Afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Aug 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * From the Auditor General…
…Adding… From the governor’s office…
Wow. * Cook County receives an upgrade…
* This prediction may very well turn out to be accurate, but excuses won’t be enough come convention time. The White House really needs to step up its act, including the source of much of the problem: Venezuela itself. Fran Spielman…
* Staying on politics, here’s the NRCC…
It’s a five-figure buy across 21 districts… * Tollway news…
* From the Office of the Executive Inspector General…
Seems a bit harsh. More here. * UIUC Chancellor Robert Jones sat down for an interview with the News-Gazette. Here’s the first part of his answer to a mascot question…
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Sun-Times | Johnson OKs deal to raise tax on high-end home sales, use funds to combat homelessness: Mayor Brandon Johnson has signed off on a compromise plan to raise the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales to generate $100 million in annual revenue to combat homelessness, but in a way that will reduce the tax for homes sold for less than $1 million. Zoning Committee Chair Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), the mayor’s City Council floor leader, predicted that the 11th-hour concessions would minimize opposition from Chicago developers and guarantee City Council approval of a binding referendum on the March ballot. He also predicted overwhelming voter approval. … Properties sold for under $1 million that currently account for 94% of all sales will see a decrease in the real estate transaction tax owed. The new tax rate would be 0.60%, down from the current rate of 0.75% — a 20% cut. Sales of $1 million or over, but under $1.5 million, will pay a 2% tax — more than 21⁄2 times what they pay now. And sales of $1.5 million and higher will pay 3%, which is four times the current rate. * Bond Buyer | Illinois defies Midwest’s downward issuance trend: Municipal bond issuers in the Midwest largely tracked their national peers in the first half of 2023, with volume down 19.4% compared to the first half of 2022. They sold $32.6 billion of debt spread over 1,223 deals in the first half, down from $40.5 billion in 1,764 deals in the year-ago period, according to Refinitiv data. Nationally, municipal bond volume was down 17.1% to $180.8 billion. * Crain’s | Despite years of affirmative action, Black student enrollment percentages remain low at local universities: A Crain’s analysis of changes in enrollment demographics at six area schools since 2012 shows modest increases in the percentage of Black students at some and declines at others. During the same time frame, Asian and Hispanic numbers rose, while the share of white students fell. * 21st Show | Freedom Caucus Member Rep. Adam Niemerg on the Illinois Republican Party in 2023: On the eve of the first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 election cycle, we delve into the party’s rebuilding phase here in Illinois. We hear from a representative from the Illinois Freedom Caucus. Join us as we explore what voters want from the modern-day party, how Illinois Republicans negotiate with a Democratic majority on the state floor, and the Freedom Caucus’s future role in the party. * Our Quad Cities | Quad City area towns receive water infrastructure loans from Illinois EPA: Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Director John J. Kim has announced that more than $571 million in water infrastructure loans will be provided to local governments and water districts for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. The Illinois EPA State Revolving Fund (SRF) Program provides low-interest loans to fund wastewater, stormwater and drinking water projects. Over $53 million in loan forgiveness will be provided to recipients who meet the loan rules for either the Small Community Rate or Hardship Rate. Illinois EPA issued over $803 million in low-interest loans for water infrastructure in total for fiscal year 2023. Illinois provided nearly $54 million in funding for lead service line replacement over the last 12 months, in addition to the SRF loans. * Daily Herald | How suburban school districts are dealing with extreme heat this week: Downers Grove School District 58 postponed the start of classes from Wednesday to Friday. “Unfortunately, our classrooms and most areas of our schools are not equipped with air conditioning nor modern HVAC systems,” Superintendent Kevin Russell told parents in a message Monday. “By postponing the start of school by two days, we aim to provide a more favorable environment for effective teaching and learning.” * Tribune | Field Museum researchers enlist hundreds of home gardeners in fight to save the iconic monarch butterfly: The gardeners, who range from beginners with one milkweed plant to veterans with hundreds, have collected detailed data on monarchs, eggs and caterpillars in their yards, decks, community gardens and balconies — contributing up to 1,800 records each summer. * WCBU | Copi in the spotlight at Illinois State Fair as fish’s popularity as a food source increases: Copi, the Midwest waterways nuisance fish formerly known as Asian carp, is enjoying a surge in popularity as a human food source in the United States. Don’t believe it? Just ask Brian Schoenung, an aquatic nuisance species expert for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). Schoenung has tracked the habitat-destroying “silverfish” since well before IDNR’s June 2022 rebranding of Asian carp as “Copi,” which is short for “copious” and an adequate description of the invasive, habitat-destroying fish whose presence is threatening crucial food sources for sportfish in Midwestern waterways * AP | From MLK to today, the March on Washington highlights the evolution of activism by Black churches: “The issues are multiracial. It’s too simplistic now to say, “Black church/white church,’” said the Rev. William Barber, who in 2018 became co-chair of a national anti-poverty initiative called The Poor People’s Campaign. It took its name from a movement launched by King and other SCLC leaders in 1968 shortly before King’s assassination. Barber, now director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School, admires King immensely yet is critical of those who “water down the March on Washington to one man, one speech.” * SJ-R | Springfield man punches ticket to World Championship Chili Cook-off on fair’s last day: Les Eastep of Springfield said Sunday at the Illinois State Fair Chili Cookoff that he was hanging it up as far as competitive cooking. But by virtue of his first-place finish in the homestyle category on the final day of the fair, Eastep, 86, was guaranteed a spot in the World Championship Chili Cook-off in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 2024.
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*** UPDATED x2 *** Numerous bomb threats forcing suburban libraries to close out of caution
Tuesday, Aug 22, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * This is just awful…
* From the Tribune story…
* Tribune yesterday…
These acts are designed to instill terror, so I hope the feds are taking this seriously. *** UPDATE 1 *** Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Edwin C. Yohnka, Director of Communications, at the ACLU of Illinois…
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