* After the Gannett/Gatehouse merger, the company got rid of 59 percent of its employees, according to Nieman Lab…

At the end of 2018 — the last full pre-merger year — the two companies had a total of 27,600 employees, according to a Gannett spokesperson. The merger closed in mid-November 2019, by which time it had about 25,000 and was diving headlong into a hunt for “inefficiencies.”

By December 31, 2019, the combined company was down to 21,255. By the end of 2020, that had dropped to 18,141. A year later: 13,800. And its most recent SEC filing reports that, as of the end of 2022, Gannett had just 11,200 employees remaining.

In other words, Gannett has eliminated 59% of its jobs in four years. It’s as if, instead of merging America’s two largest newspaper chains, one of them was simply wiped off the face of the earth.

The chain owns 16 newspapers in Illinois and prints Dan Proft’s “papers” as well as the bizarre Epoch Times.

* Whoever is running this Twitter account has better political investigatory skills than most if not all political reporters in Chicago. Their oppo is almost always the goods…

More here.

* Jim Dey…

The diversity/equity/inclusion mandate remains in place at the University of Illinois. But it’s been repealed at the University of North Carolina system.

This week, the UNC system board removed the compelled speech requirement because it was advised that requiring salutes to the DEI ideology as a condition of hiring and admissions is at odds with free speech. […]

Colleges and universities across the country, including the UI, have embraced the DEI loyalty tests as a means of ensuring either complete political conformity or silence on controversial issues inside and outside the university.

I reached out to UIUC and heard back today from Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Sean Garrick…

Dear Rich,

I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what the “diversity/equity/inclusion mandate” to which Mr. Dey refers to in his column. At the University of Illinois we have no “loyalty tests” of any nature. As a university, we encourage open, robust and wide-ranging debate, discussion and exploration of ideas and concepts – some of which are certainly considered controversial.

The idea that our university encourages conformity whether through formal policies or through informal avenues is absolutely false. Academic freedom is fundamentally about guaranteeing faculty members the freedom to explore “dangerous” ideas and ask difficult questions – the exact opposite of conformity. Mr. Tripp’s statements speak to the actions by the University of North Carolina and it is not appropriate for me/us to comment on governance decisions of another university.

Sincerely,
Sean

* IDPH…

IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra warned that cases of group A strep throat leading to severe complications are on the rise in Illinois, with more cases reported in 2023 than in any of the past five years.

“As COVID-19 cases and community levels remain stable, I want to share my concern about the growing number of strep throat cases in Illinois that are leading to severe complications,” Director Vohra said. “These cases, known as invasive Group A strep, are the result of disease spreading from the throat to blood, muscle and lungs. I urge parents to contact their health providers when their children start showing early symptoms. These symptoms include sudden onset of sore throat, pain when swallowing and fever. Early detection is critical as strep can be diagnosed with a simple test and treated with antibiotics. If able, please make sure everyone in the house is up to date with flu and chickenpox vaccines. Having either the flu or chickenpox can increase your risk of contracting invasive Group A strep.”

Parents and others can get more information about Group A strep at this CDC resource page.

* Press release…

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the decision by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to temporarily convert United States Penitentiary (USP) Thomson into a low-security prison and enhance training for the hundreds of Thomson staff who will all remain employed at the institution:

“Today’s announcement is good news for the Thomson facility—it remains part of the Federal prison system, with no elimination of staffing positions, and it will help relieve some of the current overpopulation pressures BOP is experiencing at low-security facilities nationwide.

“When Thomson was purchased by the Federal government more than ten years ago, one of our goals was to help address the urgent overcrowding problem at our nation’s Federal prisons, as well as make it the safest prison in the nation—for both incarcerated people and staff. As part of these reforms and improvements, Thomson staff will have the opportunity to participate in intensive training to promote a more positive culture and ensure that Thomson is a safe and secure facility with a focus on rehabilitation and reentry. I look forward to seeing Thomson reach its full potential with this temporary conversion.”

BOP moved all remaining individuals in the Special Management Unit (SMU) and Reintegration Unit (RU) from Thomson in February 2023. Thomson will now house approximately 1,178 low-security adults, which will relieve some of the current overpopulation pressures BOP is experiencing at low-security facilities nationwide. Thomson plans to begin receiving inmates the week of April 10, starting with one unit a month. The adjacent Minimum Security Satellite Camp will be unaffected throughout the transition of the institution.

Beginning in 2009, Durbin was instrumental in the acquisition and activation of Thomson Prison—converting it from a state correctional facility to a Federal prison.

…Adding… US Sen. Tammy Duckworth was interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter. Lots of talk about pop culture and then…

There’s been so much debate about identity politics and its role in defining our political discourse. What’s your take?

I wasn’t a mom when I was first elected to Congress, but I thought I was pretty progressive. Then I became a mom and I was traveling back and forth from Chicago to D.C. twice a week trying to express breastmilk to feed my baby and I was told, “Oh you want to pump breast milk, go do it in the handicap stall of the bathroom,” or worse, “Go plug your breast pump in at that outlet where everyone else is charging their cell phone.” So I passed legislation called the FAM Act (Friendly Airports for Mothers) which now means every airport in America has to have a lactation room. And I’m really proud that I wrote that law which I would never have had if I had not been a mom. I also wrote legislation to force airlines to report how many times they break medical-assisted devices because about every third time I get on an airplane some part of my wheelchair gets broken. Before I used a wheelchair it never occurred to me. So yeah, identity is important. Identity does matter. Lived experience matters. You have to look at it not as something that puts us in categories but that makes life better for all of us. So it’s important to have greater diversity and sometimes you’ve got to be conscious of that diversity which is why I fought so hard to have an Asian American nominated as a cabinet secretary. It’s important for the rest of the world to look and see and go, “Oh wow, that’s a really diverse cabinet. That’s America.”

* Isabel’s roundup…

* WICS | Pritzker administration fines Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois $605,000: Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, paid the fine and agreed to take corrective action based on the exam findings.

* WAND | Pritzker announces personnel transitions at Illinois Commerce Commission: Governor JB Pritzker announced that Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman Carrie Zalewski is stepping down from her position in June. As the commission continues implementation of the Climate and Equitable Job Act and prepares for cases later this year, Pritzker also announced plans to nominate former ICC Chair Doug Scott to replace Zalewski.

* Crain’s | New York joins the Walgreens-abortion pill fray: New York state has stepped into the fray surrounding national retail pharmacies and abortion pills. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James are asking Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid to commit to dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone in their state.

* WTTW | US Rep. Darin LaHood Says FBI Wrongly Sought Surveillance Info About Him: At a hearing of the House Intelligence Committee, LaHood pressed FBI Director Chris Wray to acknowledge that his agency and others had at times violated the rules on the use of data collected through electronic snooping.

* Chicago Tribune | Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas clash at latest forum: ‘Race is an issue’: The contentious exchanges happened during a 90-minute forum hosted by the My Community Plan Foundation at the DuSable Black History Museum. For the first hour, the session was largely cordial until the two contenders, who just last week made the April 4 runoff election, were asked if they support a third airport in the Chicago area. Both said yes.

* WCIA | EIU faculty and staff vote ‘yes’ to authorize strike: In a news release, EIU UPI President Jennifer Stringfellow said: “This vote sends a clear message to EIU administration that we’re all in. Our members resoundingly reject what they are offering at the table. We don’t want to strike, but we’re willing to do this to ensure EIU students get the high-quality education they deserve and that our members get a fair contract.”

* Crain’s | In rebuilding Ryan Field, Northwestern needs to protect local businesses: Northwestern’s slick public relations campaign claims the new Ryan Field will “build generational wealth for Black and Brown families.” As the owner of one Central Street’s few black-owned businesses, I have my doubts. What I see, instead, is a university that wants to run a for-profit concert business at the expense of one of the country’s nicest business districts. I see powerful Evanstonians coalescing behind the plan and cynically using artificial promises of Black wealth as cover.

* Center Square | Illinois again takes top spot in pumpkin production: It’s been many years since any other pumpkin growing state has beaten Illinois in pumpkin production. Raghela Scavuzzo, executive director of Illinois Specialty Growers, said Illinois produced 651.9 million pounds of pumpkins in 2021, 39% of all the pumpkins produced in the U.S.

* Sun-Times | Musical based on Sufjan Stevens’ ‘Illinois’ album coming to Chicago in 2024: The show, full of songs alluding to the state’s people and places, will make its world premiere in New York State and then run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

* Crain’s | Tonight on ‘Shark Tank’: A winner of the Chicago Innovations Awards: Pluie, a Chicago-based company that prides itself on creating the first and only self-sanitizing diaper-changing table, will make an appearance on the ABC reality TV show “Shark Tank” tonight.

* Sun-Times | Corned beef OK on St. Pat’s day? For Catholics, it depends on where you live: Chicago Catholics will not be exempted from abstaining from meat on St. Patrick’s Day this year, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago. The archdiocese comprises 2.2 million Catholics and 221 parishes in Cook and Lake counties.

* Sun-Times | How and why Chicago dyes the Chicago River emerald green: In the last 61 years, dyeing the river has become a world-renowned tradition, despite some pushback from environmental groups . And it’s happening again this weekend, a few hours before the start of the downtown Chicago St. Patrick’s Day parade, sponsored by Chicago Plumbers Local 130.