Bob Molaro was well known for his jovial spirit, positive attitude and innate ability to bring people together and build consensus. He had a way of making everyone comfortable, even in challenging times and debates. Bob will be greatly missed by all who knew him. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones.
Bob served in both the Senate and then the House before he became a lobbyist. He was diagnosed late last year with pancreatic cancer and passed away Monday evening surrounded by family. Bobby had a lot of friends in this business and they are heartbroken right now.
RIP Bobby - How do you create on homage to a guy like Bob Molaro? Coffee. I hope it doesn’t come off trite, because coffee was everything good about Bobby. He used it for kinship, advice, bonding, listening, laughter and mentorship. No matter his mood, you always got the best of him. When I got the job in 2009, he insisted I understand that it was a blessing, a thing to be cherished and used to advance good things. He gently reminded me that when you get elected, you’re on 3rd base, and don’t forget everyone else who hit the triple to get you there. I’ll miss him beyond words, and am thinking of Barbara, Robyn, Sam, Mike, Miranda, and Alex. Cancer is a thief, and Monday it stole too much.
It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the death of Bob Molaro. He was a true steward of the horseracing industry, which frankly would no longer exist in Illinois were it not for the impassioned, persistent and selfless leadership of Bob. As a legislator, he wrote laws so that Illinois horseracing would have an honest chance to survive and thrive. Though he was personally a fan of racing, he lobbied tirelessly on behalf of the industry because he cared so deeply about people, from the backstretch to the teller line, from the grandstand to the farm. He had genuine empathy for everyone. Especially in the most difficult times, Bob sought to build consensus, to lead with the best possible ideas and to provide relief with humor and humility. Always the optimist and always the storyteller, Bob shared a clear and exciting vision for the future of Illinois horseracing with anyone who would listen. In tribute to his undying spirit, we look forward hopefully to that future, and we pledge to “do all the good we can do” in loving memory of our dear friend.
When I first arrived in Springfield I quickly learned there were few people you could count on to tell you truths. Bob Molaro was one of those people for me. He was my political father figure. In 2007 he asked me to work on this little project with him, which turned out to be the first draft of the Chicago casino and statewide gaming bill. He made me attend countless negotiation sessions and take copious notes and later told me it was all because he wanted me to listen and learn. He saw something in me I hadn’t yet realized. Or he was just messing with me. Either way, it worked. In one of those meetings a legislator asked me to get him a cup of coffee and Bob said, “She’s not your maid. She’s a lawyer. Get your own damn coffee.” Through the years whenever I felt less than or unsure, Bob was there to push me along and be a cheerleader. No one told stories like Bob. I remember sitting listening to him for hours, usually wondering when there would be a punchline or a point. I swear he talked about pensions for 3 hours straight. We frequented the same coffee shop back home and I’d sometimes run in to him accidentally on purpose to hear his stories and get his advice. Bob cared about people. The harsh reality is many never have or will care the way Bob did. When you had has attention, he gave it to you fully. He actually cared about making people’s lives better. And now he’s gone.
I will miss his advice, his stories, and the way he made me laugh. I will miss his love of the horse tracks and perpetually saying “one more thing” before he proceeded to tell me 5 more things. He was an original. And I will miss him so much.
He was indeed an original. And, boy, was it ever hard to shut him up. But just about everyone loved him. He co-announced the House vs. Senate softball games with me the past few years and he was a natural. I mean, the man could’ve been a play-by-play announcer. Who knew? I was always in awe of his gift of gab. And he was so funny and learned things so quickly.
I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Bob Molaro. He was my friend, my mentor in the legislature and one of the smartest people I have ever known. Bob was the “go-to” guy. Someone you could always depend on to look out for your best interests. More than anyone, I trusted him because I knew he would steer me in the right direction. Like a lot of my colleagues through the years, I looked to Bob as a navigator and he never let me down. To this day, in gaming and other areas, we are still building off the work he started as a lawmaker. I’ll miss him more than I can say. I’ll miss our dinners together, I’ll miss his support, his wisdom and his guidance. My heart goes out to his family, we have all lost one of the greats.
Salem Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SALM), owner of AM 560 The Answer, announced that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has invited Salem Media journalist Amy Jacobson back to his press briefings in response to a federal lawsuit filed against him and his press secretary.
Jacobson, a longtime Chicago journalist, sued together with her station AM 560 The Answer after the governor barred her from attending press briefings. Jacobson and the station are represented by attorneys from the Liberty Justice Center, a public interest law firm that won the 2018 Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME.
In a letter sent on behalf of the governor, Jacobson “is eligible to participate in the Governor’s press access on the same basis as other journalists … Jacobson may participate fully in the Governor’s press access, including but not limited to press briefings and conferences, to the same extent that any other media is allowed to participate.”
Liberty Justice Center President and co-founder Pat Hughes said the governor’s response to the lawsuit represents a major victory for all Illinoisans who seek to hold their elected officials accountable.
“Gov. Pritzker’s ban on Amy Jacobson was a complete overreach and he’s right to walk it back. The governor may not like when journalists ask tough questions and he may not always agree with their coverage, but Americans have a constitutional right to hold their elected officials accountable. One of the most important ways they do this is through a free and vibrant press,” Hughes said.
I’m told she attended a press conference at the Thompson Center a few days ago.
Up until recently, there were two ways to ask questions of the governor during his daily news media briefings: 1) You could contact one of the pool reporters who were selected by electronic and print reporters and they would ask your question; or 2) You could log in to the state’s Webex page with a password provided by the governor’s press office and submit your question that way. Jacobson was no longer being sent the daily password, which is what the suit was about. But the governor’s press office stopped using the Webex system on June 5th.
*** UPDATE *** I am told that Amy Jacobson is the only reporter at today’s Pritzker press conference. Might wanna click here to watch.
…Adding… It sounds like reporters have texted Jordan Abudayyeh some questions.
* I’ve decided to take another couple of days off because I have a ton of errands yet to run. The plan at the moment is to return Wednesday morning. Make sure to check the news feeds and the live coverage post to keep yourself up to date. Until then…
With a meal upon my plate
And the view upon the prairie
* That’s it for me. Barring extreme craziness necessitating a return to the helm, I’m taking next week off. You’ll have all of the news feeds and the live coverage post to keep you up to date. Judging from the comments, I think we could all use a little rest…
The ‘Edge’. There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others — the living — are those who pushed their luck as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down or did whatever they had to when it came time to choose between Now and Later. But the edge is still out there.
* Gov. JB Pritzker spoke to reporters today at the Peoria Civic Center. The questions were off-mic, so they are paraphrased here. I skipped over a couple of them. And, as always, please pardon all transcription errors.
* Emergency special session…
What I’ve said is that if the leaders of the General Assembly call for a special session, I’m right there, I think we should do it.
One thing I do think is we need to make sure we have an agenda to put forward. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to develop that agenda. I can tell you what I think I just did, but it needs to be put into effect in more than what I just said. And so there needs to be work to put an agenda together before we call for a special session or any session.
* Legislation has been introduced to require a special prosecutor for every officer-involved death. Would you sign it if it reached your desk?…
This prospect was just brought to me you know over the last few days as one of the things that we ought to be thinking about that. Honestly, I had not thought about a special prosecutor, I had not seen the bill before. That’s the honest truth. I think there’s a lot to it. I think that making sure that there is a truly independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding a killing, that is something that’s very important. Just saying that police will investigate themselves or letting the leadership, even if a city investigate the police. That by itself isn’t enough.
* You’ve deployed the National Guard. Are there additional measures you could take if violence erupts this weekend?…
Well, I think that, let me compliment the National Guard one more time but let me also bring up the name of the Illinois State Police, because they’ve been working in very close collaboration across the last week to bring down the temperature across the state to support local police departments, and you’ve seen I think over night after night I mean I’ve watched it up close and personal. The looting has come down ,the violence has come down. Last night was the best night over the last seven. […]
We’re not just sending them places. The local communities are asking us for help and we’re responding by posting National Guard and state police in those locations, and where we’ve been called to, where they’ve been called to, they’ve done an amazing job backing up local police departments.
* Why are National Guard troops needed in Peoria?…
In short, we go where we are asked. And there is a discussion that takes place between the National Guard with state police involved, and the local officials both elected officials and the law enforcement very importantly, so that’s all done as partnership.
* Worried about huge cuts to local law enforcement budgets?…
Well, I can’t say it enough that there’s no doubt and I don’t want to put Congressman Bustos on the spot because she voted for it already, but the federal government has to step in. This isn’t just happening in Illinois. This is happening in every state in the United States, even the ones you think of as never having any budget problems.
When I first became governor, I remember sitting down with the governor of California, the new governor of California. And he said, What’s your biggest problem? I said well we got to balance our budget in the state. And I said, How is your budget? He said well we have a $23 billion surplus. So I said, well, I won’t tell you the rest of that conversation, but I will tell you this, they have a $54 billion deficit.
So that just tells you one state. But that’s happening all over the United States. So local county and state governments need help from the federal government, just like all the big businesses big industry, the airlines and all the rest of them got help. We need help and we’re on the frontlines of lifting people up when they’ve lost their jobs and they need medical care, they need to take care of their families. They need childcare and so on.
* With the large protests all over the state, are we still on track to move to Phase 4? Do you anticipate setbacks?…
I wouldn’t say I anticipate delays or setbacks, but I’m concerned, worried that seeing so many people pack so close together in the marches that I’ve seen. And again, I support the expression of their first amendment rights. But so many people were so close together. I’m glad to say so many are wearing masks, that’s half the battle for sure. But I worry.
And you won’t see it show up, it doesn’t show up in the case numbers early. Where it shows up, where you really will see it is two to three weeks hence, so two to three weeks from the beginning, at the beginning of this week, look at the hospitalization numbers. That’s where you’ll start to see either movement or not. And then we can either develop some confidence about the outcome for phase three or some concern.
* No new cases after big Memorial Day party in Lake of the Ozarks. What if there is no spike now?…
Well, that would be fantastic. I mean let’s all celebrate. I said when we built out McCormick Place as an alternative health facility, and people were saying oh my gosh how many people are going to get COVID-19. I said, look, if nobody gets it nobody moves in there, you know, what a great day that’ll be. And that’s exactly what it turned out to be, because so many people followed the rules along the way as to, you know, if no if people end up two to three weeks from now, not having COVID-19. Fantastic. Wonderful. And by the way, about three weeks from now is the beginning of phase four all four regions, being currently on track to go to phase four, but again that’s why we have this period to watch the hospitalization numbers and all the rest.
* Would you consider changing anything related to large gatherings if that’s the case?…
You don’t want a politician making decisions like that. What you want is your elected official, your leader listening to the scientists to the epidemiologists which is what I do. And then asking questions, poking and prodding and making sure they’ve got it right. And then a decision gets made. And I’ll take responsibility for the decision, but I’ll also say, I’m not doing it by myself I’m doing it in collaboration with experts.
* What is the strategy for reopening casinos?…
Our public health officials are talking to casino owners and other experts to try to figure out how you could do it. I know other places have opened casinos. We’ve heard a lot about this out of Las Vegas, of course. But, the goal here is to get everybody back to work, but to do it safely. And so when you think about, I don’t know about all of you but when you think about a slot machine, or a blackjack table with six or however many people around it in very close quarters with somebody facing here, you’re all kind of facing each other I mean, those are challenges. I’m not going to make an epidemiological decision about that I don’t fully understand why six feet versus three. I know masks are hugely important.
But the point I’m making is that whatever we do with regard to casinos and with video terminals has got to be done with the thought in mind that the states and the cities that keep their people safest - this is the history of pandemics - the states and the cities that keep their people safest are the ones that do the best economically coming out of it. So we’re doing our best to open our economy, but to do it in a way that keeps everybody safe and healthy.
* Question about summer schools…
When the scientists are giving us information that’s helpful for us toward moving toward opening I’m listening. And so the signals they gave us were that we could move this direction. And of course, it helps us move toward opening schools in the fall, which I’m determined to do, I want to do, and I expect that we will be able to do. But I just want to be clear that these are not arbitrary political decisions that are getting made. They’re decisions that are getting made based upon the development of the research and the science about keeping people safe.
Dave’s been reading the Chicago Tribune [the Sun-Times actually published the story]. And all I can say is, I know there are a number of people who aren’t wearing masks in Scott County because they say they haven’t had any cases, and there hasn’t been a recorded case in Scott County. It’s the only one of 102 counties, the only county that doesn’t have a case. And that’s fantastic. I would say to everybody, this pandemic, this virus has no boundaries. And so I’d be extremely careful because people in Scott County don’t just stay in Scott County. They travel they engage with people and they may become sick as a result that but I just want people to be safe and I hope people do enjoy themselves, but wear a mask wash your hands. Be careful.
* More financial assistance from the state to help those who were impacted financially by the pandemic?…
Well yeah, first of all the budget that was just passed, there’s a lot of federal dollars that are in that budget for COVID relief. And so there there are a lot of dollars still yet to come. We announced today grants to small businesses. But I want to reiterate that so far we’ve sent about $30 million to small businesses across the state to support them and they’re reopening, and they’re surviving and making sure that their employees get paid and so on. We’re trying to help people through this period, there’s more money to come that came from this budget, but one program that we announced today, we put about $1.4 million, out of about $20 million, just in that one loan program but there’s much more to come.
* What would you do differently to prepare for the pandemic?…
That’s such a hard question to answer. And the reason is, if you don’t know all the facts about the virus, you know how it affects people, how it transmits how fast it would move. You don’t know and that’s, so that’s what was happening every day of this crisis. We’ve been reacting to new information, things that we’ve learned what the CDC tells us as they learn things as we watched other countries like Italy, China, Spain, France and so on.
So it’s hard to second guess when you’re in a dynamic environment. I think all of you remember that it was a very quick progression of decisions that needed to be made. I limited gatherings, you remember, I remember having a meeting in my office about closing down St Patrick’s Day. I mean that’s not something you do lightly anywhere in this state. That’s a lot of business for small businesses, that’s a lot of people enjoying themselves, nobody wants to do that. But it became clear that that was something we needed to do. What about just even before that, closing down visitors at nursing homes. I mean, these are very difficult decisions. I don’t know how to second guess what we did. It may be easy to be a Monday-morning quarterback and look back and say well gee, if I had known this I would have done that.
So the answer is, we’re making the best decisions we can with the science and the data. And I’m sure that people wil,l six months or a year or two years from now, look back and say we should have done X Y or Z. But if they weren’t in the room with the information at that moment then I don’t think they have a leg to stand on.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city will not tolerate vigilantism after groups of mostly white men patrolled the streets of Bridgeport on Wednesday night in response to a nearby city protest.
Multiple streets were blocked in the Bridgeport neighborhood Wednesday night as nearby protests dispersed. Near West Pershing Road, water gushed from an open fire hydrant as small groups gathered on corners. Some of the men held bats. One wore a shirt that said “All Lives Matter,” one sipped a beer and another waved at an officer as he drove by. Additional groups of people, some armed with bats, lined West 31st Street.
Asked about the situation in Bridgeport, a diversifying neighborhood that served as an Irish American power base for the Daley political family, Lightfoot said, “It is absolutely not appropriate for people to take up arms, bats, pipes, whatever in patrolling neighborhoods.”
“We’ve seen that end with tragic results across the country and we’re not about to allow that practice to happen here in Chicago. If there’s an issue, call 911,” Lightfoot said. “I absolutely support neighbors being vigilant as to what’s going on on the streets and in their blocks but taking up arms, that leads to chaos and we’re not supporting vigilantism in the city of Chicago under any circumstances.”
* Second City Cop excerpted the above story and responded…
Really? Anyone remember Groot denouncing the Hispanic gangs that certain aldercreatures heaped praise on for “protecting” their businesses from being looted?
Let me just say this. What we don’t need, what we don’t need is gang members thinking that they are now the police and trying to take matters into their own hands. And I’ve had a lot of conversations with local aldermen about that very issue. These are young men that grew up in the neighborhood. They are known. And what we don’t need is for them to be out, and I heard from one alderman [about] a bunch of young men sitting and drinking all day and then pulling out their weapons at night. We don’t need that, we’re not going to tolerate that. The police are the public safety force in our city, not gang members.
The Chicago Police Department issued a requirement that all on duty personnel wear CPD-issued surgical masks and gloves anytime they are out of their vehicle in public. Over the last week, there’s been scores of officers, according to this question, at protests without these masks. Can you tell us why this is happening and what your office is doing to get officers to comply with this basic public health requirement in the middle of COVID-19?
This was an issue that we saw way before this week. We’ve spent a significant amount of money and resources to make sure that our officers are safe in discharging their responsibilities every day, including PPE, masks, gloves, cleaning supplies. And the superintendent I know has issued a number of reminders and directives, and I’ve told him that our patience with this has to be and end. If officers are not complying, if they are not wearing the mask and protective gear that we provide, they need to be disciplined. And that was an issue that we were dealing with way before the events of this week. But clearly no officer should be going out engaging with members of the public. It’s for their protection, as well as members of the public, and we expect them to abide by the directives that have been issued, and if not, then disciplinary action shall be taken.
She also said she’s seen the photo circulating on social media of a CPD officer flipping the bird to protesters and said the officer ought to be stripped of his police powers.
What I’d like to say is, in talking to people all over the city about the events of this week, what I’ve heard from people in neighborhoods is that they want more police protection, not less. And I certainly understand the concern about the amount of money that we spend on policing, not just in Chicago but across the country. But I think in this time where people are feeling physically insecure, it would dishonor those real expressions to be talking about reducing the amount of safety that we’re going to be bringing today to bear.
* I have four brothers. One is a hardcore Bernie Bro, two others are solidly conservative Republicans, another leans liberal Democratic with a southern bent. I am in no way responsible for their viewpoints. And Rep. Halbrook shouldn’t have to answer for his brother…
Community leaders around Illinois are responding to comments a state representative’s brother put on social media.
Brad Halbrook represents the 102nd District, which covers parts of Central Illinois.
On a post allegedly referring to looters, someone wrote baiting is illegal in the state to which Brian Halbrook responded, “That’s why u can’t hunt ’em in a watermelon patch either.”
His brother, Representative Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville), is a member of a group known as the Eastern Bloc. Members of the group have called for Chicago to become its own state and filed a lawsuit against the governor’s stay-at-home order.
Rep. Halbrook said his brother’s comments do not reflect his views. He said in a comment:
I have had some conversations with my brother about his social media posts, and I have expressed my deep concerns about the nature of those comments to him. Having said that, he is a private citizen and not an elected official. Unfortunately, because I am his brother and I hold an elected office, he has become a target.
* The only thing I would point out is this Halbrook comment from last year…
“I didn’t know we had a white nationalism problem in Champaign County or Shelby County or Edgar County,” @BradHalbrook says after warning audience they wouldn’t like his answer. Some in crowd gasp, others groan and boo. He says Congress should address it at federal level. pic.twitter.com/fq2BXcyfmU
