* The mayor broke the seal…
* Media alert from the governor’s office a bit ago…
Tomorrow morning Governor Pritzker will hold a press conference to announce the state’s next steps in managing the asylum seeker crisis. In advance of the presser, we are offering an embargoed background briefing at 9 AM with Acting IDHS Secretary Dulce Quintero, Associate Secretary for Early Childhood, Family & Community Kirstin Chernawsky, and Governor’s Office staff to provide more in-depth background to members of the media.
From what I’ve been hearing, this has more to do with programs than money, but money will be a part of it.
…Adding… Johnson talked a little about the state’s approach…
They know that we have to clear out these police districts, we’ve got to get people who are sleeping outside, indoors. And we have to create work authorization in an expedited way so that these [migrants] can contribute to the economy. And also creating a village in the community so that when other migrants, or asylum seekers arrive that there’s a community to receive them.
Please pardon any transcription errors.
…Adding… The mayor said earlier in the press conference that there would be a new “landing zone” or “entry point” for migrants. “I am grateful that the county and the state have heard our advocacy and their commitment to fund this mission.”
…Adding… More from the mayor…
On the front end, you know, we have to make sure that we are setting up these newly arrivals with the best opportunity to be successful. On the back end, part of the investments that the state will be providing is to expand a more expedited process for them to be resettled.
Also…
…Adding… Update…
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Afternoon roundup
Wednesday, Nov 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ugh…
* SJ-R…
The U.S. House approved a temporary measure to fund the government Tuesday, keeping fears of a federal shutdown at-bay through the end of the year. […]
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, was one of two Democrats voting against the continuing resolution and was joined by all Illinois GOP members in opposition. All remaining Illinois Democrats voted ‘yes.’
No cuts to spending led to ‘no’ votes from Reps. Mary Miller, R-Oakland; and Darin LaHood, R-Peoria — Miller calling on zero funding to the Department of Education and World Health Organization. Quigley, who also voted against the prior stopgap measure, wanted more funding for Ukraine. […]
U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, said in a statement that she voted in favor of the resolution due in-part to a one-year funding extension of the Farm Bill. The spending bill funds federal agriculture and food programs for five years will now continue through September 2024, the end of the fiscal year.
* The Illinois Farm Bureau found the price of a Thanksgiving meal has dropped a bit since last year…
Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) volunteer shoppers reported a state-wide average price of $63.87 for a classic holiday feast for 10, or around $6.39 per person. This reflects a 2.5% decrease over the previous year’s state average of $65.53. […]
AFBF reported a national average of $61.17, or less than $6.20 per person, for a classic holiday feast for 10. This is a 4.5% decrease from the previous year’s record-high of $64.05, but a Thanksgiving meal is still 25% higher than it was in 2019, which highlights the impact high supply costs and inflation have had on food prices since before the pandemic.
The centerpiece on most Thanksgiving tables – the turkey – brought down the overall cost of dinner. The national average price for a 16-pound turkey is $27.35. That is $1.71 per pound, down 5.6% from last year. […]
“Traditionally, the turkey is the most expensive item on the Thanksgiving dinner table,” said AFBF Senior Economist Veronica Nigh. “Turkey prices have fallen thanks to a sharp reduction in cases of avian influenza, which have allowed production to increase in time for the holiday.” […]
Individual Prices
• 16-pound turkey: $27.35 or $1.71 per pound (down 5.6%)
• 14-ounces of cubed stuffing mix: $3.77 (down 2.8%)
• 2 frozen pie crusts: $3.50 (down 4.9%)
• Half pint of whipping cream: $1.73 (down 22.8%)
• 1 pound of frozen peas: $1.88 (down 1.1%)
• 1 dozen dinner rolls: $3.84 (up 2.9%)
• Misc. ingredients to prepare the meal: $3.95 (down 4.4%)
• 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix: $4.44 (up 3.7%)
• 1 gallon of whole milk: $3.74 (down 2.6%)
• 3 pounds of sweet potatoes: $3.97 (up .3%)
• 1-pound veggie tray (carrots & celery): $.90 (up 2.3%)
• 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries: $2.10 (down 18.3%)
Meanwhile…
Americans for Prosperity-Illinois (AFP-IL) will be joined by House Republican Leader Tony McCombie and Senate Republican Leader John Curran at Montrose Food Mart & Deli in Chicago to provide free groceries for customers for a limited time.
The event will connect the rising grocery costs to the disastrous Bidenomic agenda in Washington and tax increases coming out of Springfield. The Leaders will join AFP-IL to chat with customers about the challenges they face with rising prices –especially around the holidays and discuss how Illinois can tackle inflationary policies moving forward.
Years of Biden and Pritzker’s reckless spending and inflationary policies have wreaked havoc on the American economy, making it harder than ever for Illinoisans to make ends meet. Governor Pritzker recently increased the grocery tax by one percent, hitting Illinois families even harder during economic uncertainty. From gasoline to groceries, everything seems more expensive nowadays.
Prices for groceries are up 24.4 percent since January 2021, costing a family of four an extra $59.08 per week for a moderate-cost plan. To highlight the consequences of the broken policies coming out of Washington, DC and Springfield, AFP will provide $60 gift cards to be used on groceries for Montrose Food Mart & Deli. To highlight the consequences of the broken policies coming out of Washington, DC and Springfield, AFP will provide $60 gift cards to be used on groceries for Montrose Food Mart & Deli.
* Politico…
The race for Democratic state Rep. Kelly Burke’s seat in the suburban 36th District is about to get interesting.
Sonia Anne Khalil is filing paperwork to run. She faces Rick Ryan, an attorney in Evergreen Park who’s been endorsed by Burke.
Khalil is known in Democratic circles in part for her work in the Cook County Clerk’s Office. Her father is Samir Khalil, founder of the Arab American Democratic Club.
About the district: It includes Palos Hills, Oak Lawn and Evergreen Park, where Burke is also the mayor. The district also has a large population of Arab Americans.
Khalil has close connections to progressives and former Cook County Clerk David Orr.
* Media advisory from SoS Alexi Giannoulias…
Giannoulias will be joined by elected officials and environmental leaders to celebrate the unveiling of the state’s new Monarch butterfly license plate.
Deposits for the plates raise funds for the Roadside Monarch Habitat Fund, which is part of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
The Monarch butterfly, Illinois’ state insect, is considered endangered. The fund helps foster habitats to support the butterflies during their twice-yearly migratory journey from Mexico to Chicago with a goal to add 150 million new milkweed stems and other nectar resources to the Illinois landscape in the next 15 years.
* Notice anything off about this calendar?…
There is no month of May. July is listed twice.
…Adding… From Mike Phillips, a geology professor at Illinois Valley Community College…
At 4:42 am (Central), an earthquake occurred in eastern Putnam County, Illinois. The epicenter was approximately 1 mile south of Standard, Illinois (6.5 miles southwest of LaSalle/Peru). The earthquake focus is estimated to be 2.75 mi (4.6 km) below the surface. Reports to the US Geological Survey indicate that the earthquake was felt primarily within a 25-mile radius of the epicenter, but people as far away as Chicago, Illinois, and Dubuque, Iowa, also reported minor shaking. The most common report from my students and co-workers was that people were jarred awake as if someone hit their bed or something hit their house. While there is no known fault at this location, earthquakes happen in our area about once every 5-10 years.
The cause of the earthquake is still to be determined and includes several possibilities. The first is the result of pressure on our tectonic plate. The Earth’s surface is made of plates that move and interact with each other. That interaction results in earthquakes where the plates are touching, but some of that stress can result in the occasional earthquake in the middle of the plate where we are located. A second possibility related to the glaciers that left our area around 12-15,000 years ago. When they melted back, the loss of weight results in our part of the crust rising very slowly (about 1 mm/year) which can also result in the occasional earthquake.
For context, this is a normal experience for our area. Our area experiences a small earthquake about once every five or ten years. There was a M4.2 near Troy Grove in 2004 and a M3.5 near Dixon in 1999. The largest on record was a M5.1 in eastern Ogle County (west of DeKalb) in 1909. The Earth is a very active planet with earthquakes occurring all the time. They tend to make the news when they occur where people live. So, we can expect more earthquakes in the future.
Earthquakes are relatively minor, but it is always a good idea to have fragile, important items attached to something so they do not fall and break, and you probably shouldn’t have a shelf with things that could fall off directly over your bed.
I encourage anyone who experienced the earthquake or would like to know more about it to visit earthquake.usgs.gov to learn more and to share what they experienced. The Did You Feel It? reports are a very important data source for researchers.
* From Isabel…
* Tribune | Chicago judge rules federal statute barring felons from possessing guns is unconstitutional but says it’s a ‘close question’: As a five-time convicted felon, Glen Prince was facing a mandatory minimum 15 years behind bars when he was charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a handgun stemming from an armed robbery on CTA train in 2021. Instead, Prince’s case was tossed out earlier this month by a federal judge who ruled the statute barring felons from possessing handguns is unconstitutional in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
* Center Square | Prosecutors want life in prison for ComEd 4, defense attorneys say: Defense attorneys had asked for more time to deal with what they said were complex issues regarding sentencing guidelines. At a hearing Wednesday, defense attorney Patrick Cotter said prosecutors would be seeking life sentences for the defendants. “The government apparently is going to suggest that the guidelines of this case are life,” Cotter said. “And we are asking for what we believe to be adequate time, a couple extra weeks, to respond not only to the [pre-sentencing report] but to what the government files when they’re asking to put our clients in jail for life. And I think that that’s not unreasonable.”
* Crain’s | Rivian lines up $15B fake bond plan to snag tax break: The debt is structured as what’s known as “phantom bonds” that are used by companies to get a property tax break in Georgia, and involve no real financial or accounting impact for the company involved, according to a report by law firm Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP. In Rivian’s case, it’s a workaround because the state doesn’t have legislation allowing for companies to get abatements that provide such relief.
* ABC Chicago | Inside STIC, the Illinois terrorism intelligence agency fighting real and viral hoax terror threats: At a time when authorities say threats to public safety are mounting and coming from new directions, the ABC7 I-Team went to the STIC for a rare look at the safety net operation that’s working to keep Illinoisans and others across the county safe. Aaron Kustermann, chief intelligence officer for STIC, said there is more suspicious activity than ever before coming into the facility.
* Tribune | Michael Frerichs and Nell Minow: Those who want to ban sustainability-focused investing are on the losing end: In his ruling on the lawsuit, which was brought forward by 26 Republican attorneys general, Kacsmaryk acknowledged that the rule permits environmental and other risk factors to be considered in determining an investment’s risk and return while requiring pension investment firms to act “solely in the interest” of working people whose retirement they’re protecting. Unsurprisingly, none of the challengers was able to provide a single example of an investment decision that was not justified by strictly financial considerations.
* The Marshall Project | An Illinois Warden Tried to Fix an Abusive Federal Prison. He Faced Death Threats: “When the regional director called me and said, ‘Well, they looked into it and put those guys back on their post,’ I’m like, ‘Are you freaking kidding me right now?’” Bergami said. “My staff were saying to stab me and the captain. I’ve got to worry about our safety.”
* The Nation | How We Ended Cash Bail in Illinois: Leaders at these organizations recognized that none of us had the power to win on our own, so we came together and launched the Coalition to End Money Bond in 2016. We intentionally assembled a set of groups with important complementary capacities in the movement ecosystem: base building, electoral work, inside game, policy expertise, political education, and direct service. We anchored the work in an abolitionist orientation but worked to bring in more moderate groups who were willing to join because the abolitionist organizers were serious about power and created a clear center of gravity for the broader bail reform movement in Illinois.
* Tribune | Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper and Quincy Jones teaming up to reopen Chicago’s Ramova Theatre: Chicago icons Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper and Quincy Jones have teamed up to reopen and revitalize the Ramova Theatre, located in the South Side neighborhood of Bridgeport, after the venue’s nearly 40-year dormancy. With Hudson, Chance and Jones as co-owners, the Ramova will reopen in fall 2023 as a 1,500-capacity live music venue with a grill, beer garden and brewery in partnership with Other Half Brewing.
* AP | Northern Illinois can become bowl-eligible by winning its final game after shutting out Western Michigan 24-0: Antario Brown ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns, and Northern Illinois kept its postseason aspirations alive with a commanding 24-0 win over Western Michigan on Tuesday night. The Huskies (5-6, 4-3 Mid-American Conference) last shut out an opponent on Oct. 26, 2019, when they beat Akron 49-0. NIU will get a chance to become bowl-eligible when it closes its regular season Nov. 25 at Kent State (1-9, 0-6).
* NYT | So Thieves Nabbed Your Catalytic Converter. Here’s Where It Ended Up: An examination of business records and social media posts, as well as interviews with more than 80 officials on three continents who have ties to the industry, showed that the stolen devices pass through middlemen, smelters and refineries in the United States and overseas. Along the way, their provenance becomes opaque, leaving beneficiaries of the thefts with plausible deniability and little incentive to stop them. During processing, the metal is blended with legitimate supplies from mines and scrapyards, The New York Times found, before being sold primarily to companies that make catalytic converters for automakers, as well as pharmaceutical companies for cancer and other drugs, military contractors for weapons production, and banks for their precious-metals trading desks, among others.
* Sun-Times | Sister Jean’s latest fan? President Biden, who sent flowers during Chicago visit: During his visit to Illinois Thursday, Biden sent a bouquet of flowers to Sister Jean, the 104-year-old icon at Loyola University Chicago, as an amiable gesture to a fellow Catholic. “Dear Sister Jean, Thinking of you during my trip to Chicago today! Keep the Faith!” Biden wrote in a note sent along with the flowers, which were purchased from a florist in Rogers Park.
* NBC Chicago | Suburban Chicago hot dog joint to be inducted into ‘Hot Dog Hall of Fame’: Scooby’s Hot Dogs, in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, will be inducted into Vienna Beef’s Hot Dog Hall of Fame at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, a press release from Vienna Beef said. Customers are encouraged to join the ceremony, organizers said.
* Sun-Times | Earthquake measured at 3.6 magnitude confirmed in Putnam County: There were no reports of injuries but about 120 people reported feeling it, according to the U. S. Geological Survey. The quake happened at 4:41 a.m. about 2 1⁄2 miles south of Standard, in Putnam County, said the USGS. It did not occur along a fault line, according to a USGS spokesman.
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* NBC News…
Pritzker’s Think Big America has hired Christina Amestoy as its communications director after she previously worked at the Democratic Governors Association for four years. At the DGA, she was a top communications strategist in competitive governor’s races, including campaigns in Arizona, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nevada and Illinois. […]
Pritzker, a billionaire, has sunk his personal money into the group to fund efforts in competitive races. That includes the group’s donating $250,000 to Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights in the state’s ballot measure vote last week, when voters chose to add protections for reproductive health decisions to the state constitution. Members of Think Big worked as strategists in the Ohio effort, and Pritzker gave $750,000 personally to the effort to defend abortion.
In the Virginia elections, Think Big also gave $250,000 to a combination of the state Democratic Party and support in four state Senate districts that could have been decisive, the group said.
The group has also invested $1 million in Nevada, which is pursuing a 2024 ballot initiative to protect abortion in the state. And according to Amestoy, the group is in conversations to possibly assist the on-the-ground effort in Arizona.
…Adding… I missed it when I first read the story a couple of weeks ago, but Tina Sfondeles reported on the same $1 million Nevada contribution on November 1…
In Nevada, Think Big America also contributed $1 million to the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom PAC, which is fighting for a November 2024 ballot question that would establish a “fundamental right to reproductive rights.” The newly formed PAC is affiliated with Planned Parenthood.
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* Gregory Royal Pratt…
Ald. Bill Conway is crying foul after Johnson’s administration said they would have the city remove the tents in which people are sleeping [in West Loop homeless encampments] only if Conway voted in favor of two pillars of the mayor’s progressive policy agenda.
The conflict between Conway and [op Johnson adviser Jason Lee] begins with the encampment near Union and Ogilvie stations, which Conway said is a trouble spot for drugs and violent crime in the ward. Two recent shootings in the area have exacerbated his concern. […]
Lee pulled Conway into a copy room behind council chambers and offered to help remove the homeless camps, but Conway said he tied the action to the alderman supporting two Johnson initiatives: an increased real estate transfer tax on properties over $1 million to help fund citywide homeless services and an end to the tipped wage for restaurant workers. […]
Conway also recalled Lee saying that the administration’s progressive allies would “raise hell” if they helped clear out the viaducts, but City Hall was willing to make that happen because Conway’s votes “give us all the ammunition we need to justify why this is a critical intervention.” […]
“What I expressed to Ald. Conway is that … there’s a perception that doing something like removing encampments is not necessarily in line with progressive values and that it could be perceived as a callous act disconnected from the realities of what the unhoused and other vulnerable populations are going through,” Lee said.
“Ald. Conway demonstrating his commitment to progressive values, including eliminating the subminimum wage but most importantly Bring Chicago Home, is helpful to neutralize some of the criticism he might face in pursuing that.”
* From Jason Lee in 2018…
I learned the meaning of Dr. King’s axiom that the “ends are pre-existent in the means.” If my goal was truly to create a just world, I decided that I could not use unjust means … to achieve those ends.
This is what Dr. King said…
The means represent the ideal in making and the end in process. And in the long run of history, destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.
Thoughts?
…Adding… There’s also the practical side…
…Adding… Ald. Conway…
Playing politics with public safety is dangerous, both in the literal sense and when it comes to restoring people’s trust in government.
I take my oath and responsibility to protect our community seriously, so when the Mayor’s Office offered to address rising drug and violent crime incidents under the viaducts in my ward only if I agreed to support two of their legislative priorities, I was shocked.
When I subsequently learned the Mayor’s Office canceled plans to address those issues after I didn’t vote according to their wishes, I was speechless.
As a result, I have referred this matter to the City Inspector General and will cooperate with any investigations that follow.
This all began when I brought concerns about a rise in crime under several viaducts in the 34th Ward to the Mayor’s top aide. What started as peaceful homeless encampments has quickly turned into a magnet for narcotics and violent crime.
On a weekly basis, my staff works on site with Chicago Police and other city departments to safely remove drug packets, guns, abandoned tents, and propane tanks which present a danger to those living under the viaducts, the surrounding community, and the rail line running above. We’ve also been working with Family & Support Services to offer rehousing support to individuals who will accept it. I appreciate all of their work.
I had been told by city agencies that nothing more could be done, despite several overdoses, armed robberies, and two shootings in the immediate area. The Mayor’s aide told me that was not true. He said that the Mayor’s Office frequently intervenes in special circumstances and would do so here in exchange for my votes on the tipped minimum wage and real estate transfer tax.
It’s no secret that political horse trading occurs within the City Council. However, the denial of public safety resources and essential city services in exchange for legislative votes is abhorrent and unethical.
I have supported this administration’s efforts at times and when we disagree, I’ve always been willing to have a conversation and find common ground. But I will not bargain with public safety.
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* As we’ve been discussing, on October 20th, the City of Chicago reported that 28 buses carrying migrants had arrived in the previous seven days. That was down from 53 during the week ending October 6. On October 27, that weekly number had fallen to 16, and was reported as 15 a week later. This past week, the number remained at 15 buses. The Sun-Times has finally noticed the trend…
After two months of ballooning bus arrivals in Chicago that stretched the resources of the city and volunteers, the number of buses coming into the city has slowed, and the number of migrants at police stations is at its lowest point in months.
On Monday, around 2,300 migrants were awaiting shelter at police stations and airports, the fewest since late September, according to data from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Bus arrivals are back down to a couple a day from roughly nine a day.
The slowing rate of arrivals and falling number staying at police stations comes with winter just around the corner, something advocates have feared could put the health of thousands at risk.
The 1,800 migrants still camped out at police stations, with freezing weather coming, is down 33% from just a week ago.
The number of new arrivals in staging areas dropped about 22 percent, from 3,228 the previous week to 2,529 by last Friday. This is a trend we’ve noticed for a while now.
The number of new leases signed jumped to 640 in October, from 125 in July. Again, same upward trend that’s been happening for months.
Fox 32 picked up the Sun-Times story, so maybe the word will finally spread.
* Meanwhile…
As a sense of urgency grows, with winter fast approaching, Chicago’s mayor says he is looking to shore up support with influential pastors as the city efforts migrant relief. […]
Addressing the latest concerns at the Indiana Avenue Pentecostal Church of God in Bronzeville, Johnson was joined by Bishop Simon Gordon with the Triedstone Church of Chicago. Gordon asked Chicagoans to stand with their mayor as the city navigates their plans for the unhoused.
“We have to be good citizens and be able to accept and deal with those who come in to be a part of the process,” Gordon said.
* At that same press conference, a reporter asked this…
Have you ever considered turning the buses around? The buses arrived here saying, You know what, there’s no more room at the inn. We can no longer have the capacity to take anyone else. Maybe it’s time to turn the buses around.
And how would the city do that? Surround the buses with armed police officers and force people to go where they don’t want to go? I can think of a few laws off the top of my head that this would be violating. Also, are they going to put armed officers on buses full of people here legally until they reach city limits?
Do reporters even stop to think for one second before they pop off like that? That person sounded like George Wallace at the school house door, for crying out loud.
Not to mention that the phrase “no more room at the inn” was uttered at a Christian church, of all places.
* From Isabel…
* Fox Chicago | Chicago law firm steps up to assist migrants free of charge: Compelled to help, Anderson teamed up with his law firm’s pro bono attorneys and other agencies, like the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), to host a series of free legal clinics. Those sessions served to educate new arrivals on their rights, and guide them on what to do next. “To apply for work permits, to apply for a change of venue – to move their hearings from, let’s say, Denver to Chicago. And fundamentally, just to register their whereabouts with the Department of Homeland Security. So they needed to go online basically,” said Anderson. Meanwhile, city officials have launched a pilot program for a one-stop work authorization clinic that aims to serve at least 150 migrants per day. It’s being done in partnership with the White House and The Resurrection Project (TRP).
* Pioneer Press | Oak Park taking the lead on ‘coordinated western suburban response’ to migrant crisis, looking for others to partner, officials say: Oak Park resident Derek Eder also voiced his support for the the village rendering aid. “Let’s show them that love wins over fear, and let’s show them that diversity is strength. Let’s show them that this crisis is actually an opportunity to enrich the lives of our new arrivals and to enrich the lives of our own village,” Eder said. “Let’s show them what Oak Park really stands for.”
* WGN | CPD officers helps migrant kids write new stories with donated books: Officer Jesus Magallon began his mission to hand out books to the children, newly arrived in Chicago over the summer. He saw the children of those newly arrived migrants and noticed they didn’t have any books. He set out to change that. […] He has given away hundreds so far. Many of them came from Bernie’s Book Bank on the North Shore.
* Sun-Times Editorial Board | Catholic Charities of San Antonio does Chicago no favors by failing to give a heads-up when migrants are on the way: Catholic Charities of San Antonio said in a statement: “Catholic Charities does not direct or suggest travel to any specific location, and migrants have been advised at times not to travel to certain areas due to a possible lack of services. However, Catholic Charities cannot prevent migrants from traveling to their preferred locale.” But parts of those statements are hard to square with migrants who have told the Sun-Times they chose Chicago based on a recommendation by Catholic Charities of San Antonio. San Antonio is among the first stops for many migrants. Its local Catholic Charities operates the Migrant Resource Center. When migrants insist that Chicago is their choice, at least give city officials or Catholic Charities in Chicago some notice. A phone call will do.
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