* You gotta figure there’s gonna be a constitutional challenge to this if it becomes law. Half the city will be disenfranchised by appointed board members for two years. Press release…
The Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus today introduced legislation outlining the electoral process for the new Chicago Elected School Board and establishing ethics requirements and conflict of interest provisions for members.
Under the attached proposal, 20 districts will be created for the 2024 election. Of those, 10 districts will be up for election in 2024, and 10 districts plus the Board Chair will be appointed by the mayor. A map detailing which districts will be elected and which districts will be appointed is available here and online at www.ilsenateredistricting.com. Beginning in 2026, the 10 districts with appointed members will be up for election.
The public is encouraged to review the proposed district boundaries and provide additional feedback via the website or through email at ChicagoERSBCommittee@senatedem.ilga.gov. School board districts must be consistent with the Illinois Voting Rights Act, which ensures districts are crafted in a way that preserves clusters of minority voters if they are of size or cohesion to exert collective electoral power. The draft map, its demographic data, and shape files can be found at www.ilsenateredistricting.com.
“During public hearings, we heard concerns about ensuring the Board represents all of Chicago’s unique and vibrant communities,” said Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford, Chair of the Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board. “By establishing 20 districts for the 2024 election, our goal is to maximize diverse representation in a way that would not be achievable with just 10 districts.”
In addition, the legislation establishes ethics requirements for Board members which mirror those for other school boards across the state, as well as conflict of interest provisions in line with the state’s existing Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act. The measure also calls for the creation of Black Student Achieve Committee within the Board, following feedback from education advocates, parents and community members about the need to focus on the disparity in academic performance among Black students.
“These ethics provisions establish important guardrails for Chicago Public Schools leadership, adding an extra layer of accountability,” said Sen. Robert Martwick, Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board and sponsor of the legislation creating an elected school board in Chicago. “Our communities deserve leaders who always place the best interest of the people first.”
“These changes are a reflection of the insight offered over the course of numerous public hearings,” said Sen. Omar Aquino, Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board. “Just as we want a new Board to be responsive to the community, we must also adjust to provide more equitable representation for all of Chicago.”
#BREAKING Finding that “even the most important personal freedoms have their limits” the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with the state of Illinois in the pending appeal on the state’s assault weapons ban. More info to come. pic.twitter.com/hExCeyRo8x
The Second Amendment to the Constitution recognizes an individual right to “keep and bear Arms.” Of that there can be no doubt, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008); McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010); Caetano v. Massachusetts, 577 U.S. 411 (2016) (per curiam); and New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022). But as we know from long experience with other fundamental rights, such as the right to free speech, the right peaceably to assemble, the right to vote, and the right to free exercise of religion, even the most important personal freedoms have their limits. Government may punish a deliberately false fire alarm; it may condition free assembly on the issuance of a permit; it may require voters to present a valid identification card; and it may punish child abuse even if it is done in the name of religion. The right enshrined in the Second Amendment is no different.
The present cases, which we have consolidated for disposition, relate to the types of “Arms” that are covered by the Second Amendment. This presents a line-drawing problem. Everyone can agree that a personal handgun, used for self-defense, is one of those Arms that law-abiding citizens must be free to “keep and bear.” Everyone can also agree, we hope, that a nuclear weapon such as the now-retired M388 Davy Crockett system, with its 51-pound W54 warhead, can be reserved for the military, even though it is light enough for one person to carry.3 Many weapons, however, lie between these extremes. The State of Illinois, in the legislation that lies at the heart of these cases, has decided to regulate assault weapons and high-capacity magazines—a decision that is valid only if the regulated weapons lie on the military side of that line and thus are not within the class of Arms protected by the Second Amendment. Several municipalities have done the same. The plaintiffs in these cases challenge that conclusion. Using the tools of history and tradition to which the Supreme Court directed us in Heller and Bruen, we conclude that the state and the affected subdivisions have a strong likelihood of success in the pending litigation. We therefore affirm the decisions of the district courts in appeals No. 23-1353 and 23-1793 refusing to enjoin these laws, and we vacate the injunction issued by the district court in appeals No. 23-1825, 23-1826, 23-1827, and 23-1828. […]
We conclude with a few remarks about several additional issues in some of these cases that do not require immediate attention, and a reminder about the limits on our ruling.
First, we briefly comment on Herrera’s challenge to the constitutionality of the registration requirement that implements the grandfather exemption. He regards it as a burden on his Second Amendment rights, and he worries that it may in the future lead to confiscatory acts on the part of the state. If we are correct in our prediction that the state will prevail in its defense of the Act against the Second Amendment arguments, then the registration requirement will be valid as long as it can withstand rational basis review. At this juncture, we see nothing particularly onerous about it, though as with everything we have said, this is a preliminary assessment. Herrera has until the end of 2023 to file the necessary forms, and if he does so, he may retain all of the covered weapons he already owns; the Act will prohibit only his acquisition of additional assault weapons or high-capacity feeding devices. For its own reasons, the dissent agrees with us that the registration requirement should not be enjoined.
Second, in this court none of the parties has developed any coherent argument that would distinguish restrictions on possession, on the one hand, from restrictions on sale or manufacture, on the other. One of the parties in Bevis is a gun store, but the implications of that have yet to be addressed. We thus have no comment on it.
Finally, we have no need to decide whether an alleged Second Amendment violation gives rise to a presumption of irreparable harm, and if so, whether any such presumption is rebuttable or ironclad. Given our decision that the plaintiffs have not shown that they have a strong likelihood of success on the merits, we think it best to save this point for another day. We also have no comment on the other two parts of the Winter inquiry: where the balance of equities lies, and what the public interest dictates.
We close with an important reminder. Nothing that we have said here indicates that any state or municipality must enact restrictions on the ownership of assault weapons or high-capacity magazines. Unless preemptive federal legislation requires otherwise, this is an issue for the political process in each jurisdiction. The people of some states may find the arguments in favor of a lack of restrictions to be persuasive; the people of other states may prefer tighter restrictions. As long as those restrictions do not infringe on the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear the Arms covered by the Second Amendment, either choice is permissible. In the cases now before us, however, the plaintiffs have not shown a likelihood of success on the merits, based on the fact that military weapons lie outside the class of Arms to which the individual right applies.
In Nos. 23-1353 and 23-1793, we AFFIRM the district courts’ orders denying preliminary injunctive relief. In Nos. 23-1825, 23-1826, 23-1827, and 23-1828, we VACATE the district court’s order granting preliminary injunctive relief. We also confirm that the stay we issued in these appeals will remain in effect until our mandate issues.
…Adding… React…
Today, Protect Illinois Communities President Becky Carroll released the following statement in response to 7th Circuit Court ruling upholding the Protect Illinois Communities Act:
“Today’s 7th Circuit Court decision on the Protect Illinois Communities Act is another critical legal affirmation of both the law as well as common sense – assault weapons are designed for use on the battlefield, not on our streets or in our communities. We are grateful for their decision and to the work of AG Raoul in representing the State of Illinois on this matter.”
* Rep. Morgan…
State Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield), the chief sponsor of the Protect Illinois Communities Act, celebrated this important decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the Illinois assault weapons ban that was signed into law on January 10, 2023. The 7th District Court was responding to six consolidated lawsuits challenging the ban.
“This ruling is a huge win for anyone committed to reducing gun violence. With the 7th Circuit upholding the Protect Illinois Communities Act, this common-sense gun reform law continues in full force despite the efforts of the gun lobby,” said Rep. Morgan. “As mass shootings in the U.S. are on a record pace in 2023, this law has already prevented the sales of thousands of assault weapons and high capacity magazines in Illinois, making our state safer. We must renew our calls for a nationwide ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines in order to make mass shootings a thing of the past.”
The Protect Illinois Communities (PIC) Act bans the sale of assault weapons, which have been the lethal instruments used in multiple mass shootings, as well as large capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition for a long gun or more than 15 rounds of ammunition for handguns. Prior to today’s Seventh Circuit ruling, the Act had already survived multiple constitutional challenges. On May 4, 2023, the Seventh Circuit Court blocked a temporary injunction that a lower court judge in East St. Louis issued on April 28. This most recent defense of the PIC Act’s constitutionality comes on the heels of an Illinois Supreme Court decision to uphold the ban.
On May 17, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court also declined to block the law in Illinois.
Morgan, who is the Chair of the House Firearm Safety & Reform Working Group, is recognized as a legislative champion of gun safety in Illinois and is working with other national leaders to reduce gun deaths. Morgan witnessed firsthand the devastating effects that gun violence can have on a community. Highland Park, IL is a part of his 58th District, and he was present at the July Fourth mass shooting with his wife and children, during which 83 rounds were fired in less than 60 seconds, killing seven and injuring 48 people.
* Gov. Pritzker…
Governor JB Pritzker issued the following statement concerning the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the Protect Illinois Communities Act:
“The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed what gun safety advocates have said from day one—the Protect Illinois Communities Act is a commonsense law that will keep Illinoisans safe. Despite constant attacks by the gun lobby that puts ideology over people’s lives, here in Illinois we have stood up and said ‘no more’ to weapons of war on our streets. This is a victory for the members of the General Assembly who stood alongside families, students and survivors who worked so hard to make this day a reality. Now Congress must act so Illinois is not an island surrounded by states with weak protections.”
* LG Stratton…
Today, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that Illinois is on the right side of history when it comes to protecting our communities from the dangers of gun violence by upholding the Protect Illinois Communities Act. Upholding the ban of assault-style weapons, high-capacity magazines, and more, we are continuing on our promise of building safer, stronger communities. I thank Governor Pritzker, the General Assembly and the thousands of advocates who came together to say, “enough is enough.”
There is more work to do, and while we acknowledge the significance of this ruling, may we never forget the countless lives lost and disrupted by senseless gun violence. In Illinois, we will continue to look forward, reinforcing this common-sense law and I hope that Congress will do the same
* AG Raoul…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit’s decision in the consolidated cases challenging the Protect Illinois Communities Act.
“I am pleased with the 7th Circuit’s decision in these critically-important cases, which means my office has now successfully defended the Protect Illinois Communities Act in appeals before the 7th Circuit and the Illinois Supreme Court. Assault weapons were intended for military use, and the Protect Illinois Communities Act is a tool to prevent them from being used to cause devastation in our schools, places of worship and recreation spaces. This decision is the result of many hours of work by the staff of the Attorney General’s office, and I thank them for their dedication and service to the people of Illinois.”
* Mayor Johnson…
“I welcome today’s decision by the 7th Circuit Court to uphold the Protect Illinois Communities Act. This landmark legislation is an important step for our communities, providing common-sense gun control measures that have been so desperately needed in our city and throughout the state.
This decisive measure will aid in keeping weapons of war out of our neighborhoods and off our streets, creating safer communities for all.”
Our Congressman, Mike Bost. A steadfast conservative, Mike voted for the Secure the Border Act to increase the number of border patrol agents and complete the border wall. A budget hawk who has saved taxpayers by voting against a $1.4 trillion debt limit increase. Bost reigns in out of control spending to secure a stronger future for our families. Mike Bost stands with our farmers to take on the Biden administration’s Waters of the US policies that would put family farms out of business. An advocate for Southern Illinois families, Mike Bost voted for the parents Bill of Rights Act so parents have a say in their children’s education. A leader, Mike introduced a law ensuring veterans who appeal for their benefit, get them more quickly. Congressman Mike Bost. Southern Illinois’ conservative leader who gets results.
Paid for by official funds. Authorized by the House of Representatives.
I am disheartened and profoundly disappointed by the actions that took place on November 2nd at city council, led by Floor Leader Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, against Councilwoman Emma Mitts.
Alderman Ramirez-Rosa physically obstructed Alderwoman Mitts and other council members from entering the chamber to carry out their duties as elected representatives on behalf of their constituents.
This repeated behavior by Alderman Ramirez-Rosa in city council is unacceptable and requires immediate action. No one should be prevented from fulfilling their elected responsibilities on behalf of their constituents. No one should endure disrespect, threats, or have to live in fear of intimidation or retaliation while simply doing their job.
True leadership involves uniting others with transparency and finding common ground, even in the face of disagreements. Those in positions of leadership should not misuse or abuse their power.
Furthermore, no woman should ever be made to feel uncomfortable due to a colleague’s abuse of power, regardless of their position or title.
Alderman Ramirez-Rosa must be held accountable for his actions. This behavior calls for his resignation as Floor Leader. I hope this matter is resolved immediately.
I’ve asked the alderperson for a response.
…Adding… Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus…
The bullying by Floor Leader Ramirez-Rosa to Chairwoman Emma Mitts, City Council’s current longest-serving woman, was unprofessional and unbecoming of his role. Alderman Ramirez-Rosa’s actions of physical and verbal harassment have let down our council and the people of Chicago. In our roles, we must uphold the values of respect and collaboration.
It is disheartening that we find ourselves in this situation, and we hope that all City Council members focus their efforts on solving this issue and maintain mutual respect for each other.
Additionally, this matter is an unfortunate and direct reminder of the decades of challenges that African-American women serving in City Council have had to overcome in our combined efforts to enhance the upward mobility of our collective communities.
Chairwoman Mitts is a pillar of strength, courage, and inspiration to many black women who aspire to become responsible and effective government leaders. We strongly condemn this blatant mistreatment and disrespect towards Alderwoman Mitts and demand a full apology from Alderman Ramirez-Rosa.
Our caucus put forth the following recommendations to create a more inclusive and respectful environment for all members.
1. Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa resign as Floor Leader and Chairman of the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards
2. Alderman Ramirez-Rosa must publicly acknowledge what he did, apologize to Chairwoman Mitts, and commit to better his behavior as a member of this body
3. Alderman Ramirez-Rosa must take steps to remedy his actions with Chairwoman Mitts and other city council members
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (7th) held his annual Senior and Veterans Resource Fair at Proviso Math and Science Academy, 8601 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park, on Oct. 28.
The Fair drew a crowd of several hundred and featured dozens of vendors and free resources like COVID-19 vaccinations and flu shots, but the biggest development to come out of this year’s event was a visit from Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who talked about the expanded driver’s license services his office implemented last month to accommodate senior citizens. […]
Last month, Giannoulias’ office implemented a “Skip-the-Line” program for senior citizens at DMV facilities, increased the number of available appointments at Chicago area DMVs by over 40%, added a call center for seniors aged 70 and over who require a road exam, and opened two “senior-only” driver services locations inside SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview and the Evanston Civic Center. Seniors at those locations won’t need appointments.
“The plan is to build the next one somewhere in the 7th District,” Welch said on Saturday.
Leadership has its privileges, I suppose.
* This is what the governor gets for siding with the Illinois Policy Institute on the bill…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is more scared of the Chicago Teachers Union than voters.
He said he’d extend Illinois’ sole school choice program if a bill reached his desk – but now he’s flip-flopping.
This week he locked low-income students out of his Chicago office.
These kids are from families who rely on the Invest in Kids Act for an exit option from the CTU’s failed public school monopoly.
He’s not even pretending to care about them.
So we’re going to make sure the whole world knows what the Illinois Democratic Party, under his leadership, did to them.
We’re protesting the 2024 National Democratic Convention in Chicago.
We’re inviting all the students, families and community leaders he let down, so everyone watching knows him as the governor who killed school choice in Illinois.
* Staying with the IPI for a moment, this means nothing because the rest of the coalition pushing renewal has offered up a compromise plan. The train is moving on. All they’re doing is attempting to divert attention from the GOP’s split…
This follows a pledge from the Illinois Senate Republicans to support Invest in Kids.
There is now full Republican support of the bipartisan effort to protect school choice scholarships for 9,600 low-income students in Illinois. (2/2)
* I’ve seen more than a few statements like this. NRCC…
“By refusing to help Israel, Brad Schneider is perpetuating the growing antisemitism rotting the Democratic Party to the core. Israel has a right to defend itself and America has an obligation to stand alongside the Jewish people – but not according to Brad Schneider.” – NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella
Schneider’s response…
Speaker Johnson's First Act:
1. Add $27 Billion to Debt 2. Condition Aid to Israel 3. Reward Tax Cheats
I cannot support the terribly flawed, weak and dangerous bill Speaker Johnson and the Republicans have on the floor today. pic.twitter.com/mAIbH6Ve2e
* Crain’s | Illinois Institute of Technology is opening a life-sciences lab in Fulton Market: Illinois Tech, whose main campus is in Bronzeville, says it plans to house faculty, researchers and students in the Fulton Labs building. Although the small, private university is well known for engineering, computer science, and architecture and design, it also has biomedical and biological engineering expertise. For many years, its Bronzeville campus was one of the few places that startups could find lab space.
* WAND | State reports reveals number of pregnancy related deaths in Illinois: “A woman who is in rural areas, whether she is of color or not, might have to drive 30 minutes or longer to get to a healthcare provider or to get to a facility that can actually deliver her baby,” said Dr. Dona M. Perry, Medical Director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. “Access is a big problem and barrier to good healthcare and maternal outcomes.” The report also found that pregnancy-related deaths increased by 40% from 2015-2017 to 2018-2020. Discrimination was present in 40% of deaths among Black women.
* Crain’s | IDPH launches phone line for doctors to address babies born with syphilis: The Illinois Department of Public Health is urging health care providers to conduct more testing for the sexually transmitted infection in advance of birth. To help, IDPH has launched a phone line to provide clinical consultation to providers who treat pregnant patients and newborns. It is dubbed the Perinatal Syphilis Warmline, with a phone number of 800-439-4079.
* WTTW | Father of Alleged Highland Park Parade Gunman Heads to Trial on Charges He Recklessly Helped Son Obtain Firearms: Lake County prosecutors have alleged Crimo Jr. took a “reckless and unjustified risk” in December 2019 when he signed his son’s application for a FOID card. At the time, Crimo III was only 19 years old and could not legally obtain a FOID card or purchase a firearm without his father’s assistance. Highland Park police had two previous interactions with Crimo III in 2019. One occurred that April after he allegedly attempted suicide. Months later, in September, Crimo III allegedly threatened family members, saying he was “going to kill everyone,” according to prosecutors.
* Crain’s | As winter looms, migrants’ lack of reliable shelter could become a public health crisis: Meanwhile, community groups are collecting donated winter clothing and supplies for migrants. But until people are moved off the streets and into real housing, their health and well-being are at heightened risk, providers say. “Sleeping under tents outside in the Chicago winter — it’s super dangerous,” says Dr. Alejandro Clavier, a pediatrician and site director at Esperanza Health Centers’ West Lawn location. “Lives will be at risk if people stay outside.”
* WMBD | Illinois Supreme Court ends Auditor Jessica Thomas’ battle with Peoria County: The legal saga by Peoria County Auditor Jessica Thomas came to a conclusion on Nov. 1 when she worked her last day as an elected official. Thomas, who had battled the county for more than a year, ran out of legal options in late September when the Illinois Supreme Court declined to hear her case after a lower court threw it out. … A trio of appellate court justices said Thomas had no “clearly ascertainable right to serve as county auditor because her ‘rights to the office ceased’ once the voters passed the referendum to eliminate the office.”
* Chicago Mag | Is “Sweet Home Chicago” Actually About Chicago?: Robert Johnson probably had not visited Chicago when he recorded what became our city’s unofficial anthem in 1936. “Oh, baby, don’t you want to go,” the Mississippi blues legend croons, “back to the land of California, to my sweet home, Chicago.” Huh? Last time we checked, Chicago was not located in California. Perhaps to avoid geographic confusion, when Chicago-based pianist Roosevelt Sykes covered the song in 1955, he changed the lyric to “that bright light city, sweet old Chicago.” The Blues Brothers, of course, sang it differently: “back to that same old place, sweet home Chicago.”
* NYT | A Climate Change Success Story? Look at Hoboken.: Across the river, the same storm drowned several of New York City’s subway lines and forced Brooklyn residents to wade through thigh-deep water. But in Hoboken, the fire department only towed six cars, and by that evening there were just a few inches of standing water at three of 277 intersections. An arts and music festival, the city’s biggest cultural blowout and moneymaker, remained on course for the weekend. Television crews, returning to Hoboken early Saturday to film the usual aftermath, left empty-handed. The city’s flooding was no longer news.
* Belleville News-Democrat | US declares species once found in Illinois extinct. What does it mean for water quality?: The tubercled-blossom pearly mussel was native to Illinois, as well as seven other states across the nation. It was one of the first to be placed on the Endangered Species Act in 1976, but had not been seen for years prior to its recent delisting. “We haven’t seen it in Illinois or in the United States in quite a few decades,” Illinois Department of Natural Resources aquatic ecologist Brian Metzke told the News-Democrat recently.
* Again, it’s time to give Oak Park the $8.7 million in grant money that was rejected by Joliet Township. CBS 2…
The Village of Oak Park is lending a helping hand for the migrant crisis in Chicago, agreeing Thursday night to house even more people.
The Oak Park Village Board on Thursday evening approved a measure to offer more support – to shelter asylum seekers as the weather gets colder. More churches in Oak Park are also heeding the call to action. […]
On Thursday, the Oak Park Village Board declared an emergency disaster resolution to ensure the migrants can stay longer. […]
The board voted unanimously to allocate $300,000 in response to the migrant crisis. Much of that will be used to provide language interpreters and medical services to the migrants already there.
Half of those funds will come from the village, the other half from grant money.
Yesterday the mayor said they were "still assessing" the property at 38th and California, but I FOIA'd the city and it turns out they actually signed a contract **last week**
Mayor Brandon Johnson was asked about the status of the site near 38th and California during a Wednesday news conference.
Johnson said the city was “still assessing. So I think this was raised before – there are a lot of environmental dynamics that have gone on in the city of Chicago that have gone unaddressed for a very long time.” […]
When pressed by NBC 5 Investigates Thursday about why Johnson did not mention the contract to reporters, a spokesman for the mayor said he did not address it because he was not specifically asked about it.
NEW: Representatives of Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration tell participants in virtual community meeting requested by Ald. Julia Ramirez that they have yet to make a final decision on whether to build a base camp at 38th & California in Brighton Park. @WTTW
* Sun-Times | City signs lease for site of potential Brighton Park migrant tent camp — leaving local alderperson ‘frustrated and disappointed’: In a community meeting Thursday night, a city official said the environmental assessment began last week and all the necessary samples had been collected. Test results were pending, said Deputy Mayor Lori Lypson. The city does not have a timeline for when the camp would open, Lypson said. It would host 500 families to start and potentially hold up to 2,000. If the site “is deemed viable,” Lypson said the tents would likely be there for 180 days. The lease also includes an option to renew for two additional six-month periods.
* ABC Chicago | Chicago City Council meeting on sanctuary city referendum spirals into chaos: “That is what is frustrating about the ‘debate,’ because people who are attacking the Sanctuary City Ordinance don’t know what they are talking about,” said Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa. “It has nothing to do with the refugee resettlement or the current crisis.” Ald. Ramirez Rosa said the Sanctuary City Ordinance only refers to law enforcement and government officials not cooperating with ICE. He said providing resources to migrants is about the city’s values; it’s not written in the ordinance.
* Crain’s | Chaos at City Council as Ald. Lopez attempts to take over meeting after lights turned off: Although the so-called Welcoming City ordinance does not impact whether or not the city chooses to provide shelter, food and care for asylum seekers, the supporters of the resolution are seeking to use the referendum to make clear to Mayor Brandon Johnson the city should reconsider how much money is spent to care for migrants if voters approve the measure.
* AP | Volunteer medical students are trying to fill the health care gap for migrants in Chicago: The migrants’ health problems tend to be related to their journey or living in crowded conditions. Back and leg injuries from walking are common. Infections spread easily. Hygiene is an issue. There are few indoor bathrooms and outdoor portable toilets lack handwashing stations. Not many people carry their medical records. Most also have trauma, either from their homeland or from the journey itself.
* CBS Chicago | Chicago school launches winter supply drive for migrants in Rogers Park: “It’s been a little exciting to see them react,” said Vivian Solis, a family support specialist at Lake Shore Schools in Rogers Park. She has been working with migrant families since August 2022. The school has taken in as many as 50 migrant children to date, helping asylum seekers with childcare. With the recent dip in temperature, concerns are now growing for migrants.
Stellantis plans to spend nearly $5 billion over the next four years expanding its Belvidere operations to include electric vehicle and battery manufacturing. […]
The company will invest $3.2 billion in a battery plant with a joint venture partner that hasn’t yet been disclosed. The plant is expected to open in 2028, according to the briefing materials.
Stellantis also will spend $1.5 billion to repurpose the Belvidere plant to assemble a new model electric midsize truck, starting in 2027. The union predicts the plant will make 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles per year.
Another $100 million investment will create a larger regional parts-distribution hub in Belvidere, consolidating work from facilities in Michigan and Milwaukee. Stellantis also will increase stamping operations to supply parts.
Read the rest, but they’re reporting that the agreement would mean 4-5,000 jobs at the expanded plant.
Two Republican state legislators from Wisconsin, Representative Jon Plumer and Senator Cory Tomczyk, introduced a resolution on Oct. 18 making the brandy-based old-fashioned the official Wisconsin state cocktail. (This is not to be confused with Wisconsin’s official state drink: Milk.)
“If you go to any other state in the country and order brandy anything, they look at you funny,” Mr. Plumer said in an interview. “But I just thought, ‘How has this never been done?’ It’s a tongue-in-cheek resolution. And I’ve had a couple of calls from people: ‘Don’t you have more important work to do?’ But I don’t think we do. This is what makes Wisconsin unique.” […]
Brandy old-fashioneds have a long history in Wisconsin, the resolution notes. The state accounts for at least half of the brandy maker Korbel’s annual sales in the United States.
* The Question: Your nomination for an official Illinois state cocktail? Explain. And be passionate about it.
Today, the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) released its fall enrollment report for the state’s public universities for the fall semester of the 2023-24 academic year showing Illinois, again, beat national trends. Total fall 2023 undergraduate enrollment at Illinois public universities increased 0.3 percent compared to the previous year, reversing several consecutive years of decreases, and freshmen enrollment at Illinois public universities increased by a noteworthy 1.5 percent compared to the fall semester of the 2021-22 academic year. This bucked freshmen enrollment at the national level which decreased 6.1 percent at all public universities. Fall 2023 marked the third consecutive year of growth in freshmen enrollment.
Enrollment of African American and Latino students increased in Illinois while enrollment of the same key groups dropped nationally. In Illinois, enrollment of African American freshmen increased by 2.9 percent, and African American undergraduate enrollment was up 0.5 percent year-over-year. This is in stark contrast to the national decrease of 5.1 percent for African American freshmen and decrease of 0.4 percent for African American undergraduate enrollment. Latino freshmen enrollment in Illinois increased by a robust 6.9 percent while it decreased by a sizeable 6.3 precent nationally. And, Latino undergraduate enrollment increased 4.1 percent year-over-year at Illinois public universities, which was higher than the national 2.5 percent increase reported.
“Once again, Illinois is bucking national trends and exceeding expectations with the third consecutive year of freshman enrollment growth at our public universities,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Our state’s higher education systems are bouncing back better than ever—a testament to smart fiscal management and a state budget that includes the largest increase for higher education in twenty-years and an all-time high for in-state scholarships totaling more than $750 million. College affordability and equity go hand-in-hand, and I couldn’t be prouder of the strides we are making to ensure that every student, especially those who have been historically locked out of higher education, has the opportunity to earn a degree.”
“We are making Illinois the best state to get an education, which is evident in the increase in both undergraduate and freshman enrollment numbers. Illinois is delivering on our commitment to see a more inclusive and equitable education system and the increase in BIPOC students is only the beginning,” said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. “We know that access to quality education is our greatest return on investment and our administration has made historic investments in MAP grant and public university funding. Investing in our young people is in an investment in our future.”
“African American and Latino freshmen enrollment in Illinois again beat national trends, which tells us that statewide strategies like efforts to simplify admissions processes through the Common App and the governor’s commitment to affordability through investment in MAP grants are making an impact,” said IBHE Chair Pranav Kothari. “These enrollment patterns demonstrate our relentless commitment to equity and to changing the trajectories of all Illinoisans’ lives.”
“The enrollment increases of African American and Latino students are direct results of the equity work the state’s higher education system as a whole is doing to attract more students of color,” said IBHE Executive Director Ginger Ostro. “We are excited for what is ahead for our state’s higher education system as we continue to work with the state’s public institutions to implement strategies from the equity-centered strategic plan.”
* What are your thoughts on getting rid of daylight saving time?…
In 2019, the Senate passed a bill by @AndyManar that would've kept Illinois on permanent summer time and end pre-5 p.m. sunsets. But that was the last vote on the issue. Morgan's bill hasn't gotten a committee hearing 2/2 https://t.co/Z1WQQsYo07
A new bill authored by a pair of House Republican lawmakers aims to prevent battery parts manufacturer Gotion Inc. from receiving federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act because its parent company is a Chinese firm.
The lawmakers, U.S. Reps. John Moolenaar of Caledonia and Darin LaHood of Illinois, said their legislation is in response to Gotion Inc., an American subsidiary of a Chinese-based company, planning to build EV battery materials factories near Big Rapids and in Manteno, Illinois, that would potentially qualify for the tax credits under the IRA.
The bill is notable in part because the Inflation Reduction Act’s pot of nearly $200 billion in advanced manufacturing credits is considered a major reason why foreign-owned companies such as Gotion are investing in U.S.-based factories.
The legislation is named the No Official Giveaways Of Taxpayers’ Income to Oppressive Nations (NO GOTION) Act, and would disqualify from green energy tax credits “any entity created or organized in, or controlled (in the aggregate) by, one or more countries of concern,” defined as China, Russia, Iran or North Korea.
* Rep. Marty Moylan…
State Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, recently introduced a bill that would help promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) among owners and operators of vehicle fleets.
“Illinois is going electric, and I’m proud to be part of the movement to make sure our state remains a leader in the EV revolution,” Moylan said. “A huge part of that is encouraging a transition from fossil fuels to EV technology when it comes to the vehicle fleets that Illinois businesses use to move goods and services throughout our communities. That’s why I’m working to create a program to reward businesses that embrace innovation and help keep Illinois moving forward.”
Introduced in the House on Oct. 25, Moylan’s House Bill 4196 would require the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to establish a program to provide grants to owners and operators of vehicle fleets to cover up to 80% of the purchase price of eligible electric vehicles. Grants would be awarded on a competitive basis according to available funding.
The IEPA would be required to consider the potential environmental impact of a given applicant switching to electric vehicles, based on geographic location and service routes. It would also be required to set aside 20% of the total funds appropriated specifically for applicants purchasing electric school buses. The program would be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.
“Electric vehicles are safe, increasingly effective and sustainable. The economy of the future will be based on EVs and it’s important for Illinois to stay ahead of the curve,” Moylan said. “Promoting the adoption of EV technology by commercial fleets is a crucial step forward. I’m hopeful that this legislation can help us to take that step.”
Plainfield Democratic State Representative Harry Benton is proposing a bill that would restore tax breaks for union members on things like union dues and equipment.
Benton says the tax breaks previously were in place:
“Some years ago we ended up losing all the tax breaks for all union members. So union dues, work assessment and even simple write-offs for mileage, work equipment, tools. That all went away. So what I’m trying to do is right a wrong. And try to implement this at a state-wide level so they can write this stuff off.” […]
The bill could be discussed during the spring legislative session next year, when many new bills are introduced.
House bill 4088 has been filed and is currently assigned to the House Rules Committee.
* Another bill from Rep. Benton…
State Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, is working to help ease property taxes for older adults by introducing a bill to ensure they remain eligible for a key tax exemption amidst continued inflation.
“A person’s home is, perhaps, their most precious possession, and it is easy to understand why anyone, older adults especially, would wish to continue living in their home,” said Benton. “Unfortunately, many older adults in Illinois have been struggling with the demands of high property taxes and inflation. Increasing access to this program will help more of them remain in their homes with the dignity and security they deserve.”
Benton introduced House Bill 4202, which would raise the annual income threshold for the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Program to keep up with rising inflation. Since 2018, the deferral has been available to senior taxpayers earning less than $65,000 per household. Benton’s bill would increase eligibility to $85,000, to ensure older homeowners do not lose access to this program because of inflation and cost of living adjustments.
“It is heartbreaking when anyone is forced into selling their home because of property taxes,” Benton said. “Anything we can do to help older adults to stay in the homes they’ve worked for their entire lives, I think we have a moral duty to look into doing that.”
Amends the General Assembly Operations Act. Requires the Legislative Budget Oversight Commission to meet 2 weeks after the effective date of the amendatory Act and quarterly thereafter. Extends the repeal date of the Act’s provisions concerning the Commission from July 1, 2024 to July 1, 2026. Effective immediately.
Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that it shall be unlawful to take wild turkey with a shotgun smaller than 410 gauge with shot density equaling tungsten super shot (rather than smaller than 20 gauge with shot size not larger than No. 4).
* Keep in mind when reading this report from the legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability that total General Funds revenues had been projected to decline 2.9 percent this fiscal year. To date, General Funds revenues are up 3.8 percent over where they were as of the October, 2022 report. That doesn’t mean they’ll hold at that level. They could still decrease or even increase. But it’s still a big swing so far…
Through the first third of the fiscal year, total General Funds receipts are up $611 million. From a base revenue perspective, when accounting for both the removal of $764 million in one-time revenues from last year’s ARPA reimbursements and this month’s $633 million in one-time delayed federal matching funds, “base” revenues are up a net $742 million through October.
Personal Income Taxes are up $624 million so far this fiscal year, or +$516 million on a net basis. Corporate Income Taxes, however, are down slightly on both a gross basis [-$28 million] and a net basis [-$13 million]. Sales Taxes have risen $98 million through the first four months of FY 2024 [+$56 million net].
All Other State Sources are collectively $154 million higher through October. This is mainly due to the $153 million increase in Interest on State Funds and Investments. In addition, as mentioned previously, the Inheritance Tax is outpacing last year’s levels with a year-to-date increase of $44 million. Insurance Taxes are also $13 million higher. The growth in these areas have offset losses from several other State sources, including Other Sources [-$24 million]; the Public Utility Tax [-$22 million]; the Cigarette Tax [-$9 million]; and the Liquor Tax [-$1 million].
The category of Transfers In will be a volatile category throughout the year due to the timing of transfers into the State’s General Funds. After last month’s Income Tax Refund Fund transfer, receipts for this category were up a combined $233 million through September. However, when accounting for October’s activity and the lack of transfers this month from both the Income Tax Refund Fund and Gaming, the growth turns into a year-to-date combined deficit of $5 million. This is despite the $85 million rise in Lottery Transfers through October. This spread will worsen throughout the year, particularly in January, once the remaining $987 million from last year’s Income Tax Refund Fund enters into the equation.
Despite the $531 million rise in Federal Sources this month, overall federal dollars are still $96 million lower than last year through October. This is because the FY 2023 four-month totals include $764 million in one-time ARPA reimbursements that did not repeat in FY 2024. From a Federal Sources base perspective, if these one-time ARPA revenues are removed from the equation, along with the $633 million in prior-year federal matching funds receipted in October, year-to-date base growth for Federal Sources is +$35 million (as shown in the following table).
* There’s also some good news in the monthly data. The state was able to pry $633 million from the feds after missing out on the money earlier in the decade…
In August 2023, it was announced that, after a comprehensive internal review of federal revenue reimbursements in the State’s Medicaid related programs, the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services identified a computer programming error that led to incomplete federal Medicaid match claims for service dates between the end of 2020 and June 2022. The State was able to retroactively submit claims for this period of activity, resulting in a “one-time” federal match deposit of approximately $633 million in October. While this money would have been part of previous fiscal years’ General Funds “base” total if not delayed, for the purpose of evaluating FY 2024’s overall revenue performance, the Commission will separate these funds from “base” federal source dollars in its revenue tables. With this adjustment, “base” federal dollars actually fell $102 million in October.
Friday, Nov 3, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
We’ve been listening carefully to the governor, legislative leaders, and many members of the legislature about how to make the Tax Credit Scholarship better – and we now have an amended program proposal that does exactly that. Thousands of vulnerable kids are counting on us to put them before politics.
In response to direct feedback, our bill offers substantive improvements along with good-faith compromises which justify extending the Tax Credit Scholarship Program:
1. Add a new priority level of scholarship recipients from the most under-served areas of Illinois to create opportunities for thousands of primarily Black and Latino children. Donors will be incentivized to prioritize helping this new “Region 7” beyond the thousands of other kids who qualify based on financial need.
2. Reduce the overall size of the program to $50MM (down from $75MM) and reduce the individual giving cap to $500,000 (down from $1MM).
3. Reduce the tax credit for donors to 55% (down from 75%).
4. Encourage more middle-income donors by crediting donations of up to $5,000 with a 100% tax credit.
Illinois, let’s do the right thing. It’s about the kids, not the politics. Save the scholarships.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on all seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering following more than two weeks of testimony in one of the highest-profile financial crime cases in years.
The 31-year-old former cryptocurrency billionaire was convicted on all seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, charges that each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which each carry a five-year maximum sentence.
“Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest frauds in American history, a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the king of crypto,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a news briefing following the verdict. “Here’s the thing: the cryptocurrency industry might be new. The players like Sam Bankman-Fried might be new. This kind of fraud, this kind of corruption, is as old as time, and we have no patience for it.”
The MIT graduate steadfastly maintained his innocence since his arrest late last year after the startling implosion of FTX, the crypto exchange he co-founded, amid an $8 billion shortfall in funds and allegations he had used customer money to prop up his struggling hedge fund, Alameda Research.
* US Rep. Jonathan Jackson probably owes his 2022 Democratic primary win to Sam Bankman-Fried. The Sun-Times broke the story in June of 2022…
Protect Our Future, a political action committee bankrolled by cryptocurrency billionaire Samuel Bankman-Fried, spent $914,944 to boost three Illinois Democratic primary candidates, including $500,065 for television ads to support Jonathan Jackson’s 1st Congressional District bid, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Protect Our Future spending is what the FEC calls an “independent expenditure,” with the PAC by law prohibited from coordinating or communicating with a candidate’s campaign.
* In addition to Bankman-Fried’s $500K, another crypto front, Web3 Forward, spent $491,250 on pro-Jackson media buys. The Texas Tribune reported that Web3 Forward “is affiliated with the longer-running GMI PAC, whose leading donors have included another top FTX executive,” and it put money into some other races that SBF’s Protect Our Future was involved with last year.
All told, that’s close to $1.3 million dollars in crypto spending on Jackson’s behalf.
The 17-candidate Democratic primary race last year was packed with under-funded candidates, so the independent expenditures were likely crucial to Jackson’s win. Jackson tallied just 28 percent of the vote.
Karin Norington-Reaves was the only other candidate who received major IE support. Forward Progress PAC spent $758,000 on her behalf. The Collective Super PAC spent another $65K. Reeves finished third with 14 percent of the vote, just behind Ald. Pat Dowell.
* Protect Our Future’s involvement in US Rep. Chuy Garcia’s primary made no electoral sense because Garcia didn’t even have an opponent. But Garcia eventually stepped down from the House Financial Services Committee and the independent expenditure haunted him in the 2023 mayoral race. The committee also did an IE for US Rep. Nikki Budzinski, but she won her race with almost 76 percent of the vote, so it didn’t appear to matter much, unlike that Jackson money, which was likely essential.
…Adding… From US Rep. Garcia’s spokesperson…
The Congressman did not step down from Financial Services. His membership was already “waived on” which meant he wasn’t earning seniority in the first place because he had other preferred committees (Transportation).
Because Republicans won the majority, Dems lost seats on the committee. Consequently, those who were ”waived on” were those who lost their places on the committee.
* ICYMI: Chicago signs land use contract to house migrants on vacant lot in Brighton Park. NBC Chicago broke the story…
- Chicago will pay $91,400 a month for use of the land.
-The city signed the lease before the environmental assessment was completed. Ald. Julia Ramirez said it was done without her knowledge.
-The contract states that the lot comes “as-is” and makes no guarantees about its conditions or “compliance with laws and regulations, including… those relating to health, safety and the environment.”
* Tribune | Calumet City officials ticket Daily Southtown reporter for ‘hampering’ city employees with questions: The Southtown, which is owned by the Chicago Tribune’s parent company, published a story online Oct. 19 and in print Oct. 20 in which Sanders reported that consultants had informed Calumet City officials that their stormwater facilities were in poor condition before September’s historic rains caused flooding. Calumet City is about 23 miles south of Chicago and home to 36,000 residents, most of them Black. A day after the story was published, Sanders continued to report on the issue, drawing complaints from city officials, including Mayor Thaddeus Jones.
* Crain’s | Chaos at City Council as Ald. Lopez attempts to take over meeting after lights turned off: The meeting will be remembered as one of the City Council’s most chaotic since the infamous Council Wars of the 1980s. It doubled as a message that a growing number of City Council members are frustrated over the city’s handling of providing shelter for the 20,000 asylum seekers who’ve arrived in Chicago since last August.
* Shaw Local | Gun rights advocates question proposed Illinois gun registration rules: About 50 people turned out for a public hearing Thursday in Springfield to comment on proposed rules to implement the registration portion of the law. One of those was state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, an outspoken opponent of gun ban, who asked what the state intends to do with people who refuse to register their weapons.
* Center Square | Illinois legislators address impacts of artificial intelligence on society: State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, said lawmakers should not take the same approach with AI as they did with social media. “Lawmakers decided to take a largely hands-off approach to regulation,” Gong-Gershowitz said. “We’ve seen the tangled web of societal ills that approach [that] was caused due to a lack of regulatory action.”
* Sun-Times | National Association of Realtors CEO Bob Goldberg resigns, replaced by former Sun-Times CEO Nykia Wright: Critics have been pushing for his departure for weeks after The New York Times investigated allegations that former president Kenny Parcell, who resigned from his post in August, sexually harassed current or former employees and members of the Chicago-based organization. The NAR is also facing a series of court challenges that could upend how agents receive commissions on the sale of a home.
* Crain’s | President and CEO of the Joyce Foundation will step down: Ellen Alberding, president and CEO of the Joyce Foundation, announced today she will be stepping down in 2024 after 22 years of helming the organization. The foundation said it will begin its next CEO search in January, with Alberding, 66, continuing to lead the organization until a successor is named.
* Illinois Times | City’s employee residency requirement could be suspended: Supporters of the measure say suspending enforcement of the requirement is needed – at least for a year – to fill job vacancies amid a dearth of qualified candidates and a lack of available housing in Springfield. Moratorium supporters say hiring challenges have been seen across the country because of employment trends related to the COVID-19 pandemic, retirements by members of the baby boom generation and high home mortgage interest rates.
* Tribune | Illinois man serving life for drug conviction under ‘three-strikes’ law is granted clemency, arrives in Chicago: He was one of three people in Illinois still serving life sentences for drug offenses due to the so-called “three-strikes” law, which allows prosecutors to seek a life sentence when someone is convicted of their third serious felony, according to data from the Illinois Department of Corrections and Lightfoot’s attorney. Pritzker granted clemency to all three prisoners who were released this week, turning a page in the history of mass incarceration in Illinois.
* WBEZ | Six plays written by teens take a hard look at gun violence a year before the elections: “Regardless of an audience member’s age … I think we can consider what it has been like for these young people to grow up in a post-Columbine world,” said Neena Arndt, one of the directors for the Goodman readings. “Their whole life, they’ve had drills in school and it’s been a part of daily life … in a way that it wasn’t for previous generations.”
* WaPo | In pain? Listening to your favorite music can provide relief, study says: After Michelle Yang pulled on a pair of headphones to listen to one of her favorite songs — Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” — she felt a flash of pain on her left forearm. Yang was participating in a study by researchers at a Montreal university to determine how listening to one’s favorite music alters perception of pain. After participants selected their top songs, researchers placed a thermal simulator on their forearms, which created a sensation similar to touching a hot cup of coffee.
* AP | Vaping by high school students dropped this year, says US report: In a survey, 10% of high school students said they had used electronic cigarettes in the previous month, down from 14% last year. Use of any tobacco product — including cigarettes and cigars — also fell among high schoolers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
* Reader | When Sly Stone fronted a Chicagoland bar band: Jack Sweeney was on tour with Sly Stone, and business was slow. His Chicago-based seven-piece, One Eyed Jacks, had accepted a job as the erratic pop star’s backing band in late 1982. Long past his Woodstock-era prime, Stone had all but abandoned live performance seven years earlier. He was now attempting a comeback via small club shows, playing a series of one-night stands.
In late 2018, [longtime University of Illinois at Chicago employee Sharon Feldman], who was at the time associate director for global health policy research at the school’s Institute for Health Research and Policy, saw something: documents she believed showed a colleague planned to misappropriate grant funds and university resources.
Feldman worried the proposal would violate university policies that prohibited conflicts of interest and the misuse of university resources, she would later allege in court filings. […]
The Ethics Act’s whistleblower provision says state employees shall not be retaliated against for reporting behavior they reasonably believe to violate “a law, rule, or regulation.”
But in her ruling dismissing Feldman’s case this August, Judge Cecilia Horan agreed with the university’s arguments that internal university policies did not constitute “rules” that would have afforded Feldman whistleblower status.
At a court hearing on Aug. 29, Horan granted the university’s motion to dismiss Feldman’s complaint. Horan did not issue a written decision but said in verbal remarks she did not consider university statutes to be “rules” as defined by the Ethics Act.
Just outrageous. The legislature really needs to fix this. Tragically, Ms. Feldman died last month of an illness.
While deaths among pregnant women are rare, they have increased across Illinois — and the majority of them were possibly preventable, according to a new state report.
Black women continue to be disproportionately affected, and more pregnant people who die are losing their lives months after giving birth as they fall through the cracks of a complicated health system. […]
The third Illinois Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Report since 2018 from the state public health department provides a deeper look into what happened to 263 people who died while pregnant or within a year of giving birth from 2018 to 2020.
• An average of 88 women died while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy, with the highest number 110 deaths, occurring in 2020. There were 83 deaths in 2018 and 70 in 2019.
• 43% of women who died while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy died from a cause related to pregnancy.
• The leading cause of pregnancy-related death was substance use disorder, which comprised 32% of pregnancy-related deaths. The other most common causes of pregnancy-related death were cardiac and coronary conditions, pre-existing chronic medical conditions, sepsis, mental health conditions, and embolism.
• Black women were twice as likely to die from any pregnancy-related condition and three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related medical conditions as white women.
• More than half of pregnancy-related deaths occurred more than 60 days postpartum.
• The MMRCs determined 91% of pregnancy-related deaths were potentially preventable due to clinical, system, social, community, or patient factors.
An Illinois county’s quest to secede and join Missouri won’t be happening any time soon, according to a new legal opinion.
In response to a question raised by an official in Jersey County, located across the Mississippi River from Missouri, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the county does not have “the authority to secede from the State of Illinois and join another state.”
Writing in an Oct. 17 opinion, Raoul said the state constitution does not provide a statutory procedure for the secession of counties from the state.
And, he added, there are federal issues that stand in the way too.
Businesses understand that access to paid time off is crucial for workers and their families, which is why we reached an agreement earlier this year to provide 5 days of paid time off, for any reason, to every worker across the state beginning January 1 – an agreement that was praised by labor leaders. We made repeated efforts to negotiate in good faith to reach a paid leave policy at the City level that is fair and balanced for both workers and businesses, even offering double the State requirement, but labor groups refused to compromise meaningfully, with aldermen now set to vote on a policy that will devastate the very businesses they have been trying to attract to their communities.
The current proposal will force employers to pay three ways for every day of paid leave. As written, employers will need to provide five days of paid sick leave and five days of paid time off for every employee, pay employees for up to seven days of unused paid time off, and pay enhanced wages for anyone who covers the employee’s shift due to the City’s restrictive scheduling ordinance. On top of this, businesses, especially small businesses without robust human resources departments, will be exposed to the threat of private rights of action. The payout exemption for small businesses contained in the proposal does not extend to this dangerous private right of action language contained in the ordinance.
Once again, proponents failed to recognize the compounding effect these policies have on businesses that are already struggling to make ends meet due to an alarming number of anti-business proposals by the City, continued supply chain and labor challenges, persistent crime, and skyrocketing property taxes. […]
- Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
- Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce
- Hospitality Business Association of Chicago
- Illinois Health and Hospitals Association
- Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association
- Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Illinois Manufacturers’ Association
- Illinois Restaurant Association
- Illinois Retail Merchants Association
- Little Village Chamber of Commerce
- Pilsen Chamber of Commerce
- Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago
Press release…
The Chicago City Council Workforce Development Committee overwhelmingly passed the Chicago Paid Time Off Ordinance today in a vote of 13 in favor to 2 opposed. The Ordinance provides 10 total days of time off – five days of sick time and five days of paid time off – for all Chicago workers. The ordinance is expected to come to a vote before the full City Council as soon as next week.
Access to paid time off is critical to workers and their families who are struggling to make ends meet in a challenging economy. It gives workers time to spend with their families and care for their health. Paid time off also affords workers the ability to stay home when they are sick―preventing their colleagues from getting sick and missing work. Access to paid time off also improves worker retention, which reduces employer turnover costs.
“I am proud that Chicago is once again leading the nation in the struggle for workers’ rights, and strengthening the economic vitality of our city,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “My administration pledged to bring everyone to the table to hear concerns from large employers, small businesses, and worker advocates. We worked collaboratively to find a compromise, and we ended up with the most progressive Paid Leave policy in the country that will help businesses retain workers and help workers live full lives with dignity.”
* DeVore loses again…
Last hearing tomorrow in Federal Court against Tom DeVore who is requesting the judge to allow him to depose me after the deadline. Oh he’s also requesting all of my client books for the last 7 years. Fun times.
* WGN | Gov. Pritzker expands utility assistance for low-income homes: “With temperatures dropping and the winter season just weeks away, my administration is ensuring that every family has the assistance they need to keep the lights and the heat on,” Pritzker said. He continued, “With DCEO’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, we are providing utility bill support to thousands of income-eligible families—and I urge those who are disconnected or facing imminent disconnection to apply. Here in Illinois, we look out for our neighbors, and that’s exactly what LIHEAP is all about.”
* Center Square | Illinois finishes $18 million project to avoid regional flooding in Lake Forest: “Thanks to a more than $18 million investment made possible by Rebuild Illinois, we have entirely relocated and reconstructed the existing pump station, built two new detention ponds to handle any excess flow from the pump station, in addition to making multiple safety improvements that alleviate flooding and guarantee access to this major roadway,” Pritzker said.
* Press Release | Pritzker administration opens next round of Electric Vehicle Rebate Program for Illinois residents: Rebates will be issued to eligible applicants subject to availability of funds. The General Assembly has appropriated up to $12 million to Illinois EPA for the EV Rebate program for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. Actual funding amounts will be determined by the amount of money available in the Electric Vehicle Rebate Fund.
* Center Square | Illinois manufacturing official says sector in for drastic changes soon: During a University of Illinois Extension webinar, Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center President David Boulay said Illinois should be a leader in all phases of manufacturing.“Illinois is just a manufacturing powerhouse regardless of what measure you want to look at,” Boulay said. “We’re pretty much a top 5 state whether it’s output, whether it’s jobs or the number of establishments.”
* Press Release | Mayor of Riverdale, Ill. Indicted on Perjury and Obstruction Charges: According to the indictment, Tri-State Disposal Inc., a waste management company in Riverdale, filed a civil lawsuit against Riverdale and Jackson in 2018, alleging that Jackson retaliated against Tri-State by refusing to renew its garbage collection contract with the city. The owners of Tri-State had spoken out publicly against the city’s issuance of a zoning permit that allowed a recycling and waste transfer business to operate in Riverdale. The recycling business was owned by an individual aligned with Jackson who had allegedly assisted the mayor in replacing Tri-State with a different garbage collection company.
* Bloomberg | Biden offers $334 million to states and cities for crime crackdown: States and cities will receive $216 million for hiring new officers, $73 million for preventing violence in schools and $43 million to fund community policing, crisis-intervention programs and de-escalation strategies, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told reporters.
* Daily Herald | Prominent suburban attorney, businessman and Democrat Herb Franks dies: Herb Franks, who founded two banks, a prominent law firm and a Jewish congregation all while becoming an influential Democrat in the Republican stronghold McHenry County, has died. Franks, 89, died Tuesday at his vacation home in Florida, two months after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor. The illness was discovered when he had a seizure at the offices of Franks Gerkin Ponitz & Greeley, the law firm he founded in Marengo.
* Crain’s | 14-story Fulton Market hotel proposed: New York-based developer Cogswell Realty and Elmhurst-based investor Erol Stapleton are proposing the 14-story project at 1016-1020 W. Lake St. in the trendy neighborhood, according to a zoning application being introduced today to the City Council. The hotel would be developed on a parking lot at the northeast corner of Lake and Carpenter streets, which a Stapleton-led venture bought earlier this year for nearly $6.6 million, public records show.
* WCIA | Not sure what do with pumpkin leftovers? Arthur farmer walks through repurposing ideas: “We’re here in Arthur and we have a lot of Amish neighbors and farmers for cows, pigs, sheep and goats,” he said. “All four of those farmers have reached out to me saying would we be able to pass along some of our extra pumpkins for their farms for their animals and we’re happy to do that.”
* Daily Herald | Got candy? Here’s how you can get rid of those mounds of Halloween treats: Texas-based Soldiers’ Angels has a Treats for Troops program explicitly for leftover Halloween candy. Soldiers’ Angels offers a searchable map of drop-off sites on its website, soldiersangels.org. From Addison to Woodstock, Naperville to Wauconda, 13 locations — dental offices, businesses, park districts — are collecting candy now.
Frigid temperatures and heavy snow arrived this week while migrants huddled in makeshift tents outside police stations. Johnson insisted Wednesday, however, that he was still on track to meet his deadline.
“It snowed, but winter is not here yet. And so my goal is still to make sure that we have base camps before winter,” Johnson told reporters after the meeting. “There’s a difference between being in a hurry and being in a rush. If you’re in a rush, you can knock stuff over, you can miss stuff. But we do have to hurry up because the clock is ticking. It is. So I’m moving as fast as I can.”
Ugh.
Stop talking, mayor. Start doing. Show us. Stop telling us.
* To be fair, the mayor did tell reporters this in Washington, DC today, but he exaggerated a bit…
Since I’ve been mayor, I’ve been mayor for five months, I’ve set up a new shelter every week.
Seven shelters existed when he took office. The city says there are now 24 shelters. He was inaugurated 24 weeks ago, so he has set up 17 shelters since then. That’s about one shelter every ten days or so.
* Speaking of which, this is an excellent question…
Has the city mentioned these county and state spaces at all since October 5th? Has anyone asked the city about them?
Where they rejected? Are they still being explored? It's been a month and men, women, and children are sleeping out in the cold. https://t.co/URd5VLgRKR
Mayor Brandon Johnson visited the White House Thursday morning to sound the alarm on Chicago’s migrant crisis, in his first in-person meeting with President Joe Biden centered on the burgeoning asylum-seeker issue.
Johnson’s spokesman Ronnie Reese confirmed the mayor sat down with Biden and his chief of staff Jeff Zients, White House senior adviser Tom Perez and other officials with the Department of Homeland Security to discuss Chicago’s need for additional federal relief.
Though the mayor has met with Biden before, this was the first session specifically addressing the more than 20,000 migrants who have come to the city in the past 14 months.
Biden did not promise anything in response to Johnson’s ask for at least $5 billion in additional aid for migrants, but “these were very productive and positive conversations,” Reese said. The president is attempting to push a supplemental $1.4 billion package for migrant shelters and services through Congress, but Illinois leaders have said much more is direly needed.
* Sen. Peters has a warning from Germany…
Chicago is not alone on the world stage with migrants.
Hamburg is running out of housing. They’re demanding more federal support.
The right wing party is exploiting this crisis to get into power.
* Sun-Times | Vote on second migrant tent camp delayed: The Chicago City Council put off a vote on accepting donated land at 115th and Halsted that would be the site of a migrant tent camp. Also delayed was a vote on whether to put a binding referendum on the March ballot to raise the real estate transfer tax to fund programs to reduce homelessness.
* CBS Chicago | Mayor Brandon Johnson mum on potential migrant shelter at shuttered downtown Chicago museum: Mayor Brandon Johnson didn’t give a direct answer when asked a yes or no question about the city’s efforts to explore the former Chicago Museum of Broadcast Communications to possibly house asylum seekers. Earlier this week, Ald. Brendan Reilly released a statement saying the mayor was considering a migrant shelter at the Marina City complex, where that museum used to be, on State Street just north of the Chicago River.
* ABC Chicago | West Town migrant shelter opening pushed back as unions protest construction work: A handful of union carpenters along with their picket line rat mascot stood in protest along Western Avenue Wednesday. They’re contesting who is carrying out the quick-turn construction at the industrial space that will house 200 asylum seekers, including families and young children.
* NBC Chicago | Suburban retiree opens home to 7 migrants: ‘It was an easy decision’: With her kids gone and plenty of space in her Oak Park bungalow, she decided to open her home to asylum seekers from Venezuela. Since August, five adults and two kids have been living with Elaine. Most of them were previously living at the 15th District police station in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.
* Tribune | Migrants in cities across the US may need medical care. It’s not that easy to find: Tens of thousands of migrants who’ve come to the United States are navigating a patchwork system to find treatment for new or chronic health concerns. Doctors across the country say it’s rare that migrants receive medical screenings or anything beyond care for medical emergencies when they arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border, and there’s no overarching national system to track the care, either. Migrants’ options dwindle or expand after that – depending on where they end up – with some cities guiding new arrivals into robust public health systems and others relying on emergency departments or volunteer doctors to treat otherwise preventable health issues.
* AP | Volunteer medical students are trying to fill the health care gap for migrants in Chicago: Mostly students in training, they go to police stations where migrants are first housed, prescribing antibiotics, distributing prenatal vitamins and assessing for serious health issues. These student doctors, nurses and physician assistants are the front line of health care for asylum-seekers in the nation’s third-largest city, filling a gap in Chicago’s haphazard response.
Amends the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Provides for the licensure of consolidated transport centers. Specifies requirements for consolidated transport centers, including operating documents, security plans, facility requirements, plant monitoring, prohibitions on ownership, and prohibitions on offering things of value to certain persons and licensees. Provides that cannabis business entities shall adhere to the traceability and consumer protection guidelines established by the Department of Agriculture when utilizing the cannabis plant monitoring system or cannabis transport GPS tracking system. Provides that entities awarded a transporting license may defer paying the associated license fee for a period of no more than 3 years. Provides that from January 1, 2024 through January 1, 2026, the Department shall not issue any transporting licenses other than those issued before the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides that all products received and shipped to and from a consolidated transport center shall be tracked within the cannabis plant monitoring system. Provides that a craft grower or infuser may enter into a contract with a transporting organization to transport cannabis to a consolidated transport center or a different transporting organization at the consolidated transport center. Provides that no person, cannabis business establishment, or entity other than a licensed transportation organization shall transport cannabis or cannabis-infused products on behalf of a cannabis business establishment to or from a consolidated transport center, unless otherwise authorized by rule. Makes other changes. Authorizes emergency rulemaking. Makes a conforming change in the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. Effective immediately.
Amends the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act. Provides that the physical examination required by the Act may (instead of may not) be performed by remote means, including telemedicine. Effective immediately.
Amends the Liquor Control Act of 1934. Provides that “alcoholic liquor” includes alcohol-infused products. Defines “alcohol-infused products” and “co-branded alcoholic beverage”. Provides that, except for persons issued a license under the Act, no person shall manufacture, distribute, or sell alcohol-infused products. Provides that no retail establishment with a retail sales floor that exceeds 2,500 square feet shall display alcohol-infused products immediately adjacent to similar products that are not alcohol-infused products or immediately adjacent to soft drinks, fruit juices, bottled waters, candies, or snack foods portraying cartoons or youth-oriented images. Provides that no retail establishment with a retail sales floor area that exceeds 2,500 square feet shall display co-branded alcoholic beverages immediately adjacent to soft drinks, fruit juices, bottled waters, candies, or snack foods portraying cartoons or youth-oriented images or immediately adjacent to products that are not alcohol-infused products. Provides that any retail establishment with a retail sales floor that is equal to or less than 2,500 square feet shall either not display alcohol-infused products or co-branded alcoholic beverages immediately adjacent to specified products or equip the display with specified signage. Prohibits retail licensees from keeping, exposing for sale, or displaying alcohol-infused products immediately adjacent to products marketed toward children.
Creates the Local Accessory Dwelling Unit Act. Defines terms. Provides that a unit of local government may not prohibit the building or usage of accessory dwelling units in the unit of local government. Provides that a unit of local government may provide reasonable regulations relating to the size and location of accessory dwelling units similar to other accessory structures unless a regulation would have the effect of prohibiting accessory dwelling units. Limits home rule powers.
Click Here for some background on Accessory Dwelling Units.
Creates the Low-Carbon Distribution and Delivery Act. Designates residentially zoned areas in counties with a population of 3,000,000 or more as low-carbon delivery zones. Requires a last-mile delivery to a low-carbon delivery zone to be made using a low-carbon delivery method. Requires the Department of Transportation to establish a Low-Carbon Fleet Rebate Program. Provides that the Program shall offer a qualifying purchaser a grant up to 50% toward the purchase of an electric-assist cargo bicycle. Provides that the Program shall offer increased grant incentives of an additional 25% of the purchase amount for the purchase of an electric-assist cargo bicycle that will deliver goods within a low-carbon delivery area that is also designated as an equity investment eligible community. Limits a grant provided under the Program to a maximum award of 75% of the purchase price per electric-assist cargo bicycle. Provides that multiple bicycles may be included in each grant under Program. Allows the Department to limit the amount or number of grants awarded to each qualifying purchaser. Requires a fleet owner to be domiciled in the State. Requires an electric-assist cargo bicycle that acquired using grants from the Program to operate exclusively within the State. Limits the concurrent exercise of home-rule powers. Defines terms.
Amends the Department of Natural Resources Act. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources may lease land on property of which the Department has jurisdiction for the purpose of creating, operating, or maintaining a commercial solar energy system or a clean energy project. Provides that the lease shall be for a period not longer than 25 years. Provides that, if practical, the Department shall require that any land or property over which the Department has jurisdiction and that is used for the purpose of creating, operating, or maintaining a commercial solar energy system shall have implemented on it and maintained management practices that would qualify the land or property as a beneficial habitat under the Pollinator-Friendly Solar Site Act. Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Defines “clean energy”. Provides that the Department may provide for at least one electric vehicle charging station, as defined in the Electric Vehicle Act, at any State park or other real property that is owned by the Department where electrical service will reasonably permit. Provides that the Department is authorized to charge user fees for the use of an electric vehicle charging station. Amends the State Parks Act to make conforming changes. Amends the Illinois Procurement Code. Exempts certain expenditures by the Department of Natural Resources from the Code.
The release of a new Beatles record, a band that officially split in 1970, is rare as hen’s teeth, and a legitimate cause for celebration.
That time has almost come, with “Now And Then” set to drop Thursday (Nov. 2) at 10am ET, followed 24-hours later by the release of an official music video, directed by Lord of the Rings mastermind Peter Jackson, marking the Oscar-winner’s first foray into the short format.
Described as the “last Beatles song,” “Now And Then” began life as a demo written and sung by John Lennon, was later developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and now finally finished by Paul and Ringo, the surviving members of The Beatles, more than 40 years after the group began work on it.
No Beatles project is complete without a deep-dive, multi-channel exploration, which is what the band provides with a new 12-minute documentary, a companion piece to the song and video.
* I watched the short film last night and was impressed…
The Beatles have released their new single, the long-awaited “Now and Then.” It’s an emotionally powerful song written by John Lennon as a home demo in the 1970s. But it’s also a true Beatles collaboration, with Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr playing and singing together. Nothing like “Now and Then” has ever happened before. It’s a totally unique music story: John Lennon leaves a song unfinished, but years later, his friends come together to complete it for him, simply out of love and musical brotherhood. It’s the final masterpiece that the Beatles—and their fans—deserve.
This song is a dream that Paul McCartney spent years bringing into the world, a John demo he was determined to preserve even when nobody else could tell what he heard in it. He produced “Now and Then” with Giles Martin, with John’s original 1977 piano and vocal, George’s guitar from the 1995 Anthology sessions, and Ringo singing and drumming in 2022.
“Now and Then” could have been cheap or cloying or overblown, but instead, it’s a pained, intimate adult confession. You can hear why Paul never forgot this song over the years, and why he couldn’t let it go. You can also hear why he knew this needed to be a Beatles song, and how right he was to pursue his mad quest to the end. In other words, it’s a real Beatles song, adding one more classic to the world’s greatest musical love story.
Thursday, Nov 2, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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Under state law, Chicagoans will elect 10 school board members from 10 districts in November 2024. The mayor will appoint 10 members from those same districts, and will also appoint a school board president. A 21-member hybrid board will be sworn in January 2025.
Then in November 2026, the 10 appointed members and school board president will be up for election, while the 10 elected in 2024 will continue serving their four-year terms. Going forward, all members will serve four-year terms and elections will be staggered, with half of the seats up for election every two years.
However, the law does not spell out how the map will move from 10 to 20 districts. Lawmakers continue to draw a map with 20 districts and have not made clear how they plan to divide the city into 10 districts for the 2024 election.
Sen. Robert Martwick, a Democrat representing the North West side of Chicago and west suburbs, said that figuring out how to create 10 districts for the 2024 elections and 20 districts for the 2026 elections has been difficult for legislators.
“The original idea was that we would draw ten districts and then after the election we would split them into 20 districts,” Martwick said. “Another variation on that would be to draw 20 districts and combine them for the purposes of the first election. The idea there was that everyone in the city of Chicago would get to pass a vote on this new elected school board.” […]
Corrina Demma, an organizer with Educators for Excellence Chicago that supports the map Leonard’s group proposed, raised concerns that lawmakers could propose residents in only 10 of the 20 districts would vote in 2024, meaning “only half of Chicago will have the privilege to vote … while the other half will lack a voice.”
“At the end of the day, my question is still who gets to decide which 10 get to vote and which 10 don’t?” Demma said. “When we talk about equity and access, we want to hold that process for everyone. To discount half the city right out of the gate, we’re already being inequitable.”
Ms. Demma is right. As I told subscribers months ago, it’s highly doubtful that state legislators can legally deny half of the city’s voters the right to vote for a school board member while granting that right to vote to the other half.
(b-5) On January 15, 2025, the terms of all members of the Chicago Board of Education appointed under subsection (b) are abolished when the new board, consisting of 21 members, is appointed by the Mayor and elected by the electors of the school district as provided under subsections (b-10) and (b-15) and takes office.
(b-10) By December 16, 2024 for a term of office beginning on January 15, 2025, the Mayor shall appoint 10 Chicago Board of Education members, with the advice and consent of the City Council, to serve terms of 2 years. All appointed members shall serve until a successor is appointed or elected and qualified. … The terms of the 10 appointed members under this subsection shall end on January 14, 2027. […]
(b-15) Beginning with the 2024 general election, 10 members of the Chicago Board of Education shall be elected to serve a term of 4 years in office beginning on January 15, 2025. Beginning with the 2026 general election, 10 members of the Chicago Board of Education shall be elected to serve a term of 4 years in office beginning on January 15, 2027. … From January 15, 2025 to January 14, 2027, each district shall be represented by one elected member and one appointed member. After January 15, 2027, each district shall be represented by one elected member.
You can probably see the problem here. The statute clearly mandates twenty districts (plus one citywide), but then goes on to require that each district shall be represented by both an elected member and an appointed member. If there are twenty districts, then that would imply forty members, which isn’t allowed, so the wording doesn’t make sense.
* They could change the statute and start with ten districts with one appointed and one elected and then split those up into twenty districts with everyone elected two years later, but that could also create problems. If, for example, a White person wins a relatively evenly divided combined district and lives in the Latino half, that person could have a leg up to win the Latino half during the following election.
Not to mention that they haven’t yet even figured out how the twenty districts would be initially nested into ten districts. You’d think that would be the first proposal. Instead, legislators only proposed creating 20 districts. How are people going to start circulating petitions for that?
Again, it’s a real mess and it breaks my brain every time I think about it, but so far, we’ve heard no solutions to any of this. Just a 20-district map.
My own suggestion would be to entirely scrap the phase-in and just elect all twenty next year.
Suburban and downstate communities must address how to handle arriving immigrants amid a backlash that saw Joliet Township decline a state grant for migrants after angry residents said they opposed spending tax dollars on foreigners.
The state had announced earlier that the township would receive $8.6 million exclusively for asylum-seekers. The state also awarded $30 million for migrants in Chicago, $1 million to Elgin, $1 million to Lake County, $250,000 to Urbana downstate, and $150,000 to Oak Park.
Following a meeting this month attended by hundreds of residents, Joliet Township decided to withdraw its application for the grant.
* Unlike Joliet, Oak Park officials were upset at their low grant level…
To support services for migrants as they cross into town, Oak Park applied for a $7.5 million grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services and Metropolitan Mayors Caucus for housing, food and health care – among other critical needs – and had identified community partners to assist in these efforts.
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus accepted applications for grant awards for municipalities serving asylum seekers. But on Sept. 29, the village was notified it was warded only $150,000, a fraction of its initial request. […]
Village President Vicki Scaman called the awarded money “extremely disappointing” both in terms of the amount and the designated purpose. Her top priority, she said, is continuing to advocate for more funding from the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.
“We do already have a plan,” she said. “We don’t need a consultant. And the organizations that are currently aiding, they need the help now.”
A west suburban church is calling on others to help after spending thousands of dollars in recent weeks to help migrants.
The Parish of St. Catherine-St. Lucy and St. Giles in Oak Park said they’ve opened up their doors for migrants to shower, dress and eat, and the bills have skyrocketed. […]
These shower days mean water bills, which used to be in the hundreds, have skyrocketed to close to $10,000. […]
The church is asking the village of Oak Park for assistance.
The village is trying to figure out how to free up grant money to do that.
“The problem does not start and end in Chicago. It extends elsewhere. We share that responsibility,” said community activist Betty Alzamora. “We have to step up to our collective responsibility as a good neighbor. Our area, starting with Oak Park and the neighboring municipalities, we are fortunate and blessed with lots for resources. Our borders are porous.” […[
In front of Oak Park Village Hall, some of the suburb’s residents are almost begging to help migrants.
“Oak Park has space. We should be welcoming to all these new folks that are coming,” said resident Derek Eder.
As air temperatures fell across Chicagoland this week and snow fell Tuesday, Oak Park officials announced that the village has helped over 100 migrants housed in camping-style tents outside a nearby Chicago police station to secure indoor shelter.
“The Village of Oak Park, under the authority of Village Manager Kevin J. Jackson, activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Wed., Nov. 1, putting in place established protocols in response to the evolving crisis involving asylum-seeking migrants and families in the community,’ village officials stated in a news released issued Wednesday afternoon.
The move comes amid increased urging from some residents for Oak Park village leaders to do more for migrants housed in tents at the 15th District Chicago Police Department station on Madison Street, right at the village’s border with the Austin neighborhood of Chicago and less than a mile from Oak Park Village Hall.
This seems like a no-brainer to me: The Illinois Department of Human Services and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus should give Oak Park what it originally requested.
* ICYMI: Lawmakers release their third draft map for the Chicago elected school board. Chalkbeat…
- The new 20-district map includes five districts where the majority are white, seven that are majority Black and six that are majority Latino.
- Two districts have no majority, but they have a plurality of white voters.
- Some groups already are saying this new map does not do enough to ensure the board will represent the school district’s students.
* Capitol News Illinois | Scholarship tax credit program among issues still on the table with 3 legislative days remaining: At an unrelated event Wednesday, the governor’s tone toward the program was ambivalent when asked about it, saying it’s up to the General Assembly, and that “support for public education is really where my focus is.” “I’ve always said, you know, that we’re not trying to prevent people from going to private school, but I also believe in public education and want to make sure that we’re funding public education, to the extent that that is possible,” Pritzker said.
* St Louis Post Dispatch | Darren Bailey, Mike Bost compete in southern Illinois ‘Trump primary’: Both Bailey and Bost have spent the better part of the campaign attempting to one-up each other on who has the deeper connection with the former president. They are each hoping that Trump will bestow upon them his coveted endorsement. It makes sense given that Trump carried the Southern Illinois-based district that includes parts of the Metro East with 70% of the vote in 2020.
* WAND | Senate Republicans argue Pritzker should focus on Illinois problems instead of national politics: “Right now, here in Illinois, our constituents are hurting,” said Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet). “The ship of state is sinking.”Rose told reporters Wednesday that he is fed up with the lack of transparency about issues within the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Illinois Department of Employment Security and Department of Children and Family Services. He plans to file a resolution calling for an audit to investigate how an IEMA office assistant was paid $60,000 dollars per month.
* ABC Chicago | West Town migrant shelter opening pushed back as unions protest construction work: A handful of union carpenters along with their picket line rat mascot stood in protest along Western Avenue Wednesday. They’re contesting who is carrying out the quick-turn construction at the industrial space that will house 200 asylum seekers, including families and young children.
* Block Club | River North Migrant Shelter Still Being Considered Despite Mayor’s Denials, Alderman Says: After alerting residents Monday about a potential “migrant hotel” in River North, which the Mayor’s Office denied, Ald. Brendan Reilly says it’s still happening — just a few doors down. Reilly blasted Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration in a Monday email to neighbors saying plans were underway to convert a River North hotel into a shelter for more than 1,000 migrants.
* Crain’s | Civic Federation gives thumbs-up to Johnson’s first budget, with two warnings: At the same time, the group urged Johnson to develop long-term plans to fund the city’s pensions as the Illinois General Assembly considers legislation that could raise pension costs. The federation also recommended the city craft a contingency plan if it doesn’t receive additional funding from the state or federal government to assist with care for new arrivals.
* Sun-Times | Daughter of disgraced ex-Ald. Danny Solis resigns from Chicago Park District post: The daughter of disgraced former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis has resigned from a high-ranking post at the Chicago Park District, weeks after WBEZ revealed an internal investigation that accused her of violating the agency’s sexual harassment policy. Despite her father’s dramatic political downfall, Maya Solis had continued in her $126,072-a-year post as one of three region directors for the park district.
* WICS | Illinois State Trooper’s car struck in 18th Scott’s Law-related accident this year: The trooper was handling a previous weather-related traffic crash when a 2003 Toyota Matrix, traveling southbound, failed to move over, striking the right side of the ISP squad car. The Trooper was outside of the squad car at the time of the crash and was uninjured.
* Tribune | Illinois smartphone users sue Motorola Mobility to force arbitration over alleged selfie privacy violations: The arbitration action alleges Motorola violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by “surreptitiously” collecting personal data from users’ selfie photos without permission. Motorola sells Moto, Razr and Edge devices with “high-powered cameras” that use facial recognition and artificial intelligence to identify and store the selfie image, according to the complaint.
* Tribune | An FBI mole at the 2016 Democratic National Convention: The origin story of the Ald. Edward Burke corruption probe: Among the Chicago heavyweights in attendance that week was Ald. Daniel Solis, a staunch Clinton supporter who told the Tribune the excitement of potentially having the first woman in U.S. history ever to be nominated for president was “a historical moment in the life of this country and in my life.” As it turned out, Clinton’s nomination wasn’t the only history going down in the City of Brotherly Love. Behind the scenes, one of the most significant public corruption cases in Chicago history was about to be born.
* Block Club | City Council Blocks Plan To Regulate Little Free Libraries — For Now: The proposed legislation also stipulated only “organizations, not-for-profit entities and licensed businesses” would be eligible to receive the necessary permit to build a bookcase on city land. Libraries on private property, like a front yard, would not be impacted.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s newly created nonprofit to combat anti-abortion efforts has already contributed $1.5 million to the movement, including a share in the next big abortion rights battleground state: Virginia.
Think Big America’s contribution of $25,000 each to four state Senate Democratic candidates in Virginia, and an additional $150,000 to the state Democratic party, comes ahead of a pivotal Nov. 7 election that may reshape abortion restrictions in the state. […]
In Nevada, Think Big America also contributed $1 million to the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom PAC, which is fighting for a November 2024 ballot question that would establish a “fundamental right to reproductive rights.” The newly formed PAC is affiliated with Planned Parenthood. […]
In Ohio, Think Big America contributed $250,000 to Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, a ballot committee made up of a coalition of reproductive rights advocates. Ohioans on Nov. 7 will be voting whether to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitution.
That Ohio spending is on top of the $1.5 million he dropped in Ohio earlier this year. Plus he sent his campaign manager to the state.
* Crain’s Chicago on the UAW deal with Stellantis and reopening and expanding the Belvidere plant…
The company’s decision to reopen the plant is the result of a two-year effort by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and local officials, which ultimately enlisted the state’s congressional delegation and the White House to come up with a package of incentives to keep the Belvidere operation alive.
Pritzker and his staff served as a conduit between the company and the White House as they worked on ways to keep the plant going, including a federal grant program that was part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which focused on climate change and ways to move away from fossil fuels.
“This is exactly what the Biden administration created this grant for: converting existing (internal combustion engine) facilities to EV capability,” the governor said. […]
Pritzker says he was getting text messages from Stellantis and White House staffers as negotiations went into overdrive and talks went into the wee hours Thursday morning.
When it comes to landing electric vehicle-related projects, Michigan is known to be the highest bidder.
That’s because the state that put the world on wheels risked being squeezed out of the electric vehicle investment boom in North America. At least that’s how Michigan — and other states — have justified mammoth incentives packages for automakers reshaping their manufacturing footprints. […]
“Michigan is a great competitor. They have a deep pocketbook and a large auto workforce,” said Dan Seals, CEO of Intersect Illinois, the state’s public-private business attraction arm. “There is absolutely a bidding war component to this. The state does engage in that competition, but not to the extent Michigan does. I don’t know anybody that goes as far as Michigan does in that regard.”
Yet, Illinois took a page from the Michigan playbook when it created a $400 million “deal-closing fund” targeted at EV projects. A $125 million check will be cut from that fund for Chinese battery maker Gotion Inc. to build a pack assembly plant 50 miles south of Chicago, the company announced Sept. 8.
Illinois offered an incentive package totaling $536 million for the plant, expected to create 2,600 jobs. For Gotion’s cathodes/anodes plant near Big Rapids, which is expected to employ 2,350 and supply the newly announced Illinois factory, Michigan approved a package worth $715 million — including a $125 million cash grant. Michigan paid $304,255 per job, factoring in all the incentives, whereas Illinois paid $206,153.
* Let’s go back to the UAW contract victory. UAW President Shawn Fain was in Chicago a few weeks ago to speak at a rally…
Fain and the other speakers also focused on the importance of the Chicago Teachers Union — where Johnson was once an organizer — and how they have fueled the labor movement nationally.
“The CTU revived the strike and sparked a movement that spread across this country. By reforming their union and taking on the boss, the CTU inspired educators across the country to mount the biggest strike ever for decades,” Fain said. “And that’s exactly the kind of action and leadership we need. We need to inspire the working class of this country.”
Details of the deal with Ford are emerging, and it includes a big increase in company contributions to 401(k) retirement plans. Workers also won the right to strike over plant closures, a victory that gives employees significant leverage. Two electric battery plants under construction also have a clear path to join the UAW.
Then there’s what happens if Ford closes a factory: The company will provide two years of “transition assistance” to laid-off workers. Anyone at the company at least three months will qualify — a major expansion. Those laid off will get health care plus about 95 percent of after-tax pay in the first year and about 50 percent of their wages in the second year. That’s a substantial cushion to help workers, and it would come mainly from the company.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) announced on Tuesday that the Du Quoin State Fair had more than 166,000 people attending this year’s annual event showcasing Illinois agriculture. The IDOA says that the fair continues to be an economic engine for the Southern Illinois economy.
Overall attendance for the 11-day fair this year was down a little more than 4,300 people in comparison to the 2022 attendance, but attendance topped the 2022 daily numbers on three days this year: Monday, Aug. 28; Thursday, Aug. 31; and Saturday, Sept. 2.
The Illinois Supreme Court announced today amendments to Supreme Court Rule 299 regarding compensation for attorneys appointed to represent indigent parties.
Amended Rule 299 doubles compensation for an attorney appointed by a court in this state to represent an indigent party to $150 per hour (from its previous minimum of $75 per hour) and $150 per hour for time reasonably expended out of court (from its previous minimum of $50 per hour). […]
Amended Rule 299 also raises the maximum compensation amount for representation of an indigent defendant to $10,000, from its previous maximum of $5,000. […]
The amended rules are effective January 1, 2024. The Illinois Supreme Court Rules can be found here.
The mayors of Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and New York are pressing to meet with President Joe Biden about getting federal help in managing the surge of migrants they say are arriving in their cities with little to no coordination, support or resources from his administration.
The Democratic leaders say in a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday that while they appreciate Biden’s efforts so far, much more needs to be done to ease the burden on their cities. […]
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who is leading the coalition, said nearly every conversation he has had with arriving migrants is the same: Can he help them find a job, they ask.
“The crisis is we have folks here who desperately want to work. And we have employers here who desperately want to hire them. And we have a federal government that’s standing in the way of employers who want to hire employees who want to work,” Johnston said.
* But of course…
Not at all surprised to see the "but what about our homeless" anti-migrant crowd also vote against funding a program to help the homeless. pic.twitter.com/p29KNee6X1
The 2023 White Sox set an almost impossibly high standard, but I don't think we're giving the Bears enough credit for the effort they've made to reach that standard. It's truly impressive and I salute them.
* Sierra Club | Majority of Illinoisans Regularly Breathe Unsafe Air, According to New Report: Roughly 9 million Illinois residents, comprising 71% of the state’s entire population, live in areas that regularly experience air that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined is unsafe to breathe, according to a report released by the Sierra Club. The report indicates that light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles massively contribute to the state’s ozone pollution.
* Block Club | McCormick Place Lakeside Center Will Close Blinds Every Night To Protect Migrating Birds: Instead of turning the lights off when the building is occupied, leaders at Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority plan to consistently close the blinds and are considering other bird-safety adjustments, according to a news release. […] To further protect birds, leaders are considering installing bird-safe film and barriers on the outside of the glass as well as adding additional decals inside windows, more shades and drapery inside and motorized controls for existing shades, according to the news release.
* Journal and Topics | State Rep. Gong-Gershowitz Attends Biden Executive Order Signing On Artificial Intelligence: State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-17th) of Glenview sat in the front row of a signing ceremony for President Joe Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence (AI) Monday (Oct. 30) in the White House, before coming back to chair hearings on improving AI protections in Illinois. President Biden’s executive order “establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more,” a White House fact sheet released on the order says.
* WICS | Resident who helped ISP trooper who was shot speaks out: A local resident says he ran outside to offer lifesaving help after hearing gunshots outside of his bedroom window to the Illinois State Police Trooper who was shot. Travis Rebbe ran outside his home on the 1600 block of Toronto Road and helped the injured trooper until EMS and police arrived. He said once he heard the gunshots, he knew he needed to help.
* WSIL | Construction officially underway on new Mississippi River bridge at Chester: This is a project made possible with the help of Governor JB Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois capital program. According to MoDOT, “the current Chester Bridge has two 11-foot lanes and carries 7,000 vehicles per day. It connects the cities of Chester, Illinois and Perryville, Missouri across the Mississippi River via Route 51.
* Chalkbeat | Chicago charter schools face potential crossroads with new mayor, dozens of renewals: The high-stakes renewal process, which scrutinizes charter schools’ academic performance, financial practices, and operational compliance among other factors, comes at a pivotal time, as Chicago’s political landscape is shifting under a new mayor and looming school board elections. Charter communities wonder what it could all mean for their schools.
* Mark Ishaug | Make mental health a priority, and fulfill a promise from 60 years ago: While we have made a lot of progress in 60 years, it is important to focus on the parts of the Act that still need to be achieved and the gaps in mental health care that remain. The pandemic created an opportunity for a more public dialogue around mental health and wellness for everyone, with a focus on those who are often overlooked, particularly people dealing with long-term or disabling mental health conditions. During my time leading Thresholds, I have seen first-hand the importance of connecting with individuals in their own spaces and neighborhood settings, outside the traditional clinic experience.
* Sun-Times | President Joe Biden will visit Illinois Nov. 9 to tout White House agenda: President Joe Biden hits the Chicago area on Nov. 9 for a swing touting his White House agenda, with a likely fundraising event also on the schedule. The details of the visit, confirmed by the White House, are still in the works. Members of the Illinois congressional delegation have been notified by the White House the president will be making a visit Nov. 9 to the Chicago area, without adding any other information.
* NYT | Why pharmacy workers at CVS and Walgreens are protesting: Bled Tanoe, a pharmacist in Oklahoma City who used to work for Walgreens and now works for a hospital, said she was helping to spread the word about the walkouts because she was concerned that pharmacy chains had been telling workers for years to “work faster and work with less help.”
* The Atlantic | Political Analysis Needs More Witchcraft: When trying to understand a political culture, you have to examine the society as it exists, irrational warts and all. And yet, most of us prefer to look at the world through a reverse fun-house mirror, in which the complex and sometimes-wacky beliefs of our fellow citizens are reflected back at us with the straight, clear-cut lines of reason and logic. We attribute voter behavior to policy proposals and economic data, rather than to the knock-on effects of widely held conspiracy theories or other nonrational beliefs.
* NYT | Five Minutes That Will Make You Love Thelonious Monk: Where other pianists played light chords with their left hand and quicker notes with the right, Monk played equally complicated notes with both hands, leading to complex arrangements that traversed the entire scale. But he never overplayed; his use of space between the notes elicited peace and tension equally.
* Chicago Mag | Dad’s Old Records: It’s easy to assume you know Jeff Tweedy. From his early days in Uncle Tupelo to 29 years at the helm of Wilco, the Grammy winner has crafted alt-country gems with heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics that offer his perspectives on love and life. But World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music, his third book, offers bet-you-didn’t-expect-that turns, including: When Tweedy tries out a new guitar, he plays “Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive — “one of the most important” songs in his life.
* Illinois Newsroom | Student filmmaker sheds light on influential Illinois politician in new documentary: “Uncle Joe Cannon” is a student-produced documentary that revisits the life of a prominent 19th-century Illinois politician. Joseph Cannon spent 46 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Illinois — including eight years as Speaker of the House. Even when he led the Republican Party for years, he made it a point to always remember his constituents.
* Block Club | Nonstop Christmas Music Starts Thursday On 93.9 LITE FM: This is the 23rd year the station has celebrated its holiday music tradition. Last year was the earliest LITE FM started playing round-the-clock Christmas music — on Nov. 1. The light rock station will start its holiday programming one day later this year than last year.
Wednesday, Nov 1, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
We’ve been listening carefully to the governor, legislative leaders, and many members of the legislature about how to make the Tax Credit Scholarship better – and we now have an amended program proposal that does exactly that. Thousands of vulnerable kids are counting on us to put them before politics.
In response to direct feedback, our bill offers substantive improvements along with good-faith compromises which justify extending the Tax Credit Scholarship Program:
1. Add a new priority level of scholarship recipients from the most under-served areas of Illinois to create opportunities for thousands of primarily Black and Latino children. Donors will be incentivized to prioritize helping this new “Region 7” beyond the thousands of other kids who qualify based on financial need.
2. Reduce the overall size of the program to $50MM (down from $75MM) and reduce the individual giving cap to $500,000 (down from $1MM).
3. Reduce the tax credit for donors to 55% (down from 75%).
4. Encourage more middle-income donors by crediting donations of up to $5,000 with a 100% tax credit.
Illinois, let’s do the right thing. It’s about the kids, not the politics. Save the scholarships.
* I’ve seen this argument before and it’s a prime example of why simple solutions are usually neither: 1) Most everyone is already asked if they’d like to go to another city; 2) Transporting human beings against their will would be violating numerous state and federal laws. But, I suppose, the cruelty is the entire point here…
We have alas reached the point where a public commenter at Chicago City Council says Mayor should sign an executive order to bus migrants out of Chicago and all I can wonder is “How much would City Hall be blowing on GardaWorld and Friendly to manage THAT?”
* Gov. JB Pritzker was asked about the asylum-seekers earlier today…
We are going to have people that have work authorizations going to work soon. But that only covers a certain percentage, a little over half of the folks who have come here will be eligible to work over time as they receive their work authorizations.
They’re here legally. I want to be clear with people who call them ‘illegals.’ They’re not, these are not. Nobody is illegal, by the way, but they’re not undocumented. They’re here legally. And it is an obligation, I think, in a humanitarian crisis for us to step up and make sure that people aren’t starving or that they have a place to stay, that they get the basic health care that they need.
I have had numerous conversations with the federal government, both the Department of Homeland Security and the White House, about at the border making sure that if there is an effort, and there has been by the governor or various mayors in Texas, to load people on the buses to Chicago that the federal government should at least intervene to communicate with those folks who are being told to get on a bus to Chicago and whatever else they’re being told that you know, we are doing everything we can for the folks who are here but we do not have enough shelter with winter coming. It may be advisable indeed they should convince them that they maybe shouldn’t come to the city of Chicago during the winter, and that there are other places in the country they can go and the federal government ought to be helping to, you know, manage the logistics so people go to places where they, you know, can survive through the winter in a way that clearly is more difficult if you come to a place like Chicago, and I would say the same about New York and the same about Denver as we hit snow and winter.
So far, though, the feds have refused to take over logistics. They’re simply not helping.
Nearly 3,000 migrants were sleeping unhoused at police stations Tuesday, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, waiting for space at any of the city’s nearly 25 shelters to open up.
Of that number, advocates estimate more than 1,000 are sleeping outdoors because there isn’t room inside stations.
Linda Bello and José Urribarri, parents of a young girl and boy, said they were able to sleep inside the Near North station overnight, but the new problem is it’s so cold now that staying outside the rest of the day is becoming unbearable.
Migrants at the station, like several others, aren’t allowed inside during the day. Police officials directed any comments about that policy to the mayor’s office.
A spokesperson for the city said the issue of migrants not being allowed inside at the Grand Crossing and Calumet District police stations, where the problem had been reported on social media, was due to “miscommunication.”
At the Near North station, migrants were still convinced they weren’t allowed inside during the day.
On Tuesday, the City of Chicago said it was providing coats and warm clothing at one location, and 21 warming buses as police district stations to provide temporary warmth.
But volunteers say that is not enough.
“The buses aren’t working, because people are reluctant to get on them in the middle of the night, for fear that their belongings will be stolen from their tents,” Fischer-Holden said.
Migrants we spoke with off camera echoed those concerns. But as temperatures dropped Tuesday night, they said the warming buses may be their only option.
Amid Chicago’s recent cold snap, the city has been sending warming buses to 16 police districts where migrant families are sleeping in tents on cold and wet concrete.
“Even at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, you can develop hypothermia with prolonged exposure or with wet clothing,” Beth Amodio, president and CEO of One Warm Coat, said. “And children are more likely to develop hypothermia because their bodies are not able yet to regulate their body temperatures like a healthy adult would be.”
* More from Isabel…
* Oak Leaves | Oak Park trustees move to match $150K grant so village can aid migrants housed in tents at Chicago border: “This is a humanitarian crisis,” [Village Trustee Brian Straw] said. “These are people who are seeking a better life here in America. If you can find someone who believes more in the American Dream than an immigrant who walked a thousand miles to come here, I challenge you to find them. We need to figure out every way in which we can step up because when we look at ourselves and say ‘What would I do?’ when faced with this kind of humanitarian crisis, it’s here, it’s now, it’s blocks away.”
* Sun-Times | Unwelcome first snow for migrants at police stations: ‘It’s so cold it hurts’: Thousands of migrants, like Ortiz, are staying at Chicago Police district stations waiting for room in city shelters to open up. Many have found some respite in donations from passersby and city warming buses, but as the city gets its first snow of the season, all that isn’t enough to stave off the cold. “The cold was tremendous,” said Ortiz of the low temps the night before. “It doesn’t let you sleep.”
* WGN | Migrants in Chicago face harsh winter conditions as city works to provide aid: The freezing temperatures and snowfall echo the growing concerns among migrant families sleeping on the frigid sidewalks of Chicago’s Police Districts. Migrant families, deeply concerned about the harsh conditions, say they do not know how much longer it will be before they get moved to shelters, causing worries about their children’s safety to grow.
* CBS Chicago | Chicago migrants’ lives are at risk in tents in cold weather, volunteer says: At the Austin (15th) District police station, 5701 W. Madison St., a group of migrants relied on goodwill to weather the cold. Volunteer Laurel Fischer-Holden, with the Chicago Police Station Response Team spends her days collecting donations – and then drops them off at the police station for the migrants. “What’s happening here is criminal,” said Fischer-Holden. “These are human beings, and they’re freezing. And we can fix it, but we’re not.”
* NY Daily News | After tour, advocates beg NYC to ditch plan to house migrant kids at Floyd Bennett Field: On the heels of touring the city’s soon-to-open migrant shelter at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field, homeless advocates are pleading with Mayor Adams’ administration to reconsider housing children at the site, calling it a “patently dangerous” plan due to insufficient bathroom access, lack of privacy and other concerns.
* ABC | Denver Public Schools implementing new strategies to address increasing number of migrant families arriving: In October alone, Denver Public Schools welcomed 400 migrant students into the district, according to Adella Arredondo, the executive director of Family and Community Engagement for DPS. Between July and October 25, DPS welcomed 1,915 migrant students. The influx of students has meant a couple of things for the district. For starters, DPS leaders had to put a call out for more bilingual teachers.
An advocacy group is urging lawmakers to make Illinois a medical-aid-in-dying state.
The Illinois End of Life Options Coalition recently gathered at the capitol in Springfield to inform lawmakers about the need for them to pass medical-aid-in-dying legislation.
The group said the procedure is called medical aid in dying and not assisted suicide, as it is commonly known.
Ten states have legalized medical aid in dying, with Oregon being the first in 1997. More are considering legislation this year.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1997 encouraged individual states to engage in an “earnest and profound debate about the morality, legality, and practicality of” medical aid in dying to relieve unbearable pain and suffering.
A member of the coalition, Suzie Flack, lost her son to cancer and would like to see a gentle dying option.
“I am hoping to carry on and tell his story and to reach people so they can understand that an option like this does provide a lot of comfort to terminally ill individuals,” Flack said.
Jon Schweppe, policy director with the American Principles Project, said states shouldn’t be giving their residents the option.
“That really puts folks in a precarious situation where they think the noble thing to do is to choose to die and I think that’s wrong and it’s wrong to put families in that circumstance of having that choice,” Schweppe said.
Schweppe adds that the medical field should be about preserving and protecting life and doing no harm, and “this is the opposite of that.”
The coalition points to an Impact Research poll that showed seven out of 10 Illinois likely voters want the Illinois General Assembly to pass medical-aid-in-dying legislation.
Optional for patients and optional for doctors. No person is required to use it. No doctor is mandated to provide it. It is illegal to force someone to use it.
Medical aid in dying includes strict eligibility requirements.
A patient must be an adult, have six months or less to live, be able to make an informed health care decision and be able to take the medication themselves.
The legislation includes more than a dozen safeguards.
Two doctors must confirm that the patient has six months or less to live — due to terminal illness, not because of age or disability. Two doctors and two independent witnesses must confirm that no coercion exists.
* The Question: Do you support this medical aid in dying concept? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
9am news drop: @ILSenDems have released new Chicago elected school board maps: - 7 Black majority - 6 Latino majority - 5 White majority No word on future hearings. A vote could come as soon as next week #twillpic.twitter.com/MmUdoHH041
The Illinois Senate Democratic caucus released a new Chicago Elected School Board District map proposal, incorporating numerous suggestions made by the public and advocacy groups, including keeping more communities of interest whole.
The draft map is available for review at www.ilsenateredistricting.com, and reflects changes put forth by parents, education advocates and community groups gathered through online map making portals and during multiple public hearings. The public is encouraged to review the latest proposal and provide additional feedback via the website or through email at ChicagoERSBCommittee@senatedem.ilga.gov.
The map consists of 20 proposed districts, including seven majority Black districts, six majority Latino districts, five majority White districts and two coalition districts.
“This new map better reflects the diversity of Chicago’s unique neighborhoods, and we thank the many parents, educators and community members whose guidance helped shape these district boundaries,” said Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford, Chair of the Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board. “Our communities deserve a school board that reflects their shared values, and a learning experience that will help our children thrive.”
School board districts must be consistent with the Illinois Voting Rights Act, which ensures districts are crafted in a way that preserves clusters of minority voters if they are of size or cohesion to exert collective electoral power.
Currently appointed by the mayor, the Chicago Board of Education is scheduled to become fully-elected over the course of a two-year hybrid period. Under existing law, ten members of the Chicago Board of Education will be elected by voters during the November 2024 election, and ten members and the board president will be appointed by the mayor. Elected members will serve four-year terms, while appointed members, including the appointed board president, will serve two-year terms. The board will become fully-elected after the November 2026 general election.
While questions have been raised about a number of these provisions, lawmakers are still studying these procedural election issues and the best ways to ensure the 2024 election provides equitable representation for all of Chicago’s communities. Additional public feedback and suggestions on these matters can be submitted via email at ChicagoERSBCommittee@senatedem.ilga.gov.
“We are dedicated to putting in place a community-led education system that better serves our families and students” said Sen. Robert Martwick, Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board and sponsor of the legislation creating an elected school board in Chicago. “That is achieved when we have local representation, promoting the best interests of the people they were elected to serve.”
“When our schools succeed, our city succeeds,” said Sen. Omar Aquino, Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board. “Working together, we are ushering in a brighter future for our children and our communities.”
The new map has seven majority Black districts, six where Latinos make up 50% or more of the population, and five where the population is 50% or more white. Two districts — one representing Rogers Park on the North Side and the other representing Portage Park and Old Irving Park on the North West side — are plurality white, with Latinos making up the second-largest population. […]
Sen. Robert Martwick, a Democrat representing the North West side of Chicago and west suburbs, said that figuring out how to create 10 districts for the 2024 elections and 20 districts for the 2026 elections has been difficult for legislators. […]
State Rep. Ann Williams, who represents parts of the city’s North Side and chairs a special task force of House Democrats working on drawing school board districts, said the transition from 10 districts to 20 is “still under discussion,” but the goal is to vote on a map during next week’s veto session.
“At some point we have to get a map so that people can start looking at the districts and prepare to run for office,” Williams said.
* ICYMI: Asylum seekers face their first Chicago winter. Sun-Times…
- Around 1,000 migrants are sleeping outside in tents while thousands more sleep inside police stations.
- Migrants who can sleep inside police stations are often forced out during the day.
The wind is strong and loud outside this police station at 51st and Wentworth on south side of Chicago as migrants try to stay warm inside their tents. I did not see any warming buses. pic.twitter.com/D5tjUllHba
* NBC | J.B. Pritzker-backed group sends $250,000 to Virginia Democrats: Think Big America, a nonprofit group affiliated with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, is donating $250,000 to Virginia Democrats with a week to go before state legislative elections that could decide the future of abortion policy in the state. The group is sending $25,000 apiece to four Democrats running in battleground Senate districts: state Dels. Danica Roem and Schuyler Van Valkenburg, former prosecutor Russet Perry and entrepreneur Joel Griffin.
It's here! The @IMA_Today released our brand new 2023 Made in Illinois poster today showcasing some of the amazing & innovative products made in the Land of Lincoln! Special thanks to @Nicor_Gas & @IMECillinois which are tremendous partners who make manufacturers successful. pic.twitter.com/QbJfFY6VaA
* Center Square | Coalition lobbying for ‘assisted suicide’ law in Illinois getting pushback: A member of the coalition, Suzie Flack, lost her son to cancer and would like to see a gentle dying option. “I am hoping to carry on and tell his story and to reach people so they can understand that an option like this does provide a lot of comfort to terminally ill individuals,” Flack said.
* Forest Park Review | Former Obama campaign staffer running for Danny Davis’ seat: Kouri Marshall never held a political office before — but he’s still running on his record. That record including work for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and work for former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin (1st) and Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Marshall also touted his work in the nonprofit sector. He serves as a director of state and local public policy for the Chamber of Progress, a trade organization for technology companies.
* Sun-Times | Rahm or Ed? Expert quizzed on who had most clout in preview of possible Burke trial testimony: Elmhurst University political science professor Constance Mixon agreed during a sneak preview of her potential trial testimony that Burke’s role as the Council’s finance chairman put him in a “powerful and influential position.” She said he’s often been described as the Council “dean,” and she noted he has a “deep history” of the city’s legislative body.
* Tribune | Aldermen support March referendum on real estate transfer tax, sending ordinance to full City Council: In a 32-16 vote, the rules committee approved the revamped “Bring Chicago Home” measure, which offers a tiered tax rate on all property sales. Advocates say it would generate much-needed revenue for the city’s homeless population, but opponents in the real estate industry have warned that it would put a further damper on an already-fragile market for offices, retail and apartment buildings and drive up costs for tenants.
* Reuters | US Supreme Court won’t wade into Chicago parking meter fight: The justices rejected the drivers’ appeal of an April ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld Chicago’s long term contract with Chicago Parking Meters LLC. The drivers have argued the contract and its restrictions on the city gave Chicago Parking Meters an unlawful monopoly in violation of U.S. antitrust law.
* Daily Herald | Rising pension costs to test Schaumburg’s ability to keep tax levy pledge: Since 2009, Schaumburg officials have kept a promise not to increase the property tax levy they established that year because of the economic recession. But they will soon face a dilemma when it comes to that pledge, due to rising police and firefighter pension costs that within a few years could consume the entire levy.
* CoStar | Jury Finds Brokers Conspired To Inflate Commissions, Awards Missouri Home Sellers Almost $1.8 Billion: The Chicago-based NAR has contended that the system provides an efficient marketplace accessible to all consumers. But the complaints, including the one for the lawsuit resolved in Kansas City, alleged that the practice is anticompetitive because it requires NAR-member agents to list all properties on regional multiple listing services, with broker commissions agreed to before a home is listed for sale.
* Pioneer Press | Sean Loughran sworn in as new Glencoe Public Safety Director: On Oct. 7, the Hamas terrorist group attacked Israel killing hundreds and taking many others hostage. By the end of that day, local organizers scheduled a large rally supporting Israel at Glencoe’s North Shore Congregation Israel, headlined by Governor J.B. Pritzker. The rally required large law enforcement presence and might have been a challenge for the head of any agency no matter how long they had been on the job. In the case of Glencoe Public Safety Director Sean Loughran, he had been in his new role for less than a week.
* Block Club | Aunt Martha’s Gets Unexpected $9 Million From MacKenzie Scott: Aunt Martha’s Health and Wellness, a nonprofit that serves over 105,000 children and adults each year at 30 locations in Illinois, received a $9 million award through the Chicago Community Trust from Scott’s Yield Giving charity fund, the organization announced Tuesday.
* Chicago’s Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights Beatriz Ponce De León was at the City Club of Chicago yesterday…
Q: What is the ETA on the base camps? It’s clearly really cold out today, for example.
BPDL: Yeah, well, we have several locations that we’re interested in, they need to be assessed, we need to work with the aldermanic offices of those wards. And, you know, things are taking a little longer than we expected in terms of doing the land assessments and also engaging with community about about those sites.
Q: I mean, are you thinking a couple of weeks, a month? Because I’m wondering if they aren’t set up, what’s the backup plan?
BPDL: Ideally, it would be in the next month. And the backup plan has been that we will continue to look for larger spaces where we can open shelters more quickly.
“Ideally.” In other words, that’s the best case scenario.
Nearly 1,600 asylum-seekers would be moved out of Chicago police stations “before the weather begins to shift and change” and into “winterized base camps” equipped with massive tents, under a plan unveiled Thursday by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Um, the weather has already shifted.
* Also remember that the city signed a contract on September 12…
Chicago has taken the first concrete step to deliver on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s controversial plan to get more than 2,000 migrants off the floors of police stations and O’Hare and Midway airports and into giant tent cities he prefers to call “winterized base camps” before temperatures plummet.
Piggybacking onto an existing state procurement, the city has signed a $29.3 million contract with GardaWorld Federal Services LLC for “migrant temporary housing.”
“The purpose of this Purchase Order is to allow the City to purchase from the State Contract temporary housing solutions and related services … to provide critical services to asylum seekers,” according to the contract, signed Sept. 12.
As Chicago’s downtown business district struggles under a post-pandemic malaise, President Joe Biden announced a slate of federal resources this week for developers and cities to speed up commercial-to-residential conversions.
The White House initiative will open up funding from the Department of Transportation to finance residential development near public transit and facilitate transit agencies’ ability to transfer their properties to local governments or developers of affordable housing, according to a release. The administration’s guidance also encourages cities, states and developers to tap into billions of dollars of existing federal grants from the Transportation Department and the Department of Housing & Urban Development.
The president’s push to save ailing downtown business districts comes at a crucial time for Chicago. The city’s office vacancy rate hit another all-time high in early October, climbing up to 23.7%, according to data from brokerage CBRE. Public transit is feeling the pain, too. While Chicago Transit Authority ridership increased this year, the rates are nowhere near 2019 numbers since workers aren’t returning to the office five days a week, CTA spokesman Brian Steele said this month. Whether Mayor Brandon Johnson will prioritize transforming downtown districts is still unclear. With the fate of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s LaSalle Street initiative up in the air, federal help could fill in funding gaps left by the city.
* Good point. Be careful…
Happy Halloween!
Remember the biggest threat to kids this day isn't razor blades in candy, weed edibles or clowns in sewers. It's cars pic.twitter.com/BosBsIwyqu
The Illinois State Police (ISP) today provided an update on the condition of Trooper Dakotah Chapman-Green and the investigation into his shooting. On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at 10:47 p.m., ISP Trooper Chapman-Green stopped 37-year-old Cristobal Santana from Chicago in the 1600 block of Toronto Road in Springfield. During the traffic stop, the suspect fired at least 10 gunshots hitting Trooper Chapman-Green several times, and struck him repeatedly causing facial fractures, a skull fracture, and a brain bleed. The suspect fled the scene, but was taken into custody at 1:58 a.m. on October 25, 2023. Trooper Chapman-Green remains hospitalized. The suspect was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained during the apprehension and remains in the hospital.
“By the Grace of God, Trooper Chapman-Green survived this brutal attack,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “Police officers across the state take an oath to protect the lives of Illinois citizens and too often that means facing diabolical, hateful, vicious evil that no innocent human being should ever have to face. We live in a free country, but there is no freedom without the law, there is no law without law enforcement, and there is no law enforcement without brave souls like Trooper Chapman-Green and those standing here with me today willing to do this noble, but dangerous work.”
On Friday, the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office filed two counts of Attempted First Degree Murder, one count of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm to a Police Officer, one count of Aggravated Battery to a Police Officer, and one count Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon against Santana.
ISP continues to investigate this shooting and will work with the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office to provide more information as it becomes available.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the recent gun violence that has again struck our state and our nation. How many people must die before addressing the deadly intersection between domestic violence and firearms? This fatal combination was again painfully evident in the recent murder of Adrianna Lopez, who was shot and killed allegedly by an abusive ex-boyfriend who also shot an Illinois State Trooper. These incidents are grim reminders that the ripple effects of trauma echo far beyond the intimate relationship - affecting children who live with and witness it, and the family members, and law enforcement who respond to it.
“The tragic events that unfolded in Maine are all too common, and we cannot relent in our mission to get weapons of war off our streets and out of our communities. Though details are still emerging, early news reports have suggested the suspect, Robert Card may have a history of domestic violence. A recent study showed that in more than two-thirds of mass shootings, the perpetrator either killed family or intimate partners or the shooter had a history of domestic violence.
“While we have made progress in recent years to combat the gun violence epidemic, our work is far from over. We have one more week of the veto session upcoming, and collectively, we urge the General Assembly to pass additional legislation like Karina’s Bill to combat gun violence and get guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.”
* From yesterday…
Today, Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, and Senator Mary Edly-Allen, D-Libertyville, joined President Biden at the White House for an event on Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence following the President’s Executive Order regarding AI.
This marks the second time that Rep. Gong-Gershowitz and Senator Edly-Allen have attended events at the White House to discuss their work protecting constituents from emerging digital threats stemming from applications of artificial intelligence.
Last session, Rep. Gong-Gershowitz and Sen. Edly-Allen worked together to pass groundbreaking legislation to combat deepfake pornography, which falsely depicts individuals in sexually-explicit acts without their consent. They are now taking steps in Illinois to mirror President Biden’s federal strategy to address the risks that AI poses to individual safety and security as well as its potential as a tool for malicious disinformation.
“I applaud the sense of urgency displayed by President Biden regarding artificial intelligence and thank him for his much-needed leadership on this critical issue,” said Gong-Gershowitz. “AI is a rapidly-developing tool that fundamentally impacts every sector of our society, including individual safety and civil rights. We must ensure that appropriate legal protections and standards are in place to properly address the complex set of dangers and opportunities that AI introduces in order to effectively safeguard individual consumers and the public against the inherent risks to safety, security and truth it can pose.”
President Biden’s Executive Order can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/30/fact-sheet-president-biden-issues-executive-order-on-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-artificial-intelligence/
“We need to balance rapidly progressing technology that maximizes artificial intelligence possibilities, while also protecting against the potential harms it can cause,” Edly-Allen said. “We are starting to see how unrestricted technology can do harm without practical safeguards in place. I applaud the Biden administration for taking urgent action to work toward ending the exploitation, humiliation and harassment that AI has caused.”
State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, a Democrat from Bridgeview, visited the White House on Monday for President Joe Biden’s signing ceremony of an executive order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. Rashid is a member of a multi-state legislative working group on AI and the co-chair of Illinois’ AI task force.
I asked Rep. Rashid’s spokesperson if that Illinois task force has ever met, but he hasn’t responded.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* WICS | New SAFE-T-Act enhances protection for domestic violence victims in Illinois: Christine Raffaele with Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ILCADV) said suspects being able to bail their way out of jail under the old cash system — didn’t help protect the victims of domestic violence. “Someone would appear, they make their plea, the judge sets their bond then the case is over,” Raffaele said. “And very rarely was any consideration given to the safety and security for the victim.”
* Sun-Times | Gov. Pritzker, Illinois universities make aggressive bid for federal semiconductor hub: With Chicago in the running for the $11 billion National Semiconductor Technology Center, a multi-university network of researchers and scientists are optimistic Illinois’ advances in engineering and manufacturing — and especially quantum research — will help them seal the deal. So is Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
* Rockford Register Star | Stellantis, UAW agreement pledges new life for Belvidere plant. Here’s what’s next: United Auto Workers Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen is trying not to get overly excited about a tentative agreement reached with Stellantis that could mean thousands of jobs, a new battery plant, parts distribution center and a vehicle to produce at the Belvidere Assembly Plant. Frantzen said he got the call from national union officials on Saturday about the tentative deal during a local membership meeting with about 100 workers filling the Belvidere UAW hall. A raucous cheer erupted when he shared the news.
* WGN | ‘Skip the Line’ service issues draw ire of Illinois seniors: ‘Very frustrating’: Until this year, she could drive to her hometown of Naperville Secretary of State facility and take the test. But now, an appointment is required. McQuaid said she tried unsuccessfully for weeks to get an appointment to no avail. Locations that still accept walk-in services, in Bridgeview and Evanston, are simply too far, she added. The next best option is Aurora but as McQuaid explained, the drive is out of her comfort zone. “Very frustrating,” McQuaid said. On the WGN Midday news Monday, Giannoulias said they’ve come a long way but hearing of Helen’s plight, more is needed.
* WCIA | Family of State Trooper shot in Springfield shares update on recovery: Chapman-Green’s mother, Kris, said that her son is going through occupational therapy and physical therapy. He is also able to hold conversations while staying awake. Chapman-Green was shot in both legs while performing a traffic stop on Toronto Road in Springfield Tuesday night. He was also beaten with the gun, suffering a brain bleed and skull fracture.
* Tribune | A first Chicago snow for many of the migrants sleeping outside: ‘The cold passes through everything’: Anticipating colder temperatures Monday night, the city released a statement Sunday: “To protect new arrivals and unhoused Chicagoans from falling temperatures, the City is collaborating with external partners, volunteers and mutual aid groups to provide blankets, coats and other much-needed items. Warming buses will be provided by the CTA at the landing location and 16 police district locations.” But Annie Gomberg, who leads volunteer efforts at the police station in Austin,said she didn’t know about any effort by the city to provide blankets, jackets or outerwear. She said 16 buses was not enough. And many migrants who she interacts with tell her they are hesitant to get on another bus, after riding a bus for hours to get to Chicago.
* Tribune | Chicago police officer under investigation for striking 8th grader while off duty: The Cook County state’s attorney’s office began looking into Officer Craig Lancaster’s off-duty conduct after a surveillance recording emerged showing him hitting a 14-year-old student near his throat as the boy walked into school. The video does not show the teen interacting with Lancaster before the physical contact or doing anything obvious to provoke it.
* Shaw Local | Police training facility in Cary to open next week: The McHenry County Regional Training Center will have three training areas: two classrooms and a tactical training room. One classroom will fit 100 students, and a second 40-person classroom will be in the lower level, which used to be the Village Board room. The MAT room will be for defensive tactics and scenario-based training. Tactical training usually covers handcuffing and handling people resisting arrest or being violent.
* Sun-Times | Evanston teen Natalie Raanan back in Chicago after being held hostage by Hamas: The north suburban mother and daughter were the first hostages released from among at least 200 people Israeli military leaders have said were held by Hamas. The two were in Israel to visit Judith Raanan’s mother and Natalie’s grandmother to celebrate her 85th birthday and Simchat Torah, the Jewish holiday marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of Torah readings. They were staying in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz near the Gaza border.
* Tribune | ‘Priscilla’ review: The starry road to Lonely Street — and the Presley movie we needed: Coppola, who has known more first- and second-hand celebrity than the average contemporary filmmaker, seems especially well-attuned to Priscilla’s experiences, and to slowly (sometimes suddenly) dawning realizations of what her life has become. Now and then “Priscilla” settles for standard-issue biopic shorthand, as when Elvis shuts down his woman’s desire to work with: “It’s either me or career, baby.” But in this context, without the usual emphasis or underlining, the line feels honest, and authentic, even in the midst of the dream of desire, love and eventual departure we’re watching.
* The Street | Tesla hits 5-month low, down 20% from Q3 earnings, amid fading EV demand: Tesla’s key supply chain partner, Panasonic Holdings, warned yesterday that its battery production facilities are running well below capacity amid a glut in global supplies and a pullback in demand. Panasonic Holdings posted a third quarter loss, and lowered its full-year profit outlook, citing muted sales of Tesla’s high-end Model S and Model X cars even amid the multi-level price cuts put in place in order to stoke demand and maintain market share.
* Semafor | An up to $1 billion fine may end the scandal that has captivated Wall Street: Authorities have spent more than four years investigating whether Morgan Stanley improperly tipped off favored hedge-fund clients to big blocks of stock coming on the market. The bank fired several employees and pulled back from the block trading business, losing market share to rivals.
* WTTW | McCormick Place Says It Will Do Better by Birds After 1,000 Killed in Mass Casualty Event. Conservationists Want Proof: Prince was joined by Judy Pollock and Edward Warden, presidents of Chicago Bird Alliance and Chicago Ornithological Society, respectively, who urged the board to take action in the wake of a mass casualty event that occurred at the beginning of October, in which 1,000 birds fatally collided with McCormick’s lakefront Lakeside Center during a wave of migration activity.
* 21st Show | Halloween legends at the University of Illinois: Today is Halloween… a holiday with a lot of history, going back centuries, even millenia. Nowadays, of course, it’s basically a celebration of all things scary and spooky. We talked about some of the spooky stories, myths and legends that make the rounds at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
* First and Pen | Justin Fields Deserves Better: To suggest that Fields needs to learn from Bagent, who is the Bears’ version of Brock Purdy, is ridiculous. It’s something Score midday host Dan Bernstein called a “back-stabbing whisper campaign” by the Bears. “The story is this stuff, the whispers, the, ‘Hey, it’d be nice if Justin could do that.’ They’re telling you who they would prefer to coach,” said Bernstein. “They would much rather have somebody (Bagent) who could run their stuff, get the ball out, make their reads rather than have to figure out how to best use the talents of a unicorn (in Fields).”
Thousands of migrants sleeping at police stations woke up to freezing cold conditions this Halloween morning as city officials, volunteers and faith-based organizations scrambled to find warmth for a population, mostly from Venezuela, that has never experienced cold before.
Temperatures plummeted overnight to a low of 30 degrees at O’Hare International Airport, said the National Weather Service, and safety networks stepped in to react to emergencies brought on by the cold. Temperatures were expected to range between 36 and 37 degrees with light snow flurries for the next 24 hours, weather officials said. […]
Dr. Scott Dresden, an associate professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician, said he wasn’t sure how the thousands of migrants that have arrived since last August would influence the numbers of people he treats in emergency departments over the next months.
“This is certainly a unique winter with a larger population who are without housing than we are used to,” he said.
On Monday, Chicagoans – who know what to expect – bundled up amid chilly temperatures, but many new arrivals will be experiencing the cold for the very first time.
The CTA is now providing warming buses during certain hours at the migrant bus landing zone near Clinton and Vernon Park Place and 16 police districts across the city, but long-term solutions are desperately needed.
“We have minors in police stations and in the streets, this is an emergency response,” said Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez who represents the 25th Ward.
Monday morning, the Committee on Housing and Real Estate, which Ald. Sigcho-Lopez chairs, signed off on the city’s plan to purchase land at the corner of 115th and Halsted.
The former Jewel parking lot could become a migrant base camp built by GardaWorld Federal Services, but South Side community members are pushing back.
Also on Monday, downtown Alderman Brendan Reilly sent a letter to constituents, claiming the city was looking to convert the Hotel Chicago in River North into a migrant shelter, something the mayor’s office denies, and the hotel said it had no information about.
Ald. Reilly also complained that the mayor was acting without legal authority, despite a gubernatorial disaster declaration that sets aside provisions of the procurement and joint purchasing codes…
To aid with emergency purchases necessary for response and other emergency powers as authorized by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, the provisions of the Illinois Procurement Code and the Illinois Governmental Joint Purchasing Act that would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with the disaster are suspended to the extent they are not required by federal law.
We saw that same sort of rhetoric during the COVID emergency.
* I checked out this encampment near the 17th District police station in the Albany Park neighborhood not long ago. Tents are set up on both sides of an adjacent street, with some, like these, right next to houses…
A 6-year-old migrant boy was hit by a car outside of a police station tent camp.
* At the end of a Sun-Times story about how the city says it can’t risk using reserve funds to pay for migrants is this tidbit…
Once the Council approves the mayor’s budget, attention will turn to the urgent search for additional revenue — a task Johnson has punted to a subcommittee led by freshman Ald. William Hall (6th).
[Chicago Budget Director Annette Guzman] expects the options presented by that subcommittee to include broadening the sales tax umbrella to cover a host of professional services favored by the wealthy and business interests.
The idea has been talked about for decades, only to hit a dead-end in Springfield.
But, Guzman said: “We’re in a place now where people are more open to this idea. We’ve seen the dramatic shift in how people purchase things. It’s shifted more now toward services over goods. … Sometimes, it’s all about timing. … I look at it as a way of sharing the burden more equitably.”
A tax on high-end services might feel good, but I seriously doubt it’ll make much of a dent. Looks like the city is again passing the buck. Then again, maybe proponents have other numbers. I’d love to see them.
…Adding… All very valid points…
This City Hall plan is legit more bonkers than any Lightfoot proposal. You’re going to pass a BRAND NEW sales tax in Illinois House during election year AND Illinois Dept of Revenue is going to stand up new tax in time for City to get $ in 2024? No way. https://t.co/kqXT943I7Cpic.twitter.com/xERS1Dnt2K
Community colleges in Illinois are seeing their largest year-over-year enrollment growth in nearly 15 years this spring.
Figures released this week by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) showed Spring 2023 enrollment increased by 7.2 percent from the previous spring. according to the board’s Spring 2023 Enrollment Report.
The enrollment, however, was 11.8 percent below the statewide figures in 2019. Illinois community colleges in 2019 listed 283,146 students. The Spring 2022 figure was 233,041; this year the enrollment is 249,836.
The report lists 3,992 Spring 2023 students at Lewis and Clark Community College, up 9.2 percent from 3,656 last spring but down 36.6 percent from the 6,301 students enrolled in Spring 2019.
Significant findings from the ICCB Fall 2023 Community College Opening Enrollment Report include:
• Fall 2023 headcount enrollments (+5.7 percent) and Full-time Equivalents (FTE) enrollments (+5.2 percent) both increased significantly from the previous year.
• Thirty-six community colleges experienced an increase in headcount enrollment from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023, while twelve community colleges had a decrease.
• Instructional areas often dependent on in-person instruction increased headcount enrollments in Career and Technical Education (+10.4 percent) and Vocational Skills Training (+6.3%) in Fall 2023 compared to the previous year. Student enrollment in Transfer programs also had an uptick compared to the previous year with an increase of 1.8 percent.
• Adult Education, which is also mostly dependent on in-person instruction, increased headcount by 20.8 percent from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023. Adult Education serves a significant number of at-risk students, and the pandemic exacerbated issues for that population.
• For Dual Credit, which allows academically prepared high school students to simultaneously earn credits that count toward a high school diploma and a college degree, headcount enrollments increased 8.4 percent in Fall 2023 compared to Fall 2022.
• While the number of distance education students decreased in Fall 2023 as compared to the previous year, it remains a prevalent and flexible form of course delivery with 42.3 percent of students enrolling in at least one online course in the current Fall as compared to Fall 2019 (pre-pandemic) at 24.3 percent.
Richland Community College is reporting an almost 7% increase in Fall 2023 enrollment as the Illinois Community College Board sees the second largest fall-to-fall enrollment increase in 30 years.
This fall, Illinois community colleges saw a 5.7% increase in headcount between Fall 2022 and Fall 2023 enrollment – which is the second largest fall-to-fall enrollment growth in the last 30 years. Only the Fall 2008 to Fall 2009 increase of 7.4 percent during the Great Recession was higher.
The increase in enrollment is reflected at Richland – where the fall-to-fall growth from 2022 to 2023 is 6.7%.
This growth can be credited to a number of initiatives with community/government partners in the past year – including the Illinois Works’ Pre-Apprenticeship Program, the Earn While You Learn EMT program (a partnership with Abbott EMS), the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Scholarship Program, and many others.
The fiscal year 2024 budget includes a seven percent increase in operating funds or $19.4 million more for community colleges than the previous year—the highest increase in two decades. It also includes a $100 million increase in the Monetary Award Program (MAP) that when combined with the federal Pell grant, provides working class families with an opportunity for a free community college education. […]
Statewide enrollment data shows 36 community colleges experienced an increase in headcount enrollment from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023, while just 12 community colleges had a decrease.
But, it was a different story across the institutions serving southern Illinois.
Kaskaskia and Southeastern Illinois Colleges saw modest increases in enrollment, but John A. Logan, Rend Lake and Shawnee Colleges all reported fewer students from Fall 2022.
It was also a mixed bag for the Illinois Eastern Community College system with a major increase at Frontier Community College and a small one at Olney Central, but there were enrollment declines at Lincoln Trail and Wabash Valley.
The Local Journalism Task Force is established to: (1) conduct a comprehensive, nonbinding study relative to communities underserved by local journalism in Illinois; and (2) review all aspects of local journalism including, but not limited to, the adequacy of press coverage of communities, the ratio of residents to media outlets, the history of local news in Illinois, print and digital business models for media outlets, the impact of social media on local news, strategies to improve local news access, and public policy solutions to improve the sustainability of local press business models and private and nonprofit solutions.
* The Illinois Legislative Correspondents’ Association recently updated its members about ideas emerging from the task force…
Tax credits, for example, could be used a few different ways: for small businesses to advertise with local media, residents who subscribe to local media or media companies that hire and retain local journalists. (A tax exemption could also serve a similar purpose for the latter.) Another idea: advertising set-asides, in which governments could be required to spend a percentage of advertising dollars in local news/media outlets.
One problem I see right off the bat is that a whole lot of local news media outlets are owned by gigantic, debt-heavy corporations like Gannett. They suck money out of local communities to pay off debt and pad executive pay.
But, yes, local news is most definitely dying. There are exceptions, but a quick look at just about any local news website, particularly outside the Chicago area, confirms that obvious fact.
* The Question: What role, if any, should the state of Illinois play in preventing the collapse of local news media outlets? Explain.
The Illinois State Board of Education on Monday released the 2023 Illinois Report Card, offering a new look at how schools and districts across the state are performing. […]
This year’s report noted schools across the state showed “strong progress in students’ recovery from the pandemic – with increased proficiency rates and the highest graduation rate in 13 years.”
“Gains for Black students, who were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, led the significant improvement in many indicators,” the board wrote in a release. […]
One of the largest success stories comes as the state saw record-breaking high school graduation rates, with 87.6% of students graduating, a number the report says was driven largely by gains for Black and Hispanic students.
The report also found teacher retention levels had reached “an all-time high,” exceeding 90% for the 2022-23 school year, though it highlights “severe teacher shortages still exist.”
A continued area of concern is chronic absenteeism — students who missed 10 days of school or more last year. State officials say this is an important figure because studies show a high correlation between performance and time in school.
Chronic absenteeism has shot up dramatically since before the pandemic in 2019. It affects 28.3% of students, up from 17.5% in 2019. State officials say this is “alarmingly high” and that “more work must be done to ensure full academic and social-emotional recovery from the pandemic.” […]
The state superintendent stressed that gaps in proficiency are because Black students historically attend schools with fewer resources.
“We educate Black students disproportionately in underfunded school districts with more teacher vacancies, higher teacher and principal turnover, higher chronic absenteeism,” he said.
Statewide, both English and math proficiency rates increased but are still less than what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Proficiency rates can show the percentage of students who have hit the given target, according to the ISBE, but growth is the way to show “progress toward and even past the target.” On average, students grew more in the last school year than before the pandemic, according to the report card.
Black students had the greatest accelerated rate of growth in both English and math compared to the 2018-2019 school year, but their growth and proficiency rates overall are still behind other students. […]
There were more English language learners and Hispanic, Asian and multiracial students enrolled in the 2022-2023 school year than the school year before, suggesting more diversity in Illinois schools, according to the report card.
The annual measure of academic performance shows a second straight year of gains after two years of slippage due to COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. But while student proficiency levels inched up, they remain below pre-pandemic levels. […]
This year’s results show a 16% change statewide year-over-year in English language arts from 29.9% to 34.6%, meaning an additional 39,000 students have mastered grade-level standards. Black students posted the largest gain with a 33% change in proficiency rates, according to report card data. […]
Schools across the suburbs attributed academic gains to a variety of measures, such as increased instructional coaching, reading or math interventionists, school improvement plans and an increased focus on social-emotional supports. In Round Lake Community Unit District 116, post-pandemic daily tutoring has continued with an evening session available for students. The district also launched a summer activity bus program offering art, science, math and Project Lead the Way learning opportunities for students during the summer months.
* More…
* Capitol News Illinois | Latest state school report card shows proficiency gains, persistent gaps on racial lines: Robin Steans, president of the education advocacy group Advance Illinois, agreed that the report was positive overall, but said it also contains some cautionary information, especially regarding racial achievement gaps and attendance rates. “I think there is some legitimately encouraging news in the new state report card,” she said in a separate interview. “I think there’s also a lot of information that reminds us we’ve a lot of work to do still.”
* Chalkbeat | Illinois student test scores closer to pre-pandemic proficiency levels, but absenteeism remains high: The latest report card offers some good news for Illinois districts that are still working to help students recover from pandemic-related disruptions. To address learning gaps, they have focused on hiring more staff, creating after-school programs, and hosting summer learning opportunities. Some of those efforts were funded with the $7 billion in federal COVID relief funding the state received. However, the state’s public schools will have to figure out how to continue these programs as federal relief funding will expire at the end of September 2024.
* Journal Courier | Jacksonville’s school report card sees mixed results: Jacksonville High School was listed as a targeted school, which means one or more student groups is performing at or below the level of the “all students” group in the lowest performing 5% of schools. Achievement is lacking in the areas of children with disabilities and low income, the report card said.
* Shaw Local | State report cards give central Kane schools good grades: All central Kane County districts – St. Charles, Batavia, Geneva and Kaneland – were listed as either exemplary, which means they performed in the top 10% of schools statewide, or commendable, which means they are not in the top 10%, but none of those schools have underperforming student groups.
* WTVO | Illinois Report Card: Rockford schools show improvements, but have work to do: The 2023 snapshot of academic progress shows the Rockford Public School District with a 69% graduation rate, versus the state average of 87.6%. Students showed a 32% proficiency in science (state average: 51%), 24% passing 8th-grade Algebra, and 75% of 9th-grade students “on track.”[…] The state’s results also showed nearly 50% chronic absenteeism across the 44 Rockford schools, below the state average of 28.3%. But, that’s lower than the 60.8% reported during the 2022 Covid recovery era.
The Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control (ARC) has released an interactive map of locations where bats who tested positive for rabies were found in Cook County. So far this year, nine rabid bats have been found. The Halloween-themed map is designed to raise awareness about rabies prevention.
“Rabies is a completely preventable disease and is always fatal to unvaccinated pets,” said ARC Administrator Dr. Mamadou Diakhate, DVM. “Ensuring your dogs and cats are current on rabies and other vaccinations is critical to their health and yours.”
According to Dr. Diakhate, a significant number of these bats were found inside people’s homes, and pets who primarily stay indoors still have the potential to be exposed to rabies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 60 to 70 dogs and 250 cats contract rabies each year.
For years the Internet has echoed with derision of candy corn. And not mild criticism. Full-throated condemnation.
BuzzFeed’s 2013 list of “19 Things That Taste Better Than Candy Corn,” included chalk, urinal cakes and earwax.
“Deodorant-flavored earwax nuggets,” Deadspin raged in 2014. “Wee little warhead-shaped misery pellets.”
Then things really heated up. CandyStore.com crunched a decade’s worth of sales figures and announced that candy corn is the most popular Halloween candy in six states, including Michigan, inspiring one Detroit columnist to lash out at his readers.
“You’re all gross,” sneered the Detroit Free Press’ Brian Manzullo.
People just gotta hate something, I suppose.
* And the first candy corn was made in Belleville…
If you’re out trick-or-treating this Halloween, you might notice some homes displaying a teal pumpkin outside their front door — and it’s more than just a decoration.
According to FARE — Food Allergy and Research Education — teal-colored pumpkins are part of a national effort called the “Teal Pumpkin Project” to make Halloween more safe for children with food allergies.
“Placing a teal pumpkin on your doorstep signals that, in addition to candy, you offer non-food trinkets and treats that are safe for all trick or treaters,” FARE’s website states.
According to FARE, one in 13 children has a potentially life-threatening food allergy, and many others are impacted by food intolerances or other digestive conditions.
* Things weren’t always so enlightened. Here’s Tom Emery…
Today, Halloween is a mixture of revelry, as both trick-or-treaters and adults are in costume with happy pumpkins and ghoulish skeletons for décor. A century ago, the holiday was more sinister – and violent.
Halloweens of the late 1800s and early 1900s were dominated by “pranks” that were closer to felonies and misdemeanors. Vandalism ruled the night as property was damaged and people were beaten. […]
A 1908 notice in Alton, Illinois, advised that “all persons caught or known to have committed any depredations will be prosecuted … special officers [will] be sworn in … to watch boys and others disposed to injure private property.” […]
In the Macoupin County town of Gillespie, Illinois, in 1926, the local paper reported that four boys were arrested and taken to the police magistrate “for shooting Halloween stunts out of season.”
A Beach Park man was arrested over the weekend for allegedly bringing an AR-15 loaded with “penetrator rounds” to a Halloween party in Antioch.
Around 10 p.m., Antioch police responded to a loud noise complaint about a party in the 200 block of Ida Avenue. When officers arrived at the scene, they obsevered a crowd of more than 300 people.
Antioch police called in some backup and began dispersing the crowd, which took more than four hours to completely clear the area.
* The first time I remember hating my parents was when they forced me to wear a heavy winter coat over my costume…
It's a spooky Halloween weather forecast: snow. This will be the 9th time in 139 years that Chicago has seen snow on Halloween. https://t.co/AVT8D4Z7Dm
NPR interviewed Joel Best, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, about the persistent myths of tainted candy…
Best has been dispelling this myth for years and telling people they shouldn’t worry about people tampering with treats. But even with no evidence of this happening, the urban legend still persists every Halloween.
“We’ve stopped believing in ghosts and goblins, but we believe in criminals,” said Best. “Ghosts and goblins are just kind of silly. But having a criminal, having Michael Myers running around your town, that’s a scary possibility.”
* So cute…
“Hello? 911? Hello? Yes, I’m calling to report a burglary in progress….yes….in progress…stealing Halloween decorations off porches next door…yes the suspect is still on scene.” pic.twitter.com/PA215WKFdu
* ICYMI: Ford reaches a deal with the UAW. Tribune…
-In addition to substantial pay raises and other benefits for workers, the Ford deal also includes a commitment to invest $400 million in the Chicago Ford Plant on the South Side.
-The Stellantis tentative agreement with the UAW includes bringing thousands of workers back to the Belvidere Assembly Plant near Rockford.
— Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (@SpeakerWelchIL) October 29, 2023
* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…
* Sun-Times | Plan for 2nd migrant tent camp at donated Jewel, parking lot clears City Council committee: “The City will soon begin performing work on the site to confirm the underlying infrastructure’s viability before initiating construction. The City will notify residents as to the outcome of this final assessment and will share further operations details prior to placing any individuals into the facilities. At the conclusion of the base camp mission, the City intends to transfer ownership of the site to a local community development corporation and fully provide support for the development of affordable housing and retail space on the site.”
* Tribune | Aldermen delay vote on Johnson paid leave plan amid pushback: It’s likely some version of the paid leave legislation will eventually pass. It’s a key plank of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s pro-worker agenda and supporters Monday said they had the votes necessary to pass it. The delay signaled substantive disagreement over the ordinance, however. It presents a test of whether Johnson, with the help of progressive allies, can live up to the reputation he’s tried to burnish as the city’s unifier.
* WTTW | With Few Granted, Time Is Fleeting for People in Illinois Prisons Hoping for Medical Release: ‘My Hope Is Waning’: Under the law, people in prison can petition the Illinois Prisoner Review Board for early release if they are terminally ill and likely to die within the next eighteen months; have become disabled since being incarcerated; or are likely to become disabled within the next six months. During a WTTW News visit to the facility two hours west of Chicago, Dyches shared letters from both his doctor at UI Health and the Dixon Correctional Center doctor attesting to his terminal illness. Despite that documentation, the board still denied him.
* CBS Chicago | Hate crimes tripled in Illinois between 2017 and 2022: “Going back to 2017, the number of hate incidents that were reported in Illinois was about 85,” said Special Agent Brian Etchell, who oversees hate crimes out of the Chicago FBI field office. “In five years in 2022, the number of incidents has tripled.”
* Daily Herald | Rosemont hotel no longer hosting pro-Palestinian event after receiving threats: “The decision by the Hyatt Regency O’Hare to yield to pressure and threats to cancel our event is not an isolated incident,” Irshaid said in a written statement. “We have witnessed similar cancellations of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American events in locations like Orlando, (Florida) and Washington, D.C. Regrettably, by giving in to these threats, these establishments are inadvertently legitimizing and giving credibility to voices of bigotry, violence, and exclusion. In doing so, they contribute to the fueling of Islamophobia, anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian racism.”
* Business Journal | Illinois Nurses Association, State of Illinois agree on new four-year contract: The new contract was ratified with a 97% vote. Tori Dameron, RN, president of the Illinois Nurses Association, registered nurse at Quincy Veterans Home, and co-chief negotiator, expressed her enthusiasm for this achievement, saying, “The power of organizing is clear. These nurses stood together to support each other’s needs and demands and it paid off. Never before have these nurses seen a contract this strong and a local union so powerful. We were able to come together through rallies, petitions, and other organizing across the state to win the biggest wage increase that state nurses have ever seen.
* Streets Blog Chicago | State legislation introduced by Kam Buckner and supported by North Lakefront reps urges CDOT and IDOT to “transform DLSD”: The synopsis adds that the bill’s goal is to get the departments “to incorporate safe and efficient multimodal transportation throughout DuSable Lake Shore Drive for pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users, and drivers, to emphasize green urban mobility.” This would “ensure that any proposed changes are considered as part of a comprehensive plan for efficient traffic management and movement of people, including during special events and weather challenges.” The synopsis concludes that the aim is to have “more green space and recreational opportunities for Chicagoans, as well as visitors, and to repurpose, where possible, existing infrastructure as part of expanded recreational opportunities.”
* WTTW | Chicago’s Top Cop Vows to Rein in Police Overtime Spending as 2023 Bill Tops $200M: After spending $126.5 million on overtime for members of the Chicago Police Department during the first six months of 2023, the department remains on track to end the year with a total police overtime bill of more than $250 million. The City Council only budgeted $100 million for police overtime in 2023.
* Sun-Times | Northwestern pledges $100 million for Evanston if it gets OK for Ryan Field concerts: Monday’s meeting went late into the night, with most testimony opposing Northwestern. Speakers were given one and a half minutes each to reprise arguments made at length before the city’s Land Use Commission. The advisory panel held three meetings on Ryan Field and on Oct. 11 voted 7-2 against Northwestern’s request for concerts.
* Bloomberg | ADM Reviews Plant-Based Protein Growth Plan on Weak Demand for Fake Meat: “The plant-based protein market has been experiencing de-stocking and consumer demand softness over the course of the year,” Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano said on a conference call with investors, adding adverse conditions would likely persist into 2024.
