* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Cook County Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced a fifth Illinois resident has tested positive at the IDPH laboratory for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The specimens have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for confirmatory testing. The fifth individual is a Cook County resident in his 20s who flew into Chicago O’Hare Airport earlier this month after traveling to Italy. The individual acquired the infection while in Italy and is hospitalized at Rush University Medical Center in isolation. Public health officials are identifying and contacting all close contacts.
“The state of Illinois is working around the clock to contain COVID-19 and educate the public,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Public health officials anticipated there would be additional cases and we will continue to implement robust measures to contain the virus while also preparing for further transmission. The risk of COVID-19 to the general public in Illinois remains low, but we encourage the public to be vigilant and take extra care with the normal precautions you should take during flu season.”
The CDC has confirmed one of the recent presumptive positive cases and we are still awaiting results on the other case. Both remain in home isolation and are doing well. At this time, the exposure route for the third and fourth cases is not known. Both individuals recently traveled to another state, but health officials have not been able to link them to a COVID-19 confirmed case in Illinois or the other state. Therefore, because IDPH has been unable to identify a point of exposure for these two cases, IDPH believes it is possible these cases may be due to community transmission in Illinois.
“While we expect to see additional cases, we are not seeing widespread transmission of the virus in Illinois and we believe the risk to the general public remains low,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.
OK, but read on.
* The Atlantic…
We know, irrefutably, one thing about the coronavirus in the United States: The number of cases reported in every chart and table is far too low.
The data are untrustworthy because the processes we used to get them were flawed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s testing procedures missed the bulk of the cases. They focused exclusively on travelers, rather than testing more broadly, because that seemed like the best way to catch cases entering the country.
Just days ago, it was not clear that the virus had spread solely from domestic contact at all. But then cases began popping up with no known international connection. What public-health experts call “community spread” had arrived in the United States. The virus would not be stopped by tight borders, because it was already propagating domestically. Trevor Bedford’s lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, which studies viral evolution, concluded there is “firm evidence” that, at least in Washington State, the coronavirus had been spreading undetected for weeks. Now different projections estimate that 20 to 1,500 people have already been infected in the greater Seattle area. In California, too, the disease appears to be spreading, although the limited testing means that no one is quite sure how far.
In total, fewer than 500 people have been tested across the country (although the CDC has stopped reporting that number in its summary of the outbreak). As a result, the current “official” case count inside the United States stood at 43 as of this morning (excluding cruise-ship cases). This number is wrong, yet it’s still constantly printed and quoted. In other contexts, we’d call this what it is: a subtle form of misinformation.
This artificially low number means that for the past few weeks, we’ve seen massive state action abroad and only simmering unease domestically.
* The federal government is going back on its pledge to test lots more people…
The Trump administration won’t be able to meet its promised timeline of having a million coronavirus tests available by the end of the week, senators said after a briefing Thursday from health officials.
“There won’t be a million people to get a test by the end of the week,” Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida said. “It’s way smaller than that. And still, at this point, it’s still through public health departments.”
Scott and other lawmakers said the government is “in the process” of sending test kits out and people still need to be trained on how to use them. The entire process could take days or weeks, they said.
* Only two people tested in Sangamon County so far…
Two Sangamon County patients tested negative for coronavirus over the weekend, public health officials confirmed.
Sangamon County Public Health Director Gail O’Neill said that two people exhibited fairly standard respiratory symptoms and had either recently traveled outside the country or been in close contact with someone who had. But the tests came back negative.
Though others have been monitored for symptoms, O’Neill said those have been the only two test administered in the county thus far.
* And if/when the virus does catch hold, it’s not pretty…
Parents keep their children inside. Few people shake hands anymore. More than two dozen firefighters remain in quarantine. Restaurants and hair salons are close to empty.
Such is life in Kirkland, Wash., the suburb just east of Seattle known for its folksy downtown and spectacular lakefront views, but now above all as the U.S. epicenter of COVID-19.
Of the 11 U.S. deaths from the coronavirus epidemic, eight were residents of a local nursing home that is struggling to care for others who may have been infected. An additional death occurred at a Kirkland hospital. […]
On Monday, the city reported that two police officers and 27 firefighters — a quarter of its Fire Department — had been placed in quarantine after being exposed to patients from the nursing home.
And…
Students are now out of school in South Korea, Iran, Japan, France, Pakistan and elsewhere — some for only a few days, others for weeks on end. In India on Thursday, all public and private schools through the fifth grade were ordered closed through March in the capital, New Delhi, affecting more than two million children.
In Italy, suffering one of the deadliest outbreaks outside China, officials said Wednesday that they would extend school closures beyond the north, where the government has imposed a lockdown on several towns, to the entire nation. All schools and universities will remain closed until March 15, officials said.
On the West Coast of the United States, the region with the most American infections so far, Los Angeles declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, advising parents to steel themselves for school closures in the nation’s second-largest public school district. Washington State, which has reported at least 10 deaths from the outbreak, has closed some schools, while on the other side of the country in New York, newly diagnosed cases have led to the closure of several schools as well.
The speed and scale of the educational tumult — which now affects 290.5 million students worldwide, the United Nations says — has little parallel in modern history, educators and economists contend. Schools provide structure and support for families, communities and entire economies. The effect of closing them for days, weeks and sometimes even months could have untold repercussions for children and societies at large.
* Some limited help is on the way…
State and city health units are in line to get some help dealing with the coronavirus epidemic—financial help that is.
A deal reached [yesterday] between Congress and President Donald Trump will deliver at least $14.7 million to the Illinois Department of Public Health, with an additional $8.7 million headed to the Chicago Department of Public Health. […]
In a separate action, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released another $2.75 million to the state and $1.75 million to the city for coronavirus surveillance and infection control.
* And the state’s new sentinel surveillance program should help us figure out what’s going on…
Starting today or Friday, Carle Foundation Hospital will begin screening as part of a new sentinel surveillance program that could indicate whether the virus is present in local communities among people who don’t have an apparent connection — for example, due to their travel history.
And since the hospital serves patients from 41 counties, the surveillance has the potential to signal the presence of the virus in more than just the Champaign-Urbana area.
There are already “a handful” of possible Champaign County coronavirus cases under investigation by the Illinois Department of Public Health, according to Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde.
But the best way to be prepared for a community spread of the virus is to collect more data, and as early as possible, she said.
Agreed.
…Adding… Oy…
HANNITY: We have a report today the global death rate at 3.4%, and a report that the Olympics could be delayed. Your reaction to that?
TRUMP: Well, I think the 3.4% is really a false number. Now, this is just my hunch, and — but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this, because a lot of people will have this, and it’s very mild.
Um, both can be true.
* Related…
* Sick CPS students ‘will be sent home immediately,’ district says, as coronavirus fears spread
* Glencoe Public Works Employee Under Voluntary Quarantine After Exposure to Coronavirus: The employee “was exposed to a different individual, who was subsequently confirmed to be infected with coronavirus,” the statement said, but was not showing any signs of the virus and was self-monitoring under voluntary quarantine at home. The employee was also in contact with their healthcare professional, officials said.
* Spreading coronavirus infects city’s economy, mayor’s budget: The mayor is also counting on $163 million from raising ambulance fees paid by private insurers and getting federal approval for reimbursements administered by the state for ambulance transports for low-income patients on Medicaid. That hasn’t happened yet — nearly five months after the mayor said that approval was “imminent.” Lightfoot has said repeatedly she remains “very confident” the feds will green-light the ambulance plan, despite her repeated attacks on President Donald Trump.
* WIU prepares for coronavirus outbreak: He said the McDonough County Health Department is working alongside them, to screen anyone who has traveled to an infected area.
* Coronavirus is testing CEOs everywhere: Unlike past crises, this one is rooted not in familiar economic factors such as a credit bubble, but in epidemiological forces beyond the ken of the average CEO. Few, if any, are qualified to make judgments about how many people are likely to be infected, how many will die, or when the virus will subside. Without answers to those questions, predicting economic consequences becomes all but impossible.
* Not Enough Face Masks Are Made In America To Deal With Coronavirus
* Washington state urges patience as Covid-19 test delays stoke anger: “We have had patients presenting here, angry that they cannot be tested for COVID-19, yelling, cussing, throwing their dirty mask at us and even spitting their secretions on the floor and walls on their way out,” Ruedebusch, who works at an urgent care clinic in the Seattle suburb of Monroe, wrote on Facebook.
* Coronavirus imperils airlines: Many slash flights; U.K. carrier Flybe goes under
* From Broadway to Chicago’s theater district, coronavirus attacks our human need to gather together
* Ultra’s March festival canceled over coronavirus fears in Miami, sources say
* The Gig Economy Has Never Been Tested by a Pandemic
* Coronavirus fears change art of shaking hands in US capital
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* Sue Rezin campaign Press release…
Perennial candidate Jim Oberweis was caught red-handed in an illegal scheme breaking federal campaign finance law to illegally funnel “soft” money from his state campaign account to his federal campaign for Congress.
Simply stated, this was a campaign money laundering scheme to violate federal campaign finance laws.
Federal campaigns for Congress and U.S. Senate are much more restricted than Illinois state campaigns in terms of the contributions they may receive and the sources from which they may receive them. Federal law not only prohibits the corporate contributions permitted under Illinois law, but also places limits significantly lower than Illinois’ on contributions from individuals and political committees. Because of these inconsistencies, federal law generally prohibits a candidate’s use of state campaign funds for his or her federal campaign.
Numerous Republican candidates have told Sue Rezin for months that Jim Oberweis called them and asked for a contribution from them to his campaign for Congress in exchange for a contribution from him of greater value (almost always double the amount) to their respective campaign committees. This was Oberweis’ way of using funds in his state campaign account for his federal campaign —and it is illegal. It would still be illegal if he wasn’t offering contributions of “greater value” than those he was soliciting for his campaign for Congress, but the “greater value” offers demonstrate the lengths he is going to illegally convert “soft” state campaign funds into “hard” federal campaign funds.
This has gone on for many months. None of the state and local candidates knew this was illegal and were a bit puzzled as to why Oberweis wanted to do this. But none were willing to go on record about Oberweis’ request. They didn’t want to make waves.
Until, at the beginning of February, Jim Oberweis had an agent of his campaign, Keith Becker, contact LaSalle County State’s Attorney Karen Donnelly via Facebook message saying: “State Senator Jim Oberweis said he would make a reciprocal donation of greater value for a donation to his campaign.” Becker then followed up with an email to State’s Attorney Donnelly with Jim Oberweis’ personal cell phone number letting her know that Oberweis was expecting her call.
No part of LaSalle County falls within either the 14th Congressional District or Oberweis’ state senate district, but Oberweis’ scheme was spreading to any Republican willing to accept a larger donation from Oberweis’ state campaign in exchange for a smaller contribution to his congressional campaign.
Donnelly proceeded to call Oberweis, who personally reiterated the offer. He then sent Donnelly a contribution check from his state campaign fund, which she still has. She then contacted the Rezin campaign about the incident and signed a sworn affidavit attesting to what exactly had transpired. The Rezin campaign has submitted that affidavit as Exhibit I in its complaint today to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).
Jim Oberweis has been caught red-handed, exposed by an affidavit from the LaSalle County State’s Attorney herself. Yes, Jim Oberweis actually solicited a State’s Attorney in his illegal scheme.
* Evidence from the campaign…
The full FEC complaint and the affidavit are here. Rezin has filed two additional FEC complaints against Oberweis, which you can read more about by clicking here.
I’ve checked in with the Oberweis campaign and I’ll let you know if they respond.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From January 15…
House GOP hopeful Jim Oberweis loaned his campaign $1 million, according to a Federal Election Commission report posted Wednesday
But he paid himself back $500,000 on the same day.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Oberweis campaign (updated with latest draft)…
In a desperate last-minute effort to try to gain some traction on her failing campaign, Sue Rezin’s campaign has resorted to dirty smear tactics in her attacks against Jim Oberweis. These allegations are simply not true.
The truth is Jim Oberweis has donated to Republican candidates for his entire adult life. He has put in over five hundred thousand dollars of his own money to beat Lauren Underwood, and he is the only Republican with the resources to do so. The campaign has followed, and will continue to follow, both the letter and spirit of the Federal Campaign Contribution and Disclosure laws.
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* Unlike the cancellation of the International Housewares Association event (56,000 people) this is a somewhat smallish event (5,500 attendees), but it’s the second convention cancellation in a few days and is therefore a worrisome development. Crain’s…
Software giant Oracle today announced it will shift an upcoming conference scheduled at McCormick Place to an online-only format amid coronavirus concerns, becoming the second event this week to cancel its trip to the Near South Side convention because of the outbreak.
“Due to increasing concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, and to help protect the health and safety of our customers, employees, partners, and everyone who helps host the event, Oracle is postponing the in-person component of our upcoming Oracle Modern Business Experience conference,” the Bay Area-based company said on its website. The conference had been slated for later this month. […]
The cancellations deal a blow to the convention center and the many hotels and businesses that thrive on its event visitors. Tourism bureau Choose Chicago estimated the nine major events scheduled there over the next 90 days would account for more than $460 million of spending.
…Adding… Good news…
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is closely monitoring the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation as it relates to the upcoming NSBA Annual Conference in Chicago on April 4-6.
We want to assure conference participants and attendees that your health and safety are of utmost concern and our top priority. We are in close communication with Choose Chicago (the Chicago Convention and Visitor Bureau) and McCormick Place authorities. In addition, we are seeking guidance from the local health, public safety, and transportation authorities to make sure that appropriate disease prevention, monitoring, and response protocols are in place for the conference.
Based on the information currently available, NSBA’s current plan is to proceed with the conference as scheduled. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago.
* Meanwhile…
Public health leaders in the state are getting ready to make their way to Washington D.C. They will update Congress about the local impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Before heading there, the director of the state’s department of public health updated state lawmakers about the need for more resources to continue fighting the virus.
“The risks to the Illinois public still remains low but we still want people to pay attention to what’s going on around the world and to prepare,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Illinois Department of Public Health director.
Dr. Ezike said the state will need more testing supplies to combat the novel coronavirus. “We are using them daily, I know at last count was about 2,200 so we are requesting for the CDC to send additional reagents so that when this runs out, there won’t be any pause and we will continue to test.” […]
Ezike said the agency is considering drive-thru style testing where people can pull up and be tested in their cars, eliminating the risk of spreading the virus. For now, new labs in Springfield and Carbondale are open in addition to the original testing lab in Chicago.
While 22 people in Illinois are awaiting test results, Ezike said 116 people have been tested for the virus in total. Only four people have been diagnosed with the illness, no one has died of the aliment in Illinois yet.
* Greg Hinz…
A state and city that have had trouble paying their bills even in good times are facing a potentially budget body blow as the coronavirus begins to infect the local economy.
Fiscal experts and some officials are warning that a region that serves as a logistics and meetings center and as a major international exporter is particularly vulnerable to disruption from the spreading virus. That means less tax receipts at a time when government needs more. […]
“We don’t have any reserves. We don’t have any unrestricted funds that are being held in abeyance,” either at the state or city level, warns Laurence Msall, president of the watchdog Civic Federation.
“It is reasonable to forecast tens of millions of dollars of revenue impact for the city and hundreds of millions for the state, depending on how long a possible recession continues,” he added. Both state and city officials should be doing the same thing now, in his view: “They should be refreshing their Plans B and preparing alternatives.”
* Roundup…
* Man hospitalized in Arlington Heights with coronavirus had not traveled abroad recently
* Coronavirus fears cause Illinois college to cancel basketball games: The Chicago State University men’s basketball team will not travel for two regularly scheduled Western Athletic Conference games this week, and its women’s team will not host two games, the school said late Tuesday, citing the spread of the coronavirus.
* Northwestern University cancels all international spring break trips amid coronavirus fears
* Feder: 4 ABC 7 employees stay away from work fearing possible exposure to coronavirus - According to media reporter Robert Feder on Tuesday, precautions were taken after an interview with a food service worker at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, where a coronavirus patient is being treated.
* Chicago To Deliver More Cleaning Supplies To Schools Amid Coronavirus Concerns
* Archdiocese of Chicago Issues Coronavirus Protocols For Parishes
* Stocks sink after Fed chief’s virus warning
* Worst of coronavirus is yet to come for U.S. factories - Unlike retailers or airlines that feel the immediate hit of missed lattes and canceled flights, the supply-chain pain wrought by the coronavirus takes more time to manifest.
* Coronavirus shakes hotel industry—including Hyatt - The Chicago-based hotel operator said new corporate travel restrictions in North America and Europe would hurt results and make it difficult to forecast the rest of the year.
* Kendall County Health Department chief provides update on coronavirus spread: Dr. Amaal Tokars, executive director for the Kendall County Health Department, said during the Tuesday, March 3 County Board meeting that health officials have been working with community members as the spread of the coronavirus continues. She said local health officials aren’t aware of any cases in the county currently. “And I say those words very carefully,” Tokars said. “We don’t know of a case, because you can see cases coming up in the country where people don’t know where those originated from.”
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*** UPDATED x1 *** It’s just a bill
Wednesday, Mar 4, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Thread!…
* This bill was put on hold last year after Republicans demanded it be stalled for a year to win their votes on the budget and other end-of-session legislation…
The Illinois Farm Bureau is joining the Illinois Associated Builders and Contractors in opposing a measure to require prevailing wage for entry-level laborers working in refineries.
Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert said at Tuesday’s Ag Breakfast in Springfield that for agriculture to thrive in Illinois, it needs four things: “Great trade agreements” and exports, growth in the livestock industry, and “a renewable fuel industry that works well.”
“[Ethanol] provides another opportunity for us to market the goods that we so well raise here in this state and that’s corn or soybeans made into biodiesel,” Guebert said.
He urged the room full of farmers to oppose Senate Bill 1407. He said it would limit future markets for corn and soybeans.
“Forty-two percent of Illinois corn goes through an ethanol plant. Twenty percent of the distillers’ grains are fed to livestock in the state of Illinois,” Guebert said.
The builder’s group previously said Senate Bill 1407 will hurt its apprenticeship programs.
One of the co-sponsors of the bill in the Senate, state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said he wanted to see how negotiations on the bill go in the House.
“I would like to look at the information again on what’s been taking place in the House in terms of negotiations,” Villivalam said.
* Jerry Nowicki at Capitol News Illinois…
A 2013 state law allowing utilities to tack natural gas surcharges onto consumer bills for the purpose of funding infrastructure improvements is under scrutiny at the Capitol.
At a Statehouse news conference Tuesday, lawmakers and consumer advocates called for ending that state law on Jan. 1, 2021, three years earlier than its Dec. 31, 2023, statutory sunset date.
They claim allowing the surcharges “helps major utilities sidestep the regulatory process, automatically raise heating bills, and force many customers into financial crisis to cover billions of dollars in reckless utility spending.”
Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said his Senate Bill 3497 and its companion House Bill 5247 are aimed at starting “a conversation centered on the accountability, the safety, and the affordability of utility bill increases that our families are facing in the state of Illinois.”
* Press release…
State Representatives Mike Marron (R-Fithian), Charlie Meier (R-Okawville), Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis), and Assistant Minority Leader Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) held a press conference in Springfield Wednesday alongside fellow Republican legislators and 2nd Amendment supporters to discuss solutions to end delays in FOID card processing, and discussed their shared 2nd Amendment focused legislative agenda. The lawmakers expressed their concerns that fund sweeps of $28 million from the Illinois State Police fund have led to delays in processing FOID card applications and renewals.
Marron says his office is overwhelmed every week with calls from constituents experiencing long delays for FOID renewals.
“My office receives dozens of constituent calls regarding FOID renewals every month,” Marron said. “There has been a steady increase of approval delays leading to many frustrated citizens unable to speak with a live person when checking on their FOID renewal and approval status. The delays are not due to a lack of funding, but because money that was supposed to be used to provide service to Illinois’ two million FOID cardholders was used for spending in other areas.”
Rep. Charlie Meier says the fund sweeps have led to long delays for gun owners to get their FOID cards renewed.
“The FOID program has been used as a piggy bank to fund other programs,” Meier said. “If the State is going to require the fee, and require the FOID, then we owe it to our citizens to run an efficient and effective program. If we can’t do that, the program should be eliminated.”
Rep. Patrick Windhorst said he is sponsoring a legislative package that would eliminate the FOID altogether (HB 913). Barring its passage, Windhorst says his agenda reduces costs and regulations for law-abiding citizens.
“Illinois is one of only four States that still requires a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID),” Windhorst said. “Though I believe the FOID card is unconstitutional, that issue will ultimately be decided by the courts. Until the courts decide, there are steps we can take as a legislature to address FOID renewal delays and decrease high costs and burdensome regulations on law-abiding gun owners.”
Windhorst says his legislative package aims to reduce fees, eliminate long waiting periods, and allows for automatic FOID renewal if a concealed carry license is still in effect.
“We are here to say, either void the unconstitutional FOID card, or stop the fund sweeps and pass our legislative package to ease the burden on law-abiding gun owners, reduce costs, and improve renewal times,” Windhorst said.
Multiple House Republican members are sponsoring legislation that would reduce costs and regulations for law-abiding gun owners and protect FOID and CCL funding.
HB 4391 would ban local government units from imposing taxes or fees on firearms and ammunition.
HB 4392 would eliminate the 72-hour waiting period for individuals that have been granted a valid license to carry a concealed handgun under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act.
HB 4393 would lower the fee to obtain a concealed carry license from $150 to $100.
HB 4397 grants exclusive power to the State of Illinois in regard to the regulation of the ownership and possession of firearms and invalidates existing and future local ordinances or resolutions that require local registration, or local reporting of the sale or transfer of a firearm, and bans municipalities from maintaining any kind of firearm registry.
HB 4398 allows any individual that has received a permit to conceal carry a firearm to do so on public transportation.
HB 4447 states that any renewal application shall be accepted by the Illinois State Police if submitted within 180 days before the expiration of the applicant’s FOID card or concealed carry license.
HB 4448 would require the Illinois State Police to automatically renew any concealed carry license holder’s FOID card as long as their conceal carry license is in good standing until the time that the concealed carry license expires.
HB 4450 spells out the process by which any appeal of the denial of a FOID card or concealed carry license must be handled and provides specific guidelines for the State Police in regard to the time it takes to process any such appeal.
HJRCA 40 would amend the Illinois Constitution to place fees collected from FOID and CCL applicants in a ‘lock box’ fund that would be protected from future fund sweeps.
*** UPDATE *** ISP…
Sweeps of the firearms services funds by previous administrations prevented long-term planning and improvements to firearm services for years.
Now that the firearms services fund has been stabilized under the Governor’s bi-partisan budget, the Illinois State Police is implementing a multi-year plan for hiring and technology upgrades to provide the customer service that firearms owners should expect. We currently have 35 positions available.
However, the ISP needs the help of the legislature to streamline and improve the FOID and CCL process and welcomes the chance to work with Rep. Windhorst and others to shorten and standardize appeals, consolidate FOID and CCL functions, and reduce costs.
This is separate and apart from the need for enforcement resources for state, county and local law enforcement.
* Related…
* FFA members participate in 50th annual Illinois Agriculture Legislative Day: High school agriculture students get to meet with their local lawmakers and address the importance of agriculture across the state. They bring their lawmakers baskets with unique items produced in Illinois along with a lunch they prepare in the morning.
* Fowler ‘cautiously optimistic’ about Cairo River Port Terminal project
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* I know Super Tuesday is of great interest, but do try to keep your discussion as Illinois-centric as possible and most definitely be nice to each other. Thanks.
…Adding… I guess I’ll put this one here…
The day after his Super Tuesday success, former Vice President Joe Biden picked up the endorsements of three Illinois U.S. House members, his campaign announced Wednesday.
U.S. Reps. Bill Foster, Robin Kelly and Mike Quigley are all backing Biden. The surging Democratic contender continues to pick up support among Illinois’ elected officials ahead of the state’s March 17 primary.
“In Chicago, we know something about toughness and resilience, and nobody embodies that spirit more than Joe Biden,” Quigley said in a release. “On all the issues that matter most in our community, Joe has been fighting beside us for decades.” […]
The three House members follow Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White in throwing their support to Biden in recent days. He also has the backing of U.S. Reps. Danny Davis and Brad Schneider.
…Adding… My own take last night…
*** UPDATE 1 *** And there it is…
Michael Bloomberg, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars to self-fund his 2020 presidential run, announced Wednesday that he is suspending his campaign after a poor performance on Super Tuesday, according to a source familiar.
He’s endorsing Biden.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Jesse Sharkey and Vice President Stacy Davis Gates today announced their personal endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ candidacy for president of the United States.
“Educators in Chicago’s public schools fight for their students, and their students’ families and communities. No other candidate has put forth a better plan to make that fight a reality than Bernie Sanders,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said. “Not only will Bernie fight for our students and their families, but he reflects the core values and mission of our union. Bernie is part of a movement that is putting students and working families above the interests of millionaires and billionaires, and that is something we should all be fighting for. On March 17, I plan on voting for Sen. Sanders, and I urge every Illinois voter to do the same.”
“The Chicago Teachers Union has always fought to make big changes,” said CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates. “Collectively, we have fought against racial and economic disparities, attempts to close and privatize our public schools, and powerful special interests. And now, our fight for high-quality schools and thriving neighborhoods takes us to the ballot box. And let’s be real, our nation needs a political revolution. Black mothers and educators like me need a candidate that will fight for all our students and ensure they live in a society where student loan debt isn’t a burden and access to health care is a human right. For these reasons and so many more, I’m happy to say that I’m part of the revolution, and I urge my fellow educators to stand with Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic primary nomination.”
In May 2019, Sanders unveiled his Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education, which will reinvest in our nation’s schools and modernize our education system.
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