whether there’s a minimum price at which the painting would be sold, or what that so-called reserve price is.

* Tribune | ‘He was my baby brother’: Hundreds gather for funeral of slain Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez: It was the second time this year that scores of CPD officers, department leaders, suburban officers and law enforcement officials from across the country flocked to St. Rita to remember the life of a young officer. Among those in attendance were former Mayor Richard M. Daley and deputy mayor for public safety Garien Gatewood, along with alders Marty Quinn, Anthony Napolitano, Matt O’Shea, Anthony Beale, Peter Chico, Jason Ervin and former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas.

* Crain’s | Stockyards sites proposed for $80 million music campus to support Chicago’s film and TV industry: The DPD put out a request for proposals last November. In its announcement, the DPD said it received two complete proposals. It did not include details of the other proposal. The sale of the site, at a proposed $1.9 million, will need approval from the Chicago City Council. That process is not yet scheduled. “Chicago needs this (facility) because the rest of the production infrastructure is in place and production is booming,” said Rich Daniels, a Chicago Federation of Musicians board member who’s been involved with local production, including as music director for the television show “Empire” for its full six-season run.

* Tribune | Historic Chatham Park Village Cooperative defaults on mortgage as residents disagree on property’s future: Once noted for its beautiful and carefully tended facilities, the Chatham Park Village Cooperative has offered affordable homeownership on Chicago’s South Side for more than 60 years. Today more than 20% of the over 500 units at Chatham Park Village are vacant, said co-op board member Eneal Lee, and the property is at risk of foreclosure as the co-op has defaulted on its mortgage, according to documents reviewed by the Tribune.

* WBBM | Invasive carp avoid the Chicago area, study finds: ‘There’s something in the water’: Cory Suski, a professor of natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois and a co-author of the study, said the fish instantly slow down as they move closer to the Chicago area. He believes contaminants in the water play a factor. “This is kind of a stress response,” he said. “It’s a response to, sort of, something uncomfortable in the environment for them. They don’t really know exactly what’s going on, but they’re just going to stop and wait it out and hope that that negative stimulus goes away.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Crain’s | Look inside Northwestern’s new $850 million Ryan Field plans: Northwestern University unveiled plans for its new Ryan Field stadium today, and the $850 million project — the most expensive in NCAA history — promises to reimagine the college football viewing experience. The stadium will not replicate the traditional bowl design common at other colleges, but rather look and feel more like a miniature NFL or MLS facility. It is designed to maximize sound and bring attendees as close to the on-field action as possible.

* Crain’s | Ragu sauce maker moving HQ to Schaumburg: The company that makes Ragu pasta sauce and other food products will move its North American headquarters next year to Schaumburg, where it has signed a deal to become the new anchor tenant of an office complex near Woodfield Mall. Mizkan America, a U.S. subsidiary of Japanese food manufacturer Mizkan Group, has inked a long-term lease for 50,394 square feet at the Woodfield Corporate Center property in the northwest suburb, according to a statement from real estate services firm Savills, which negotiated the deal on behalf of the company

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Board calls on metro-east official to resign after she used township debit card at casino: Sally Rodriguez was appointed township supervisor by other members of the board in May of 2023, after elected supervisor Norm Miller died. According to minutes from the board’s Sept. 4 meeting, she admitted using the card for her personal use, but only by mistake. “I asked her how do you make the same mistake five times and how does your personal card have the same pin number as the Township’s?” said board member Rickie Thomas.

* WAND | Workforce development program launches newest chapter in Decatur: In partnership with Workforce Investment Solutions, ADM, and Richland Community College, the program is designed to establish a pipeline of skilled professionals to meet the needs of the manufacturing industry in central Illinois. […] “We are thrilled to introduce the FAME program to the Decatur community,” said Tony Davis, National Director for FAME U.S. “Our goal is to bridge the gap between education and industry, ensuring that our graduates are not only job-ready but also equipped to drive innovation within the manufacturing sector.”

* The 21st Show | Metro East filmmaker who won Miss Trans Illinois is now running for mayor: Colton Baumgartner, 35, was named Miss Trans Illinois in 2024. She is running for mayor of Granite City, in the Metro East area. Colton is also the author of a children’s book, Cawing Love. She raises funds for Elevated Access, a nonprofit organization that flies people who live in states that outlaw abortions or gender-affirming care to states where such health care is offered.

* WGEM | JWCC and WIU sign criminal justice agreement: John Wood Community College and Western Illinois University have established a new transfer pathway for students pursuing a degree in criminal justice and law enforcement. John Wood President Bryan Renfro and WIU Interim President Kristi Mindrup signed the agreement in a ceremony Monday morning.

* BND | East St. Louis official has different story than what’s told in housing authority lawsuit: Michael Collins said Shonte Mueller did not tell the truth when she alleged in her recently filed lawsuit that she came to him with concerns that a former interim executive director of the East St. Louis Housing Authority was not following HUD guidelines and could jeopardize federal government money. […] Nick Mueller and Shonte Mueller filed a civil rights and defamation lawsuit in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois claiming they were wrongfully removed from their positions by City Manager Robert Betts.

* SJ-R | Watchdog organization finds Springfield hospitals below average for patient care, safety: Springfield Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. John’s Hospital have both received “D” grades from The Leapfrog Group. […] Several of the categories for grading showed in red for the hospitals, being on a green-red scale. Springfield Memorial Hospital scored particularly low in the “problems with surgery” category. HSHS St. John’s Hospital scored particularly low in the “problems with surgery” and “safety problems” categories.

* Muddy River News | From small town to national stage: Quincy native earns Grammy nomination for best folk album: Savana Santos, a Quincy High School graduate, recently received a Grammy nomination for best folk album for her work on “Weird Faith” with singer-songwriter Madi Diaz. The album features “Kiss on the Wall,” co-written by Santos. Santos moved to Nashville to pursue music after graduating high school in 2017. She released the song “F2020” with former music group Avenue Beat. The song became a viral sensation, leading to more than 100 million streams across different platforms. Santos took advantage of this momentum and is now a solo artist, releasing songs like “Messy” and “Cheater.”

*** National ***

* NYT | Associated Press to Cut Staff by 8%: The news organization said the cuts, which would be done through buyouts, were part of a plan to meet “the evolving needs of our customers.” The cuts will affect both news and business employees. “This is about ensuring AP’s important role as the only truly independent news organization at scale during a period of transformation in the media industry,” The Associated Press said.

* Editor & Publisher | Investor building newspaper chain eyes Lee Enterprises, DallasNews: A Florida billionaire with a fondness for local news is looking to build a newspaper giant by potentially scooping up publishers Lee Enterprises and DallasNews. David Hoffmann, who last month disclosed a 5.2% stake in Lee Enterprises, has raised that interest to 8.7%, making him the Davenport, Iowa, company’s second-largest shareholder.

  10 Comments      


Question of the day

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Hmm…


* The Question: Your prediction for Rahm Emanuel’s political future?

  50 Comments      


Legislators pressure IDOC on inmate mail

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a legislative letter addressed to Illinois Department of Corrections Acting Director Latoya Hughes…

Dear Director Hughes,

In light of calls to suspend or electronically scan incoming mail for residents in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), we urge you to allow people who are incarcerated to continue to receive their original physical mail. These demands have escalated in recent weeks after several “exposure incidents” in which Correctional Officers have made claims of overdose symptoms after handling mail.

The safety of correctional staff and residents is a paramount concern. However, restricting physical mail has not been shown to improve safety, and we urge you to investigate and document the root of the problem before taking drastic action. In 2017, The American College of Medical Toxicology and the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology issued a joint report debunking the possibility of incidental transdermal exposure causing overdose symptoms as well as explaining that it would take an extremely high level of long term high-level airborne exposure to cause any effects. In addition, in multiple cases this summer, no evidence of the presence of any drug has been reported in spite of officers going to the hospital and facilities being placed on lockdown in reaction to the “exposure events.” In addition, ProPublica reported in 2023 on the widespread inaccuracy of the very field tests being used in IDOC facilities in these incidents and their high degree of false positive results.

In recent years, many prison administrators have claimed that delivering scanned copies of mail will stop the flow of drugs into their facilities, but there is no evidence that mail scanning has had this effect. Other states that implemented mail scanning to stop the alleged problem of drugs coming into prisons through the mail saw drug use and overdoses increase.

Physical mail—including letters, cards, drawings, and photographs—is an affordable way for people who are incarcerated and their loved ones to communicate. Maintaining close relationships with a person’s support system during incarceration supports rehabilitation and improves public safety. Mail is essential to maintaining a sense of hope and connection, and restricting it has measurable negative impacts on mental health, behavior, and success when people return home. Scanned copies of photos and cards simply aren’t the same, especially when you factor in the limited access to tablets and the costs associated with accessing them.

We look forward to your response and working with you to ensure the safety of everyone in IDOC facilities. We do not doubt that drug abuse in Illinois prisons (as in the rest of society) is a problem, but it should be solved by addressing the root of the problem through comprehensive substance use disorder treatment for people who are affected by it rather than eliminating this vital lifeline for everyone. Taking mail away works directly against the bipartisan goal we all share of supporting rehabilitation.

Thank you for your consideration of this critical issue.

Sincerely,

    Rep. Kelly Cassidy
    Sen. Robert Peters
    Rep. Justin Slaughter Rep. Kevin Olickal
    Rep. Will Guzzardi
    Rep. Laura Faver Dias Rep. Norma Hernandez Rep. Lilian Jimenez Rep. Ann Williams
    Sen. Lakesia Collins Rep. Anne Stava-Murray Rep. Yolanda Morris Rep. Theresa Mah
    Rep. Kim du Buclet Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid Rep. Mary Beth Canty Rep. Hoan Huynh
    Rep. Laura Faver Dias Rep. Kam Buckner
    Rep. Dagmara Avelar Sen. Laura Fine
    Sen. Adriane Johnson Rep. Nabeela Syed
    Sen. Mattie Hunter
    Sen. Karina Villa
    Sen. Ram Villivalam Sen. Javier Cervantes Sen. Mark Walker
    Sen Celina Villanueva Sen. Mary Edly-Allen Rep. Sonya Harper
    Sen. Mike Simmons

IDOC has not yet responded to the letter. From the governor’s office…

The safety of DOC staff, individuals in custody, and everyone entering facilities is the administration’s top priority within the department. Governor Pritzker appreciates the perspective from lawmakers on this issue and remains committed to working with them to ensure essential communications and family connections are maintained for individuals in custody.

* Some links from the authors…

• A year after the New Mexico Corrections Department banned physical mail and implemented mail scanning, a July 2022 state Legislative Finance Committee report indicated that the new procedure had zero effect on drug use in the state prison system. The report noted as well that positive results on random New Mexico drugs tests on people who are incarcerated rose to 3.7% in 2021–2022, nearly doubling the previous rate (2%) before the mail restrictions were implemented in 2020–2021. (https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2022/sep/1/florida-now-digitizing-inco ming-mail-state-prisoners/)

• According to data from October 2022, overdoses rose in Missouri prisons despite the implementation of mail scanning. In the first six months of 2022, Missouri prisons averaged a little more than 34 overdoses a month. Mail scanning went into e ect on July 1, 2022. In July, August, and September 2022, the average number of overdoses increased to 39 per month. (https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/overdoses-rise-in-missouri-prisons-des pite-strict-new-mail-policy-38708405)

• According to a 2023 article, data provided by the Pennsylvania DOC revealed that across a number of metrics, the drug problem in state prisons became worse following the implementation of mail scanning. In August 2018, 1.0% of people incarcerated in Pennsylvania tested positive on random drug screenings; as of December 2022, that rate had grown to 2.7%. (https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/04/nearly-5-years-after-inmate-mail-scanning-policy-took-effect-pa-prison-drug-problem-remains.html)

• Mail is often the most commonly used, affordable, and accessible form of communication for people who are incarcerated and their loved ones. Decades of academic research indicate that visits, mail, phone, and other forms of family contact for incarcerated people have meaningful, positive impacts including better health, better behavior while incarcerated, better post-release outcomes, and reduced recidivism. (https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/12/21/family_contact/#:~:text=The%20re search%20is%20clear%3A%20visitation,recidivism%2C%20and%20improvement %20in%20school).

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Fundraiser list

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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BIPA reforms surviving court challenges for now

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Bloomberg…

Recent changes to Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act aimed at limiting damages awards apply to lawsuits that were filed before the amendments were enacted, a federal judge ruled.

Judge Elaine E. Bucklo of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Wednesday tossed out a BIPA lawsuit against Michigan-based trucking company Central Transport LLC after finding that the maximum amount of damages available to plaintiff John Gregg under the new provisions didn’t meet the threshold for federal diversity jurisdiction.

The decision is here.

* More…

The Court recognized there is a general presumption that the legislature intends to change existing law when it passes a statutory amendment. Under such circumstances, courts must determine whether that change should be applied retroactively. However, where circumstances surrounding the amendment’s enactment show the legislature only intended to clarify (rather than change) the original law, the amendment should be applied as though it existed at the time the legislature passed the original statute. That, the Court held, is what happened when the legislature passed its recent amendment to BIPA.

* Another judge appeared to concur…

Similarly, in Ulysses Ballard v. Freedman Seating Company, Judge Catherine A. Schneider recently transferred a BIPA case out of the Law Division and to the First Municipal District for its failure to meet the $30,000 minimum damages threshold required for jurisdiction in the Law Division following the enactment of the Bill. Defendant, in that case, argued that the Bill clarifies and explains the Illinois General Assembly’s intent regarding the assessment of damages under BIPA and, therefore, is properly applied to all cases pending on the date of the enactment. Judge Schneider’s Order granting defendant’s motion to transfer the case appears to adopt this reasoning.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill in August that clarified when a business improperly obtains biometric information of an employee or customer, the violation happens just one time, instead of each time the biometric data is obtained. For example, if an employee signs into their job with a fingerprint timeclock each day without giving their employer written consent to collect their biometric data, the company would be in violation of the law one time rather than each time the timeclock is used.

A prior interpretation of the law by the courts caused many businesses to pay out enormous settlements to employees or customers for violations of Illinois’ law, which is the only of its kind in the country. The Illinois Supreme Court invited the General Assembly to clarify the law after a case against White Castle wound up with the fast food chain potentially on the hook for $17 billion in damages, though it was ultimately settled for $9.4 million. State law stipulates damages are awarded for $1,000 for each “negligent” violation and $5,000 for each “reckless” or “intentional” violation.

“Because in this context employees are often required to scan each workday, sometimes multiple times per day, an important question arose: do BIPA claims accrue each time there is a biometric scan and each time that scan is transmitted to a third party, or do those claims only accrue upon the first scan and transmission?” Bucklo wrote in her opinion.

State lawmakers ultimately voted earlier this year to amend BIPA to show they intend for violations to occur once per person rather than each time data is obtained from a person.

  1 Comment      


Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

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

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

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Asked about Trump using ‘military assets’ for mass deportation, Pritzker says the plan may be ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘illegal’

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Background is here if you need it. ABC News…

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday confirmed he would declare a national emergency to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.

Overnight, Trump responded to a social media post from Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton, who said earlier this month there are reports the incoming administration is preparing such a declaration and to use “military assets” to deport the migrants.

“TRUE!!!” Trump wrote.

Trump pledged to get started on mass deportations as soon as he enters office.

“On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out,” he said during a rally at Madison Square Garden in the closing days of the presidential race. “I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”

* During an unrelated news conference today, the governor was asked about Donald Trump’s plan to declare a national emergency to carry out mass deportations of migrants in the US…

Q: You may have heard this morning, President-elect Trump confirming on Truth Social that he’s likely to declare a state of emergency for deportation and use the military to do that. What would that mean here in Illinois? Could he use the Insurrection Act to call out the National Guard and how would you respond to that?

Pritzker: We, of course are deeply concerned about the President of the United States calling out military inside the United States, where people are peaceful, even if there may be people who are undocumented. But the idea of calling out the Army into the domestic confines of the United States seems uncalled for, and may, in fact, be unconstitutional and illegal. We’ll look into that. Honestly, he says a lot of things. You never know what he’s telling the truth about, so we’ll have to see.

Q: He had talked back in the George Floyd riots, having governors call up the National Guard to help quell the violence. Senior advisors apparently talked him out of that. What is your hope as he talks about this about what may not actually happen?

Pritzker: Well he does not have the ability to call out the National Guard inside the confines of the United States, the governors do. There are two different provisions of the Act that authorizes the use of the National Guard, Title 10, Title 32 and he doesn’t have under either one of those the ability to call the National Guard out again in the United States of America. He can, however, call out the National Guard to fight in foreign wars. And he indeed, has done that. We’ve sent many, many thousands of National Guard over just my term in office to serve abroad, and that’s at the behest of the President of the United States, whether it was Joe Biden, or before him, Donald Trump.

* Meanwhile, from the New York Times…

Some of the first maneuvering by top Democrats began this past week, when Mr. Pritzker and Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado announced the formation of a group called Governors Safeguarding Democracy. Its unveiling followed several days of behind-the-scenes drama, as several fellow Democratic governors declined to join the group, at least for now.

A draft news release listed six other governors as members of the coalition led by Mr. Pritzker and Mr. Polis. But four of them - Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania - declined to join, according to people briefed on the discussions.

Govs. Tony Evers of Wisconsin and Josh Green of Hawaii were also named on the draft news release, but neither has yet agreed to join the group.

Alex Gough, a spokesman for Mr. Pritzker, said that the group had been working with 20 governors’ offices but that “not all of these governors wish to be named publicly at this time for understandable reasons, including the potential threats states are facing.”

  30 Comments      


Abandon ship?

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The thing I most despise about the current version of X (Twitter) is that the site rewards outrage engagement farming. Look below any post by a public figure and you have to wade through a wide band of paid “blue check” subscribers tweeting increasingly vile things for the sole purpose of garnering attention and being compensated by the site’s ownership.

The system is specifically designed to produce a super-ugly feedback loop, and it’s not gonna get any better.

I don’t usually read the comments over there. So, that ugliness mostly doesn’t bother me, and I stay away from the site’s darker corners. But even if I did let that stuff get to me, I can’t leave yet because I use X mainly as a way to spot breaking news stories. Until state reporters and politicians also decide to leave, I’m stuck there and I’ll just make the best of it no matter what.

* But there is a growing alternative. I’ve set up an account at BlueSky. During the past few days, a large number of reporters and some major news media outlets have created profiles at the site. Click here for a “starter pack” I created of state reporters, and click here for a broader Illinois news media list.

A handful of state legislators, a few members of the governor’s top staff, a couple of state agencies, the Senate Democrats and a smattering of lobbyists and PR people have also set up BlueSky accounts. Click here for a list I created of those folks. Even Oswego Willy has a BlueSky account.

* It feels like a tipping point might - *might* - be coming. If that happens and if we can easily follow events like the Michael Madigan trial and all the the spring legislative session news and upcoming elections, then I’ll move fully over to BlueSky. Heck, we might even be able to return to actual live coverage if I can convince my third party app to create the software.

Anyway, click here to check it out. And let me know if you’ve joined the exodus.

  87 Comments      


Energy Storage Can Minimize Major Price Spikes

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Each month, families and businesses pay a capacity charge through their energy bill. It’s essentially an insurance policy that pays energy resources (or “capacity”) to be available for when the grid needs them most. Grid operators project a possible shortage of capacity in the coming years, which means the charge for this insurance policy will rise next year for many Illinoisans.

Batteries, or energy storage, are currently the best solution to minimize this price spike (which could be as high as $30 in 2026)—but building them at the pace we need will require legislation. The added benefit is the ability to store cheap electricity for use when demand peaks during the day—lowering energy bills and making the grid more reliable.

Learn more about legislation that builds urgently needed energy storage here.

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Welch talks Trump, budget, staff

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…

Just about nothing happened in the first week of veto session in the House and the Senate. The Democratic legislative leaders are still trying to figure out what their members want to do in the wake of Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and whether that can be done.

Whether that action starts in the second and final week of the veto session, or in the lame-duck January session or in the regular spring session is still up in the air as I write this.

“We’re going to have to do something,” House Speaker Chris Welch told me, but he couldn’t say what that “something” was just yet. “I think it’s important that we let the conversations happen. Those conversations have to happen so that we come to alignment on that.”

Asked about Trump’s economic message of consistently railing against inflation and promising no income taxes on overtime, tips and Social Security, Welch said, “I think the economic message worked. I think the economic message and what we’ve been through in this country was very important, and we’re going to have to listen and acknowledge that. And as Democrats in Illinois, I think we’ve already done a good job of doing that, but we’re going to have to continue to listen to the voters when it comes to that economic message. Listen, Trump won, and he won in a resounding way. We have to acknowledge that, and we have to be responsible.”

Welch continued: “If we don’t listen to voters here and make the necessary changes, particularly on the national level, quite frankly, I think nationally, they can do a lot more of what we’ve done here in Illinois. If we don’t listen to the voters, we’re not going to reverse what happened here on Tuesday (Nov. 5).”

When asked about the projected massive budget deficit, the House Speaker said, “The governor and I need to sit down and have some serious conversations about how we’re going to approach next year’s $3.1 billion budget deficit and come to an agreement. I think it’s important that we be in alignment and walk in the same direction on that, and we’re prepared to do that.”

Welch recently hired a new appropriations staff director. While praising the outgoing director, Welch said his new director, Madeline McCune — a former House staffer who left to run the legislative shop for the Illinois Association of School Administrators — is drawing kudos from far and wide.

The House Democrats haven’t been able to draft a budget during the past two sessions.

“I think she’s going to take us to another level,” Welch said of McCune. “There’s a history there with the Senate team. There’s a history with the governor’s team. And one of the things that we’re going to have to do going into a very difficult budget year, we’ve got to work together. We have to all be clicking on the same page and on all cylinders, and with Madeline there, we’re not going to just not miss a beat, we’re going to elevate our game.”

Speaking of staff, Welch also acknowledged that he’s telling his members to expect some significant changes in his operations during the coming year. “I have to acknowledge that we have to do things a little bit different,” Welch said.

The House Democrats have had serious staffing shortages, under-qualified staff and major staff turnover problems. One of the reasons is a decades-old handshake agreement that the party caucus dollars are divided equally in both chambers, with the Senate getting more overall because their districts are twice as large as the House districts.

So, even though Welch has 78 members, his caucus is appropriated the same amount as the House Republicans, who have 40 members. And it receives less than the Senate Democrats, who have 40 members, and less than the Senate Republicans, who have a mere 19 members.

“We have to address that,” Welch said. “And I’m gonna fight like hell to address that, because that’s the way that I can address a number of my staffing issues.”

“Where’s the fairness and equity in that?” Welch rhetorically asked about the disparities. “And so, do know, as the leader of this chamber, that’s one of the things that I’m laser-focused on. And the voters have spoken. They’ve elected 78 Democrats twice now, possibly more, and we’re going to fight to make sure we have the proper resources to address the staff and the concerns.”

Welch also promised to make further “necessary tweaks to elevate our game,” in the coming spring session.

  9 Comments      


Open thread

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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

  10 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Monday, Nov 18, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: DOJ investigating Sangamon County for discrimination after Sonya Massey murder. WCIA…

    - County officials received a formal letter from the Department of Justice asking for more information after receiving allegations the Sheriff’s Office, the county, and the Sangamon County Central Dispatch System could have violated federal nondiscrimination laws.
    - DOJ officials said Sonya Massey’s murder “raises serious concerns” about members of the Sheriff’s Office’s interactions with Black people and people with behavioral health disabilities.
    -The department also asked for review of several years of policies, practices, procedures, and training deputies receive on de-escalation, rendering medical aid, and responding to behavioral health crises.

* Meanwhile, from the Illinois Times…

The only people to speak in support of a serial sex offender at a recent sentencing hearing were two Springfield police detectives.

More than three years after his arrest by Illinois State Police, Zane Merreighn, 25, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the sexual abuse of five girls who ranged in age from 14 to 16 years old.

Merreighn is the son of Jennifer Oglesby Mack, who is a sex crimes investigator for the Springfield Police Department. Parents of the victims contend Merreighn’s crime spree could have been stopped sooner if not for area law enforcement agencies cutting him breaks because his mother was a cop.

Special Appellate Prosecutor Lorinda Lamken said there was no evidence that Oglesby Mack used her influence to protect her son. But she added it is clear that Merreighn evoked his mother’s name and sought special treatment. […]

During the testimony, Oglesby Mack sat next to her husband, Michael Mack, and stared at the floor. Mack is also a detective with the SPD.

* At 10 am Governor Pritzker will give remarks at the Inwood Athletic Club in Joliet to celebrate the first CEJA-funded EV charging stations. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Secretary of State Giannoulias discusses importance of organ donation at west suburban church: He joined Jordan Temple’s Senior Pastor Stephen Richardson, the recipient of two heart transplants. He received the first in November 1996 when he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. He got the second in November 2013 when medications formed plaque buildup that blocked his arteries. He also got a new kidney that same year. “Three hearts, three kidneys and I’m still moving, I’m very thankful,” Richardson told the Sun-Times. “A donor extends a person’s life.”

* Tribune | After-school programs on the chopping block due to delayed funding disbursement: About 40% of the state’s after-school programs have been slashed this year, following delays in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, and the number is expected to rise to 87%, totaling about 290 sites, by the end of this year. The problem is that the governor’s office is at a standstill with the money, and there has been no communication on when funds will be released.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center Square | Illinois homeschoolers worry Trump tax credit could lead to state regulation: Trump, in a video posted on social media, promised homeschooling parents tax relief on their education costs, up to $10,000 per year per child. […] Illinois Family Institute Executive Director David Smith said rumblings of regulation coming out of the Illinois capitol might deter homeschooling parents from applying for the credit.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Illinois nuclear plants are in the crosshairs of data centers and AI’s insatiable demand for clean power. At what cost?: On Tuesday, President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled plans to triple the nation’s nuclear power supply by midcentury. While support for most clean energy projects is threatened by Republican control of Washington, this one might stick. A Pew Research poll from August shows Republicans are more likely than Democrats to favor expanding nuclear power generation. […] If early experiments reopening plants and developing smaller reactors fail, tech giants could zero in on Illinois’ operational plants, which provide more than half of the state’s power.

* WCIA | IL launches multi-million-dollar Cannabis Research Institute: On Friday, Governor JB Pritzker, U of I System President Tim Killeen, government officials, and cannabis researchers with Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) launched the Cannabis Research Institute (CRI). […] “The Cannabis Research Institute will use innovative research and data collection to deepen our understanding of cannabis and help shape the future of the industry, better inform the public, and develop policies for consumer protection, economic and community development, and equity,” Pritzker said.

* Tribune | After Trump win, Illinois providers report a spike in demand for abortion pills, birth control and sterilizations: Planned Parenthood of Illinois saw a 15% increase in calls immediately following the Nov. 5 election, with many callers asking about vasectomies and options for long term but reversible contraception, such as intrauterine devices and birth control implants. “People are frightened,” said Cristina Villarreal, chief external affairs officer for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, which has 17 clinics statewide. “We are concerned about a lot of different things with the coming administration and we are doing what we can to prepare for it. But I think the important thing for patients to know right now is that we are open for providing the reproductive and sexual health care that they need … and we will fight to continue to do that.”

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | After 50-0 defeat of his $300 million property tax hike, Mayor Brandon Johnson brokers a new deal: The largest chunk of new revenue — $128 million — will come from raising the personal property lease tax on cloud computing to 11%. Another $14 million would be squeezed out of “redundancies and efficiencies” in administrative costs tied to the spending programs bankrolled by federal pandemic relief programs in 2026 without laying off employees or disrupting programs.

* Tribune | Killing extra pension payment could spare Mayor Brandon Johnson and aldermen political headaches, but cost Chicagoans later: Some officials are rallying around the idea of diverting surplus dollars from past years’ budgets that were set aside to keep the city’s pension funds afloat. The “advance” or “supplemental” pension payment Johnson wants for 2025 is $272 million, just shy of the $300 million tax hike he called for then abandoned last week in the face of an overwhelming council revolt against it. Cutting that pension payment is among the most straightforward fixes floated to fill the gaping property tax hole in Chicago’s budget. But there are plenty of warnings against skipping it, including from Johnson’s budget team and municipal finance experts.

* Block Club | Most Chicago Street Fests Aren’t Paying Police Overtime, Leaving Taxpayers On The Hook: Last week, alderpeople grilled officials from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, demanding to know how many police resources were poured into neighborhood street festivals while raising concerns about officer burnout amid so many competing demands. […] “It’s my understanding there are a number of events in the city where, for whatever reason, we don’t ask the event organizer to reimburse us for things like police resources, police and fire, paramedic, traffic control,” Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said during the hearing last week. “Some events spend lots of money on those sorts of things, like Lollapalooza, for example. Yet other events don’t get charged these things.”

* WBEZ | Trump’s inroads in Chicago driven by staggering dropoff in votes for Democrats: Citywide, former President Donald Trump saw a roughly 16,000 vote bump compared to 2020, but Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote total was more than 205,000 votes behind President Joe Biden’s in 2020. “The real story is you have fewer people voting and that Trump got the same number of votes in 2024 than he got in 2020,” said Delmarie Cobb, a Democratic political and media consultant.

* Crain’s | Chicago Tribune union ratifies first-ever contract: Per the deal, employees will now receive a 3% pay raise each year along with a 401(k) match and bonuses, according to an announcement by the publication. Several Tribune employees went decades without raises and “no one can remember the last time back-to-back, company-wide raises were made,” the union claimed in a social media post.

* Crain’s | Loop landlords pitch taxing themselves to boost ailing downtown:
Many commercial landlords in the Loop have expressed interest in a BID to help revitalize downtown amid record-high office and retail vacancy, even as the real estate industry grapples with the burdens of high energy costs and property taxes, BOMA Executive Director Farzin Parang said. “The industry is very sensitive to new costs; we already have the highest commercial property tax in the country, so really the purpose of this process is to find out, ‘does this make sense?’ ” Parang told Crain’s.

* Sun-Times | Celebrated as a ‘voice’ for the community, Perri Small retires from WVON: Small was not only celebrating her retirement, but her 65th birthday. Sitting in front of a bouquet of flowers and sipping champagne, she spoke to in-studio visitors and took calls from prominent figures honoring her decadeslong career as a journalist and media personality. Public intellectual and former presidential candidate Cornel West even called in, encouraging Small to “keep that smile and that style and that spirit and that soul.”

* Tribune | Addiction treatment center opens Mac’s Deli, a new West Loop restaurant staffed entirely by patients in recovery: Monday marked the grand opening of Mac’s Deli, a restaurant that Haymarket Center has opened in order to employ patients in recovery and provide them with job training. Mac’s Deli will be fully staffed by Haymarket Center clients, with the proceeds from its classic Chicago fare going toward the center’s initiatives. The restaurant was built into the side of Haymarket Center’s building, just paces away from its other services. Mac’s Deli is designed to provide patients with substance use disorder an opportunity to return to the workforce within a supportive community centered around recovery, according to Haymarket Center President and CEO Dan Lustig.

* Block Club | Chicago Crowns Jeremy Allen White Lookalike Contest Winner: The contest sought to find the person who most closely resembles White, who plays Chicago chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto in the hit FX on Hulu series “The Bear.” Ben Shabad, 37, took home the coveted “Num. 1 J.A.W.” ribbon along with a cash prize of $50 and a pack of Marlboro Cigarettes.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WBEZ | Amid concerns about a federal rollback, Cook County Commissioner pitches more money for reproductive health: Amid concerns about the next presidential administration’s lack of support for abortion rights, Democratic Cook County Commissioner Bridget Degnen wants the county to infuse more money into access to reproductive health services. County commissioners are set to vote on a proposed 2025 budget next week totaling nearly $10 billion. Degnen wants to amend the proposed budget to provide $2 million in grants to community organizations that provide wraparound reproductive health services. These organizations help cover the cost of everything from hotel stays and travel to medical bills for people seeking abortions.

* Sun-Times | Kim Foxx sees legacy as helping community trust law enforcement: After eight years as Cook County’s top prosecutor, 12 before that as an assistant state’s attorney and three with the office of the public guardian, Foxx said it has been “decades of sadness first thing in the morning,” as she briefs herself on cases that came in overnight. But the reports were also motivating, she said, inspiring her to try to make the county better.

* Daily Herald | ‘Looking out for the child’: How a Lake County nonprofit helps low-income families: Since the nonprofit’s inception in 1998, some 53,000 children and their families have received financial support totaling nearly $6 million. That includes nearly 2,900 kids and $688,619 over the last year. “Barbara set the mission up, and the mission hasn’t changed,” said Lisa Cervieri, the organization’s executive director. “The crux of it is just helping kids that are in dire situations, and she hit the nail on the head because of her years in social work: It’s the little things that make the biggest difference to these kids.”

* Evanston Round Table | Mayor Biss ready to do ‘whatever it takes’ for what’s to come in Trump presidency: Biss acknowledged early in the interview that what’s to come is still somewhat unknown. He sees a push toward Trump’s mass deportation plans, which the president-elect had alluded to during debates, happening early in the administration. Beyond that, though, “I don’t think we know,” Biss said. “I don’t think we should pretend to know.”

*** Downstate ***



* SJ-R | ‘This isn’t over yet.’ Final ballots to be counted in Springfield-area recorder race: The four-term incumbent in the Sangamon County Recorder’s office and the only Democrat to hold a county-wide seat said he is feeling upbeat despite having to make up a 68-vote deficit against his opponent. On Tuesday, county clerk officials will tabulate some 450 late-arriving vote by mail ballots and qualified provisional ballots under the gaze of the two candidates, Springfield Clerk Frank Lesko who leads current Recorder Josh Langfelder by just a handful of votes.

* IPM News | Josh McCray runs for three TDs to lead Illinois to a 38-16 win over slumping Michigan State: Josh McCray ran for three touchdowns and Luke Altmyer threw two TD passes, leading Illinois to a 38-16 victory Saturday over Michigan State. McCray had nine carries for 61 yards, Altmyer completed 19 of 32 passes for 231 yards and Pat Bryant caught four passes for a career-high 135 yards and a TD in his final home game as the Illini (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) ended a two-game losing streak.

*** National ***

* The Chicago Council on Global Affairs | How cover crops could help the Midwestern agriculture business: While cover cropping in the Midwest has increased fourfold from 2011 to 2021, it still occurs on just a small percentage of the region’s 148 million acres of farmland. That stands in stark contrast to the practice’s use in some farming regions overseas. Parts of Europe, for instance, use cover crops on almost all of their arable land due to stricter regulations. Coppess said more state and federal incentives could similarly increase uptake in the Midwest — though he also notes that, while the practice helps eliminate some risks, it also comes with risks of its own.

* The Guardian | ‘Queen of polling’ J Ann Selzer quits after Iowa survey missed by 16 points: In a column published by the Des Moines Register on Sunday, Selzer wrote that public opinion polling had been her “life’s work” and had made a decision to step back from it a year ago. “Would I have liked to make this announcement after a final poll aligned with Election Day results? Of course,” she wrote. “It’s ironic that it’s just the opposite.” Seltzer ventured that her strong track record had “maybe that history of accuracy made the outlier position too comfortable”.

* NYT | How Bluesky, Alternative to X and Facebook, Is Handling Explosive Growth: Bluesky’s 20 full-time employees have been working around the clock to deal with the issues that come with hyper-growth: site outages, glitches in the code and content moderation issues. Most importantly, they have been trying to keep early users happy as new members have flooded in. “We as a team take pride in our ability to scale quickly,” Jay Graber, 33, the chief executive of Bluesky, said in an interview. “But there’s always some growing pains.” She added that the app — which is still dwarfed by Facebook, Instagram and X — was adding more than one million new users a day.

* Vox | Bluesky brings the fun, weird vibes of old Twitter back to life: Bluesky looks a lot like the old Twitter you knew and loved. It’s a reverse chronological feed of posts, including images, videos, and links that you can like and repost. Like old Twitter, your feed is not ruled by an algorithm. Meanwhile, Bluesky’s open source, decentralized framework gives you a lot more control over how your feed works than X or even Threads, the X alternative Meta has been pushing onto Instagram users.

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