* Molly Parker…
Dozens of state employees across multiple agencies are under investigation by a state watchdog for claims they fraudulently obtained payments from a federal pandemic-era loan program, Capitol News Illinois has learned.
Neil Olson, general counsel at the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General, confirmed that “OEIG has been investigating allegations of Paycheck Protection Program fraud by state employees under our jurisdiction.” The review, he said, is “systematic,” involving multiple state agencies and the other governing bodies under OEIG’s jurisdiction, which include state universities, boards and commissions, and regional transit boards. […]
Fraud in the PPP program has been widespread across the United States. In a June report, the inspector general for the SBA estimated that the agency paid out more than $200 billion in “potentially fraudulent” aid during the pandemic – about 17 percent of the $1.2 trillion that was dispersed through the PPP and other similar programs. […]
The scandal has ensnared numerous employees who work at the Illinois Department of Human Services, including at state-run facilities for people with disabilities that are facing staffing shortages. In late June, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed that at least 30 IDHS employees were in various stages of the disciplinary process for inappropriately taking PPP loans. At the time, eight IDHS employees had been fired, six had resigned and 16 were pending disciplinary action. […]
The fraud was not limited to IDHS. Collectively, state employees may have obtained millions of dollars in fraudulent payments. A spokesperson for Gov. JB Pritzker declined to provide specifics about how many employees have faced disciplinary action for PPP fraud, saying that the governor’s office does not comment on ongoing investigations. While some employees have already received notices of their termination, they have a right to appeal that decision.
Well, that’s one way to get rid of the dead weight.
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The lost art of outreach (continued)
Wednesday, Aug 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
More than 47,000 Illinois residents lost Medicaid health insurance coverage this month — joining millions of people across the country losing Medicaid as states ask recipients to prove they’re still eligible for the program, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started. […]
The federal government has estimated that about 700,000 people in Illinois may lose Medicaid coverage by the time the process is complete. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is more optimistic, estimating that about 384,000 Illinois residents may lose coverage. […]
Of the Illinois residents who lost coverage this month, 13,375 individuals were no longer eligible. Another 34,250 individuals lost Medicaid because they didn’t respond to requests to prove their eligibility or because they didn’t provide the state with all the required information, Munks said.
Another 139,538 people were found to still qualify for Medicaid, and will continue to have Medicaid coverage. The state is still determining whether an additional 13,830 people should stay on Medicaid.
If the state’s goal is to prevent half of the federal government’s projected losses by reaching out to current Medicaid recipients and making sure they fill out the paperwork and file it on time, then the state is now way behind. Better outreach is obviously needed.
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Afternoon roundup
Wednesday, Aug 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Today, Governor JB Pritzker signed HB2396, requiring each school board to establish a kindergarten program with full day attendance, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year. Under this bill, every district must also establish a half-day program that is developmentally appropriate and provides opportunities for play-based learning. […]
According to the National Education Association, children in full-day classes show greater reading and mathematics achievements than those in half day classes. Research also indicates that children’s early reading skills are enhanced with the additional instruction time provided by full day kindergarten programs. Alongside academic gains, full day kindergarten offers several social and emotional benefits to students.
Districts that currently do not offer a full-day program can apply for a waiver to extend the implementation date up to two years past the 2027-2028 school years if they meet certain criteria.
* Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker, TCCI, Richland Community College, and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today joined local leaders and partners to break ground on TCCI’s new electric vehicle (EV) Innovation Hub in Decatur. A global leader in electric compressors for commercial, heavy-duty, and automotive specialty markets, TCCI’s EV Innovation Hub is a critical part of Illinois’ growing EV ecosystem. […]
Bolstered by the State of Illinois’ Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois (REV Illinois) incentive package which supports the manufacturing facility expansion, $21.3 million in capital grants were also appropriated to the City of Decatur and Richland Community College to build the first-of-its kind Climatic Center for Innovation and Research, as well as the EV + Energy Workforce Training Academy.
“This three-tiered project represents a historic investment in American manufacturing and a major step toward establishing a full EV supply chain in the US, from supplies to talent,” said TCCI President Richard Demirjian. “It’s fitting that Decatur, on the same site where we have produced compressors since 1984, will now play a critical role in driving the global transportation sector toward an exciting future of electrification.”
Headquartered in Decatur, TCCI’s state-of-the-art electric compressor line will produce the largest range of capacity and voltage of any compressor manufacturer in the EV automotive market. By manufacturing electric compressors locally, TCCI not only supports the growth of electrification but will also create high-wage, skilled jobs that fuel economic development in the local community.
Producing essential EV components at TCCI’s Decatur location will help solidify the state’s position as a manufacturing leader and expand the EV Innovation Cluster in central Illinois. Production is slated to begin by the third quarter of 2024, making it one of the first such production facilities in the U.S.
* Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker today signed House Bill 0780 to establish and administer a Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Pilot Program in Will County beginning January 1, 2024, through January 1, 2027. The Illinois Department on Aging worked in close coordination with Leader Natalie Manley to establish this legislation that amends the Illinois Act on Aging. It will require an intake coordinator for Will County to be responsible for connecting grandparents raising grandchildren to relevant resources and services provided by state agencies.
* The CTU-aligned left-wing has been claiming for years that Chicago and its school system are fiscally “broke on purpose” and that there is more than enough money to go around. Mayor Johnson is obviously still a believer, but reality is setting in…
Brandon Johnson strode into a conference room this month at Malcolm X College, where scores of mostly West Siders had gathered to hear how Chicago’s newly minted mayor will align his unapologetic progressivism with the dollars-and-cents realities of the city’s $16.4 billion budget.
The crowd of at least 100 at the community budget roundtable listened raptly as the mayor dared them to imagine: “How about a budget that creates more than enough for revenue?” It was a nod to his stirring orations during the campaign where he often promised his dinner table will be “big enough” for all Chicagoans.
But during another roundtable this past week, Johnson’s budget director, Annette Guzman, spoke in more cautious terms.
“Unfortunately, it’s sort of like a zero-sum game,” Guzman said. “OK, there’s only so much resources that we have. So we have to make sure that we’re allocating it amongst many, many competing interests.”
* Center Square headline…
Pritzker: No plan to deploy National Guard in Chicago
Lede…
As Gov. J.B. Pritzker weighs whether to use the National Guard in Chicago to help officers deal with crime, some city officials are speaking out against the possibility.
Scroll down…
Pritzker said he doesn’t plan to use the National Guard to combat crime.
“National Guardsman and women are trained to kill people on a battle field. That is what they are trained to do. They are not police. They don’t know how to do crowd control,” Pritzker said.
What the heck was that all about?
* Isabel’s roundup…
* ABC Chicago | Pritzker signs new law establishing full-day kindergarten in Illinois: Under provisions of the bill, full-day kindergarten will need to be offered by school districts by the 2027-28 school year, though some schools could qualify for an extension of that date.
* WTTW | New Measure Aims to Protect Illinois Temp Workers, Move Them Into Permanent Jobs: Those temps often don’t know where they’ll be working from one day to the next, or even if they’ll be working. And it’s a group of workers that advocates say are more vulnerable to harassment and abuse — including so-called perma-temping, where workers are held back from getting hired full-time.
* WBEZ | New pick for top Chicago Park District lawyer accused in a civil rights lawsuit in Evanston: A lawyer who worked under top Evanston attorney Nicholas Cummings alleges she endured “racist and misogynistic harassment” and a “hostile work environment” at the northern suburb, court records show. An attorney for Cummings denied the accusations, and city officials say he was cleared in an internal investigation by outside counsel.
* WTTW | Illinois Has Recorded More Tornadoes Than Any Other State This Year: Colby Hunt, president of the McDonough County Farm Bureau, said he saw about $400,000 in damage from intense winds in June. Farm facilities like grain bins and sheds were “just blown away.” His corn crops were damaged.
* Crain’s | How St. Bernard flipped its safety grade from an ‘F’ to an ‘A’: The facility still struggles with industrywide problems of underfunding and low staffing. Nevertheless, St. Bernard’s commitment to better patient care shows in the hospital’s hallways dotted with bulletin boards detailing its quality improvement achievements and goals.
* WTTW | Chicago Street Outreach Workers Use Own Experiences to Reach Others in Their Neighborhoods: Vaughn Bryant, executive director of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, says there are around 260 street outreach workers across the city — many of them from violent backgrounds themselves. “That’s what makes them credible, gives them the license to operate,” Bryant said. “They know the people, they have the relationships. They’ve lived that life but they’ve also turned their lives around to a positive direction.”
* Daily Herald | Elk Grove Village could go a year without a new police chief: That’s to allow enough time for Rich Mikel to coach and mentor the police department’s command staff who eventually might be considered for the top cop job, Johnson said.
* Daily Herald | ‘It’s putrid’: Residents air grievances about odors from local food plants: Residents in Mount Prospect, Des Plaines and St. Charles are up in arms about odors wafting from nearby food producers. And some worry that local governments, eager to attract industry, are turning up their noses at concerns.
* Crain’s | What’s behind the rise of downtown’s super-luxury apartment market: The apartment-building boom of the past several years has brought with it a miniature boom tucked inside. Several of the buildings, designed for the luxury market, have within them an even higher class of super-expensive penthouses, the kind of premier space that used to be available only for purchase in condo towers.
* WGLT | Illinois State University hires Brad Franke as top Springfield lobbyist: Brad Franke was hired Tuesday as ISU’s director of public affairs and policy, part of the President’s Office. He succeeds Jonathan Lackland, who left his role as ISU’s director of governmental relations in December, a few months before President Terri Goss Kinzy’s resignation. Aondover Tarhule is now interim president.
* WBEZ | Meet the couple taking on the opioid epidemic, one music festival at a time: They hand out the nasal spray, which can cost more than $100 without insurance, on lanyards so partygoers can quickly administer it in crowded spaces. They instruct attendees to do the following: Tilt a person’s head back, insert the nozzle into a nostril and press the plunger.
* SJ-R | Sensory friendly station, sunflower hours to be featured at the Illinois State Fair: “This year, we are taking steps to help those who feel overwhelmed by giving them a place to get support and make their fair a positive experience,” said Rebecca Clark, state fair manager. “The fair is a celebration of our state so I think if we can be accommodating to all, that’s what we should strive to be.”
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Funny how this works
Wednesday, Aug 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Crain’s…
In a metaphor of sorts for the state of the party — and, for that matter, the nation — Illinois Republicans are all over the map in their reaction to the indictment of former President Donald Trump for allegedly conspiring to nullify the results of the 2020 presidential election and claim a second term in the White House.
Leading conservatives in the Illinois GOP, mostly downstate, are blasting the indictment on four felony counts as a rigged political action aimed at hurting Trump’s chances in 2024. More moderate party figures, mostly in the Chicago area, are ripping Trump and his allies for abetting an effort to overturn American democracy. Solid swaths of other Republicans are keeping mum, issuing no tweets or press statements.
All the “moderate party figures” quoted in the piece are out of power, like former US Reps. Joe Walsh and Adam Kinzinger.
* As for those still in positions of power…
Among those saying nothing at all so far are the state Republican Party, Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy and Cook County Republican Party Chair Sean Morrison.
* The Illinois Republican Party isn’t completely silent about corruption, though. The party issued a press release today about a Chicago alderperson who resigned four years ago…
Welcome to another edition of Continuing Corruption, where we dig deep into the actions of politicians embroiled in controversies that erode public confidence. Today, we shift our focus to Illinois Democrat Willie Cochran, a former alderman whose troubling actions have left a stain on the state’s political landscape.
Before his corruption came to light, Willie Cochran was a prominent figure in Chicago politics and served as the alderman of the 20th Ward in Chicago, Illinois. The 20th Ward, in particular, has had a dismal track record, with Cochran becoming the third alderman in the last four to be indicted while in office.
So, what exactly did he do?
Cochran was charged in December 2016 with one count of felony wire fraud. The case revealed his involvement in stealing a staggering $14,000 from a charity he had created to support vulnerable children and seniors in his South Side ward. Instead of fulfilling the noble purpose of the charity, Cochran shamelessly misused the funds for personal gain, indulging in lavish dinners, splurging on Mercedes-Benz accessories, funding his daughter’s college education, and feeding a dangerous gambling habit.
Let me repeat that: he stole from a charity for children and elderly to fund a gambling habit.
Cochran resigned from his position as alderman of the 20th Ward in Chicago on March 1, 2019. His resignation came after he was re-elected to his position in February 2019 while facing the pending charges of wire fraud.
In June 2019, Cochran was sentenced to one year in prison on one count of felony wire fraud.
The Illinois Democratic Party’s persistent series of corruption scandals has cast a dark shadow on the state’s political landscape. Time and again, prominent figures within the party have faced allegations of unethical conduct, abuse of power, and misuse of public funds. From former aldermen and city officials to high-ranking state politicians, the list of individuals embroiled in controversies seems unending. These scandals not only erode public trust in the party but also undermine faith in the state’s governance. It’s a troubling pattern that demands a thorough examination of the party’s internal mechanisms and a renewed commitment to transparency, accountability, and ethical leadership.
But of course, we’ll see you back next week when we discuss yet another member of the Illinois Democrat Party who abused their power as an elected official at the expense of the public they were supposed to serve.
…Adding… Sean Morrison issued a statement on crime today…
At some point Cook County’s elected officials should acknowledge that the enacted prosecutorial, bail and judicial sentencing “reform” policies are failing our community. More precisely, they are failing the innocent hard-working families in Cook County and beyond.
* Meanwhile, Darren Bailey said this in March of last year…
“Today’s indictment of the former Speaker and leader of the @IllinoisDems is no surprise. As Governor, I’ll root out corruption and ensure those who engage in illegal activity are prosecuted and pay a steep price for violating public trust. It’s time to reform Springfield. #twill,” Bailey posted on Twitter
Contrast that with yesterday…
* Bailey’s primary opponent Mike Bost issued a press release cheering on the feds last year, then tweeted this yesterday…
OK, I’ve broken the seal. Take some deep breaths before commenting, please.
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* Keep in mind when reading this Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability report for July that federal ARPA funds were used for one-time things, like debt reduction, etc. So, the overall “decline” isn’t really doing anything to ongoing state spending programs. Instead, pay most attention to recurring base revenues…
Base revenues into the State’s General Funds performed quite well to start off FY 2024 with year- over-year growth of $396 million. However, when last July’s $584 million deposit of ARPA reimbursements are included in the calculation, the overall change is a decline of $188 million to start the fiscal year. July had the same number of receipting days as the same month the prior fiscal year. The increase in base receipts was spurred by notable improvement from income tax receipts. Personal Income Taxes rose $184 million in July, a net increase of $153 million when removing distributions to the Refund Fund and the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF). Similarly, Corporate Income Taxes rose a solid $117 million, or $95 million on a net basis.
As provided by P.A. 103-0008, the annual percentage of personal income tax revenues that are to go to the Income Tax Refund Fund was lowered from 9.25% in FY 2023 to 9.15% in FY 2024. The percentage of corporate income tax revenues that are to go to the Income Tax Refund Fund was also reduced, from 14.5% to 14.0%. Reduced refund fund percentages mean that more available funds could go into the State’s General Funds. However, the gain in net receipts due to these percentage changes will be more than offset by an increase in the portion distributed to the LGDF. Public Act 103-0008 also provided that 6.47% (instead of 6.16%) of personal income tax revenues (net of refunds) shall go to the LGDF in FY 2024. The amount of net corporate receipts to the LGDF did not change and remains at 6.85%.
The growth in base revenues was also aided by a significant rise in Federal Sources base receipts. In July these particular receipts were $253 million higher than the year prior. However, if the $584 million in non-base federal dollars receipted in July 2022 from the ARPA Reimbursement for Essential Government Services are included into the equation, Federal Sources were actually down $331 million for the month. No additional ARPA reimbursements are anticipated in FY 2024, which will be a comparable disadvantage throughout the year when comparing FY 2024 with FY 2023 year- to-date totals.
Sales Taxes held flat in July on a gross basis. On a net basis, when accounting for distributions to the Road Fund and other transportation funds, a modest decline of $11 million occurred due the increase in Road Fund Transfers under current law. In regard to all Other State Sources, revenues combined to eke out a $2 million gain. A $20 million increase in Interest on State Funds & Investments, a $7 million rise in Corporate Franchise Taxes, and a slight $1 million increase in Public Utility Taxes helped offset declines in General Funds receipt distributions from Insurance Taxes [-$16 million]; Inheritance Taxes [-$6 million]; and the Cigarette Tax [-$4 million].
The performance of Transfers In was mixed. Lottery Transfers were $20 million higher, Gaming Transfers from Illinois’ casinos were up $7 million, and Cannabis Transfers rose $1 million. These gains, however, could not overcome the $124 million decline in Other Transfers, resulting in an overall Transfers In decline of $96 million. The notable decline in Other Transfers is primarily due to a Capital Projects Fund July 2022 transfer of $140 million that did not repeat in July of this year.
* To recap, this is a year-over-year July-only growth of $396 million, including net gains of $153 million in personal income taxes (10.9 percent increase) and $95 million in corporate income (57.9 percent increase).
Also setting aside one-time ARPA money for one-time spending, the state saw a $253 million base increase in federal funding, which is a 414.8 percent increase.
The sales tax net decline was due to the yearslong task of eventually transferring all sales taxes on motor fuels to the Road Fund.
Excluding ARPA, total net General Funds sources grew from $3.01 billion in July of 2022 to $3.406 billion in July of 2023. That’s a 13.2 percent increase.
* With inflation, $3.01 billion in July of 2022 is equal to $3.1 billion in June of 2023. July numbers aren’t yet available, but inflation has significantly cooled of late. So, factoring inflation, that’s still $306 million in growth and represents a 9.87 percent increase. It’ll be slightly smaller when July numbers arrive.
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Delivery Helps Chicago Restaurants Grow On Uber Eats
Wednesday, Aug 2, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
At Uber Eats, local restaurants are the backbone of our communities and delivery continues to help small business owners reach new customers and increase sales.
We recently published the results of the 2022 US Merchant Impact Report—which come directly from a survey of merchant partners. Read More.
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Live coverage
Wednesday, Aug 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* ScribbleLive is down and XTwitter, in another super-genius move, has stopped allowing people to embed their list feeds on websites. So, click here and/or here to follow breaking news.
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* October of 2019…
The Forest County Potawatomi tribe of Wisconsin is suing the city of Waukegan, Illinois, for rejecting its proposal to build a casino on the site of a ghost shopping mall in the city. […]
Last week, the city council rubber-stamped bids from the tribe’s three competitors — Full House Resorts, North Point Casino, and Rivers Casino Waukegan – sending them to the Illinois Gaming Board, which will make the final decision. But the Potawatomi project didn’t make the cut. […]
The report in question, complied by Johnson Consultants, asserted the tribe was offering $5.6 million to buy the plot of land on which the casino would be built, the lowest of the four bids.
But the tribe argues it didn’t quote any specific price for the land in its application at all, and neither was it required to. It merely stated it would pay within 15 percent of the plot’s market value.
The tribe later submitted supplementary materials emphasizing it was prepared to pay $12 million for the plot, which was not included in the Johnson Consultants report.
According to the lawsuit, the report rated the Potawatomi as first or second in every other category except for the purchase price, but ultimately ranked the entire proposal last – a decision the tribe describes as “inexplicable.”
* November of 2021…
The owners of the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino claim that former [Waukegan] Mayor Sam Cunningham manipulated the bidding for a future Waukegan casino to favor the gambling company of former state Sen. Michael Bond. […]
The Potawatomi group pointed to the significant financial contributions that Bond, CEO of Tap Room Gaming, had provided to councilmembers who voted in line with Cunningham’s request.
In the final weeks of the 2017 mayoral campaign, Bond directed more than $50,000 to Cunningham. Then, ahead of the 2019 City Council election, Bond and his network of companies and committees gave $250,000 to candidates he backed, essentially fully bankrolling four candidates who won seats.
According to the tribal casino entity, city officials favoring Bond’s North Point proposal also selected Neil Bluhm’s Rush Street Gaming/Rivers Casino for consideration by the state gambling board as a result of Rivers’ teaming up with Waukegan Gaming LLC, the entity that had been selected by the city in an unsuccessful 2004 effort to bring a casino to town and had filed suit seeking the new license.
“Based on Bond’s campaign largesse and personal connection to Cunningham, North Point indeed had the inside track. But given public scrutiny of the Bond connection, the City also favored Full House as a relatively weak competitor that could ‘quash’ the (accurate) perception of bias toward North Point,” Potawatomi attorneys alleged. “The selection of Rivers does nothing to negate this inference, because Rivers punched its own ticket in the form of damaging information it unearthed in the Waukegan Gaming litigation. Hence Cunningham’s directive to send North Point, Full House and Rivers, but not Potawatomi, to the Illinois Gaming Board.”
Except, the Illinois Gaming Board wound up choosing Full House, which was granted a temporary operating license earlier this year and a sports betting license in June.
* But now…
The cards have already been dealt in the Waukegan casino game, but a state appellate court has issued a ruling that could bring back to the table a spurned bidder that has long complained of a “rigged” contest for the coveted gambling license.
That means the north suburban casino selection process could end up being reshuffled, even though Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts has been open for betting business at a temporary gambling mecca in the city for almost six months.
Illinois’ First District Appellate Court sided Friday with the Forest County Potawatomi Community in their long-running court battle with Waukegan, where the Native American tribe has contended officials didn’t give them a fair shake in 2019 while considering casino operators that were then forwarded for a final selection by state gambling regulators. […]
“Potawatomi Casino pursued a significant business opportunity to fairly compete for a casino license, and where that opportunity was denied due to the city’s alleged failure to perform the process lawfully, there is a distinct and palpable injury,” Justice Raymond Mitchell wrote in the decision.
The ruling is here. The case was sent back to the trial court.
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It just keeps getting more ridiculous
Wednesday, Aug 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Fox News is gonna Fox News, I suppose. Chaos in the streets, some predict..
- Illinois enacting a law that ends cash bail is a “backdoor way” to defund law enforcement and will likely spark a police exodus as officers ask why they should even bother arresting people, according to retired law enforcement officials who spoke to Fox News Digital.
Scroll down…
[Retired Fulton County Sheriff Sgt. Donald “Ike” Hackett] added that eliminating cash bail also cuts revenue streams to programs that support victims. He said that revenue from bail is $300,000 in some counties, which is often used to pay for crime victims funds or domestic violence funds, which were established to “to reduce the financial burden imposed on victims of violent crime and their families,” according to the Illinois attorney general’s website that details the state’s Crime Victims Compensation Program.
OK, I’ve seen this stuff about victim restitution before. A bit of context is in order. According to a 2021 report of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, circuit court clerks throughout Illinois disbursed $1.33 billion that year. Subtract the $66.4 million in refunds to people who posted cash bail, paid fines, etc. and that left $1.27 billion, which, needless to say, is a huge pile of cash.
Of that $1.27 billion, just $11.5 million was paid to crime victims statewide. Sheriffs offices, however, received $15.2 million for process serving and court security.
* Back to the story…
Hackett pointed to an incident this month in Fulton County, where an 18-year-old recently released from custody on his own recognizance for domestic battery charges allegedly attacked a 14-year-old boy in Lewistown. […]
“This is what cashless bail will bring,” Hackett said.
Um, under the SAFE-T Act, domestic battery will be a detainable offense. The retired sheriff took a recent failure by his own county and projected it onto a law that hasn’t yet taken effect. And everyone seems to ignore the fact that groups which work with, and advocate for domestic violence victims supported the law because it got serious about domestic violence.
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* For those who aren’t familiar with the Metro East area, MetroLink is the transit agency that serves both sides of the Mississippi River in the St. Louis area. Here’s St. Louis Public Radio…
MetroLink will soon get $223 million from the federal government to replace aging light rail cars and repair damage from flooding, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in East St. Louis on Monday.
The first portion of the federal money, $27 million, will help repair damage sustained last summer during record flooding. The remaining $196 million will fund 48 new light rail cars.
“We know how much transit means to people, and we know that this community has been through a lot,” Buttigieg said in a speech at MetroLink’s Emerson Park location. […]
Buttigieg, alongside U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield; U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis County, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, praised the MetroLink investment as the work of President Joe Biden’s administration. […]
Local officials said earlier this year that Emerson Park [in East St. Louis], the site of Monday’s press conference, would be the location of a new $13.6 million public safety center. The facility is currently being built and is scheduled to be completed in February.
The 16,000-square-foot center will include a new St. Clair County dispatch operation and space for the sheriff’s department.
Gov. Pritzker announced earlier this year that the Illinois State Police’s Metro East regional headquarters would be located in East St. Louis.
* Buttigieg also visited Urbana on Monday…
In looking toward the future, Buttigieg put forth the idea of “complete streets.”
“Now is a great opportunity not to repeat some of the mistakes that we’ve inherited,” Buttigieg said. “There was a period that we thought, for example, that the only function of a road going through the middle of a built-up area where a lot of people live is to blast vehicles through as quickly as possible.”
A “complete street,” according to Buttigieg, would include sidewalks and more space so that cars, bicycles and pedestrians, including wheelchair users, can “coexist peacefully.”
He said that while this may seem like a new idea to some, he sees it as going back to basics, approaching city planning more like someone would have before the invention of cars.
“We were so excited about what cars could bring that we neglected to fit that into a bigger picture,” Buttigieg said.
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Open thread
Wednesday, Aug 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s up with y’all this Wednesday?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Aug 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Daily Southtown | South Suburban Airport plans get lift after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs bill to find development partner: The state has spent $100 million to buy some 5,000 acres for the proposed airport near Monee, and Greenwood said that acreage represents about 90% of the needed land.
* NBC Chicago | Here are some of the new Illinois laws hitting the books in coming months: Among the new bills are laws allowing residents legal recourse if they are the victim of “deep-fake” sexual material, while another will impact the way medical facilities can attempt to obtain funds from patients via the collections process.
* Sun-Times | Residents decry ‘audacity’ of proposed $402 million Peoples Gas rate hike: Speakers at a public meeting at UIC tell Peoples Gas executives that the cost of living is already high and a rate hike would add to households’ financial pressure.
* Capitol Connection | State strikes deal with labor unions, state workers to get raise: The deal also included some new rules around hiring that are meant to streamline the process, and the governor’s office says there are also some streamlined disciplinary processes.
* Sun-Times | Appeals court revives Potawatomi lawsuit over alleged ‘rigged’ casino selection in Waukegan: A temporary casino has been up and running in the north suburb since February, but an appellate court ruling could end up forcing officials to start the selection process from scratch following complaints from the Forest County Potawatomi Community.
* Lake County News-Sun | Local state lawmakers behind new measure to keep youths in state care closer to home; ‘They don’t have anyone around who knows them’: Illinois young people with disabilities and mental health medical needs in the care of the state’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) will get more attention closer to home as the result of recently signed legislation.
* Chicago Mag | Illinois Is the Most Progressive State: During the mayoral campaign, the most dedicated Johnson volunteer I met was Jonathan Nagy, a 33-year-old queer artist who moved to Chicago from his hometown in Ohio in 2016. Small-town Ohio is not a great place to be queer, or an artist. Nagy settled in Logan Square because he was “looking for a political community” and “wanted intentional spaces to meet my neighbors.” Those sound like the motivations that have created Bishop’s Big Sort. Bishop also wrote that “gay couples were congregating in particular cities — specific zip codes, in fact.”
* Tribune | Migrants are moved out of police station near Grant Park ahead of Lollapalooza, some to newly opened Broadway Armory shelter across town: Dozens were put on city-run buses to the Broadway Armory in Edgewater, among the first to be lodged there after it opened as a shelter for asylum-seekers Tuesday morning. Chicago sanitation workers threw away what the migrants left behind at the police station into a garbage truck — mattresses, children’s backpacks, shopping carts filled with food, rugs and clothing.
* Sun-Times | Road leading to Chicago’s 2024 Democratic Convention looks a bit like 1968: We are a nation of movements, with a new generation advocating for Black Lives Matter, defunding the police, LGBTQ+ issues, abortion rights and anti-gun legislation. On the other side are their polar opposites.
* Post-Tribune | Protests held across region against Indiana abortion ban taking effect: Indiana’s six remaining abortion clinics — including the Merrillville Planned Parenthood location — have stopped providing abortions ahead of the state’s near-total abortion ban officially taking effect, clinic officials said Tuesday.
* Bolts | Oregon Wants to Register Medicaid Recipients to Vote. Will Biden Officials Allow It?: The bill could add tens of thousands of people to voter rolls by allowing the Oregon Health Authority to forward basic information it collects from people applying for Medicaid coverage—age, residence, and citizenship status—to election officials. These officials would then use it to register anyone who is eligible to vote and but not already signed up to do so.
* AP | Wisconsin Supreme Court flips to liberal control: Janet Protasiewicz, who made abortion rights a focus of her winning election campaign and called Republican-drawn redistricting maps “rigged,” marked the start of her 10-year term with a swearing-in ceremony in the state Capitol Rotunda attended by an overflow crowd of hundreds, including many Democratic officeholders.
* WBEZ | Chicago’s interim top cop was accused in a domestic violence complaint in 1994: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s interim police superintendent was accused of domestic violence by his then-wife in 1994, but she ultimately stopped cooperating with an internal probe into the incident, and the department soon concluded that her complaint was “not sustained,” records show.
* Tribune | Our 18 must-dos before summer ends: Entertainment writers share their personal picks: It’s open year-round but late summer is an especially nice time to get to know a place in East Dundee called Van’s Frozen Custard & Burgers. […] Ensconced within Avondale’s rapidly developing riverside edge, you’ll find one of the most scenic stretches of the Chicago River’s North Branch. You might already know its east side, home to Clark Park (with its famous Jeanne Gang-designed WMS Boathouse), a mountain biking course and the southern terminus of the new 312 RiverRun trail.
* Tribune | James O’Connor Sr., former ComEd CEO and philanthropic leader, dies: Between 1963 and 1980, O’Connor rose through the ranks at ComEd before serving as CEO until 1998. Much of his time at the head of ComEd was spent grappling with the company’s nuclear program, which faced structural and financial challenges despite O’Connor’s sterling civic reputation.
* Crain’s | Hollywood is giving Ken Griffin the celebrity-actor treatment: Sony Picture’s “Dumb Money,” which will premiere in theaters Sept. 22, casts Chicagoland native Nick Offerman as the Citadel founder. Offerman, who was born in Joliet and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is perhaps best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom “Parks & Recreation.”
* Pioneer Press | Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz remembered by North Shore residents as attentive and kind neighbor: For Northfield’s Molly Oelerich, the memories are sweet in both a literal and figurative sense as she was the parent of children who went to the Winnetka-area home of Rocky and Marilyn Wirtz on Halloween. After standing in what could be a long line, children would receive full-size candy bars from Marilyn and then Rocky would autograph hockey pucks as they stood in their driveway.
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More school bus woes
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Chalkbeat…
More than 8,000 Chicago Public Schools students will not have bus service on the first day of class on Aug. 21, a problem the district blames on an ongoing bus driver shortage.
With only half of the 1,300 drivers needed to transport students who require bus service, Chicago said it will instead prioritize transportation for students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness. Both groups are legally required to receive transportation to school. […]
This is the third year in a row in which the return to class has been marred by transportation woes that have left thousands of students without transportation or with long commutes. The district, which contracts with outside companies to provide transportation, has attributed bus service snarls in previous years to nationwide driver shortages.
In an effort to help fix ongoing transportation problems, the district in March approved a $4 million contract with Education Logistics Inc., known as EduLog, to schedule bus routes, determine start times for summer school and assign bus vendors during the school year. The contract is set to run through June 30, 2026. […]
Last year, Chicago provided bus service to 17,275 children, or about 5% of students.
Looks like that new contract hasn’t work out too well. More money hasn’t helped…
CPS contracts with 13 school bus companies, and has added alternative modes of transportation like taxis and vans over the past two years to help deal with the bus driver shortage.
CPS says in the past year, busing companies have increased wages for drivers to $20 to $25 an hour and many have also increased recruitment fairs and added referral bonuses.
Yes, the labor market is super tight, but this is a national and statewide problem and has been a problem for quite a while. There was a time when school districts directly employed bus drivers. That’s not the case so much anymore, as districts have sought to slash short-term and long-term costs. It ain’t working right.
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Afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz on the search to replace the late Todd Maisch…
Sources close to the matter say the Illinois Chamber of Commerce has hired an executive recruitment firm, Koya Partners, and is getting ready to interview candidates, with a decision likely by sometime this fall.
A Chamber spokesman said only that the search process has begun and is in the opening stages. But sources say the list of applicants includes former state GOP Chairman Pat Brady, now a Springfield lobbyist; Clark Kaericher, the chamber’s senior vice president of government affairs, and former state Rep. Keith Wheeler, an Oswego Republican who lost his seat in the 2022 election after Democrats remapped him into a difficult district.
* Southern Illinois news…
Governor JB Pritzker, Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today celebrated Contour Airlines’ “first flight” – the very first flight of a new route established between Chicago and Marion. The new route will make Southern Illinois more accessible for business travel and visiting family and friends, while opening the door to the many tourism gems and attractions throughout each region. […]
The new route will offer daily direct passenger flights between O’Hare in Chicago and Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois in Marion, making travel between Southern Illinois and Chicago more seamless, accessible, and affordable. This marks the first time a passenger route between O’Hare and Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois is being offered. […]
In support of the new flight route, the Airport Authority in Marion – which oversees Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois – will receive a $1.4 million grant through DCEO.
* Crain’s…
The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board isn’t taking any time off, as evidenced by its sharp critique of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker published over the weekend.
Using the new contract that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 and Pritzker recently agreed to as a springboard, the editorial touches on what it considers consequences for “workers in the private economy” as well as Illinois’ pension woes, while labeling the governor a “union boss.”
There’s also a reference to Pritzker’s reported White House aspirations and a bold prediction: “Mark it down: Democrats will demand a federal taxpayer bailout when Illinois pensions become unaffordable.”
2012 called, it wants its pension rhetoric back.
Pritzker’s office responded to the WSJ editorial…
Governor Pritzker is committed to ensuring that every Illinoisan has access to good-paying opportunities while balancing the very real financial needs of a state that went years without labor contracts under the previous administration. This contract represents a negotiated agreement that expands the pool of state employees, attracts top-tier talent to fill vacancies, retains our strong workforce, and provides opportunity for every employee and their families. This contract continues Governor Pritzker’s track record of fiscal responsibility and management, including eight credit upgrades, additional pension payments and a rebuilt Rainy Day fund, after years of failed policies that decimated the state.
* Gotta hand it to the Mendoza crew, this is pretty darned good spin of not-spectacular fundraising…
Of all the recent winners of statewide office, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza spent the least per vote, according to figures pulled from the State Board of Elections.
Dollars and sense: Mendoza spent $1.07 per vote. It’s a pittance considering Gov. JB Pritzker spent a whopping $62.68 a vote in the governor’s race.
How she did it: Mendoza, who holds events downstate as well as in Chicago, likely pulled in Republican voters to help her victory. She received 2,331,714 votes, making her the highest vote-getter in 2022, and spent about $2.3 million on her campaign. Sen. Tammy Duckworth came in with a close second after winning 2,329,136 votes and spending more than $15 million on her race, putting the price per vote at $6.82.
Other statewide office holders: Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias spent $4.29 per vote; Treasurer Michael Frerichs, $1.53; and Attorney Gen. Kwame Raoul, $1.33.
Her opponent was Shannon Teresi, who barely campaigned at all and who spent just $60,946.81 in the last six months of 2022 (which includes part of the primary). I mean, I had to look up Teresi’s name because I couldn’t remember it. That’s less than 4 cents per vote, by the way.
* Staying with politics…
– U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) today announced that his re-election campaign has been endorsed by 22 Republican Central Committee leaders from across the 12th Congressional District. Bost’s coalition of support includes the State Central Committeewoman and Deputy State Central Committeeman for IL-12, as well as 21 Republican county chairs. This newest list of Republican endorsements comes just days after Bost announced support from over 100 local GOP leaders.
“These GOP Central Committee chairs know how much work went into turning Southern Illinois into the Republican stronghold it is today,” said Bost. “And they know we put it all at risk when conservatives start attacking each other rather than taking it to Biden and the liberals who are trying to defeat our values. I appreciate the overwhelming support of our local party leaders and will continue working with them to preserve the strong, unified, conservative movement that has served our region so well.”
The list is here.
* Instead of studying accessibility, can’t they just use best practices and finally get the thing built?…
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and author of the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Act, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-IL-07) and Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL-01) today announced $778,500 in federal funding for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to develop a modern accessibility strategy in advance of a potential reopening of the Englewood Racine Green Line stop on Chicago’s south side. The Racine El station has been closed since 1996, leaving the surrounding community with fewer public transit options and reduced economic opportunity.
Fittin’ to get ready strikes again.
* Press release…
David Welter will serve as a Member of the Executive Ethics Commission. Welter was first elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 2016 and served the residents of District 75 until 2023. Prior to joining the General Assembly, Welter was elected to the Grundy County Board, serving first as Member and then Chairman. He currently serves as a Real Estate Broker and Owner in Morris, Illinois. An active member of his community, he is a member of the Grundy County Chamber, the Grundy County Economic Development Council, and We Care of Grundy County.
* WaPo looked at a growing problem for Democrats: Turnout among Black men…
Many Democrats interviewed said they were less worried about Black women, whose voting enthusiasm has historically been more robust than that of Black men. Black women were a huge factor in Biden’s victory in 2020. Advocates expect that trend to continue, particularly with Vice President Harris on the ticket and the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who both made history as the first Black women in their roles. […]
Part of the problem, [Terrance Woodbury, chief executive of HIT Strategies, a polling firm focused on young, non-White voters] argues, is that the party’s focus on Trump and Republican extremism is less likely to motivate younger Black men than arguments focused on policy benefits. The messaging, he has argued, must focus on how Black communities have benefited from specific policies.
His own polling has shown that voters’ belief that their vote doesn’t matter is the greatest barrier to voting among Black Americans. […]
Brittany Smith, the executive director of the Philadelphia-based Black Leadership PAC (BLP), which is working to turn out Black voters, said she has noticed a change in how Black people respond to her get-out-the vote efforts in recent years. In the past, she simply needed to remind people of where and when to vote. Now, she said, many express a cynicism about politics that requires a deeper level of persuasion.
“There’s not a night I don’t go to sleep thinking about what turnout will look like in 2024,” Smith said.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Illinois Newsroom | Some school districts are using COVID-19 aid to catch up on construction. Is your district one of them?: For many districts, it was a once-in-a-lifetime infusion of cash. “When funding is tight, a lot of things that are put off are bigger projects. It’s a lot harder to come up with $7 million to do something than it is to come up with $30,000 to do something,” said Sullivan Superintendent Ted Walk.
* Chalkbeat | Pell Grants return to incarcerated people after nearly 30 years. Here’s what that means in Illinois.: Pell Grant eligibility will depend on whether an incarcerated person lives in a prison with a federally-approved program. The U.S. Department of Education opened up applications early this month and will approve higher education institutions on a rolling basis.
* Illinois Newsroom | Buttigieg visits Savoy to tout infrastructure money for new underpass: Buttigieg’s department awarded Savoy roughly $22.7 million – half of the cost of the project — from a grant within President Biden’s 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Act.
* WGEM | Illinois State Police announce new online crash reporting system: “For simple crashes where only one car is involved and no one is injured, the ability to file a report online instead of along the road will make it safer for drivers and our troopers, and eliminate the need to wait for a trooper to make the report,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly.
* Crain’s | Hospital mergers are heating up in the Midwest: Since October, at least a dozen hospital transactions have been proposed or completed involving buyers or sellers in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota. Health systems are joining forces with others in adjacent markets and, in some cases, those that operate in other states.
* Crain’s | Northwestern Memorial, Rush top U.S. News hospital rankings — with a twist: However, unlike in years past, the 2023-2024 Best Hospitals Honor Roll does not call out the 22 top hospitals in order, meaning each of the 22 is essentially equal in the eyes of U.S. News.
* WTTW | US Attorney’s Office in Chicago Aims to be ‘Force Multiplier’ in Anti-Gang Effort: “The Chicago Police Department has 12,000 officers, the federal U.S. Attorneys and federal agents, we can’t replicate that,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Morris Pasqual in an interview with WTTW News. “What we can do is essentially function as more or less a force multiplier. We can bring added resources, added money, added expertise, added personnel and just added effort to the effort.”
* SJ-R | Buscher, 85 days in, discusses changes to emergency response: The new mayor went into detail regarding the city’s response to the storm on Friday during a Citizens Club of Springfield forum. Seeing the impact - an estimated $20 million earlier this month - Buscher announced plans to address future bouts of extreme weather.
* Block Club | Humboldt Park’s Growing Tent City Has Some Neighbors On Edge As Officials Search For Solutions: Before the pandemic, only a few people were living in tents in the sprawling Northwest Side park. But the park’s tent city has since grown to include about 40 people, their bright orange tents visible from North and California avenues.
* The Southern | Fingers crossed: SIU hoping for enrollment increase: Lane showed the trustees a slide indicating a 19.6% increase in undergraduate applications to SIU compared to last year at the same time, a 4.6% increase in admissions and reported that just over 2,200 new undergraduates had enrolled, an increase of 5.1%.
* HuffPost | Abortion Funds Are Hanging On By A Thread A Year After Dobbs: Typically, abortion funds operate with some combination of individual donations and grants from larger organizations or, post-Dobbs, from local governments. California, for example, announced late last year that it would put $20 million toward a fund that helps people access abortion in the state, even if they come from other states. And Megan Jeyifo, the executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, said the group was able to meet increased demand — it’s on track to spend $3 million this year, up from around $600,000 last year — thanks in part to support from the city. But other funds are rapidly running dry, even after a spike in donations that followed last summer’s shock court decision.
* Bloomberg | Caterpillar says China demand slowdown even worse than thought: Chief Executive Officer Jim Umpleby said during Tuesday’s earnings call that the company anticipates further weakness in sales of the machines most used for Chinese construction projects. The view follows the CEO’s downbeat comments on April 27, when he said the total share of sales from the Asian nation would be below its normal expected range of 5% to 10%.
* Bloomberg | Miami’s overflowing septic tanks and trash piles test the city’s appeal to the rich: Some of greater Miami’s massive landfills, known by clever names like Mount Trashmore, will run out of space by 2026, according to a report from Cava’s office. More urgent are the septic systems that serve the city’s 2.7 million residents. Many of those front-yard sewage tanks overflow when it rains, releasing fecal bacteria and other contaminants that transform patches of tropical paradise into toxic swamps that kill fish and sicken people.
* The Atlantic | Enough About Ken: I know a lot of impressive women married to men. Maybe the men are impressive too. I don’t give them much thought, to be honest. By the time I catch up with these women on all they are doing, and commiserate on the state of the world, we rarely have time to talk about their husbands. Sometimes, to be polite, I ask, but they normally don’t come up unless some conflict is brewing. This doesn’t mean that my friends don’t love their partners—just that, when given room to talk about their lives, that’s what they want to talk about: their lives.
* Michigan Advance | In Flint, every pregnant person is about to receive cash through Rx Kids: Beginning in January 2024, every pregnant person in Flint is poised to receive a one-time payment of $1,500 followed by $500 payments per month for the first year of their child’s life. Made through a new program called Rx Kids, these funds could mean the difference between being able to make rent or pay for utilities, Hurt explained.
* Herald-Whig | Cattle judging, bags tournament and country concert highlight Saturday at the Fair: On the other side of the fairgrounds, adult co-ed volleyball and the County Fair Bags Tournament filled out the roster of events for early fairgoers. By noon, the temperature at the fairgrounds was already over 90 degrees, but it didn’t slow down either the participants or the spectators.
* WGN | Beyoncé vs Taylor Swift vs NASCAR: Who’s been the biggest boon to Chicago?: Downtown hotel occupancy peaked at 97% on the early June weekend of Taylor Swift’s concert, according to numbers shared with WGN Investigates by data analytics firm CoStar. That was followed closely by the 95% occupancy rate of central business district hotels on the opening night of Beyoncé’s Chicago concert.
* Tribune | Shedd Aquarium announces 40-foot Caribbean tunnel, new learning studio as part of ongoing $500 million plan: The Shedd Aquarium released plans on Tuesday for upgrading many of its exhibits, gardens and learning spaces by 2027. Bridget Coughlin, president and CEO, said instead of the current geographical-based setup at the aquarium, they will shift toward highlighting animal biology and behavior. She hopes it will encourage visitors to take action on sustainability and climate change.
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* As we discussed yesterday, this claim is not factual…
Full text…
To the Left, citizenship is meaningless. Illinois is now letting illegal aliens become police officers.
In Florida, we took action to combat the harms of Biden’s border crisis. We also value our citizen officers who serve and protect our communities.
As President, I will restore American sovereignty.
No illegal alien should have authority over any American citizen. It is a sad commentary on the state of America that this is even a debate.
* Clapback…
* The Hill…
Pritzker has been defending the new Illinois law after many have falsely characterized it as a law allowing immigrants who had entered the country illegally apply for law enforcement positions. In fact, the new law states that “individuals who are not citizens, but are legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law” can apply for police jobs at the beginning of 2024.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) are among the conservative lawmakers criticizing the new law.
Pritzker has argued that similar legislation exists in other states and that many DACA recipients and legal residents already serve in the U.S. military.
* The new law states this…
The sheriff of any county or the corporate authorities of any municipality may authorize, empower, employ, or permit a person to act as deputy sheriff or special policeman for the purpose of preserving the peace, who is not a citizen of the United States, who is legally authorized under federal law to work in the United States and is authorized under federal law to obtain, carry, or purchase or otherwise possess a firearm, or who is an individual against whom immigration action has been deferred by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process and is authorized under federal law to obtain, carry, or purchase or otherwise possess a firearm.
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* March of Dimes…
With over 3.5 million births in the United States annually, and rising rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, there is ample opportunity to improve maternal outcomes across the country. More than 2 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts, areas without access to birthing facilities or maternity care providers. Access to maternity care is essential for preventing poor health outcomes and eliminating health disparities. This report expands on the 2022 Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. report by taking a deeper dive into state level data and examining additional barriers that impact access to care. This data can be used to inform policies and practice recommendations in each state.
This report presents data on several important factors: levels of maternity care access and maternity care deserts by county; distance to birthing hospitals; availability of family planning services; community level factors associated with prenatal care usage as well as the burden and consequences of chronic health conditions across the state. While not an exhaustive list, each of these topics contribute to the complexity of maternity care access in each state. Working to improve access to maternity care by bringing awareness to maternity care deserts and other factors that limit access is one way in which March of Dimes strives to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity for all pregnant people.
* You can click here to see an interactive national map. But let’s look at some of the Illinois-specific study findings…
* 34.3% of counties are defined as maternity care deserts compared to 32.6% in the U.S.
* 4.6% of women had no birthing hospital within 30 minutes compared to 9.7% in the U.S.
* 13.7% of birthing people received inadequate prenatal care, less than the U.S. rate of 14.8%.
* 3.8% of babies were born to women who live in rural counties, while 1.8% of maternity care providers practice in rural counties in Illinois.
* In Illinois, women travel 6.8 miles and 12.3 minutes, on average, to their nearest birthing hospital. Overall, in the U.S. women travel 9.7 miles to their nearest birthing hospital.
* Women living in counties with the highest travel times (top 20 percent) could travel up to 47.8 miles and 59 minutes, on average, to reach their nearest birthing hospital.
* In rural areas across Illinois, 35.5% of women live over 30 minutes from a birthing hospital compared to 3.5% of women living in urban areas.
* Women living in maternity care deserts traveled 5.1 times farther than women living in areas with full access to maternity care in Illinois.
* There are 4 Title X [family planning] clinics per 100,000 women in Illinois compared to 5.3 per 100,000 in the U.S. overall.
* On average, people living in maternity care deserts in Illinois, travel 4 times farther to reach their nearest Title X clinic compared to people living in full access counties.
* In Illinois, the [pre-term birth] rate was 10.7 percent, compared to 10.5 percent in the U.S. overall in 2021.
* They also have county interactive maps, so click here to see those…
MATERNITY CARE DESERTS
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The lost art of outreach
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
At a corner in North Lawndale, the familiar tune of an ice cream truck rang out as it drove past crowds of community leaders and advocates who wanted to create a welcoming atmosphere for those in the neighborhood affected by gun violence looking for resources.
The gathering at Deliverance Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith was just a few blocks away from where a 21-year-old woman was fatally shot Sunday morning. The mass shooting, which occurred at a birthday party in the 1500 block of South Keeler Avenue, left another eight people, seven of them women, wounded by gunfire.
* Sun-Times…
The purpose of the temporary center was to help victims “get on the path to healing,” said Aileen Robinson, assistant director of CPD’s Crime Victim Services.
She said city officials had just returned from visiting two cities where this is done. “We are aligning with what is going on in the country,” Robinson said.
Inside the church, counselors sat at tables with brochures outlining services available to them: a pamphlet about CPD’s crime victim services, another about the Center on Halsted’s anti-violence project.
Stress balls and Play-Doh were piled on the table. Two therapy dogs from Lutheran Church Charities sat on the entranceway floor waiting to be petted.
Ald. Monique Scott (24th) praised the city for organizing the resource center in less than a day. But she pointed out that the room was filled almost completely with outreach workers — with no apparent victims or their neighbors.
“We do have to start knocking on some doors,” Scott said. “We must find a different approach because what happened the other day, it was disheartening.”
* Back to the Tribune…
Organizers also knocked on doors on the block to provide support, stopping to chat with people sitting on their porch or walking dogs.
“Because somebody is in their house right now that needs the help and the resources that are here, but they’re scared to come to this type of setting,” [Corniki Bornds, founder of Help Understanding Grief] said.
It’s about meeting people where they’re at, she said.
I’m glad they did get out there to knock on doors and talk to people where they’re at.
Anecdote, not data, but most of the “outreach” I’ve seen at events this summer is basically people from the government or non-profits sitting at a table in a tent waiting for others to come talk to them about an important program. That’s not actual outreach.
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* From the Ogletree Deakins law firm blog last October…
On October 12, 2022, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois concluded that a company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) 45,600 times over six years by collecting truck drivers’ fingerprints to verify identities without the informed, written consent the Privacy Act requires. This is the first jury verdict rendered under the Privacy Act following a spike in class action filings under the statute. […]
Following the jury’s findings, the federal judge assigned to the case awarded $5,000 in liquidated damages for each intentional or reckless violation. Hence, the plaintiff-class received a judgment totaling $228 million.
* The company, BNSF Railroad, filed a motion to overturn or at least limit the jury’s verdict. From the Ogletree Deakins last month…
A federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois vacated a $228 million damages award issued following the first-ever jury verdict in an Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) class action and ordered a new trial on the issue of damages. However, in doing so, the judge refused to overturn the jury’s finding that the company’s Privacy Act violations were intentional or reckless.
In the June 30, 2023, ruling, the federal district court judge determined that there was sufficient evidence presented to the jury to find that the company was directly or vicariously liable for Privacy Act violations and to find that those violations were intentional or reckless. The judge further ruled that Privacy Act damages are discretionary and “that a damages award after a finding of liability is a question for the jury.” As such, the judge granted the company’s post-trial motion for a new trial on the issue of damages, which according to court records is set to commence in October 2023. […]
In vacating that award, the judge pointed to the subsequent February 2023 ruling by the Supreme Court of Illinois in Cothron v. White Castle. In that case, the Illinois Supreme Court held that Privacy Act claims accrue on each and every scan or collection, but in doing so, observed that a judge has the discretion to fashion damages so as not to result in “annihilative liability.” The judge in the present case stated that this observation “suggests how the Illinois Supreme Court is likely to rule if it were to address this question [of Privacy Act discretionary damages] in the future.” […]
The judge noted that the company continued to collect drivers’ fingerprints without obtaining informed consents for nearly one year after being sued and learning that there were potential compliance concerns with the system under the Privacy Act and only appeared to stop due to the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
It is not clear whether a jury will ultimately uphold the $228 million damages award in the case, but the ruling is nevertheless significant in that it suggests that damages are not simply a strict calculation of a statutory damages amount multiplied by the number of violations. This is especially important for companies following the Cothron ruling, which found that Privacy Act violations accrue on each scan. With violations occurring per scan, which may occur regularly (potentially multiple times per day), and a five-year statute of limitations, Privacy Act damages have the potential to skyrocket, which could also open the floodgates for more Privacy Act class actions.
While the holding is not binding on Illinois courts, the ruling highlights the language from the Cothron decision suggesting that Privacy Act damages are discretionary. That interpretation may be persuasive on other courts to hold that juries should fashion “appropriate” damage awards in Privacy Act class actions.
The ruling is here.
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* Center Square…
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared to concede that his and Democratic lawmakers’ ban on a wide variety of semi-automatic handguns and rifles has a less than 50-50 chance of surviving in the federal court system.
During a discussion the governor’s office said was about “gun violence prevention” at Temple Jeremiah in Northfield Thursday, Pritzker was asked about the chance his ban on certain semi-automatic firearms and magazines survives a challenge in the federal courts.
“It is not zero chance and it is not, you know, 30% chance, I think it’s better than that that we will win,” Pritzker said. “I don’t know what percent to put on it. I just think we have a pretty good argument.”
* What he actually said during the Q and A…
Q: So at the national level, and there was even an article today in the Tribune about this, we seem to have hit a roadblock to pass a Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the Supreme Court’s, particularly Justice Thomas’, rulings in in the cases before the court, the ruling against state gun restrictions. So take out your crystal ball. Where where do you think this is all going?
Pritzker: Where’s this all going? We need to make sure that we get people appointed to the Supreme Court who are going to do the right thing. [Applause]
I do think that that, again, going back to the case that it is likely to be the Illinois case going to the Supreme Court, I do think that we have, you know, I don’t know what percentage chance to put on it. But it is not zero chance and it is not you know 30 percent chance. I think it’s better than that, that we will win. I don’t know what percent to put on it. I just think that we have a pretty good argument. And it’s demonstrated by the quality of the bill that got passed and signed here in Illinois and the commentary of the appellate court judges.
So you know, when you say where’s it all going? We’re in this terrible situation, where essentially it’s been made available to everybody to go by almost any, lots of hand guns are available to everybody in the audience and everybody out there in the world. And more and more of them have been purchased. And I think we have today read that we have 390 million guns in private hands in a country that has about, what, 340 million people in it. And that doesn’t mean that everybody in this room has a gun but it means that somebody else out there has more than one gun. And as I said before, there are lots of people buying guns because they, not because they feel like they should have a gun or you know, but because now they feel like everybody else has a gun. And so they have to protect themselves, or they want to be like their neighbors who are asking, ‘Do you have one? Do you have one?” And so this is the world we’re living in. And I was just abroad in the UK. They can’t believe what’s going on with guns in the United States and they don’t understand how a rational society like ours can let the continuation of the growth of gun ownership, particularly very deadly weapons can continue to harvest among us.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* More from the Q and A…
Q: Someone’s asking ‘How do you feel about the safe storage laws and Ethan’s law in particular which has a penalty to parents with minors in the house where guns aren’t stored properly or safely?’
Pritzker: I think we need to pass legislation to lock up guns in homes. [Applause] I think if you’re going to own a gun, you have to be responsible with it. And this is one way for us to demand and to ask people to do the right thing and keep them safe in their own homes. So I’ll just leave it there.
* Insurance requirements for gun owners…
Pritzker: That’s not from my perspective about trying to make it expensive or difficult, you know, we can’t put roadblocks just for the sake of roadblocks to people buying guns that are legal to acquire. On the other hand, there is a real problem when guns are misused, not kept properly, loaned out willy nilly to people who shouldn’t have them. People have to be responsible. And I think that being held liable for that means that you’re probably going to, should have, the requirement or at least, we should be contemplating a requirement of people who are going to purchase a gun to have some kind of insurance. I say that though, without having done the research on what is the cost of that insurance, what would be the liability that people would be subjected to. So I don’t want to just make an announcement here that I think, you know, broadly, we ought to require insurance but I do think we’ve got to contemplate it and there should be hearings about it and we should ask the insurance industry and we should also try to understand what the the cost to an individual really would be.
* Taxing ammunition…
Pritzker: I think over the course of the last 35 years that I’ve been engaged in this, that’s certainly something that’s come up quite a lot. Could you just tax bullets, you know, with a high tax and then no one will buy them. I think that the Supreme Court essentially would shut that down because the effectiveness of the Second Amendment, they would say, would be nullified. And again, there may be people you know, who think that we should nullify the Second Amendment, but not the Supreme Court of the United States today.
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* Press release…
Northwestern University today announced that it has engaged former United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch from the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to lead an independent review of the processes and accountability mechanisms in place at the University to detect, report and respond to potential misconduct in its athletics programs, including hazing, bullying and discrimination of any kind.
As part of her review, Lynch will examine the culture of Northwestern Athletics to ensure it is consistent with the University’s mission and values as a leading academic institution. Lynch will conduct this review with feedback from and engagement with faculty, staff, students and alumni. The results of her review will be made public.
“Hazing has absolutely no place at Northwestern. Period, said Northwestern President Michael Schill. “I am determined that with the help of Attorney General Lynch, we will become a leader in combating the practice of hazing in intercollegiate athletics and a model for other universities. We will provide all of our students with the resources and support they need and do whatever is necessary to protect their safety and ensure that our athletics program remains one we can all be proud of.”
Vice President for Athletics & Recreation Derrick Gragg added, “The Athletics Department welcomes this review as a critical tool in identifying the additional steps Northwestern can take to eradicate hazing. By making the results of her review public, we hope our entire community will be better informed and guided as we all work to address this critical issue in college athletics.
Lynch’s review is part of a series of immediate actions the University has taken in response to the findings from the independent investigation of allegations of hazing in the football program, which were announced July 7. Those actions include:
◦ Monitoring of the football locker room.
◦ In-person anti-hazing training led by outside experts for all University sports teams, coaches and staff. The first session begins Aug. 3 for the football team - its first day of fall practice with training for other teams to follow.
◦ Enhancement of the University’s existing reporting resources with the development of an online tool for reporting complaints of hazing, bullying and other misconduct.
Lynch will begin her review immediately and will provide updates to both President Schill and the Board of Trustees’ Audit and Risk Committee. At the conclusion of her review, Lynch will make her results public.
Thoughts?
* Related…
* In hazing scandal, Northwestern University is flunking crisis management: “Unless everyone gets in the same room to map out and agree upon a prompt, transparent crisis response, then the longer you let the story fester, the worse it becomes,” said Ron Culp, a public relations consultant at DePaul University. He added that Northwestern was slow on the uptake to figure out the seriousness of the allegations. “That’s kind of where they got themselves off to a slow negative start in the public perception of what was going on there.”
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Delivery Helps Chicago Restaurants Grow On Uber Eats
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
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Open thread
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois to invest more than $23 million in abortion access, reproductive health care initiatives: To expand Illinois’ capacity to care for the sharp increase in abortion-seekers, the state’s Department of Public Health will spend $10 million to create a hotline to aid callers in finding providers and making appointments. Pritzker had proposed the funding in February, and Democratic lawmakers included it in the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget this spring. The hotline is in its beginning stages as IDPH puts out a request for proposals.
* NBC Chicago | Pritzker defends Illinois bill that allows non-citizens to become police officers: During a press conference where he spoke about legislation protecting reproductive rights in the state, Pritzker emphasized that the bill would be limited to individuals who are legally allowed to work in the United States, and who are legally allowed to possess firearms.
* CBS Chicago | State Treasurer Michael Frerichs launches “First Steps” college savings program: “Illinois First Steps is an important step towards ensuring all Illinois children can access higher education in their future,” Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said. […] All families can open a free 529 college savings account with Bright Start or Bright Directions and submit a claim for the $50 deposit from the state anytime before the child’s 10th birthday.
* WGLT | Some Illinois lawmakers want to see U.S. call a constitutional amendments convention: Three Republican lawmakers plan to represent Illinois at an event in Williamsburg, Virginia, later this week that’s sponsored by a political action group that wants to trigger a constitutional amendments convention within the next three years.
* Vermillion County First | GOP State Rep Mike Marron Announces He Will Not Seek Reelection: The statement closes with Marron saying “Thank you to everyone who was a part of my successes over the years. It really has been a humbling experience. It is time to focus on my family’s farm and spend more time with my wife and daughter. After all, there is so much more to life than politics.”
* Daily Herald | ‘I own this’: Utility company leaders apologize for July water crisis in southern Lake County: “(I) want to convey that I own this, along with our operators at the base level,” Colleen M. Arnold, president of the Aqua division of Essential Utilities, told a large crowd during a special Hawthorn Woods village board meeting at St. Matthew Lutheran Church. “There are things we couldn’t control … but what we could control was our response.”
* WTTW | Police Departments Are Gradually Adopting a More Detailed Program to Report Nationwide Crime Data. Chicago Recently Became the Largest User: Other large Illinois municipalities reporting data to NIBRS through the Illinois State Police system in 2022 include Naperville and Elgin, according to the ISP site and local officials. However Aurora, the state’s second largest community, and Waukegan, 10th largest, only reported one month of data in 2022.
* Sun-Times | Weed giants Columbia Care, Cresco Labs call off plans for $2 billion merger : “In light of the evolving landscape in the cannabis industry, we believe the decision to terminate the planned transaction is in the long-term interest of Cresco Labs and our shareholders,” Charles Bachtell, CEO and co-founder of Cresco Labs, said in the release.
* Tribune | Oak Park has promoted integration for more than 50 years. New challenges have local officials reevaluating their approach.: Over the last 50 years, Oak Park has succeeded in transforming itself from a majority-white enclave to a more racially diverse community through a series of policy measures aimed at promoting integration. But new pressures from a lack of affordable housing to sky-high property taxes and lingering racial tensions threaten to undo those gains, some community members and stakeholders say.
* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora City Council ratifies business done at ‘closed’ meetings held after doors to City Hall automatically locked: After the Committee of the Whole meeting, the council convened its regular meeting at 6:47 p.m. It was adjourned about 7:10 p.m. After the adjournment, members of the council encountered members of the public who were waiting outside City Hall and said the doors were locked.
* Tribune | Cook County employee sues Clerk Karen Yarbrough over soured land sale: A new lawsuit filed by a Cook County employee against Yarbrough and her husband echoes much of the criticism. It alleges a mix of family, political and professional actions taken by Yarbrough — which the employee states were “wanton, calculated, and with malice and willfulness” — defrauded the employee out of hundreds of thousands of dollars involving the sale of two buildings in Maywood, Yarbrough’s political home base.
* Sun-Times | Prosecutors seek contempt charge against former judge accused of stealing from Tuskegee Airman: On Monday, Cook County prosecutors served notice to Martin that they are seeking to have her held in contempt of court for allegedly transferring about $1,200 from cryptocurrency accounts she set up using money she allegedly stole from Wilkerson. Prosecutors a month ago had announced their intention to file the case at a hearing in Wilkerson’s lawsuit against Martin.
* Sun-Times | Another one of Lightfoot’s Cabinet stars leaving Johnson administration: Gia Biagi ushered in the electric scooter era and pioneered the outdoor dining program that helped restaurants and bars survive the pandemic.
* Sun-Times | Chicago Public Schools’ aggressive tactics for removing principals under the microscope: Nine principals have been removed pending discipline or investigations into “serious misconduct” in recent years. Of those, six are Black men.
* Daily Herald | Some trees in the suburbs are in drought stress: What to look for and how to help: Trees in drought stress often display symptoms like wilted foliage, yellowing leaves and premature leaf drop. This year, tulip trees and river birches seem particularly sensitive to the lack of moisture, Yiesla said.
* Tribune | Plant poachers damage Cook County forest preserves as demand for ramps and morels makes foraging more profitable: “Most people think it’s a harmless act,” said Martin Hasler, deputy chief of the Cook County Forest Preserves Police Department. “The forest preserve is for all of us and taking away anything from it disturbs the forest preserve from its natural state.”
* Market Watch | U.S. stocks roar back in 2023 to book best seven months to start a year in decades: The Nasdaq saw its best first seven months of a year since 1975 when the index surged 39.1% over that stretch, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Nasdaq went on to give up some of those gains in 1975, but still finished the year up almost 30%, FactSet data show.
* Daily Beast | Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Threats Against a Nonprofit Prove He’s a Free Speech Phony: Under Elon Musk’s ownership, the platform has routinely used every tool at its disposal to push back on critics. And so it is not without precedent that attorneys for X Corp. recently sent a letter to the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) threatening legal action, after several of the organization’s publications revealed repeated failures to enforce X’s policies around hate speech.
* The Hill | Leprosy cases surging in Central Florida: CDC: In a news release Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Central Florida has accounted for 81 percent of reported cases in the state and almost one-fifth of reported cases nationwide.
* SJ-R | Sacred Heart-Griffin football coach wins USA TODAY national coaching honor: Leonard, the winningest football coach in Illinois history, guided the Cyclones to a 44-20 win over New Lenox Providence Catholic last year to collect his sixth state championship. “I’ve been blessed,” Leonard said. “I’m from Chenoa, Illinois. My dad just taught me, ‘Whatever you do, be the best you can be.”
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Live coverage
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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