* The Executive Ethics Commission today released a new batch of investigative reports issued by the state’s Executive Inspectors General. Click here. All but two of the 39 reports had to do with the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which was designed to help small businesses weather the international pandemic storm by lending them money to pay for payroll and operating costs. Many were eligible for loan forgiveness. 403 state employees have been dinged for violations since the OEIG began investigating the misuse of the program.
According to a search of the Ethics Commission’s website, 402 investigations into the PPP program have been reported so far.
…Adding… The commission says the actual number is 107, not 402.
* Excerpts from one such report…
The OEIG located public records from the SBA showing that Ms. Pickering received a PPP loan for a sole proprietorship for $20,829 in April 2021. The OEIG subpoenaed loan documents from the lender, which included a PPP “Borrower Application Form Revised March 18, 2021” signed in Ms. Pickering’s name and dated April 23, 2021. The “Self-employed individual” box was checked on the application, the Business Legal Name was “Michelle Pickering,” the year of establishment was listed as January 1, 2018, Ms. Pickering was identified as the sole employee, and the business was categorized under a code for “Taxi and Ridesharing Services.” The loan application contained various certifications, all reflecting the initials “MP,” which included a statement that the applicant “was in operation on February 15, 2020 and had employees for whom it paid salaries and payroll taxes or paid independent contractors”; a statement that the funds would be used as authorized by PPP rules; and a statement that information provided in the application and supporting documentation was “true and accurate in all material respects.”
The loan application listed the gross income amount for tax year 2020 as $99,980. That figure was used to calculate the loan amount of $20,829 (intended to cover a period up to 2.5 months). A 2020 Schedule C Profit or Loss From Business form for a “ride sharing, taxi, and limousne [sic] services” business with Ms. Pickering listed as the proprietor, which listed gross income of $99,980 and various expenses totaling $3,600, was submitted with the loan application. […]
The OEIG also obtained and reviewed the DHS personnel file for Ms. Pickering, which contained Reports of Secondary Employment submitted in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The form submitted in 2019 reported that Ms. Pickering worked as a “caregiver” for a company called RAH outside her DHS work hours. None of the other forms documented that she had reported any secondary employment. […]
On August 30, 2023, the OEIG interviewed Michelle Pickering. Ms. Pickering said that since working at DHS she has not owned a business or had any secondary employment or any other forms of income outside of her State employment. […]
Ms. Pickering denied ever owning or operating any business and ever being self-employed. Ms. Pickering also claimed that she had not applied for any loans for any businesses. When shown the PPP loan application in her name during the interview, Ms. Pickering claimed that she had not seen it before and did not fill it out, but said it had been submitted by Individual A. Ms. Pickering claimed that while she was shopping at a grocery store she came across Individual A talking to another person about obtaining a loan to start a business. Ms. Pickering claimed that at that time she was thinking about starting her own business, and Individual A told her that Individual A could obtain funding for Ms. Pickering to start her own business.
Ms. Pickering said that she had never owned a taxi or ridesharing business. However, Ms. Pickering claimed that she considered opening a business by making deliveries for warehouses called DWR. Ms. Pickering said she has a [redacted] and can only drive for approximately 10 minutes at a time, so she would have someone else do the driving for her business. Ms. Pickering claimed she never provided Individual A with her business idea or possible business name. Ms. Pickering confirmed she only had an idea for starting a business and it was never in operation or earned any money.
Ms. Pickering confirmed she gave Individual A all her personal information while at the grocery store, including her State ID, Social Security Number (SSN), phone number, email address, and bank account information. Ms. Pickering claimed that she only had that one interaction at the grocery store with Individual A, and she never obtained any contact information for Individual A or ever met or spoke with Individual A again. […]
Ms. Pickering admitted that none of the information on the loan application and associated documents, aside from her personal information, was true and accurate, and that her receipt of the PPP loan funds was a violation of State ethics rules.
This third party claim is a common refrain in the reports.
* Conclusion…
Regardless of the ease of procuring these PPP funds, this was not free money for the taking. These loans, as with any other, required truthful information as a basis for approval. State employees are expected, at minimum, to maintain the public’s trust and confidence. Misappropriating such funds is far from being ethical, professional, acting with integrity, or conducting oneself in a manner that reflects favorably upon the State. Accordingly, the OEIG recommends that DHS terminate Michelle Pickering.
Pickering is not listed on the current state employee database.
* Some of these folks are being prosecuted. From a few days ago…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced today his office obtained a guilty plea in a case against a Chicago man who fraudulently received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan totaling approximately $14,582 while employed by the Illinois State Police (ISP).
The Attorney General’s office prosecuted Ravonn Hankins, 34, who pleaded guilty to one count of theft, a Class 2 felony. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Mariano R. Reyna sentenced Hankins on Thursday to two years of second chance probation and 30 hours of community service. Hankins has also paid $14,582 in restitution.
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* Homeschooling advocates were already at the Statehouse at 6:30 this morning…
ABATE and others are also in town today, so that crowd wasn’t completely homeschoolers.
* Some folks have pointed to problems in public schools with teachers being regularly busted for child sexual abuse as a reason why the state should get its own house in order before sticking its nose into homeschooling. But the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn), had this response…
A comment that was made earlier about educator misconduct in our schools I found kind of interesting because those rules that we have in our schools for somebody who’s been convicted of a prohibitive offense, like a sex offense - those don’t apply to homeschool families.
So you guys are all okay that anybody who has that conviction, that’s okay for them to be homeschool parents. Talk about a level of protection that is missing on children. Again, that is a huge level of protection that is not on a child, none of those things that would prohibit an individual from being even in our school around kids, that doesn’t apply to homeschool families and homeschoolers, because there are zero protections here in the state of Illinois.
The bill passed committee with one Democrat, Rep. Fred Crespo, voting “Present” and all Republicans voting against it. It now goes to the floor, but has an uncertain future.
…Adding… House Republicans…
Illinois House Republican Leader Tony McCombie strongly opposed HB2827, a bill that adds unnecessary regulations on homeschooling families in Illinois. The legislation was presented today in the House Education Policy Committee and advanced to the House Floor for further consideration. Following the committee hearing, Leader McCombie issued the following statement:
“Today, the Democrat majority silenced over 35,000 advocates who oppose this misguided legislation—a blatant disservice to Illinois families that must not be ignored.”
“With the serious challenges facing our state, lawmakers should be addressing real problems, not creating solutions for issues that don’t exist. HB2827 is nothing more than a strategic push for more government control, doing nothing to tackle the true root issues plaguing public education.”
…Adding… ILGOP…
Today, ILGOP Chair Kathy Salvi released the following statement following the House Education Policy Committee’s passing of HB2827.
“Let’s be clear about what The Homeschool Act really is – a disgusting attempt by Illinois Democrats to take away parents’ rights to homeschool their children and insert the government into our day-to-day lives. Politicians in Springfield have no right to tell parents how to teach our children and the ILGOP and 40,000 families who filed witness slips will continue to fight tooth and nail to stop these draconian policies and attempts to diminish parental rights.”
* Related…
* What is HB2827? The bill that could change homeschooling rules across Illinois: The Homeschool Act, also known as HB2827, would create a set of requirements for homeschooled students and educators. It includes things like informing a child’s designated public school or district that they are being homeschooled, requiring any child taking part in school activities on or off school ground provide proof of immunizations and health examinations and setting requirements for the topics and content homeschool children learn.
* AFP-IL Launches Campaign Opposing Regulations on Homeschooling: Americans for Prosperity-Illinois (AFP-Illinois) is launching a statewide video campaign urging Illinoisans to contact their lawmakers and demand they reject HB2827, the Homeschool Act.
* Illinois parents, lawmakers sound alarm over proposed homeschooling bill: ‘Direct assault on families’: Some left-leaning politicians have also voiced concerns about HB2827. Illinois state representative La Shawn Ford, a Democrat, told local outlet The Center Square that he’s “not for it.” “From the constituents that I’ve gotten calls from, I’m understanding why they don’t like it,” Ford is quoted as saying. “The loss of their autonomy, that’s a major concern that they lose the autonomy over their children, which is why they choose homeschooling. They want to have control over their children’s education, including the curriculum, how they teach and the philosophy.”
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* The Civic Federation, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability have released a report calling for the expansion of the sales tax to some services…
As the State of Illinois’ second largest revenue source, the sales tax is a critical tool that supports government operations and public services throughout the state. First implemented in the 1930s, Illinois’ antiquated sales tax structure still primarily taxes goods rather than services. Due to this narrow tax base — which does not reflect the modern, service-oriented economy — the sales tax is falling short. Illinois needs a more strategic and sustainable fiscal structure that delivers consistent and reliable revenue growth, efficient spending, and economic competitiveness.
The time has come to fundamentally modernize the sales tax in Illinois to better reflect a 21st century economy. Applying the sales tax to consumer services would help secure Illinois’ financial future and its ability to meet residents’ needs by supporting critical public services, reducing tax inequities, and enhancing fiscal stability
* From the press release…
• Illinois’ sales tax structure is outdated. The current tax system primarily taxes goods, even though consumer spending has shifted significantly toward services over the past several decades. Illinois taxes only 29 out of 176 consumer services, far fewer than most neighboring states.
• Modernization would promote more tax fairness. High-income households spend five times more on untaxed services than low-income households, creating an unfair system. Illinois’ current system also gives preferential treatment to service-oriented business over retail firms. Expanding the tax base to include services would help correct this imbalance.
• New revenue would help support critical services. Expanding the sales tax to include consumer services could generate nearly $2 billion annually for the state, with additional funds flowing to local governments and public transit agencies.
* Exemptions and other items of concern…
▶ A service tax should be imposed on a broad set of consumer services to comply with the Illinois Constitution’s uniformity clause, which requires that taxes be consistently applied, with reasonable exemptions.
▶ Any economically efficient plan to tax consumer services should include two important exemptions to support the state’s households and businesses:
▷ Essential services like housing, healthcare, and childcare that are generally not classified as volitional consumption should be excluded from any tax on consumer services. Taxing these transactions could cause significant disruptions for households of all incomes and would be contrary to the state’s broader policy objectives.
▷ Services purchased by businesses as an input into products later offered for sale should also be excluded. These business-to-business (B2B) transactions, which include services like accounting and legal support, are considered intermediate inputs that help create products that will be taxed when sold to the final consumer. Taxing these transactions would lead to tax pyramiding — an economically inefficient approach that results in uneven and inconsistent effective tax rates. Taxing B2B services would also damage Illinois-based businesses’ ability to compete with peers in other states.
▶ To address existing taxes on services, the General Assembly should work with local governments to transition their existing service taxes (such as Chicago’s tax on streaming services) and avoid double-taxation by multiple units of government. The state can ensure local taxing jurisdictions, including communities with existing service taxes, benefit from sales tax modernization by guaranteeing that any expansion of the state sales tax base is fully reflected at the local level.
▶ As part of an expansion of the sales tax base, taxing jurisdictions should consider potential adjustments to their current rates, with the goal of maximizing revenue while decreasing overall tax burden on consumers.
* Where they’d like to see the new money go…
▷ Addressing the $770 million public transit funding deficit estimated by the RTA and total $1.5 billion needed annually to enable significant improvements to the transit system in northeastern Illinois;
▷ Paying down Illinois’ $144 billion in unfunded pension obligations;
▷ Fully funding the evidence-based K-12 education funding formula;
▷ Making additional contributions to the state’s rainy-day reserve fund; and
▷ Funding tax relief for low-income households by increasing resources allocated to programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Circuit Breaker Property Tax Relief program.
Before commenting, please click here and search the full report with any questions you may have.
Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?
…Adding… TFI…
Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois President Maurice Scholten released today the following statement in response to a new report encouraging Illinois lawmakers expand state sales taxes to include more consumer services:
We appreciate the research teams for their recommendations and share their belief that funding education, mass transit, and public pension systems are vital to economic growth. Expanding Illinois’ historically narrow sales tax base could be one part of a long-term solution, but it is important to remember new sales tax revenues would take a significant amount of time before they are available to address these critical services.
In addition to ensuring their legislation would survive a constitutional challenge, lawmakers must work with local governments already relying on excise and service taxes to ensure these services are not subject to punishingly high tax rates. Moreover, all those affected by these changes must have sufficient time to prepare for such a seismic change to Illinois tax policy.
Illinois taxpayers deserve responsible sales tax policy - a modern system that treats goods and consumer services equally, thereby allowing lawmakers to lower the statewide sales tax rate to be more competitive with neighboring economies. We believe such a policy is within reach, and one that would help Illinois taxpayers realize a more sustainable future.
The report, “Modernizing Illinois’ Sales Tax: A pathway to a sustainable future,” was co-signed by the Civic Federation, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute. Although the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois did not co-sign the report, Scholten, an attorney who has spent the past 15 years impacting Illinois state and local tax policy, was consulted by its authors and provided feedback incorporated into the final product.
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[The following is a paid advertisement and has been updated at the advertiser’s request.]
Advocates for senior care and nursing home frontline workers have been fighting for over 14 years to hold the nursing home industry in Illinois accountable for safe staffing levels.
Lawmakers established legal requirements for safe staffing levels, only to have nursing homes routinely ignore them. Then these legal limits were bolstered with enforcement measures—but the worst actors in the industry continue to staff at dangerously low levels. In fact, Illinois is worst in the country with the largest gap between care hours needed and care hours actually provided. Dead last among states.
And now after 14 years of time and again receiving warnings and incentives and second, third and tenth chances to staff at the legally required levels, the industry began accruing fines in January that are actually substantial enough to take the profit motive out of short staffing.
The industry’s response? HB 2292—designed to once again water down the existing fines and enforcement measures so they can continue to shortchange vulnerable seniors.
This is despite the over $3 billion that Illinois pays to nursing homes annually for resident care—including hundreds of millions of dollars specifically earmarked to bolster direct care staffing levels.
It’s time for lawmakers hold firm and let the nursing home industry know that in Illinois, care comes first—not nursing home profits.
Oppose HB 2292—because safe, dignified, accountable nursing home care can’t wait.
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…Adding… From DCFS…
DCFS meets and exceeds its duty under the law to report on tragic cases both through rigorous reviews and publications managed by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and through the work of its Child Death Review Teams (CDRTs). These independent entities analyze child deaths and serious injuries, ensuring accountability and systemic improvements while respecting the confidentiality required in child welfare cases. In addition, the OIG’s Annual Reports—including child death reviews—are reported to the General Assembly annually and posted publicly on the department’s website.
* Peter Nickeas at the Illinois Answers Project…
The state agency responsible for keeping Illinois’ most vulnerable children safe has failed to produce legally required public reports after examining what went wrong in hundreds of cases of child deaths and thousands of serious injuries, the Illinois Answers Project has learned.
More than 1,200 deaths and more than 3,000 other cases of serious injury have met the criteria for incident-specific reports since July 2018, according to data DCFS provided under an open records request. The case-specific reports are required when a child dies by suspected abuse or neglect, or dies or suffers a serious injury when they are in the state’s care.
The failure spurred blistering criticism from child welfare advocates and prompted the Cook County public guardian to call for an investigation. […]
The reports are required by the state’s Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, providing the framework for the system of investigating abuse and neglect of children. The portion of the law regarding the reports went into effect in 1997. State lawmakers added language to strengthen the public disclosure of the reports in 2008.
* From Illinois’ Abuse and Neglected Child Reporting Act…
In any case involving the death or near death of a child, when a person responsible for the child has been charged with committing a crime that results in the child’s death or near death, there shall be a presumption that the best interest of the public will be served by public disclosure of certain information concerning the circumstances of the investigations of the death or near death of the child and any other investigations concerning that child or other children living in the same household. […]
No later than 6 months after the date of the death or serious life-threatening injury of the child, the Department shall notify the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, and the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives in whose district the child’s death or serious life-threatening injury occurred upon the completion of each report and shall submit an annual cumulative report to the Governor and the General Assembly incorporating cumulative data about the above reports and including appropriate findings and recommendations. The reports required by this subsection (c) shall be made available to the public after completion or submittal.
* Back to Illinois Answers…
Heather Tarczan, a spokeswoman for DCFS, declined to answer most questions about the death-and-injury reports. It’s not clear when the agency last completed one of the legally required incident-specific reports. An open records request for the agency’s most recent report — whenever it was completed — was denied, with DCFS saying no reports exist. The agency fought in instances for months on releasing any records or acknowledging that the reports don’t exist.
DCFS says it does conduct reviews when deaths or serious injuries happen. But there’s little recourse for the public to learn the results, since state law forbids the release of most child welfare records to protect the privacy of children and families who are investigated or who get help from the state. The reports that DCFS has failed to produce are meant to give public officials insight into what may have gone wrong. […]
And the most recent child death review team annual report covered deaths that occurred five years ago. New reports haven’t been published in years. Tarczan declined to say why, but said the agency had been operating with the “understanding” that these satisfy the death-and-injury reporting required in the law.
Tarczan would not say how the agency came to that understanding.
The Cook County public guardian, Charles Golbert, who is responsible for representing 6,000 children in abuse and neglect cases in juvenile court, has asked the state’s auditor general and DCFS’ inspector general to investigate the agency’s failure to comply with the law.
“These reports, which are required by law, are critical to protect children, and to prevent deaths and serious injuries to children in DCFS care or who are reported to DCFS as abused or neglected,” Golbert wrote in his request for review.
Go read the rest.
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Mar 17, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
…Adding… Press release…
Gov. Pritzker’s Statement on the Passing of Cindy Pritzker
CHICAGO- Today, Governor JB Pritzker released the following statement:
“My aunt Cindy Pritzker passed away on Saturday, and it leaves a hole in my heart. She was not only a loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother, a loyal friend to so many, and a committed Chicagoan through and through, but she also played an important role in my life. When my father died and my mother was ill and I was just 12 years old, she and my uncle Jay took me in and made sure I felt safe and loved. I would not be who I am today without her love, laughter, and kindness.
“Cindy grew up in the Kenwood neighborhood and embodied the spirit of the city she dedicated much of her life to – fierce, caring, and full of joy. From leading the Chicago Public Library Board and her work to build the Harold Washington Library to helping create the Pritzker Architecture Prize and Chicago’s Millennium Park Music Pavilion, Cindy shaped the city of Chicago just as much as it shaped her. She will live on in the many institutions she strengthened, the causes she championed, and the more vibrant Chicago she helped build.
“Our whole family has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of warmth, blessings, and stories being shared by so many. They are a testament to her infectious energy and the countless lives she touched. To honor her legacy, we will strive to live each day with the passion, kindness, and enthusiasm that Cindy did.
May her memory be a blessing to us all.”
* Shaw Local…
Attorneys for the city of Joliet blasted a former mayor’s conspiracy lawsuit as a “brazen attempt at political revenge” that only sought to hijack the federal courts to harass political foes.
A motion for sanctions against former Mayor Bob O’Dekirk was filed on Thursday by David Matheus, an attorney with Hervas, Condon and Bersani.
The Itasca law firm has defended the city against O’Dekirk’s lawsuit. The former mayor alleged in the suit that he was the victim of a 2020 conspiracy by a “cabal” that plotted to have him charged with a crime.
O’Dekirk filed the lawsuit several months after Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy defeated him in landslide election in 2023.
“Federal courts are not venues for personal spite or political backlash. Giving such lawsuits any traction injects poison into the political process and the judicial system delays the resolution of legitimate legal disputes,” said Matheus in a memorandum supporting the motion for sanctions.
* Belleville News-Democrat…
For local farmer Ben Stumpf, the steady stream of income from a new federal grant allowed him to quit his second job working nights for UPS in Belleville and focus full-time on his small Monroe County vegetable farm.
He even hired his first employee and started breaking more ground to expand Rumblin’ Ernie Farm’s production from a half acre to an acre in Columbia. […]
But now, about a year after the grant money became available to farmers, the federal funding has been terminated — one of the many cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration. Stumpf and other family farmers now face abrupt uncertainty about how to fund plans they made for their growing businesses.
They say the loss will affect their communities, too. The grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture paid local farmers to send their fresh produce, meat and other products to people in need through regional food banks.
*** Statehouse News ***
* Capitol News Illinois | In remarks to teachers union, Pritzker lashes out at Trump’s education cuts: In a campaign-style speech before a friendly audience of about 1,200 representatives of the Illinois Education Association, the state’s largest labor union, Pritzker lashed out at the president and his supporters, whom he called “bootlickers” and “DOGE-bags,” a reference to the Trump’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk.
* Chalkbeat Chicago | Illinois lawmakers weigh new proposal to set guardrails around AI: State lawmakers have proposed two bills in the House and Senate that would create an advisory committee to create and distribute guidance on using artificial intelligence. Both bills — HB2503 and SB1556 — would require school districts to include how students, teachers, and districts are using artificial intelligence to the Illinois State Board of Education in their annual report on the use and policies of education technology.
* Shaw Local | Talk-Line with Steve Marco talks state government with Rep. Brad Fritts: 74th District State Representative Brad Fritts discusses the time table of general assembly work underway plus comments concerning Governor JB Pritzker’s budget address and work in various committees.
*** Statewide ***
* Press Release | More than $99,600 awarded for student field trips to state parks, natural areas: More than 7,000 students will visit Illinois state parks, natural areas, museums and other natural resources sites this year to learn about nature and conservation thanks to grant funding through the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) today announced more than $99,600 funding was awarded for 113 student field trip grants. Grant recipients represent 32 counties in the state.
*** Downstate ***
* Pantagraph | Normally routine U.S. Rep. Miller staff event in Coles County draws concerned crowd: The mobile office hours offered by Congressional staff are typically routine events where a handful of constituents seek help with Social Security, veterans benefits or other federal issues. […] However, the mobile session that the staff of Republican U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Hindsboro, who represents the 15th District, held at the Coles County Council on Aging’s LifeSpan Center on Tuesday was anything but routine. More than 50 community members turned out to share their concerns about ongoing cuts to federal programs and workforces, rollbacks on diversity initiatives, tariffs on imported products, and other issues.
* IPM News | Dozens protest Trump policies and congresswoman in Mahomet; Other Reps. quiet on town hall planning: Dozens rallied in front the Mahomet office of Illinois’ 15th Congressional District Representative Mary Miller (R-IL) on Saturday. They protested her recent votes in Congress, a lack of public town hall for constituents, and her support of conservative federal policies. Marti Brandt, organizer and founder of March for Democracy, said that an event beginning with three people swelled into an event with over 400 people interested on Facebook.
* WICS | Neoga school superintendent outlines potential plans for reopening post-storm damage: Superintendent Kevin Haarman announced that all district schools will remain closed this week: “All district schools will be closed from March 17 through March 21. This closure will allow time for a thorough damage assessment, continued mitigation efforts, and the development of a long-term instructional plan.” Superintendent Haarman emphasized that plans could change, but as of now, the elementary school is expected to reopen in the same building next Monday.
* WSIL | Church bells to ring in Murphysboro exactly 100 years after Tri-State Tornado hits community: An event on the final day of the week-long commemoration for the 100th anniversary of the Tri-State Tornado will take place on Tuesday, March 18, in Murphysboro. There will be a Pubic Commemoration at Longfellow Park, at 401 North 20th Street in Murphysboro, at 1:30 p.m. to remember the victims of the Tri-State Tornado. Local officials will read off proclamations and resolutions and unveil a historical marker.
* WCBU | Federal judge James Shadid named next president of Bradley University: Shadid is set to assume the new role April 1. He replaces former President Steven Standifird. Standifird left Bradley in May 2024, announcing his resignation after a tumultuous year at the Peoria institution that included budget cuts and on-campus student protests. Shadid is currently a United States District Judge for the Central District of Illinois. He was appointed to the position by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2011.
* WGLT | Normal’s mayoral candidates offer diverging paths on where taxes and fees go next: Incumbent Chris Koos and town council member Chemberly Harris have similar voting records – generally willing to raise taxes and fees, or keep them flat, to sustain public services. The third candidate, council member Kathleen Lorenz, has repeatedly voted against tax and fee increases and thinks the corresponding budget impact can be absorbed without too much disruption. Lorenz, for example, voted against the creation of a 1% town grocery sales tax to make up for the elimination of the state’s grocery tax on Jan. 1, 2026. That would’ve cost the town around $2.3 million in revenue (about 2.4% of the budget), while saving shoppers $1 on a $100 cart of groceries. Lorenz was outvoted, and the council approved the town grocery tax with support from Koos and Harris.
* WCIA | Illinois women’s basketball returns to the dance as eight-seed: After missing out on an NCAA Tournament bid in the 2023-24 season, Illinois women’s basketball is returning to the dance as an eight-seed. The Illini are in Regional 3. They will open play in Austin, Texas against nine-seed Creighton on Saturday, March 22. This is the third-straight year under head coach Shauna Green that the Illini have accepted an invite to play in some sort of postseason tournament.
* News-Gazette | Special concert announcement: ‘Back Where It All Began’: Six members of the chart-topping, Champaign-born band founded 58 years ago will reunite for one special gig — in the city where it all started. Tickets go on sale at noon Friday for “Back Where It All Began,” a concert retrospective honoring the legacy of REO Speedwagon, set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at State Farm Center. The show will feature special guests and former band members Neal Doughty, Alan Gratzer, Bruce Hall, Terry Luttrell, Mike Murphy and Steve Scorfina, plus an in memoriam to early members Gary Richrath and Gregg Philbin.
* WCBU | Summer Camp Music Festival’s move to Peoria Riverfront delayed to 2026: In a Facebook post in December 2024, organizers announced a new direction for the festival on the Peoria Riverfront. The new festival would be three days of musical performances over Memorial Day weekend; camping would no longer be an option. In a new post on Thursday, organizers announced the cancellation of this new iteration of the festival. In its place, Summer Camp will present a series of shows throughout the summer at the Peoria Riverfront.
*** Chicago ***
* Chicago Reader | Are Chicago police using CrimeTracer?: In August, the city paid SoundThinking $727,361 for CrimeTracer, according to a receipt released to the Reader by the Office of Public Safety Administration (OPSA). The receipt doesn’t mention CrimeTracer by name, but it was provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for payment records related to the software, and the OPSA confirmed the payment was for CrimeTracer. […] CrimeTracer is used by more than 2,500 law enforcement agencies and boasts access to the “largest network of agency data in America”—essentially Google for police. The software allows subscribers to search for a person’s license plate number, name, or even general description among more than 1.3 billion records contained in CrimeTracer’s “Information Network,” culled from license plate readers, 911 calls, booking photos, arrest warrants and reports, ShotSpotter alerts, gun ballistic reports, wedding certificates, vehicle registrations, and more. Analytics and visualization tools draw maps that link related people, events, properties, and vehicles.
* WGN | New mobile vehicle emissions testing could come to you: The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on Friday announced updates to the state’s Vehicle Emissions Testing Program, including the reopening of the Forest Preserve Drive location in Chicago. In a new release Friday, Illinois EPA Acting Director James Jennings said that in addition to the Chicago testing station resuming operations, self-serve kiosks and mobile testing units will become available beginning Monday, March. 17.
* WTTW | Judge Orders Chicago to Speed Up Efforts to Make Crosswalks Accessible to Blind Pedestrians; Just 85 of 2,713 Intersections Upgraded: The order comes after a 2023 ruling in federal court that Chicago’s long-running failure to protect blind pedestrians violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, following on the heels of a similar ruling in New York City. Judge Elaine Bucklo’s opinion chided the city for years of scattershot, unfulfilled promises to install accessible pedestrian signals, known as APS. Those use audio cues to help people with visual disabilities know when it’s safe to cross.
* Streetsblog Chicago | At CTA board meeting, talk of funding doomsday scenario, bus lane enforcement contract, new concessions / newsletter / podcast: While the CTA’s own board didn’t discuss any details during this week’s monthly meeting, Acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen made it clear that, in the absence of additional funding, the slashing of train and bus schedules would be dire. But she emphasized that the cuts would not disproportionally impact the South and West sides, which have historically borne the brunt of such cuts. And she promised the CTA will do its best to avoid such as doomsday situation. During the same meeting, Leerhsen announced that the CTA is launching a new monthly newsletter and a new employee podcast. The also board approved a new contract for bus-mounted cameras that will help enforce laws against drivers standing and parking in bus and bike lanes.
* WTTW | Ancient Visitors to the Modern Wing: Art Institute Welcomes First Visit of Rare Roman Sculptures Collection: Now that medley of marble has taken its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and settled into the Art Institute of Chicago where, starting this weekend, the ancient works will hold court in the Modern Wing. “We wanted to bring the past to the present,” co-curator Lisa Ayla Çakmak told WTTW News. “Placing these works in the Modern Wing can bridge the seeming disconnect between past and present and reinforce one of the key themes of the show: that the ancient Romans lived in a visually saturated world that resonates with us today.”
* Daily Southtown | Despite the cold and snow, South Side Irish Parade organizers estimate 77,000 turn out: The parade featured more than 100 entries and floats, including one with, fittingly, Santa Claus. Irish dancers were bundled and many of the younger dancers were too cold to dance. Even Bozo the Clown needed to keep his orange hair and makeup dry by using an umbrella. […] The grand marshal this year was the Big Shoulders Fund, and the community honoree was the Brother Rice Mount Sion Program, a special education inclusion program.
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Daily Herald | Early voting now open in all suburban counties: Early voting is now open in all counties ahead of the April 1 election. Election officials in Kane and Lake counties had made polling sites available at limited locations earlier this month, while all other counties waited until Monday to begin offering it.
* Daily Herald | Bears stadium or not, Rolling Meadows considers shrinking nearby Kirchoff Road: Currently two lanes of traffic in each direction with a turn lane in the center, Kirchoff would be altered by removing an eastbound lane and a westbound lane, and replacing them with on-street parking spaces. Protected bike lanes would be nearest to the curbs. That would take place west of Meadow Drive, near the Jewel-anchored shopping center and city hall.
* Shaw Local | Will County fortifying entrances of all local high schools: The county approved $70,000 for the first phase of a project that will reinforce the glass in the windows and doors of school entrances, making them bullet proof and resistant to extreme weather conditions, including tornados and hail, according to Will County Regional Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lisa Caparelli-Ruff. The funding was sourced from the county’s cannabis tax revenue.
* Daily Southtown | Homewood resident creates Ava’s Pathways to help women facing struggles: It was that concern for struggling people that led her to start Ava’s Pathways in 2024, a nonprofit that offers coaching and events to empower women at any stage of their lives. Co-founder and Vice President Alice Pryor and the board focus on individuals affected by injustice, domestic abuse, divorce and other challenges. But it’s all done through a compassionate acceptance of people no matter their backgrounds, mistakes or emotional makeup. “I want to be able to help people understand it’s OK to not be OK,” said Shaheed-Jackson, executive director/president.
* Tribune | Evanston offers public campaign funds. But mayor hopefuls Daniel Biss and Jeff Boarini aren’t getting them: The program is meant to “empower grassroots supporters by amplifying small donations and reducing candidates’ reliance on large donors or special interest groups,” according to the city’s website. City Clerk Stephanie Mendoza said in a phone call to Pioneer Press that candidates who have accepted donations over $150 cannot use the program. Mendoza said both Biss and Boarini were notified of the program and how it functions. Both have accepted larger donations.
*** National ***
* WIRED | Everything You Say to Your Echo Will Soon Be Sent to Amazon, and You Can’t Opt Out: In an email sent to customers today, Amazon said that Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally and, therefore, avoid sending voice recordings to Amazon’s cloud. Amazon apparently sent the email to users with “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” enabled on their Echo. Starting on March 28, recordings of every command spoken to the Alexa living in Echo speakers and smart displays will automatically be sent to Amazon and processed in the cloud.
* NBC | Democratic Party hits new polling low, while its voters want to fight Trump harder: Voters did have different views of how congressional Democrats and Republicans have been navigating Trump, with 53% saying Republicans have been too supportive, while 50% say Democrats have been too critical.
* WIRED | DOGE’s Cuts at the USDA Could Cause US Grocery Prices to Rise and Invasive Species to Spread: Before he was abruptly fired last month, Derek Copeland worked as a trainer at the US Department of Agriculture’s National Dog Detection Training Center, preparing beagles and Labrador retrievers to sniff out plants and animals that are invasive or vectors for zoonotic diseases, like swine fever. Copeland estimates the NDDTC lost about a fifth of its trainers and a number of other support staff when 6,000 employees were let go at the USDA in February as part of a government-wide purge orchestrated by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
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* The Tribune has a story about the governor’s proposal to do away with state health coverage for non-citizens aged 42-64…
“When an individual doesn’t have health insurance coverage, since they’re more likely to forgo primary and preventive health care, it’s possible that health conditions that are fairly easy to treat can go undetected for a long time and ultimately become more complex and expensive to treat, which can raise the costs of uncompensated care,” [Drishti Pillai, director of immigrant health policy at KFF, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy organization] said. “It can also lead to worse economic outcomes due to productivity losses, with immigrants playing a key role, especially in certain professions such as health care, agriculture, transportation.”
That’s similar to the argument Pritzker made nearly two years ago when he signed a state budget deal that preserved the program.
“We save money when we invest in health care for undocumented immigrants,” Pritzker said in June 2023, just a few weeks before his administration closed enrollment for immigrants under 65 to help control the programs’ costs. “Because you know what happens if they don’t get health care, basic health care: They end up in an emergency room. We all end up paying for that at a much higher cost than if we have preventative care.”
In response to the recent audit, Pritzker’s Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers the programs, also pointed to the prevalence of untreated chronic conditions and high rates of hospitalization among participants as key factors in driving the cost overruns.
* From a March 3rd Pritzker op-ed…
For Illinois families of all backgrounds and across the state, health care isn’t an afterthought — it’s a lifeline. Since becoming governor, I have made it a top priority — eliminating the Medicaid backlog, passing the Healthcare Protection Act, expanding Medicaid access and coverage, erasing hundreds of millions of dollars in medical debt, and investing in safety net and rural health systems.
Unfortunately, congressional Republicans passed a budget that will mean stripping away health care from working families to finance tax cuts for a privileged few, taking from low- and middle-income families to benefit the rich. From day one, Donald Trump and JD Vance’s administration has put health care on the chopping block.
* Even if spending money reduces state costs down the road, the short-term state costs have been unexpectedly huge…
There are three separate programs known as the Health Benefits for Immigrant Senior and Adults (HBIS) for the following age groups: 42-to-54; 55-to-64; and 65 and older. The first two age groups are facing dissolution.
The report, which was requested by lawmakers and conducted by the Office of the Auditor General, found that HBIS (55-64) was estimated to cost $58.4 million in the first three years while the actual cost was $262.2 million, or 286% higher than initial projections.
The cost of the 42-to-54 program saw similar numbers.
Your thoughts?
…Adding… Thanks to a commenter for this link to a 2022 press release…
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is expanding the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program to now provide health care coverage to undocumented immigrant adults and certain legal permanent residents aged 42 and over.
Building on the first-in-the-nation Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors program, Illinois in March launched the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program for qualifying individuals aged 55 to 64. The Illinois General Assembly authorized the expansion to include those aged 42 and up as part of Medicaid omnibus legislation this spring that Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law in May. Qualifying individuals aged 42 to 54 will be eligible for services through the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program beginning July 1, 2022.
“From day one of my administration, equity has been—and will always be—our north star,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Everyone, regardless of documentation status, deserves access to holistic healthcare coverage. I am proud to expand the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program to include more Illinoisans in need of care. We are leading the nation in health equity—and creating a healthier, happier Illinois in the process.”
…Adding… Another reader sent this…
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