America is at a crossroads and we need a leader in the United States Senate who will prioritize all people over a political party. Minority Whip Durbin has been in public office for 37 years, and many communities in Illinois have been ignored and forgotten.
He is out of touch with constituents. I attempted to arrange a meeting with Sen. Durbin and for four weeks I did not get a call back from his office. As a businessman, I ask what has been the return on investment for Durbin’s 37-year career? The statistics reflect record levels of unemployment, gun violence, disinvestment, and hopelessness in too many communities. To add insult to injury, Durbin voted for the pernicious 1994 Crime Bill that provided $8.7 billion to build more prisons and led to the mass incarceration of Black boys and men. Black males account for 6.5 percent of the population and 40 percent of the federal prison population. Sen. Durbin’s vote for the 1994 Crime Bill ensured that there are more Black men in prison than on college campuses. Sen. Durbin’s decision to look tough on crime has cost Black men their lives and broken up families.
“Just last week Sen. Durbin displayed his contempt for the Black and Brown community when he voted “no” to allow debate on Police Reform in the Senate. The deaths of George Floyd, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice and others at the hands of law enforcement demand police reform. Sen. Durbin knows that for young men of color, police use of force is among the leading causes of death. Nonetheless, Sen. Durbin again chose the Democrat Party over the people. Sen. Tim Scott’s Police Reform Bill fell four votes short of allowing debate to proceed,” Dr. Wilson said.
“Sen. Durbin for three decades has stood in the way of building a third airport to accommodate growth in the South Suburbs of Cook County and congestion at O’Hare and Midway airports. Building a third airport would address overcrowding issues, improve safety, stimulate the local economy and improve the environment. I strongly support building a third airport for the South Suburbs,” says Dr. Wilson.
Dr. Wilson stated: I am running for the United States Senate because Sen. Durbin has taken the African American community and others for granted. Quite frankly, his 37 years in office has caused him to become arrogant and out of touch with citizens from the Land of Lincoln. He has become drunk with the wine of power from the Potomac. He no longer can relate to the problems of people in Englewood, East St. Louis, Austin, and Aurora. Specifically, more than 1.6 million people left Illinois for other states between 2014-2018. Sen. Durbin’s propensity to raise taxes is driving people and businesses out of Illinois. He is more interested in serving the interests of lobbyists and corporations than the people. As a former sharecropper, I understand people, pain, poverty and business. I will always put people before politics.
“The COVID-19 pandemic unmasked the woeful investment the federal government has made in closing gaps in racial disparities in healthcare. In fact, more African Americans and Latinos have been diagnosed with and died from COVID-19. Sen. Durbin has failed in 37 years to improve the quality of healthcare for Black and Brown people in Illinois. For example, there is a 30-year life expectancy gap just based on where you live in Chicago. A person living in Streeterville can expect to live 30 years longer than someone in Englewood. Sen. Durbin has failed to address inequality in wealth, healthcare, housing, education, criminal justice, and contracting. He does not deserve another six-year term. As a part of the Senate Leadership he should be ashamed that he has not done more to improve the lives of poor people. There is no higher calling than serving others, I believe the United States Senate would allow me to better serve the citizens of Illinois and the nation,” Dr. Wilson said.
* I asked the Durbin campaign for a response. From his campaign manager Greg Bales…
Dr. Wilson is not an independent—he’s a Republican who publicly supported Donald Trump, Bruce Rauner, and contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates this election. On police reform, he opposes the Congressional Black Caucus and every major civil rights organization — including the NAACP and Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund — and instead supports Trump’s position. A vote for Wilson is a vote for Trump and a Mitch McConnell controlled U.S. Senate.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 828 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 30 additional confirmed deaths.
Cook County: 1 female 40s, 1 male 40s, 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 3 females 70s, 3 males 70s, 3 female 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
DuPage 1 male 40s, 1 female 90s
Kane County: 1 male 60s, 2 females 80s
Lake County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s
Madison County: 1 male 70s
Sangamon County: 1 female 70s
St. Clair County: 1 female 80s
Will County: 1 female 60s
Winnebago County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 144,013cases, including 6,951 deaths, in 101 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 33,090 specimens for a total of 1,636,055. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from June 24 –June 30 is 2.6%.
In Illinois, total reported fatalities climbed from 5,548 to 7,124 in June, a hike of 28.4 percent. But in California, the jump was from 4,287 to 6,081, up 41.8 percent. In Texas it was up 46 percent, with 2,496 deaths as of yesterday. And in Florida, up 42.4 percent, with 3,505 fatalities to date.
All of them are pikers compared to Arizona. Total pandemic fatalities there to date soared 78 percent last month, to 1,632 from 917.
Those are deaths, folks. As in permanent removal from this good earth. Not just sniffles from the flu.
Those fatality numbers continue to get worse in a rush. Florida reported 49 new deaths today, and Arizona 88. Texas added 59 deaths yesterday.
* On a scale of one to five, with five being the most worried, how worried are you about the state, or at least some regions, being moved back to Phase 3? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
A southern Illinois couple has filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Public Health and the State Board of Education, alleging that the state’s plans to reopen schools this fall with safety protocols in place will “result in immediate and irreparable harm” to their three children.
The suit, filed in Clay County by James and Kali Mainer, requests a temporary restraining order that would put a halt to mandatory facial coverings, temperature checks, and limitations on groups of 50 or more individuals.
In the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday, the couple alleges that the IDPH and ISBE “have promulgated unlawful, arbitrary and capricious mandates” that place an “unreasonable burden” on the family’s three children.
The family’s suit says that they have “protectable rights and interests at stake to be free from unlawful, arbitrary and capricious rule making,” and that the rules that state officials have formulated are “unlawful,” since they are only aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.
* Their attorney, of course, is Tom Devore. His statement to WICS TV…
My clients are merely asking the Court to follow Illinois Supreme Court precedent which holds face-masks, and other health regulations, which are intended to try and prevent the spread of COVID-19 are not allowable under the law. It is really a quite simple legal matter unless and until the Illinois Supreme Court changes its position.
That’s a pretty bold statement. An earlier version of the story referenced a 1922 Illinois court case which says, in part…
Health authorities cannot promulgate and enforce rules which merely have a tendency to prevent the spread of contagious and infectious diseases, which are not founded upon an existing condition or upon a well-founded belief that a condition is threatened which will endanger the public health. The health authorities cannot interfere with the liberties of a citizen until the emergency actually exists.
A comprehensive new assessment of flood risk, released this week by the nonprofit First Street Foundation, exposes blind spots in FEMA’s maps to show just how vulnerable the nation’s properties are. Built by researchers from private companies and universities, the model calculates the cumulative risk for every property in the contiguous United States from rainfall, storm surge, tidal and river flooding. FEMA says 8.7 million properties are in areas susceptible to a “hundred-year flood” — a flooding event with a 1% chance of occurring in a given year. The new data says there are 14.6 million properties at risk. […]
In Cook County, where Chicago and its suburbs are located, the new model found more than 150,000 properties are at high risk — about six times as many as FEMA’s estimate. […]
Illinois has warmed about 1.2 degrees and experienced 10% to 15% more precipitation over the last century, according to the Illinois State Climatologist’s office. But the rainfall is not uniform — it’s increasingly coming down in bunches. In the Great Lakes region, the most powerful storms have increased 35% between 1951 and 2017.
Last year, state scientists updated the standard for new construction requiring state permits, including the design of storm sewers, retention ponds and road drainage, to accommodate increasing precipitation trends.
Because state and local officials use FEMA maps to help guide and justify their planning decisions, they tend to focus almost exclusively on the areas the agency has deemed high risk.
For example, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has spent around $22.2 million helping municipalities acquire 90 flood-prone properties, raze the structures on those properties and keep those areas as open space. The agency has designated additional high-risk zones beyond the FEMA maps, but so far, the properties purchased throughout Cook County have been located in FEMA’s high-risk zones. […]
In Illinois alone, there has been more than $2.3 billion in documented property damage from flooding in urban areas between 2007 and 2014, according to a study led by the Department of Natural Resources. Over 90% of those insurance and disaster assistance claims were for properties outside of the FEMA floodplain — where residents weren’t required to buy flood insurance and may not have been alerted to the risk when they bought their homes.
If anything, the First Street model still underestimates risk in some properties, because its analysis is based on ground-level flooding, as are the FEMA maps. Andrew Smith, chief operations officer at Fathom, said basements can flood more frequently than the model suggests. […]
Between 2007 and 2016, there were nearly 230,000 flood-related claims in Chicago resulting in $433 million in payouts, according to a 2018 report from the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Of those, 87% of paid flood claims were located in communities of color.
With little room to spare at Cook County Jail, Sheriff Tom Dart is seeking a court order to compel the state to take custody of inmates who had been housed at the jail since the coronavirus outbreak.
The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, which Dart is a member of, filed the motion Thursday in downstate Logan County asking a circuit court judge to approve a preliminary injunction that would order the state to accept inmates who are housed in county jails, but should be in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections.
These inmates — unlike detainees at the jail who are awaiting trial — have been convicted and sentenced.
Some of these inmates served their sentences but need to to be transferred to IDOC custody before their release. […]
Concerns voiced by Dart’s office and other sheriffs have been “met with silence” from state officials, [Dart spokesman Matthew Walberg] added. Governor and IDOC officials weren’t immediately available for comment Wednesday.
I get what the state is doing here, but at the very least, IDOC ought to accept inmates who have completed their sentences so they can be released.
* Meanwhile, speaking of the county jail, here’s Karen Sheley, Director, Police Practices Project, ACLU of Illinois…
[Chicago Police] Superintendent Brown’s announced plan to address gun violence during the long holiday weekend is more of the same. The plan to sweep up Black and Brown young men in their neighborhoods across the City could have been uttered by a number of his predecessors in leadership of the CPD. We have heard this all before—paternalistic claims that young men should be in jail for their own safety.
This approaches only further drive a wedge between the CPD and communities of color. The Superintendent again offers the dangerous suggestion that time in Cook County Jail is for these young people’s own good. This is a terrible idea in the best of times – in the midst of a pandemic, it could be a death sentence for these young men or members of their family on release.
The day after her husband died on Easter Sunday, Cassandra Greer-Lee’s emotions swung from shock to pain to confusion. She wondered whether she did everything she could to save Nickolas Lee from the rapid spread of coronavirus inside Cook County Jail.
She thought of the long stream of calls she had frantically dialed over the past few weeks as Cook County Jail rapidly cemented itself as the “largest-known source” of coronavirus cases in the U.S.
Scrolling through her calls, the numbers ballooned from 60 to 70 to 90 to 100 to finally 132 calls made to the sheriff’s office, a jail sergeant’s desk line, the jail hospital and others to alert them to the spread of coronavirus on Lee’s tier—almost all were unanswered.
Lee was the third of seven detainees who have died after contracting the virus at Cook County Jail. Since then, almost 1,000 Cook County Jail employees and detainees have tested positive for COVID-19; two corrections officers and one court deputy have also died, according to WTTW. Like 98 percent of inmates at Cook County Jail, Lee was awaiting trial. He had been charged by the county for gun possession after violating federal parole.
* Wordslinger sent me an email in October of 2017 ahead of the Illinois bicentennial entitled “Bicentennial/Ebert/Prine/Goodman.” He was referring to Roger Ebert, John Prine and Steve Goodman…
I’d like to see those cats carved on the Illinois State Library, because they’re the best Illinois writers of their time.
Amirite?
I’m serious about this, I’m going to ask for your help.
I want to see it before Johnny dies.
Unfortunately, Wordslinger passed away last year and Prine passed earlier this year. We have some unfinished business to attend to here.
I told you in March that when this crazy pandemic was over, I planned to urge Secretary of State Jesse White to consider having Ebert’s and Prine’s names carved into the state library. A high-level official reached out to me later that day to say he would be up for it. Goodman should be on there, too. Let’s get this done.
To commemorate the life of Illinois native John Prine and celebrate his writing and musical contributions, Governor Pritzker has proclaimed Prine an Honorary Poet Laureate of the state. The legendary singer-song writer, who was born in Maywood, passed away on April 7, 2020 after contracting COVID-19. Prine is the first to receive such an honorary designation.
“I have no doubt that John would be proud and delighted to receive this recognition from his home state of Illinois,” said Fiona Whelan Prine, wife of John Prine. “Although he had moved to Nashville in the early 1980’s, he continued to visit Chicago, and Maywood in particular, to spend time with his family. John continued to follow Chicago sports teams and had never found a hot dog, pizza or Italian Beef sandwich to rival the originals. Watching John, as I did many times, play to an Illinois audience was always thrilling. A home boy delighting in the love and approval of his loyal fans - some of them family, longtime friends, old school buddies and neighbors.”
Whelan Prine added, “John had a great respect for Writers of all kinds. He regarded Poets as being among those whose work carried weight, relevance and elevated craft. It is such an honor for me, our sons, and the entire Prine family to acknowledge that our beloved John will be named an Honorary Poet Laureate of the State of Illinois. Thank you, Governor Pritzker, for this wonderful recognition.”
* Prine’s last song was released earlier this month. He still had it…
I remember everything, things I can’t forget
Swimin’ pools of butterflies would slip right through the net
And I remember every night, your ocean eyes of blue
I miss you in the morning light like roses miss the dew
*** UPDATE *** From Henry Haupt at the Illinois SoS…
Rich,
We think this is a great idea. We are looking into this to see what steps are needed and what — if any — other agencies must be involved.
As the United States continues to face record unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic, 30% of Americans missed their housing payments in June, according to a survey by Apartment List, an online rental platform.
That’s up from 24% who missed their payment just two months earlier in April and about on par with the 31% who missed payments in May. Renters, younger and lower-income households and urban dwellers were the groups most likely to miss their housing payments, Apartment List found.
At the same time that this “historically high” rate of Americans are missing their housing payments, eviction protections put in place at the beginning of Covid-19′s spread in the U.S. are beginning to expire. Additionally, the current 30 million unemployed Americans will lose the extra $600 per week in federal unemployment benefits at the end of July.
Taken together, experts warn of a coming housing “apocalypse” unless the government intervenes. Some 37% of renters and 26% of homeowners are at least somewhat worried that they will face eviction or foreclosure in the next six months, Apartment List reports. Columbia University researchers estimate that homelessness could increase by between 40% and 45% this year over where it was in January 2019.
Housing advocates fear eviction boom, urge Gov. Pritzker to cancel rent, mortgage payments
Housing advocates Tuesday taped notices demanding rent payments within five days on the gate of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s home in the Gold Coast in hopes of drawing attention to what they say is an imminent housing crisis.
In a twist, the notices were addressed to the “renters of Illinois” and listed Pritzker as the “landlord or landlord’s agent,” with service on behalf of the real estate lobby.
The group posted the notices while calling on the first-term governor to cancel rent and mortgage payments and to lift the ban on rent control because so many people are out of work due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, said Rod Wilson, one of the organizers of the Lift the Ban Coalition. The group’s efforts took place the day before the first of the month, which is typically when renters have to pay rent.
“All we’re saying is sign the paper, cancel the rent, cancel the mortgage, put a regulation on rent increases. That’s all we’re asking for,” Wilson said. “Otherwise, he’s going to be known as the billionaire governor that led us into the worst housing crisis ever. And I say, ‘Shame on you.’ ”
No governor can simply make rent and mortgage payments go away on his or her own. None. And I don’t know how it would be constitutional for the General Assembly to do it, either. And yet, that’s not even hinted at in the story. All the Sun-Times did was perpetuate a really way out-there myth, which means even more people will believe this tale.
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced the City has awarded a $56 million grant to Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership (The Partnership), in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, NORC at the University of Chicago, Malcolm X College – one of the City Colleges of Chicago – and Sinai Urban Health Institute, to carry out contact tracing services in Chicago, with an effort based in communities most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These organizations will lead a health-equity based approach to further contain the spread of COVID-19, which will include disbursing 85% of the total grant funding to community organizations in areas of high economic hardship to train and certify a 600-person workforce that will support contact tracing. The 600 newly created jobs will be hired directly from the communities of high economic hardship that have been adversely impacted by COVID-19. […]
As part of the grant, The Partnership will be conducting a second competitive bidding process to award the majority of the funding to at least 30 community-based organizations that will recruit and hire the contact tracers and resource coordinators under this grant.
So, they’ve finally awarded the grant money, but now community groups will bid on hiring the workers, which will take time, as will the subsequent hiring process.
(S)tate Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said after “bragging” about Illinois’ robust contract tracing efforts, the Pritzker administration has “dropped the ball.”
“When the governor made this huge announcement about how there’s going to be investments, we’ve (the Black Caucus) been trying to work with the governor’s office, even to help them with the planning. And you know it’s been real crickets. We have not heard anything from the governor’s office about how they’re going to roll this plan out,” Ford said. “And unfortunately the Black community I think is going to suffer from this.”
Pritzker’s spokeswoman referred WTTW News to the governor’s remarks about contact tracing last Thursday.
“We continue to build up our contact tracing capacities, including new hires that have increased the ranks of contact tracers by 20% since June 1 for a total of 550 active contact tracers across the state. Two hundred-fifty new tracers have been identified and will join their ranks over the few weeks as we continue to scale up our operation, including new technology to multiply their effectiveness,” Pritzker said. “All 97 of Illinois’ local health departments have applied for funding support totaling $230 million to increase contact tracing. That money is on its way out the door with final disbursement coming in the next few weeks.” […]
In a call with reporters on Tuesday, Chicago’s public health director, Dr. Allison Arwady, said the city is currently assigning every case of a Chicago resident testing positive, such that every COVID-19 patient is called by someone from the city within 24 hours.
That wasn’t the case as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Attorney General Kwame Raoul told me yesterday that contact tracers did not reach out to him after he tested positive in mid-June.
* As we discussed yesterday, the Test And Trace website says Illinois has 611 contact tracers and needs 3,113. The folks at the COVID Act Now website say Illinois needs 3,580 contact tracing staff to trace all new cases within 48 hours.
Illinois manufacturers reported layoffs, supply chain disruptions, and closures from the COVID-19 pandemic, however, most are rebounding, according to a new poll.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Survey of Business Conditions interviewed hundreds of manufacturers in Illinois and Michigan between May 20 and June 5.
Many manufacturers were deemed essential through the spring closure orders, with some ramping up production of pandemic-fighting products. Others, including auto manufacturers, closed temporarily. Nearly all respondents to the survey reported revenue losses.
Seventy percent of respondents said their facilities never shut down during the pandemic. Of those that did halt operations, 28 percent said the closure was temporary. Another two percent said they closed for good. […]
Three of every four manufacturers expect the economy to feel the effects of COVID-19 until the end of 2021.
The Fed took a similar poll of small businesses in Illinois and several states in May that showed a much more bleak picture for other sectors.
A 3-year-old girl was shot in the chest outside her home in West Englewood Tuesday night when a gunman opened fire into a yard filled with children, apparently in retaliation for a shooting minutes earlier six blocks away that wounded a 15-year-old boy, according to Chicago police.
The shootings continue one of the most violent stretches of gun violence against children in Chicago. Three days earlier, a 20-month-old boy was killed, also in Englewood, and a 10-year-old girl was fatally shot. A week earlier, five children were shot and killed in Chicago, including a 3-year-old boy. […]
Police say the girl was outside her home in the 7000 block of South Damen Avenue around 8 p.m. Tuesday, playing in the yard with other children, when someone fired shots from a car. Relatives said they thought the gunfire was fireworks, but the girl’s mother ran outside and found the girl lying face up with a wound to her chest.
She was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition, but was stabilized and upgraded to serious condition overnight, according to community activist Andrew Holmes, who was with the family at the hospital.
* Ugh…
last Saturday while I was dealing with a mother and her one year old that was hot and killed..there was a 3 year old celebrating her birthday…I am now at the hospital with that 3 year olds family…she has been shot and is in critical condition
— Pastor Donovan Price (@sltionsnresrces) July 1, 2020
As the number of murders in Chicago soared in June, there was a huge slowdown of police activity that the police union blames on rock-bottom morale and distrust of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
In the first 28 days in June, the number of murders was up 83% compared with numbers from the same period in 2019, Chicago Police Department statistics show.
And the number of arrests was down 55%, street stops fell by 74% and traffic stops dropped by 86%.
Police Supt. David Brown said Monday that police activity slowed because fewer people have been on the streets “because of COVID.”
But John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Tuesday it’s more than that.
* Other than murder (the most important category), most crime has been down in the city this year…
According to newly-posted CPD stats, as of June 28 Chicago had the same number of murders this year as at the same point in 2016, when the city ended with more than 750 murders. There have been fewer shooting incidents so far this year than in 2016, per CPD. pic.twitter.com/uE8cA99Kbn
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 724 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 23 additional confirmed deaths.
Bureau County: 1 male 60s
Cass County: 1 female 90s
Cook County: 1 female 40s, 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 2 females 70s, 2 males 70s, 2 females 90s
Kane County: 1 female 60s, 2 males 70s
Lake County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s
Rock Island County: 1 male 90s
St. Clair County: 1 male 80s
Tazewell County: 1 female 90s
Winnebago County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 143,185 cases, including 6,923 deaths, in 101 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 31,069 specimens for a total of 1,602,965. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from June 23 –June 29 is 2.6%.
The Test And Trace website says Illinois has 611 contact tracers and needs 3,113, which means we’re 2,502. The state says it plans to hire about 3,800 tracers, but the program has had a very slow start. More on that from the COVID Act Now website…
Per best available data, Illinois has 611 contact tracers. With an average of 716 new daily cases, we estimate Illinois needs 3,580 contact tracing staff to trace all new cases in 48 hours, before too many other people are infected. This means that Illinois is likely able to trace only 17% of new COVID infections in 48 hours. These low levels of tracing suggest there may be an active outbreak underway in Illinois, or that little tracing capacity exists. Strong caution warranted.
A west suburban nursing home where 12 residents have died of the coronavirus plotted to kick out an elderly woman because her daughter criticized the troubled facility, according to a lawsuit the daughter has filed in Cook County circuit court.
Following the release of our Transition Joint Guidance for Starting the 2020-21 School Year, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has engaged in fruitful dialogue with educators and stakeholders concerning the use of face shields in lieu of face coverings (e.g. masks). Since that time, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has communicated that face coverings and social distancing are the goal whenever and wherever possible. Face shields have not been deemed effective for source control and are only to be used when other methods of protection are not available or appropriate. IDPH arrived at this determination after lengthy additional collaboration with the communicable disease team, infection preventionists, and infectious disease specialists and after reviewing available Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.
In cases where individuals need facial visualization for instruction and communication, IDPH recommends video instruction to promote social distancing. If video is instruction is not available or appropriate, face shields may be used with the understanding that they have not been deemed effective for source control. As such, heightened attention and adherence to 6-foot social distancing is critical for individuals using face shields. Examples of limited situations when face shields may be necessary, if video instruction is not possible, include for teachers of English Learners or world languages, whose students may need to see their mouths form words to facilitate language acquisition.
After the election of President Trump, Politico, the same outlet came to you, curious how a Democrat in your district that elected President Trump could win. It sort of pitched you as I think maybe a Trump voter whisperer, if you’d agree with that there. But you told them that “on sensitive topics,” things like Black Lives Matter, “I don’t dwell on them.” That was back then. Do you wish now that that you had? Do you regret that comment at all?
She talks, in other words, about these kinds of things by not talking about them much, because the people she represents, she says, aren’t talking about them much, either, or don’t want to.
“On these sensitive topics,” she said—Black Lives Matter, transgender bathroom laws and so on—“I don’t dwell on them.”
No. You know, I think, umm. Look, I’m a former reporter, and I know what you do to do research when you interviewing somebody. And you could go back to, you know, looking at articles that I used to write, you know, from the 1980s, for that matter. But the moment we’re living in right now, it’s 2020. And we are in the midst of a movement that is very special. And that is very important. And I think, you know, historically, we’ll look back at this and we’ll say this was a moment of change. And I’m confident that again, as House Democrats, where we are in the majority, we will be voting on a momentous piece of legislation that will pass. And, just, whatever the Senate ends up doing, November is a time of change. And what I was going to say about the last person’s statement: the part that I don’t agree with is, Joe Biden is going to win. And as House Democrats, we will stay in the majority and we will grow our majority. I’m increasingly confident that Democrats will win in the Senate as well. And then, this meaningful change… And this isn’t… You know, I know there’s all the articles about, you know, we’re going far left or whatever it is. We will bring about meaningful change that will pass the House that will pass the Senate that will be signed into law. And, and I just… I think this, what we are living through right now will lead to, to momentous change for the better of our country.
Illinois businesses that suffered a financial loss from recent public protests and looting could get a break from the state.
State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, has filed legislation to allow for a property tax credit in the same amount as whatever financial hit was taken.
“While it won’t cover everything, I think, at a minimum, these businesses that have already suffered under COVID, they ought to be compensated, or at least be given a small tax credit to make up for at least a portion of their losses,” Syverson said.
He says many businesses suffered losses that will be higher than the tax bill, which would mean a full waiver of the year’s property taxes.
Last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Pritzker $25 million from the state’s capital program would go to help businesses that sustained property damage due to looting during recent protests. Syverson said more is needed.
“The ones that won’t help are the stores couldn’t open up due to protests, those that law enforcement [advised] to close because of what might happen, or those businesses that had to hire private security because the city would not guarantee any protection,” Syverson said.
He said it’s most critical to provide assistance in communities where local authorities either chose not to enforce the law or could not provide adequate protection.
“The first job of any municipality is to provide a protection for individuals, their families, and their property,” Syverson said. “If they’re going to allow crimes to occur, then they should at least reimburse those who were victims of the municipality’s unwillingness to fulfill and follow the law.”
So, he addresses this by imposing a possibly huge unfunded state mandate on local governments?
With fireworks readily available in neighboring states, a state senator says it’s time to legalize them in Illinois.
State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, has attempted to get a bill passed on more than one occasion, but can’t get Democrats to come on board.
“With the massive decline in state revenues due to the COVID, this would be an easy way to pick up some sales tax dollars and put some people to work in our state and they are just not interested,” Rose said.
Despite being illegal, Rose said fireworks already are here and the state is simply losing tax revenue to surrounding states that sell them. He estimates the state would bring in about $10 million a year in sales tax revenue.
Fire safety groups across the state are opposing any sort of legislation to legalize fireworks, something they said they already see enough injuries from. Bloomington Fire Chief Brian Mohr thinks it is a bad idea.
“I enjoy a fireworks show, I like them,” Mohr said. “I think they are entertaining, but unfortunately they are dangerous and there needs to be a higher level of experience before someone is setting them off.”
The risk of misusing fireworks is real. According to the Illinois State Fire Marshall, there are an average of 18,000 fires caused by the improper use of fireworks every year.
Fireworks have been banned in Illinois since 1935 under what was dubbed the Fireworks Regulation Act.
* The Question: Should Illinois lift its ban on fireworks sales? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
A federal judge Monday indicated her skepticism that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s limits on gatherings during the pandemic unfairly infringe on political parties’ rights.
U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis during the hour-long phone hearing largely directed her questions toward arguments made by Daniel Suhr, a senior associate attorney for the Liberty Justice Center, which represents the plaintiff Illinois Republican Party, Will County Republican Central Committee, Schaumburg Township Republican Organization and Northwest Side GOP Club.
They sued Pritzker earlier this month alleging his May 29 executive order, which explicitly lifted in-person restrictions for religious gatherings but not for political parties, violated their First and 14th Amendment rights. […]
Ellis agreed that one of the ways to prevent the spread of the virus is to limit the number of people gathering in one place at any time.
And imposing those limits, whether on religious services or political events, does not infringe on participants’ ability to exercise religion or exercise speech, she said.
“They just cannot do it in numbers larger than 50,” Ellis said.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture announced today the July 1st deadline for issuing adult-use cannabis craft grower, infuser and transporter licenses has been temporarily suspended. Due to the previous application deadline extension and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Pritzker issued an Executive Order to extend the deadline. The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) will announce a new date to issue up to 40 craft grower licenses, up to 40 infuser licenses, and an unlimited number of transporter licenses. View the Executive Order here.
“The Pritzker Administration is committed to creating a fair and equitable adult-use cannabis industry in Illinois. IDOA is helping achieve that goal by providing Illinois residents, specifically those who live in communities that were disproportionately impacted by the failed war on drugs, with multiple entry-points to this new industry,” said Jerry Costello II, Acting IDOA Director. “The COVID-19 pandemic and the 6-week deadline extension granted to applicants have caused unforeseeable delays in the application review process. The Department is working tirelessly to ensure that applications are scored and awarded in a fair, deliberate and equitable manner.”
Once determined, IDOA will publicly announce the new date for issuing licenses.
The deadline is tomorrow and they’re just announcing this today? This, by the way, is the third time the licensing process has been delayed.
The delays could be catastrophic for some applicants, particularly those who were paying to hold real estate for grow facilities. The setbacks also threaten efforts to diversify the largely white industry.
“We’re going to have to write another check to the landlords to hold the building,” said Jamil Taylor, who leased a South Side building for a grow facility through the end of July. “That definitely puts us in a tough spot … We have to shell out thousands and thousands of more dollars.”
Under the law, grow license applicants had to secure property in advance. Taylor, who applied with a group for grow, transporter and dispensary licenses, said some groups won’t be able to afford an indefinite delay, and could lose their properties.
Social equity applicants are particularly at risk, Taylor said.
Unacceptable.
…Adding… Some of y’all in comments just haven’t been paying attention. The authority he has to delay these things is provided for in Sections 7(1) of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act…
Sec. 7. Emergency Powers of the Governor. […]
(1) To suspend the provisions of any regulatory statute prescribing procedures for conduct of State business, or the orders, rules and regulations of any State agency, if strict compliance with the provisions of any statute, order, rule, or regulation would in any way prevent, hinder or delay necessary action, including emergency purchases, by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, in coping with the disaster.
Illinois’ minimum wage will bump up to $10 on Wednesday. The move brings employees one step closer to the state’s checkpoint of $15 by 2025. However, some aren’t happy the state is moving forward with the increase during the current pandemic. The $15 minimum wage plan was the first bill Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law in 2019. Workers saw the first increase to $9.25 per hour on January 1, 2020. The momentum isn’t slowing down due to COVID-19, as workers can expect an extra 75 cents an hour next month.
Minimum wage workers will make $10 while tipped employees will get at least $6 per hour. Teen workers will see a boost to an $8 minimum wage. Some business owners are concerned they won’t be able to pay everyone and may have to cut down on staff.
Republican lawmakers hoped Pritzker would pause the payment ramp during the pandemic to lessen the bleed for businesses. However, the state’s Department of Labor is moving forward as planned.
Um, how could the governor or IDOL “pause” the minimum wage increase on their own without legislation? The article doesn’t say.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he won’t delay an increase in the state’s minimum wage, which he pushed for and signed into law during his first year as governor.
That state’s minimum will increase to $10 an hour on Wednesday.
Shortly after taking office in 2019, Pritzker enacted a phased increase to the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. The first of two increases was Jan. 1 of this year going from $8.25 to $9.25 an hour. The second increase this year is set for Wednesday.
Again, how was the governor going to “delay” a minimum wage increase on his own without legislation? The article doesn’t say.
…Adding… From the other end of the spectrum…
Join us in demanding Gov @JBPritzker cancel rent and mortgage payments, especially during this moment of mass unemployment. He can lift the ban on rent control, but he has yet to do so. Click here to get involved from home:https://t.co/mxA3LxijA0
— Grassroots Collaborative (@GrassrootsChi) June 30, 2020
Retired Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath will face off against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this fall, after winning a closer-than-expected primary against progressive challenger Charles Booker.
The primary proved to be a nail-biter up until the very end, with Booker and McGrath each pulling ahead at various stages of vote-counting. Booker dominated in Jefferson County, his home area around Louisville and a key area for Democrats. But ultimately, a weaker margin outside of Lexington wasn’t enough to make up McGrath’s showing in rural areas outside the two cities.
Despite election day in Kentucky being held on June 23, a crush of absentee ballots made it impossible to know statewide results until a full week later. Vox’s partner Decision Desk called the race on June 30, around 11:15 am. The week of delays could serve as a preview for the November general election, if it is close.
* We have been conditioned to expect election results on election night. Those days are over, folks…
Again, imagine what this looks like in Nov. when/if Biden or Trump win on absentees after being down on Eday votes. We need SoS across the country & political spectrum to spend next 4 mos on PSAs prepping voters for this https://t.co/q6goUvSXIW
* We’re going to need a massive public awareness campaign. The craziness from the far left on Twitter during the counting of that Democratic US Senate primary has been off the charts. One tiny example…
so….Charles Booker vs Amy McGrath — did they stop counting? What's the deal? Taking a break to figure out a way to cheat Booker out of it?
— Racist Trump Tweeted "White P0wer" on 6/28/20 (@philly_bernie) June 29, 2020
Only 17 states and Washington, D.C. are currently meeting minimum targets for doing enough coronavirus testing, according to a new analysis.
The Harvard Global Health Institute, in collaboration with NPR, finds that 14 states and Washington, D.C. are doing enough testing to mitigate the spread of the virus, meaning it won’t be eliminated but it will not spread out of control. An additional three states are meeting a higher threshold of doing enough tests to suppress the virus and prevent almost any new cases. […]
The 14 states along with Washington, D.C. doing enough testing to mitigate the spread of the virus, according to the analysis, are: Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The three states meeting the higher goal of suppression-level testing are Vermont, Hawaii and Alaska, with West Virginia, Montana, and New Jersey close behind, the analysis finds.
*** UPDATE 1 *** There is, however, a problem with Illinois prisons. Here’s Hannah Meisel…
The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) has tested less than three percent of its prison population for coronavirus — a ratio that criminal justice reform group Restore Justice Illinois says is unacceptable, as Covid-19 cases in a northwest Illinois prison facility spike.
According to IDOC, 71 incarcerated men at the East Moline Correctional Center tested positive for Covid-19, along with five staff members. That number has steadily climbed since Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration first acknowledged the outbreak two weeks ago, when 26 inmates and three staff members had tested positive.
That rapid spread is a symptom of IDOC’s failure to formulate an adequate Covid-19 testing plan, according to a new report from Restore Justice published Tuesday. The group blasted IDOC for not reporting more data to the public, including how many prisoners are currently hospitalized with the virus and timely reports of Covid-19 deaths among incarcerated populations and prison staff.
“More than any other state, [Illinois has] embraced the most vigorous Covid-19 safety measures and protocols,” Restore Justice President Jobi Cates said Monday. “It baffles me how we could be in late June and still have only tested under three percent of prison population.”
The Department has been closely following the CDC guidelines and working with Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) based infectious disease specialists to develop strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID 19 in Department facilities. The guidance we have received has not advised utilizing mass testing. However, the Department tests symptomatic offenders, uses focused prevalence testing, screens selected subpopulations, and screens offenders prior to inter-facility movement and medical furloughs. The Department also requires that staff be screened prior to entering facilities. The screenings include responding to a series of COVID related questions and having their temperatures taken. In the event that staff have any of the COVID-19 symptoms outlined in the screening document and/or have a temperature they must go home. The Office of Health Services constantly reviews the evidence and remains open to modifying current practices based on expert guidance.
The University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) today released a report on COVID-19’s impact in the state’s prisons and jails. […]
The Policy Spotlight says testing should be prioritized in areas where there is a greater risk of the virus either being carried into the facility by staff from the region or spilling over into the community. The spotlight suggests that while the Illinois Department of Corrections has made progress on giving inmates some access to cleaning and hygiene supplies and COVID-19 testing, the conditions still need to be improved.
Illinois’ unionized hospitals have dramatically lower staff vacancy and turnover rates, safer workplaces, and more robust infection prevention and control systems while enabling registered nurses to devote substantially more time to care for individual patients, according to new research by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI).
“The global coronavirus pandemic has put new strain on Illinois’ hospitals and a nursing workforce that was already facing severe shortages,” said study co-author and ILEPI Policy Director Frank Manzo IV. “This report shows that unionized hospitals in Illinois were far better prepared to absorb the impacts of COVID-19. Our findings have important implications for the future of hospital staffing and how we manage public health crises.”
Specifically, the report reveals significant differences between the state’s unionized and non-unionized hospitals in the wake of COVID-19, including:
• Union hospitals have nurse turnover rates that are up to 14% lower.
• Unionized hospitals have nurse vacancy rates that are up to 45% lower.
• Unionized hospitals report 15% fewer OSHA violations and 29% fewer serious violations.
• Unionized hospitals employ more infection prevention and control staff—particularly in Cook County which has seen two-thirds of the state’s COVID-19 caseload.
• Nurses at unionized hospitals are able to devote 1 to 4 more hours of care to each patient, on average.
Despite their weaker staffing and care outcomes, the report notes that the state’s non-unionized hospitals have received 16% more funding per bed than unionized facilities from federal pandemic relief measures such as the CARES Act. All told, Illinois’ hospitals have received at least $1.1 billion, and small Illinois hospitals with under 100 beds have received more than four times the per-bed funding than their larger unionized counterparts.
Prior ILEPI research had documented that Illinois’ hospitals faced a shortage of 20,000 registered nurses before the COVID-19 pandemic, with half of its nursing workforce over the age of 55 and more than three-quarters of the state’s nurses warning of insufficient staffing levels. A proposed “safe patient limits” nurse staffing law– which would have required Illinois’ hospitals to hire more nurses and has been linked to better patient outcomes, including lower fatality and readmission rates for certain respiratory conditions and improved nurse retention, at minimal impact on the financial performance of hospitals– has been pending in the Illinois General Assembly for nearly two years.
But while the Illinois Health and Hospital Association agrees there is a nursing shortage, it argues the lack of preparedness was more of a federal problem, and that the nursing shortage did not diminish the quality of care patients received. It strongly opposes legislation requiring minimum nurse staffing levels at hospitals, and disputes any correlation between the quality of patient care and the presence of a nurses’ union in a hospital. […]
“First of all, we’ve been drilling and doing exercises on pandemics before the pandemic hit,” [Danny Chun, spokesman for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association] said during an interview. “Every hospital in the state, as you know, has an emergency preparedness plan for disasters of all kinds – mass shootings, traffic accidents, biochemical, biohazard, flu epidemics or pandemics. In the city of Chicago last year in the summer of 2019, Chicago hospitals did an exercise, a drill with the Chicago Department of Public Health on this exact issue – pandemics. And we were directly involved in a lot of the planning and discussions back in January, February, March where hospitals got ready for the pandemic.”
Chun said hospitals were directly involved in discussions with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration in the early stages of the pandemic to plan mitigation efforts, including the decision to cancel or postpone nonemergency surgeries and procedures in order to free up hospital resources for COVID-19 patients.
“Look at the numbers. We flattened the curve,” Chun said, referring to hospitalization data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, which have shown a consistent downward trend since May in hospitalizations, intensive care admissions and ventilator usage by COVID-19 patients.
The controversial lawsuit case between Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) and Gov. JB Pritzker has regained momentum.
Both parties have waited weeks for a decision on where the case would continue. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gilbert Sison remanded the case back to Clay County on Monday.
The Illinois Attorney General’s office wanted consideration in federal court on May 21. Bailey’s Attorney, Tom DeVore, immediately filed a motion to remand the case to Clay County.
“It is a fundamental principle of federalism that federal courts may hear only certain claims, such as those raising ‘federal questions’ or ‘arising under’ the laws of the United States,” Sison wrote. “A defendant may not remove a case to federal court unless, at the time of removal, a plaintiff’s complaint establishes that there is federal jurisdiction.”
* Bailey’s attorney won’t be awarded legal fees, however. From the opinion…
In his emergency motion to remand, Bailey asks the Court to order the Governor to pay his reasonable fees and costs incurred during the period of time this action was pending in this court. […]
Bailey vigorously argues that Governor Pritzker’s decision to remove this case was frivolous and in bad faith, but the Court disagrees. The removal was timely. The face of the complaint arguably seeks to vindicate constitutional rights, like the right to travel and the right to free exercise of religion, without specifying that it refers only to rights secured by the Illinois Constitution. The Court seriously considered whether Bailey unintentionally pleaded himself into federal jurisdiction by raising a claim under the United States Constitution with this lack of specificity, and the decision in his favor was a close call. As such, the Court does not find that Governor Pritzker lacked an objectively reasonable basis for seeking removal. Thus, the Court will not award any fees under Section 1447(c).
*** UPDATE *** We apparently have a court date…
Thursday July 2, 1:00 pm Clay County Circuit Courthouse, Louisville Illinois. The beginning of the end for J.B. Pritzker!!
The coronavirus is spreading too rapidly and too broadly for the U.S. to bring it under control, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday.
The U.S. has set records for daily new infections in recent days as outbreaks surge mostly across the South and West. The recent spike in new cases has outpaced daily infections in April when the virus rocked Washington state and the northeast, and when public officials thought the outbreak was hitting its peak in the U.S.
“We’re not in the situation of New Zealand or Singapore or Korea where a new case is rapidly identified and all the contacts are traced and people are isolated who are sick and people who are exposed are quarantined and they can keep things under control,” she said in an interview with The Journal of the American Medical Association’s Dr. Howard Bauchner. “We have way too much virus across the country for that right now, so it’s very discouraging.” […]
“This is really the beginning,” Schuchat said of the U.S.’s recent surge in new cases. “I think there was a lot of wishful thinking around the country that, hey it’s summer. Everything’s going to be fine. We’re over this and we are not even beginning to be over this. There are a lot of worrisome factors about the last week or so.” […]
“What we have in the United States, it’s hard to describe because it’s so many different outbreaks,” Schuchat said. “There was a wave of incredible acceleration, intense interventions and control measures that have brought things down to a much lower level of circulation in the New York City, Connecticut, New Jersey area. But in much of the rest of the country, there’s still a lot of virus. And in lots of places, there’s more virus circulating than there was.”
A national face mask mandate could act as a substitute to renewed lockdowns that would otherwise deduct about 5 per cent from gross domestic product, Goldman Sachs analysts argue as a number of states in the US have paused or reversed easing measures in response to growth in coronavirus cases.
“We find that face masks are associated with significantly better coronavirus outcomes,” according to Jan Hatzius, economist at Goldman Sachs. “Our baseline estimate is that a national mandate could raise the percentage of people who wear masks by 15 percentage points and cut the daily growth rate of confirmed cases by 1.0pp to 0.6 per cent.”
Goldman said it analysed the impact of face mask mandates in 20 American states and the District of Columbia between April 8 and June 24 and data on mask usage from YouGov and found that they raise the percentage of people who “always” or “frequently” wear masks by around 25pp in the 30 days after the order is signed. They estimate that a national mask mandate would increase usage by “statistically significant and economically large amounts” in states that currently do not require it.
Despite the rise in coronavirus cases mask usage remains a political issue in the US and is voluntary in a number of states. Goldman found that mask usage is highest in the Northeast, which was particularly hard hit by the pandemic, but where conditions have now improved, while the numbers are far lower in the south.
Arizona, Texas and Florida, which were among the first states to reopen and have seen a jump in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, have all reversed easing measures. Indeed, Goldman Sachs analysis found that reopenings have been delayed or reversed for about 40 per cent of the US population, which has raised fears about fresh lockdowns.
• Grundy County States Attorney Jason Helland
• Illinois State Representative Darren Bailey
• Constitutional Lawyer Thomas Devore
• Teacher Tonya Sneed
• Parkview Christian Academy Board President Jed Davis
• Event organizers Dawn Gregory, Kayla Brooks Null and Michael Rebresh
Helland was clobbered by Secretary of State Jesse White in 2018. He’s been a regular at these rallies.
