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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Wednesday, Jul 17, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Illinois GOP chair-elect Kathy Salvi, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie and Sen. Terri Bryant held a press availability this morning: * Sun-Times | Illinois Republican goes viral after confronting ‘obnoxious’ Gaetz on convention floor: Illinois National Republican Committeeman Richard Porter’s Tuesday night interaction with Gaetz made the rounds in a social media video that showed him berate the scandal-plagued Gaetz for trying to embarrass former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a television interview. […] At the Illinois RNC delegation’s Wednesday breakfast, Porter said Gaetz’s display “was just for show. It was obnoxious, it was not consistent with what we’re here for.” * WTTW | As Illinois RNC Delegation Celebrates Agriculture, Congresswoman Decries ‘Communist Environmental Movement’ and ‘Demonized’ Carbon Dioxide: Miller said excessive regulations are hurting agriculture, blaming the so-called “communist environmental movement, the ‘Green Bad Deal’ that Donald Trump has called out as a sham issue. And I want to tell you as a farmer, we love CO2 – and trees and plants love it too. They have demonized the miracle molecule that causes things to grow.” * Capitol News Illinois | Fioretti makes his case: Bob Fioretti, the GOP candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney, addresses reporters with Black Chicago-area community activists who say they’ve grown frustrated with Democrats and are now willing to give Republicans a try. Fioretti faces an uphill battle to become state’s attorney in predominantly blue Cook County against Democrat Eileen O’Neill Burke. * Sun-Times | New Illinois GOP chair Kathy Salvi heralds ‘fresh new day’ at Republican National Convention: Salvi struck a familiar refrain of unity among Illinois delegates this week at the Republican National Convention, pushing for “culture of collaboration” in a divided state party that is trying to claw its way back to statewide relevance in Illinois. “I love this party, because sometimes we air our dirty laundry with one another,” Salvi said during her first public address since her election last week as the next party chair. “We need to say, ‘You know, let’s give that person the benefit of a fresh new day.’ And that’s how we win elections here in Illinois.” * Sun-Times | Police arrest armed man in ski mask approaching RNC perimeter in Milwaukee: About 1 p.m. Monday, U.S. Capitol police “observed the suspect looking suspicious, wearing a ski mask and a large tactical backpack” in the 1200 block of North 11th Street, according to a statement from Milwaukee police. That’s about four blocks away from the downtown arena hosting most RNC events. Officers stopped the 21-year-old man and found a gun in his backpack, police said. He didn’t have a concealed carry permit, according to police. Wisconsin is an open-carry state. …Adding… ILGOP…
* WAND | IDPH reports first human case of West Nile Virus in Illinois this year: The person is in their 60’s and lives in suburban Cook County. The onset of WNV symptoms was in mid-June. IDPH is tracking positive batches of birds and mosquitos on its West Nile virus dashboard and has reported 33 Illinois counties this year with positive results, an early warning of the presence of WNV in an area. * WCIA | Sen. Rose leads measure against proposed stricter OSHA firefighting requirements: A proposal from OSHA looks to expand protections for first responders including firefighters, but it focuses on increasing training requirements, medical screenings for all first responders, and more inspections of emergency vehicles. […] Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) initiated a resolution a couple months ago, with bipartisan support expressing the state of Illinois’ opposition to the proposed regulations as presented. * Block Club | The Feds Sent Millions To The CHA For Lathrop Homes. After 2 Decades, 300 Apartments Are Still Empty: But Lathrop residents say they suffered while the CHA delayed construction and stockpiled cash for years. Even when the next phase is completed, only 300 units at Lathrop will be reserved for public housing residents — a loss of 625 units from 25 years ago, and 101 fewer than the CHA is obligated to produce under a federal court settlement. * The Triibe | Pro-Palestinian protestors call on city to drop charges ahead of the DNC in Chicago: The 40 people who were arrested face misdemeanor charges for obstructing traffic, which the city’s law department brought against them. Some of the 40 were present for a press conference Wednesday’s Chicago City Council’s meeting to speak out against the charges. The group sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson on July 2, calling for his administration to drop their charges, but they said they haven’t received a response. * Block Club | West Loop’s Free Parking Coming To An End As Hundreds More Metered Spots Planned: The problem: The parking meter proposal is already a done deal and has been for the past five years. But that isn’t stopping Ald. Bill Conway (34th) from trying. “I’m trying to have as few of the meters as I can and put them as close to commercial corridors versus residential as much as we can. But it’s difficult because, obviously, the ordinance predates me, so I don’t have a lot of leverage,” Conway said. * Crain’s | Capital One commits to keep more than 1,000 staff at Discover’s Chatham call center: Capital One committed to meeting Discover’s original goal of employing more than 1,000 people at its call center in Chatham as part of its proposed $35 billion takeover of the Riverwoods-based credit card company. The commitment was included in Capital One’s announcement of $265 billion in widespread community benefits it says will stem from the deal, which must be approved by government regulators. * Sun-Times | City Council approves $11.25 million settlement to female paramedic candidates: The settlement involves 12 women who were hired as paramedics, then flunked out of the fire academy by a “discriminatory,” post-hiring test so demanding and unrelated to the skills needed as a paramedic that four of the plaintiffs suffered “career-ending” hip and back injuries during the testing. * Tribune | Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy will headline Chicago Live on Navy Pier: Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy will headline September’s Chicago Live arts festival on Navy Pier, according to an announcement Wednesday. Tweedy will play a free acoustic set on Saturday, the first night of the two-day event slated for Sept. 21-22. He’ll play on the Lake Stage in Polk Bros. Park, just to the west of the Pier. * Tribune | Miche Fest went from Pilsen street fest to a leading Chicago Latino music festival: Six years ago, Michelada Fest started out of an empty parking lot in Pilsen when Fernando Nieto said he realized that most of the street festivals in the neighborhood were organized by non-Latinos. With some help from friends and community members, he created a festival to celebrate Mexican culture. […] Miche Fest, short for Michelada Festival, is now one of Chicago’s largest Latino music festivals, bringing together thousands of people from all over the city and featuring world-renowned artists who speak to different generations of Latinos. * Lansing Journal | ‘Read your bill,’ says Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas in response to record tax hikes: Newly redesigned bills show taxpayers, “Where Your Money Goes.” Bills show the amount of taxes owed for 2023 and how much the bill changed from 2022. The typical bill displays about a dozen taxing districts and shows how much is paid to each taxing body. “The first thing homeowners should do about their property taxes is to read their tax bill,” Pappas said. “In order to fix the broken property tax system, you must first understand where the money goes.” * Daily Herald | It’s official: DuPage voters to decide on tax hike for forest preserves: If it passes, the owner of a home valued at $308,500 would pay roughly $36 more a year in property taxes to the district. The increase would raise more than $17 million in additional annual revenue, provide “long-term financial stability” and allow the district to purchase more land, officials say. * SJ-R | Multimillion dollar warehouse project takes step forward in Springfield despite objections: A project that could bring hundreds of jobs to the Springfield area took a step forward despite concerns from residents. The zoning agenda on Tuesday had council members vote on the proposed variances to move the warehouse forward. Fred O’Connor, Doug Kent and Charles Young made an objection to zoning docket 24-028, the multimillion dollar warehouse facility which was proposed on May 1. […] One of the main areas of concern for residents like Melissa Smith was traffic. * SJ-R | Death of Sangamon County Board member will trigger special election: The July 6 death of longtime Sangamon County Board member John H. O’Neill III will trigger a special election for his seat on Nov. 5, according to Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray. O’Neill represented District 26, which is the Chatham area. The Republican was first elected to the board in 2002 and defeated Democratic challenger Rusty Jones in the 2022 election. In an email, Gray said the special election was being held because more than 28 months remain in the term. * WGN | Underground railroad house in Payson, Illinois for sale: The home is located at 102 N Park St, Payson, Illinois. It is currently listed on Zillow for $169,900. […] The Library of Congress includes an entry about the building in its archives. On the property, there is a plaque that says that the home was recorded by the Historic American Building Survey of the United States Department. * PJ Star | Teen drowned in Illinois River while fleeing from police, sheriff’s department says: The Peoria County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday that 14-year-old Leron Griffin drowned in the Illinois River while fleeing from police after he and another teenager led officers on a chase after having been allegedly caught in a stolen vehicle. “Unfortunately, these teenagers made several wrong decisions during this incident that led to one of them losing their lives,” the Peoria Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with Leron Griffin’s family.” * Shaw Local | Ancient fault line likely responsible for DeKalb County earthquake, NIU expert say: Mark Frank, chair of NIU’s department of earth, atmosphere and environment, said he wasn’t surprised to discover an earthquake had occurred in that area, even though earthquakes aren’t particularly common in northern Illinois. “The earthquakes we get here in northern Illinois are associated with ancient cracks in the earth’s crust,” Frank said. “So, this one is plotting very close to a known fault called the Sandwich fault, which kind of runs from Dixon through and then south of DeKalb through DeKalb County.” * Royal Astronomical Society | Want to spot a deepfake? Look for the stars in their eyes: That’s the compelling finding of new research shared at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting in Hull, which suggests that AI-generated fakes can be spotted by analysing human eyes in the same way that astronomers study pictures of galaxies. The crux of the work, by University of Hull MSc student Adejumoke Owolabi, is all about the reflection in a person’s eyeballs. If the reflections match, the image is likely to be that of a real human. If they don’t, they’re probably deepfakes. * Bloomberg | Reckitt expects baby formula sales drop after tornado hits Indiana warehouse: The consumer goods company said Wednesday that the third-party warehouse has not been operational since the tornado hit on July 9. The Mead Johnson nutrition business contains Reckitt’s infant formula brands. Shares in Reckitt are down by more than a fifth since the start of the year after the company was hit by a damaging court verdict in the US relating to one of its formulas, called Enfamil Premature 24, which an Illinois woman blamed for the death of her baby. * Crain’s | Top brass at Blue Cross Illinois parent take home big raises: Keeping with tradition, top executives at the parent company of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois were given large raises last year, despite a slight drop in profits. […] The raises came the same year [Health Care Service Corp] saw revenue soar to a record $54 billion as the health insurance giant hiked premium rates and added new customers to its plans across Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. However, a larger federal tax burden pulled down year-over-year net income 2% to $1.4 billion. * ABC | Navy exonerates 256 Black sailors unjustly court-martialed for WWII-era Port Chicago explosion: The U.S. Navy has exonerated 256 Black sailors who were unjustly court-martialed in 1944 following the Port Chicago explosion in California that killed 320 people. The sailors had been punished for refusing to go back to work in what they considered to be an unsafe environment. Their prosecution took place at a time when the U.S. military was still segregated and reflected the unfair treatment that Black sailors experienced. * Vox | The lessons Houston didn’t learn from Hurricane Harvey: Houston’s energy system has had its own unique issues within this milieu. “Texas in general — and CenterPoint in particular — had problems with reliability, even not during storms,” said Doug Lewin, an energy analyst who writes the Texas Energy and Power Newsletter. In Texas, CenterPoint ranked among the worst utilities for power outages and one of the worst in the country for energy efficiency. The Texas grocery chain H-E-B even installed backup generators at its Houston-area stores specifically because of CenterPoint’s unreliable service.
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ComEd says all outages will be restored Friday, 80% will be restored today
Wednesday, Jul 17, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Illinois was hit hard by storms this week. Block Club Chicago…
* I spoke with ComEd Communications Manager Lauren Huffman this morning. As of 8:30 am Comed has restored 366,000 customers’ power following the Monday night storms. About 63,000 customers remain without power…
* WMBD…
* Some photos of the damage…
* More…
* AP | A dam fails after rain, wind, tornadoes pound the Midwest. The Chicago area is cleaning up: Water overtopped a dam near Nashville, Illinois, and first responders fanned out to ensure everyone escaped safely. There were no reports of injuries in the community of 3,000, southeast of St. Louis, but a woman was rescued after reporting that she was in water up to her waist in her home, said Alex Haglund, a spokesperson for the Washington County Emergency Management Agency. * Shaw Local | Kane County communities assessing damage following Monday night storms: The Campton Township Highway District is hosting a special post-storm pickup the week of July 29, Commissioner Sam Gallucci said Tuesday, following a second night of storms with heavy damage. “We had trees down two nights in a row,” Gallucci said. “Somewhere around 35 to 40 trees were down, across roads, and we’ve been busy with that, crews working on clearing trees from roads. And private property had a lot of trees down.” * Tribune | Warmer winters and a hotter Gulf of Mexico could be contributing to more tornadoes in Illinois, experts say: Studies have also found climate change may be affecting tornado patterns. Victor Gensini, a professor at Northern Illinois University, said climate change can affect the conditions necessary to create tornadoes. Tornadoes need instability –– warm moist air near the ground with cooler temperatures higher up –– and wind shear –– a change in wind speed or direction –– to form. Instability is more potent in the warm seasons, and shear is usually stronger in the winter.
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup (updated)
Monday, Jul 15, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller …Adding… John Kim announced his retirement to his staff more than two weeks ago…
* The team at Capitol News Illinois will be posting live updates from the RNC. Click here for those updates. They spoke with ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy this afternoon…
* WTTW’s RNC live blog is here. * Let the countdown begin…  * RNC updates…
* Tribune | ‘We’re not intimidated’: Chicago protesters head to Milwaukee for RNC: David Phelps, an abortion rights advocate from the Chicago area who works in tech, said he boarded an early morning train to Milwaukee because he felt the upcoming presidential election in November could be “very depressing” for the future of reproductive rights in the United States. […] “My way of dealing with it is doing something about it,” Phelps said. * Daily Herald | ‘We can’t stay divided’: Rally shooting on minds of RNC delegates: Trump’s close call “got people riled up,” former state senator and gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey said. “So I think there’s going to be a lot of excitement at the convention.” Delegate Richard Lawrence, a former Aurora alderman, said the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally will probably inject “a lot more emotion into the convention,” for the former president, his family and attendees. * Sun-Times | Energetic Illinois Republicans thank ‘an angel’ for Trump’s survival, push for unity: Illinois Republicans roundly celebrated the dismissal of the classified documents case, viewing it as a sign of the former president’s innocence — despite the federal judge not taking up the legality of the actions. The case was dismissed because U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that the appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel was unconstitutional. State Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, said he was not surprised to hear about the classified documents case dismissal — and claimed “this is all because they don’t like the president.” * Borderless | Illinois Law Makes Housing Discrimination Based On Immigration Status A Civil Rights Violation: The law prohibits housing providers from discriminating against a person based on actual or perceived “immigration status” during a real estate transaction, including when renting an apartment, buying a home, applying for a mortgage, or receiving housing-related services. Diana Mendoza Pacheco, a real estate attorney based in Naperville, Illinois, has focused her work around the intersection of immigration and real estate. “There are not a lot of Spanish-speaking attorneys who can explain everything to our community and then individually explain to them how certain immigration consequences can affect their real estate transactions,” she said. * Press Release | Rep. Barbara Hernandez-Backed Firearms Restraining Order Enforcement Grants Issued to Local Police Departments: The Illinois State Police (ISP) is issuing a third round of firearm restraining order enforcement grants-totaling $1.5 million-to law enforcement agencies across the state following a law state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, fought for. “Further funding to ensure law enforcement professionals have the tools they need to enforce firearms laws is a step forward for our community,” Hernandez said. “Following the events of the 2019 Henry Pratt shootings, Aurorans personally know the tragic consequences of guns being in the wrong hands. Our system of firearms restraining orders serve a vital role in Illinois’ public safety system, and it must be strong, or else we’re inviting further tragedy.” * Tribune | Johnson hopes to tap progressive Southwest Side alderman as next Zoning chair: Johnson and his administration recently began calling around to see whether aldermen would be on board with Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, chairing the Zoning Committee, and vice mayor Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, leading the Housing Committee, the Tribune has learned from sources familiar with deliberations. Johnson spokesman Ronnie Reese declined comment Monday. […] Sigcho-Lopez said “conversations are ongoing” Monday morning and added that he did not want to “get ahead” of his potential appointment by discussing it further, while Burnett told the Tribune the administration is “still working on that” and “looking at votes” regarding his potential leadership post. * Chalkbeat | Amid anxiety about Chicago charters’ fate, CPS proposes a slight overall budget boost: But in a $9.9 billion proposed budget for next year released this week, Chicago Public Schools has avoided this approach. The district increased funding at charter schools by about 2.5% — even as some charters with shrinking enrollments are in line for steep cuts in the new budget blueprint. This year, CPS overhauled budgeting for traditional campuses to deemphasize enrollment size and prioritize student needs. But for now, the district is sticking with so-called student-based budgeting for charters, which is more closely tied to enrollment; CPS says state requirements make it trickier to change budgeting for charter campuses. Yet as the district prepares a strategic plan to revitalize neighborhood schools, anxiety about how that vision will impact charters persists. * Sun-Times | Chicago faith leaders react after Donald Trump assassination attempt: Chicago-area faith leaders called for prayers and action following a suspected assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The Rev. Michael Pfleger, of St. Sabina Church in the city’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood, told congregants Sunday they were waking up to an America where “nobody is safe.” “We’re in a country where hate and violence and, most of all, guns have become a norm,” Pfleger told the Sun-Times. * Sun-Times | Chicago Air and Water Show full lineup for 2024 lakefront event revealed: This year’s show runs 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 10-11, one week earlier than usual, due to the Democratic National Convention Aug. 19-22 at the United Center. More than 1 million people attend the free lakefront show each year. (Less crowded and also exciting is the practice run held on Aug. 9.) The show is centered at North Avenue beach. * Sun-Times | Mayor’s grooming bill grows: Johnson’s campaign spends another $8,200 on makeup artist: That brings the total amount paid by Johnson’s campaign to the business — based in a South Side home and run by makeup artist and self-described “skincare enthusiast” Denise Milloy — to more than $36,000 in 2023 and 2024, records show. […] Asked about the overall expenses, [Johnson campaign spokesman Bill Neidhardt] said, “I know you are very interested in the mayor’s personal hygiene, but there isn’t much to say beyond that the mayor’s campaign expenditures — not taxpayer funds — are used in a similar manner to other high-profile elected officials who pay people at a fair rate for their services in preparation for frequent public appearances.” * Daily Herald | Former suburban police chief wounded protecting Reagan expects ‘deep dive’ into security failures: Former Orland Park police Chief Tim McCarthy said he expects a “deep dive” investigation into the handling of former President Donald Trump’s security Saturday, when he was shot and another person killed during a rally in Pennsylvania. “I expect it to be no holds barred,” said McCarthy, who retired from the south suburb’s police department in 2020 and now is president of a security firm. “If the protectee is injured, it’s a failure. So you have to look and find out why.” * WGN | Dolton meetings devolve into chaos while residents decry village hall lockdowns: It’s become more difficult for residents of south suburban Dolton to attend village board meetings. They now face roadblocks, barricades, long lines, capacity limits, metal detectors and a heavy police presence that some say is being deployed to discourage opposition to Mayor Tiffany Henyard. Dolton’s acting police chief has said the steps are necessary to protect Henyard from “countless” threats she’s faced. However, the police department’s own records show only four threats resulted in police reports from February 1 through April 7, around the time the extra security was put in place. Two of the alleged threats were sent to Mayor Henyard via social media, the others came in the form of an email and phone call. None appear to have resulted in an arrest or charges, according to the police reports. * Daily-Journal | Sheriff’s department estimates a $634K cost for river patrol: Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey agrees that the recent drowning on the Kankakee River was an unspeakable tragedy. He also said having a sheriff’s department river patrol, as in the past, would not have prevented it. […] For the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department to patrol the Kankakee River like it did more than a decade ago, Downey said it would cost the county $634,000 for four deputies, two jet skis, life vests, boat safety equipment and training. * SJ-R | Springfield hotel found not in compliance with ADA, will have to make renovations: In addition to the renovations, Driftwood Hospitality will also create an ADA policy and provide ADA training for all hotels it owns, operations, and manages, including the Crowne Plaza. Without admitting to violating the ADA, the hotel also agreed to a monetary payment to the complainant to fully resolve the matter. * AP | Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon that could be used to shelter future explorers: The pit, like the more than 200 others discovered up there, was created by the collapse of a lava tube. […] Most of the pits seem to be located in the moon’s ancient lava plains, according to the scientists. There also could be some at the moon’s south pole, the planned location of NASA’s astronaut landings later this decade. Permanently shadowed craters there are believed to hold frozen water that could provide drinking water and rocket fuel.
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Illinois react (Updated and comments opened)
Sunday, Jul 14, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller [Comments are now open, but please take a deep breath.] * Presented in no particular order. Gov. Pritzker…
* Sun-Times…
* NPR Illinois…
* Leader McCombie…
* US Rep. Darin LaHood…
* Sen. Chesney…
* Rep. Ugaste…
* Daily Herald…
* More…
…Adding… More…
* US Rep. LaHood…
* Rep. Niemerg…
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup (Updated x2)
Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Kathy Salvi was elected chair of the Illinois Republican Party today…
Some people are mad…
…Adding… ILGOP…
…Adding… DPI…
* Crain’s | Retail marijuana lottery winners avoid losing their licenses: Just one winner of a cannabis dispensary license is at risk of losing it today when a deadline hits for pot-shop licensees to have found a location for their stores. It’s a far lower number than many had feared. The state used lotteries to award 185 new dispensary licenses in the summer of 2022, which would nearly double the number of marijuana shops. Winners originally had up to a year to get stores open or find a location, but the deadline was extended last year by legislators. * Block Club | As Tent Cities Are Cleared, Unhoused Residents Ask Why It Took DNC For City To Offer Housing: Encampment residents told Block Club city outreach workers have been visiting in recent weeks to offer them rooms in coveted city-run shelters, including the former Tremont Hotel, 100 E. Chestnut St. in the Gold Coast, which was bought by the city last year and has only 60 beds. Those who accept the beds can keep them until Aug. 31, Berg said. The convention is Aug. 19-22. * Jinx Press | 14th District Oath Keeper cop interfered with DCFS investigation, removed from SWAT for unknown incident: As detailed in that investigation, Sergeant Nowacki was suspended for three days in 2008 after sending insulting, racially charged emails to a Black community member in Englewood who was soliciting donations for area families. Rather than serve the suspension, Nowacki forfeited three days of banked compensatory time. Records detailing a December 2020 incident, however, also illustrate his disturbing animosity on duty toward a Department of Child and Family Services worker. The worker, identified as a Black male, filed a complaint after a well-being check where Nowacki was belligerent. * Tribune | Mayor Johnson to name former progressive North Side alderman Shiller to zoning board: The former alderman — a close ally of current 46th Ward Ald. Angela Clay — was both lionized and lambasted for campaigning as a “champion of the poor” in Uptown as it underwent much transformation. Johnson tapping her addresses his stated values on railing against rich elites while also potentially smoothing over an earlier snafu with a homeless shelter proposal in Uptown that failed. * Shaw Local | Joliet police officer wins part of federal appeal in privacy lawsuit case: A federal appeals court reversed the dismissal of a Joliet police officer’s claim that a detective intruded on her privacy by intentionally accessing a nude photo on her cellphone. […] The ruling followed an April 3 court hearing where the Will County search warrant for the officer’s phone was sharply criticized by U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Kirsch. […] “I can’t believe a judge signed this warrant to say, ‘You can search the entire contents of someone’s phone to look for one text message.’ And then McKinney just happens to be searching around in Cellebrite. …And guess what? He happens upon the naked pictures that everybody is talking about in the police department. It’s weird. It’s troubling, right?” Kirsch said. * Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora to buy seven properties along Bilter Road: City officials have said they are interested in assembling the land in the hopes of marketing it to a residential developer, in an effort to keep potential industrial uses out of what the city considers more of a residential area. Officials have said an industrial user was interested in the properties, and would generate too much truck traffic for the area. * BND | $20 million Belleville training center part of vision to make Illinois a manufacturing hub: Construction of the academy on the northwest corner of the Belleville campus began in September 2022. Now outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, the facility will officially open its doors in the upcoming semester to provide students with more training opportunities in the growing manufacturing sector. According to a recent Deloitte study, U.S. manufacturing could need as many as 3.8 million new employees by 2033 as investment drives the sector’s growth, but half of those jobs could go unfilled if workforce challenges aren’t addressed. * WCIA | Protestors rally at Sangamon Co. Sheriff’s Office after woman’s death: Two sheriff’s deputies responded to [Sonya] Massey’s home just after midnight on July 6. Family and friends at the rally say Massey was the one that called the police. She was allegedly worried there was someone trying to break in, according to the county. After being on scene for half an hour, one of the deputies shot Massey. She was taken to the hospital, where she died from the gunshot wound, according to the Coroner. * Capitol City Now | Attorney Ben Crump retained by family of Sonya Massey: Attorney Ben Crump, who specializes in civil rights and personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits, announced Thursday the family of Sonya Massey has retained his services. Some of the well-known cases Crump has been a part of include Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown and George Floyd. Crump is known for taking on cases involving police misconduct. The investigation into Massey’s death by Illinois State Police is ongoing. Wednesday, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell urged the public and media to be patient as ISP completes its investigation. * WCBU | Peoria County Board isn’t keen on a 15-year delay to build new landfill: There’s essentially two parallel stories happening in the ongoing landfill saga. On one track, the regulatory process to start construction of the new landfill is still slowly moving forward. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources doesn’t believe abandoned underground mines pose an impediment to continuing development on the proposed site, but the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency still needs to sign off. * KSDK | ‘It’s shocking’: Gov. Pritzker after Alton sinkhole swallows soccer field: “We’re working very hard to make sure that’s not a problem going forward,” [Pritzker] said. “Of course, we got the federal government involved. We’re going to make sure we’re doing everything we can. It’s shocking, really. I’m so glad nobody was on the field when it happened. But, the question is why did it happen, and what is the federal government going to do to make sure it never happens again?” Our newsroom has seen chatter online and reporting by other news outlets that the Alton sinkhole is growing. Our reporter checked in with a representative for the New Frontier crews on the ground to verify this on Thursday. The company representative tells us the sinkhole itself hasn’t grown in size since the initial collapse. * AP | Small Nashville museum wants you to know why it is returning artifacts to Mexico: When Bonnie Seymour took a job as assistant curator of Nashville’s Parthenon museum, one of the first things she did was to look through the collections. Among paintings by American artists and memorabilia from Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition — the event for which the Parthenon was built — she found a random assortment of pre-Columbian pottery from Mexico. The artifacts had almost no identifying information, and Seymour knew next to nothing about them. But she knew they did not belong in a Nashville storage room.
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Study: Illinois has the most diverse cannabis business ownership in the US (Updated)
Friday, Jul 12, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller * IDFPR…
* Recommendations from the study…
* Forbes…
* Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton…
* More…
…Adding… Press release…
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