Afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Jun 13, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * Former Rep. Dan Brady says he’s exploring a bid against freshman Democratic US Rep. Eric Sorensen…
The 17th is the swingiest of all Democratic districts here, but Biden won it by 7.6 points and Pritzker won it by 9 in 2018. Brady ran for secretary of state last year and lost to Alexi Giannoulias. * You may recall that Toia has never registered as a Statehouse lobbyist…
More from Jason Meisner’s tweets on Toia’s sworn testimony today…
Toia’s group has said that Toia isn’t required to register as a Statehouse lobbyist, but they’ve never explained why. * More proof that every accusation made by these people is a confession…
From the opinion…
Her social media post is here. * MidAmerica St. Louis Airport held a grand opening celebration of its expanded terminal today…
* The governor seems all-in on increasing traffic, particularly truck traffic…
* Hope ain’t a plan, and the plan clearly hasn’t worked so far…
Not much after that except a lot of hopium. * Teamsters are now out from under a federal consent decree. Scott Holland…
The order is here. * Legislative scorecards released…
…Adding… Press release…
* Isabel’s roundup…
* AP | Amtrak St. Louis-Chicago travel getting upgraded from current 90 mph to 110 mph: The higher speeds take effect June 26 and will reduce the duration of the trip from the current five hours and 13 minutes. Trips from St. Louis to Chicago are a few minutes shorter, according to Amtrak timetables. * CNBC | Inflation rose at a 4% annual rate in May, the lowest in 2 years: The consumer price index increased just 0.1% for the month and 4% from a year ago, the latter being the lowest level in about two years. * Daily Herald | DuPage County chair suggests stripping clerk of election commission control after budget fights: Board members continued to press for misdemeanor criminal charges against Kaczmarek if she goes over budget. Berlin, however, said that likely would not occur until the fall if she overspends on salaries. County officials have estimated the clerk’s office will be over budget on salaries due to increases, some as high as 30%, Kaczmarek gave to some employees. * Crain’s | Johnson allies to push for phasing out tipped wages: “I look forward to being at the table with the powers that be when an ordinance is ready to be discussed,” Toia told Crain’s last week. “Businesses like to see a plan so they can work it into their business plan, which is usually a five year plan.” * Crain’s | Climate change and homeowners’ insurance are on a collision course: American International Group Inc., which has already pulled back from new California business, is now set to curb home-insurance sales for affluent customers in around 200 ZIP codes across the US, including New York, Delaware, Florida, Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. The decision was first reported in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, citing people familiar with the company’s plans. * Sun-Times | FOP demands same 12 weeks of paid parental leave Johnson gave teachers: Chicago police officers already have a generous sick pay policy that allows them to take up to 365 days off every two years. * Block Club | Feds Got Permission To Trace Ald. Jim Gardiner’s Phone Calls As Part Of FBI Investigation, Court Records Show : The 2021 wire tap order was part of the federal investigation into bribery allegations against the alderman, but the records don’t show the current status of the inquiry. * Pioneer Press | Controversial church leader with Hinsdale ties featured in Amazon docuseries ‘Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets’: The Duggars’ reality TV show was canceled after the allegations against Josh Duggar surfaced that he sexually abused his younger sisters and a babysitter and he apologized. As a teen, Josh Duggar went to a Little Rock, Ark., facility operated by the IBLP following those incidents. The new documentary explores Gothard’s teachings and his connection to the Duggars. In a 2015 interview with the Tribune, Gothard defended the Duggars. “They did the right things. * Fox Chicago | U.S. cancer centers grapple with severe drug shortage as over 90% report impact: Pharmaceutical companies say production shortfalls are to blame for the drug shortages that have plagued the nation for months. However, cancer treatments are among the hardest hit. * Journal Courier | Illinois transportation agency hearing on proposed I-55/I-72 project is today: There will be a public hearing 4-7 p.m. today about the project at Northfield Inn Suites and Conference Center at 3280 Northfield Drive, Springfield. * Bloomberg | Accenture to double AI workforce three months after massive layoffs: Accenture Plc announced plans to double its AI staff to 80,000, just three months after shedding 19,000 jobs in a cost-cutting effort. The professional-services company will invest $3 billion in its Data & AI practice over the next three years to help companies develop the new strategies they’ll need to capitalize on the boom in artificial intelligence, Accenture said in a statement on Tuesday. * WICS | The Sangamon County Fair begins June 14: General admission is reduced this year to only $5. Children 4 and under are free. * Daily Herald | IHSA discontinues tournaments for boys gymnastics, debate: Since 2000, boys gymnastics has averaged just over 50 schools participating, but that number shrank to 46 teams in 2022 and 40 teams in 2023, the news release said. The IHSA currently has 817 member high schools. * Sun-Times | Residents want large festivals out of Douglass Park, say they pose a danger to patients at nearby hospitals: “Mount Sinai is a level-one trauma center, meaning that patients who have experienced acute trauma and may require timely surgical intervention are often brought by EMS crews to this hospital,” said Marcus Paulson, an emergency medical technician. “For these patients, mere minutes can determine their outcome. The obstruction of traffic around the park and stream of low-acuity patients from large festivals has and will clearly affect the capacity of surrounding hospitals.” * WCIA | Central IL police arrest suspected serial, interstate pickpockets: Brandel said that in recent weeks, the department received multiple reports of a man, believed to be Pribegeanu, approaching women over the age of 50 at the city’s Walmarts and asking for directions to a hospital. The women later discovered after these interactions that their wallets, or items from their wallets like ID, credit and debit cards, or cash, were missing. * Shaw Local | U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood’s office named finalist for Constituent Service Award : In 2023, U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood’s office has helped return or saved constituents $863,989 and counting, according to a news release. * Daily Herald | Once seized by the feds, Rosemont hotel undergoes $35 million transformation: The nine-story, 274-room hotel at the edge of O’Hare International Airport had been seized by the U.S. Marshals Service after the arrest of owner Xiao Hua “Edward” Gong on fraud and money laundering charges in Canada. “It was a bit eerie when we walked through the hotel,” Curto remembers. “In one of the back offices, we saw safes that the U.S. marshals had blown open. We saw lunches that were left. We saw coats that were there. The ballroom was already fitted out for a wedding with name tags. The U.S. marshals had shut down the hotel in 20 minutes and locked it up.” * Shaw Local | As ticks expand throughout the state, experts say prevention remains key: “Ticks are pretty hardy. It’s difficult to control their population size,” said Alana Bartolai, the ecological services program coordinator at the Lake County Health Department. “We do the monitoring side to understand what is out there and to help our medical providers understand what’s out there as well. But a lot of our communication is geared toward how people can prevent it themselves.”
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Today’s quotable
Tuesday, Jun 13, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * The credit ratings agencies also prefer governors who don’t put their own personal crusades ahead of negotiating a reasonably balanced budget for their state. Just sayin…
…Adding… Here’s some context…
* And after a bipartisan super-majority in both chambers finally voted to raise the income tax to just under where it had been before Rauner took office, and then Rauner vetoed that bill, we saw this…
And this…
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