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Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A commenter asked a good question today…

So how does it work to find new housing [for migrants] after the 60 days in a shelter and 90 days in temp housing with rental assistance if they still can’t get work permits? How are they going to pay rent without jobs?

The governor was asked pretty much that same question yesterday…

Well, the good news is that the federal government really has sped up that process. That used to be the case, what you were describing, where it was months and months of waiting for work authorization. They recognized, and I think you’ll recall that the mayor and I, Senator Durbin and others had a press conference and we had been communicating for some months about the need to speed up that process. And then the federal government did step in and indeed expanded the ability for TPS folks who come here before July to be able to get work authorizations. Now they’ve sped up the process for approving those work authorizations. So we believe that by February all the applications will come in and during the time between now and February there will be many people who will already have received word that they are authorized to work.

Also, remember, the clock doesn’t start ticking until they’re moved out of staging areas, like police stations.

* More from the governor’s press release…

A cornerstone of this plan is a State-led effort to move thousands of individuals through the federal Temporary Protect Status (TPS) and Employment Authorization Document (EAD) processes as quickly as possible. This will allow asylum seekers to gain employment and achieve self-sufficiency, thereby alleviating the strain on state resources. In the weeks and months ahead, the State will stand-up large-scale workshops with legal aid providers and pro-bono attorneys to facilitate the application process. Workshops will be co-located with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) workforce programming to provide federal assistance and job search resources simultaneously. By February, the State aims to have submitted the applications of the roughly 11,000 TPS and/or EAD eligible asylum seekers residing in City of Chicago shelters, with thousands more to be completed in the months that follow.

* While we’re on this topic, the ILGOP seems to both side with migrants and complain about them in the same press release…

Pritzker, Johnson Driving Migrants Away with Incompetence

CHICAGO — When Governor Pritzker promised to welcome the waves of migrants being bussed from border states to Chicago, he must have been thinking about running for President instead of how to house thousands of immigrants in Illinois.

The city and state’s lack of a cohesive, functioning sanctuary plan has become so disastrous that many migrants on their own are packing up to leave. Whether it was the city’s lack of jobs, resources, or just the idea of spending winter on Chicago’s streets, many are deserting the state, some even going back to their home countries.

Many have risked their lives for the American Dream, and are now rethinking those decisions. That’s how badly Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson have handled the migrant crisis.

“Gov. Pritzker appears to have put his ambitions for higher office ahead of the good of this state,” ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy said. “Like Biden, Pritzker encouraged illegal immigration to score points with open border advocates. Now Illinois taxpayers will have to foot the bill to house, feed, and provide for migrants in a state that is already one of the most taxed in the nation. This state needs a leader, not a politician auditioning to replace Biden.”

* This WBEZ story has been overlooked…

Today, more Palestinians live in Cook County than any other county in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than 18,000 Palestinians live in Cook County, and more than 23,000 live in the Chicago metropolitan area, which includes 14 counties in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

However, experts say the census significantly underestimates the size of the Palestinian population.

Overall, Arab Americans are undercounted in the once-in-a-decade census because there isn’t a specific category for people of Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) descent among the choices available to indicate race or ethnicity, said Maya Berry, executive director of the nonprofit Arab American Institute. Illinois is the first state that will require state agencies, starting in 2025, to include a MENA category when collecting information about racial and ethnic identity.

Data on Palestinian ancestry is collected as a write-in response to some census questions, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But some Palestinians skip the question, or write in something other than “Palestinian” such as “other” or “Arab American,” Berry said.

* Some folks received this blast text yesterday…

The link goes here. Mijente PAC is a c-4 operation that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on campaigns. But the aldermanic elections were last spring, so unless that group is getting involved in ward committeeperson races next year (of the five targets, Raymond Lopez, Silvana Tabares, Felix Cardona and Gil Villegas are committeepersons), I hope folks are thinking before they click that link.

…Adding… Press release…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker took the following bill action:

Bill Number: HB 0351
Description: Creates the Task Force to Review Eligibility to Hold Public Office and exempts notaries from logging notarial acts on specific documents filed by or on behalf of a candidate for public office.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 1358
Description: Sunset extension and effective date package.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: HB 3641
Description: State government omnibus legislation. Provides numerous technical clean up remedies for State agencies and programs.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 0690
Description: Makes changes to the community mental health public questions process and amends the appointment process of a community mental health board in qualifying municipalities.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately

Bill Number: SB 0765
Description: Eliminates the Unlimited Catastrophic Aggregate Coverage provision of the Farm Mutual Act for 5 years.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration issuing notices it will begin removing migrants from shelters in 60 days: In addition to the new shelter limits, the city will also begin cracking down on what Johnson described as “rogue buses” of migrants and beef up personnel at their initial landing spots to encourage them to go elsewhere, his office said. The exit notices will come in waves, the first one starting Friday for all shelter residents who have been there since last year.

* State Week | Illinois to spend more on helping asylum seekers: Illinois officials said nearly $500 million in state money has already been spent. The latest infusion, pulled from the state Department of Human Services budget, will assist in processing new arrivals, provide case management and develop a base tent camp as winter nears.

* Axios | One-third of U.S. newspapers as of 2005 will be gone by 2024: There are roughly 6,000 newspapers left in America, down from 8,891 in 2005, according to a new report from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. “We’re almost at a one-third loss now and we’ll certainly hit that pace next year,” said the report’s co-authors — Penelope Muse Abernathy, a visiting professor at Medill, and Sarah Stonbely, director of Medill’s State of Local News Project.

* Crain’s | Illinois’ once-thriving craft brewing scene faces a steep cliff: Craft breweries have not seen traffic return to their taprooms like they hoped. That’s bad news for an industry that made 70% of its revenue from taprooms pre-pandemic. Illinois started 2022 with 302 craft breweries. Thirty-one have closed since, said Ray Stout, executive director of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. The most recently announced casualty, Metropolitan Brewing, will add to that number when it shutters its Avondale taproom next month.

* Sun-Times | CTA Yellow Line service still suspended after crash injured dozens on North Side: “We are working to restore service as soon as possible,” read an alert posted on the CTA’s website. “We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.” The transit agency urged commuters to allow extra time for travel. Meanwhile, the NTSB has scheduled a media briefing for later Friday to address the many questions surrounding the wreck.

* Tribune | Chicago Police Board votes to fire officer allegedly involved in dragging woman from car at Northwest Side strip mall during 2020 unrest: The board found that CPD officer David Laskus violated several CPD rules — most notably using excessive force and lying to investigators — during and after the tense situation that unfolded on May 26, 2020 at the shopping center near Diversey and Narragansett.

* Crain’s | Chicago’s average weekly return-to-office numbers grow to 55%: The average percentage of Chicago workers who are back in the office has hit 55%. That’s almost as high as Chicago’s post-pandemic peak in July of 55.2%. The city’s stats are ahead of the nationwide average by 4.5 percentage points. That’s according to data from real estate technology firm Kastle Systems, which analyzes building security card swipes and compares current figures to early 2020.

* Daily Herald | McHenry County jail could take in detainees from Lake County under proposed deal: The proposed contract calls for McHenry County taking up to 150 inmates from the Lake County jail. During a recent McHenry County Board finance committee meeting, Sheriff Robb Tadelman said the average daily population at McHenry County Jail was 160 inmates. Sandra Salgado, the McHenry County sheriff’s business manager, said the jail population has about 35 to 50 fewer inmates since the SAFE-T Act took effect in September, but the population slowly is increasing.

* Sun-Times | Cyberattack on Rivers Casino leaves data vulnerable for gamblers, workers: Rivers Casino in Des Plaines alerted customers Thursday to the data breach, which happened in mid-August but wasn’t discovered until earlier this month. Dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and even Social Security numbers “may have been accessed or removed” from the casino’s network, among other vital information.

* Sun-Times | ‘Your debt to society is not fully paid,’ mother tells son’s killer after his release on appeal: A Cook County state’s attorney’s spokeswoman said the decision to make a deal with Davila “was made with a deep sense of responsibility.” She said it provides “a measure of justice to those affected, acknowledging the complexities and the passage of time in this case.” Ricky Pike, 24, was killed early Aug. 3, 2012, shot because a passenger in his car was wearing a green-and-gold Oakland Athletics baseball cap, prosecutors said during Davila’s 2018 trial.

* Crain’s | Law firm adding office space, moving to Wacker Drive: Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani has signed a 10-year deal for 29,839 square feet in the 51-story tower at 1 N. Wacker Drive, a spokesman for the law firm confirmed. GRSM will relocate to the building’s 16th floor in August from its longtime office across the street at 1 N. Franklin St., where its lease for 24,182 square feet expires next summer.

* Daily Herald | Attracting, keeping employees a priority in Lake County’s $640 million budget: Lake County’s property tax levy will increase for the first time in five years to help fund a variety of programs and initiatives in a $640 million budget, including compensation to recruit and retain employees. The county board this week increased the tax levy by the maximum allowed 5%, though supporters said that won’t result in a commensurate hike in property tax bills because new growth will account for about half the increase.

* KWQC | Hundreds set to lose their jobs in Bureau Co. after factory announces closure: The Monterey Mushrooms factory has been one of the largest employers in Bureau Co. for decades, and last week they informed workers they will be ending operations in January. Although the closure of the factory may cause a ripple effect through the entire Illinois Valley, there is one town in particular that will likely be hit the hardest.

* Tribune | It’s time to pop a Midwest-made pét-nat as Illinois winery embraces ancient sparkling winemaking method: Illinois Sparkling Co. has been producing pét-nats since 2018, when they rolled out their extra-brut Pét Nat Rosé made from the Chambourcin grapes, a French American hybrid grape variety that has found a fit in the Midwest climate despite both temperature and precipitation extremes.

* WTTW | It’s Fire Season — On Purpose — In the Region’s Forest Preserves. Cook County Has a New Map of Prescribed Burn Sites: “Fire is an important tool in our restoration toolbox,” said Erik Neidy, director of natural resources with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Prescribed burns mimic the wildfires that native prairies and woodlands adapted to over millennia. They’re used to control invasive species, return nutrients to the soil and promote the growth of native plants and grasses.

* Paul Sullivan | GM Chris Getz gets an early start on dismantling the 2023 Chicago White Sox. Who will be next?: The recent exodus by broadcaster Jason Benetti to the Detroit Tigers booth was just the latest blow, coming off a season so horrible Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf admitted he wouldn’t watch the games on his DVR if the Sox lost. The team lost 101 games, so he missed some of Benetti’s finest moments.

* Axios | Apple to pause advertising on X after Musk backs antisemitic post: The move follows Musk’s endorsement of antisemitic conspiracy theories as well as Apple ads reportedly being placed alongside far-right content. Apple has been a major advertiser on the social media site and its pause follows a similar move by IBM.

* Patch | Pritzker Orders IL Flags Flown At Half-Staff For Fallen Firefighter: “Whereas, a valiant and passionate public servant, Firefighter/EMT Price’s dedication to his community was unparalleled, having served with the Chicago Fire Department for more than 13 years,” a proclamation regarding the flags reads. The flag order runs through sundown Monday, hours after a funeral service for Price is planned at the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom.

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ICC lauded for ‘earthquake in Illinois utility regulation’

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* ICC press release…

Today, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) disallowed $96.99 million to Nicor Gas’ rate request for its natural gas delivery services in Illinois. The decision is about 30.3 percent lower than Nicor’s initial request for a $320 million increase and approves a 9.51 percent return on equity (ROE), a reduction from Nicor Gas’ current 9.73 percent ROE and the company’s requested 10.35 percent ROE.

The ICC has issued its decision after closely scrutinizing Nicor’s rate case filings and additional materials submitted by the utility, Commission staff, and various interveners over an 11-month legal proceeding. The process aims to ensure the utility receives the necessary funds to provide safe and reliable service to customers and to maintain and replace aging infrastructure at a reasonable cost to ratepayers. In accordance with the Illinois Public Utilities Act, these costs are only recoverable if a utility demonstrates they are reasonable and prudent.

The decision initiates a two-step future of gas proceeding that includes a detailed action plan for the utilities’ future infrastructure investments to evaluate the impacts of Illinois’ decarbonization and electrification goals on the natural gas system.

“As the State embarks on a journey toward a 100 percent clean energy economy, the gas system’s operations will not continue to exist in its current form. Identifying how our gas and electric systems can adapt to meet these goals, and what specific actions should be taken to achieve them, will be an important task for the Commission moving forward,” said ICC Chairman Doug Scott.

The decision also establishes a new low-income discount rate for eligible customers whose incomes are up to 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The rate will offer a five-75 percent monthly total bill credit for qualifying customers beginning October 1, 2024. In December of last year, the ICC found the implementation of low-income discount rates to be appropriate for Illinois’ electric and natural gas residential customers. As a part of the Commission’s decision, Nicor will submit annual reports documenting cost-reduction from the program.

Customers already enrolled in the state’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will automatically qualify for the newly-established low-income discount rate. Customers not currently eligible for LIHEAP, but whose income falls within 200-300 percent of FPL still qualify for a discount by self-reporting their income eligibility to their utility.

The impact of the rate case decision on individual customers will vary based on customers’ service class and energy usage. The ICC plans to issue an estimated bill impact for the average residential customer once Nicor submits its updated compliance filing with the Commission.

* Tribune…

The ICC also approved smaller-than-requested rate increases next year for Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas and Nicor Gas at Thursday’s meeting.

Peoples Gas had requested a record $402 million rate increase. The ICC cut the increase by $101 million, or 25%. […]

The ICC reduced a $17 million rate hike request from North Shore Gas by nearly $6 million, or roughly 34%. North Shore Gas has 164,000 customers in the north suburbs. Both Peoples and North Shore are owned by Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group.

A $320 million rate increase request from Nicor Gas was cut by nearly $97 million, or about 30%. Naperville-based Nicor has 2.3 million customers in suburban Chicago and across northern Illinois.

* Some react from Capitol News Illinois…

“This was an earthquake in Illinois utility regulation,” Abe Scarr, director of consumer advocacy group Illinois PIRG told Capitol News Illinois after the Thursday meeting. […]

“My initial reaction is that I’m concerned,” Matthew Tomc, who oversees regulatory affairs for Ameren Illinois, told Capitol News Illinois.

Tomc said that once Ameren staff fully reviews the ICC decision, they will consider requesting a rehearing to challenge the ICC’s conclusions.

Other companies involved in the cases indicated they were reviewing the decisions.

“Natural gas remains the most affordable energy source for winter-residential heating and is the main fuel source used by manufacturers in Illinois,” Nicor spokesperson Jennifer Golz said in a statement. “Nicor Gas provides an affordable energy source, which is more important now than ever with families facing rising costs for everything. resources as an energy.”

* Sun-Times…

Staffers for the commission, which has the final say on utility prices, recommended last month that the panel cut the hike to $350 million, or roughly $10 more per month for each of the 878,000 Chicagoans whose homes are fueled by Peoples Gas.

Though the commission doesn’t typically stray far from staff recommendations, its final ruling fell at about $301 million. […]

Peoples Gas spokesman David Schwartz didn’t address the commission’s criticism of the pipe program, but said in an email that the utility would “fully review the final order to determine its impact on our customers and operations.

“We look forward to actively participating in future proceedings and demonstrating how our energy delivery system is critical to Chicago’s clean energy future,” Schwartz said. “We are pleased the commission shares our concern about safety.”

* NRDC…

“Today’s decision marks critical progress in the fight for a cleaner, more affordable energy future. We applaud the ICC for hearing community concerns. And we also know there’s still a long road ahead for environmental justice communities like mine, where the cost of natural gas goes beyond just unaffordable rates,” says Cheryl Johnson, Executive Director of People for Community Recovery. “Across Chicago’s south and west sides, legacy contamination and poor outdoor air quality have contributed to disproportionate rates of respiratory illness. Gas stoves are making those worse. We’re glad to see the ICC pushing pause on future gas infrastructure investments and we hope Mayor Johnson and the Chicago city council take an important next step by supporting policies that transition homes and buildings away from dirty, expensive natural gas.”

This decision comes at a time where Illinoians are struggling to pay their bills and as advocates call for a transition away from the gas system to meet our state climate goals. The ICC’s determination in the gas rate case provides some concrete steps in achieving those objectives, according to advocates.

* Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition…

The days of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) rubber-stamping rate hikes for Peoples Gas as they enjoy year-after-year of record profits appear to be over. There’s a new sheriff in town, and we applaud the ICC for significantly reducing the record-setting, exorbitant Peoples Gas $402 million rate hike request.

Make no mistake, this rate hike is still onerous, especially for low-income customers on Chicago’s South and West sides where up to 48% of customers are already behind on their bills and accumulating late fees, which Peoples Gas concedes drives their profits.

With Nicor, North Shore, and Ameren also enacting gas rate hikes, it’s time to begin a managed transition away from dirty, expensive gas to more affordable clean energy solutions. We are glad to see the ICC will begin planning for a future beyond gas by opening a future of heat proceeding.

There is still more to do. We are encouraged that Mayor Johnson is committed to addressing building decarbonization in Chicago and we look forward to the state taking the lead on clean heat legislation in the spring legislative session.

Isabel Miller contributed to this post.

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Question of the day

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I saw this headline while surfing through websites today…

I Texted My Friend For Years After She Died. Then I Received A 5-Word Reply That Left Me Shaken.

“For the first time since my dear friend had died five years earlier, she’d written back.”

I’ve never texted a dead friend, but I cannot ever bring myself to delete their numbers from my phone.

* The Question: Do you delete phone contacts of friends who have died? Bonus question: Have you ever texted them? Explain either way, please.

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If you can’t beat ‘em…

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Join ‘em…

Former Republican Pete DiCianni has officially declared his switch to the Democratic Party as he announces his candidacy for DuPage County Recorder.

His ties to local Democrats, including DuPage County Chairman Deb Conroy, have stirred controversy within the DuPage GOP.

“I have closely observed DuPage County and have listened to the needs of its people and businesses, especially over the past decade,” Pete DiCianni said in a letter to constituents.

“I will be running as a Democrat in the primary election. Though I still have conservative values, sadly, the ideology of the Republican Party of DuPage is one I can no longer support. The DuPage GOP views words like moderate and bipartisan as four-letter words. This view has cost the party dearly the past few election cycles.”

“Regardless of a political party label, I will remain bipartisan, always support law enforcement, champion comprehensive public education, foster economic development, and be an advocate for people from all backgrounds, especially those who need the most help.”

DiCianni previously served as a Republican as DuPage County Board member and Mayor of Elmhurst.

Incumbent Democratic Recorder Kathleen Carrier is already facing Liz Chaplin in the primary. DiCianni may have seen an opening.

* Some local Dems aren’t buying it…

Hmmm. I wonder what “Democrat” put this “Democrat” up to this latest scam. People need to pay attention & vote accordingly.

Posted by Team Bluepage on Friday, November 17, 2023

* I checked in with DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy today. Conroy, a Democrat, said it was true that DiCianni did help her campaign last year. And she said believed DiCianni was done with the GOP and they are done with him.

Still, she said via text, “I think he will have a hard time finding a home in the D party out here.”

Your thoughts?

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to Thursday’s edition

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to today’s edition

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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City lays out its new migrant plan

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From the City of Chicago…

First, in partnership with the State of Illinois, the City is increasing personnel at the landing zone to help new arrivals reunite with their friends, family or verified sponsors. For many new arrivals, Chicago is not the final destination. By aiding new arrivals at the point of arrival, the City can save space in the shelter system for those individuals and families who plan to stay in Chicago.

Second, the City is regulating “rogue buses” which cause unnecessary logistical obstacles for intake and put the lives of new arrivals in danger – particularly as the temperatures drop. New regulatory tools will allow the City to cite and fine bus companies that disregard curfews, landing zone locations and loading/unloading protocols.

The bus companies are making so much money off those trips that they may not care about tickets, but we’ll see.

* The city explains its new 60-day exit notice policy for shelters…

Finally, the City will implement a limited stay policy along with additional supports from the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS). For individuals and families currently in City shelters, the City will be issuing 60-day exit notices in waves based on their arrival date to shelter.

• New arrivals who entered shelter in 2022 will receive a 60-day notice beginning 11/17/2023 [today]. Approximately 50 people will receive notices in this group.

• New arrivals who entered shelter between 1/1/2023 - 7/31/2023 will begin receiving 60-day notices on 12/4/2023. Approximately 3,000 people currently in shelter arrived in this timeframe.

• New arrivals who entered shelter between 7/31/2023 - 11/16/2023 will begin receiving 60-day notices on 2/1/2024. Approximately 8,800 people currently in shelter arrived in this timeframe.

• All new arrivals to shelter on or after 11/17/2023 will receive a 60-day notice upon intake.

* From the FAQ…

Will residents be eligible for an extension if they have not made other arrangements by the end of their 60-day stay?

• Under extenuating circumstances individuals may be granted temporary extensions. This includes medical crises or extreme cold weather.
• Individuals with a signed lease with a move-in date after the end of their 60-day period may receive an extension until their move-in date.

If individuals are not eligible for an extension, what happens if someone doesn’t have somewhere to go at the end of their 60-day stay?

If other arrangements have not been made and the resident is not eligible for an extension at the end of their 60-day stay, they may return to the landing zone and request a new shelter placement.

If someone is in the housing process, are they eligible for an extension?

Residents should make every effort to apply for rental assistance during their 60-day period. In order to apply for rental assistance, a lease must be secured. If a lease is secured and the rental assistance application has been submitted prior to the end of their 60-day stay, an extension may be granted through their move-in date (i.e., start of the lease, including utilities being established).

What type of help will new arrivals receive to support their resettlement?

Rental assistance

• Our goal is to leverage all resources to assist with resettlement efforts.
• Rental assistance may be available to eligible households:

o Shelter residents who arrived to shelter on or prior to November 16, 2023, will maintain eligibility to apply for rental assistance.
o Shelter residents who arrived to shelter on or after November 17, 2023, will not be eligible for rental assistance.

• All new arrivals will remain eligible for the following resources: IDHS public benefits via Victims of Trafficking, Torture, or other serious Crimes (VTTC), a health home via Cook County Health, assistance with school enrollment at Chicago Public Schools, and other resources and supports available through the Illinois Welcoming Center network: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=146538

* Kirstin Chernawsky, the Associate Secretary of Early Childhood, Family & Community at the Department of Human Services, explained the new, shortened rental assistance program yesterday…

The Asylum Seeker Emergency Rental Assistance Program, previously was a three-month with the option to renew for an additional three months for up to a total of six months. In shortening it to three months, there’s two main priorities.

The first is that we currently have enough funds left in that program to reach everyone that is currently in shelter. So the folks that are in shelter that have been demonstrating that they are working towards finding independent housing will have access to that program.

This allows us to tell all new arrivals, there is no more emergency rental assistance available, so that folks who are choosing to come to Chicago understand what it is that they are coming into.

For the individuals that will be going from the up to six months to the up to three months, they will continue to have a variety of wraparound supports available to them while they are living in independent housing that will allow them to maintain that housing. Through case management, through the Illinois coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights, through the ongoing Illinois welcoming center program through partnerships they’re making with New Life and the supplies New Life is providing them so that they are set up to succeed in that independent housing.

We feel that this shift from six to three months will still allow folks to continue along their journeys to independence.

Chernawsky said the new program starts today. The clock starts ticking when migrants arrive in shelters. So, if they’re at O’Hare, that doesn’t count toward the three months.

* Matt DeMateo, the CEO of New Life Centers, spoke at yesterday’s Pritzker press conference announcing the state’s new migrant initiative. New Life Centers, he said, has helped resettle 1,500 families (5,400 individuals) since May of this year…

I’m hopeful for the future because the systems we are building now will create the pathways to care for all of the unhoused in Chicago. Let me say that again. I’m hopeful for the future because the systems we are building now will create the pathways to care for all of the unhoused in Chicago. It’s not either/or. It’s both/and. And not just a token statement, but truly building the systems of care that will change our city going forward to build a strong safety net for our city’s most vulnerable populations and strengthen the partnership with government resources and community based leadership.

Sounds good, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

* More from Isabel…

* Crain’s | Pritzker raps Johnson migrant response while unveiling $160M in state aid: The $160 million will be provided in three buckets: $30 million to create a “large intake and welcome center” at an undisclosed location, $65 million to help Chicago establish a tent base camp to provide shelter for up to 2,000 people at a time and another $65 million to help coordinate the resettlement of migrants, including rental assistance.

* Tribune | State pouring $160 million more for Chicago asylum-seeker relief efforts as winter approaches: The state will start cutting off a rental assistance program for new arrivals who aren’t already in the city’s shelter system and will begin looking to help asylum-seekers relocate to other parts of the country, while the city this week said it is implementing a 60-day limit for migrant stays at city shelters.

* AP | Illinois earmarks $160 million to keep migrants warm in Chicago as winter approaches: Illinois has already spent or committed more than $638 million to address the humanitarian asylum seeker crisis, officials said. The additional funds will come from the Illinois Department of Human Services. Chicago is in charge of housing new arrivals and has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to accommodate them.

* ABC Chicago | Governor JB Pritzker outlines plans for migrant intake center, funds for shelter: Cook County is expected to announce plans for a new $90 million fund to help migrants, with $70 million going to healthcare and another $20 million going to suburbs willing to help in the migrant crisis.

* WGN | Gov. Pritzker announces $160M in funding for migrant emergency response: As part of the plan, the governor aims to submit at least 11,000 work permit applications. It’s an effort already underway through workshops with legal aid providers and pro-Bono attorneys.

* WTTW | Gov. J.B. Pritzker Announces Plan to Spend Additional $160M to Care for Migrants as Winter Looms: “We’re stepping in here to try to help and accelerate this process,” Pritzker said. “It isn’t moving fast enough. That’s why you are still seeing people on the street. We just can’t have people on the street. We can not have people freezing on the streets of Chicago as we head into very cold weather.”

* CBS Chicago | Gov. Pritzker: City has not moved fast enough to provide more shelter for migrants: “The city’s been operating its own methodology process, right? And it hasn’t moved fast enough,” Pritzker said. “So we’ve done a complete data analysis of everything that’s happened really for the last 14 months to determine exactly where the bottlenecks are, and so we’re bringing our resources in to try to flatten out those bottlenecks, make sure that people are moving through faster, and make sure that the city is building shelters faster.”

* ABC Chicago | Mayor Brandon Johnson expected to provide details on migrant plans: Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected Friday to release more details about his migrant policy. This comes after Governor JB Pritzker pledged more money to help deal with the crisis with more arrivals expected. Earlier this week, Johnson announced “We are addressing the anxiety and fear that people have, whether you are a taxpayer or whether you are someone who is seeking asylum in the city of Chicago,” Johnson said.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Open thread

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: A CTA Yellow Line train crashed into a snow plow doing scheduled training, sending two dozen to hospitals. Tribune…

-23 people, including four children, were taken to hospitals after the crash.

-Three of the people were in serious or critical condition, though no injuries were believed to be life-threatening.

* Related stories…

∙ Block Club: At Least 23 Injured, 3 Critically After CTA Train Crashes Near Howard
∙ NBC Chicago: Largest CTA train crash in decades leaves 38 injured
∙ *ABC Chicago: CTA Yellow Line service remains suspended after train crash injures 38 at Howard Station

* More from X (previously known as Twitter)…

Just talked with @ntsb chair @JenniferHomendy, who’ll lead the investigation into the @cta crash. She’s spoken with @GovPritzker and @janschakowsky. NTSB staff talked with CTA’s top safety officer. But as of minutes ago, CTA director Dorval Carter had not returned her call. https://t.co/VKIfWkXM2N

— Amanda Vinicky (@AmandaVinicky) November 17, 2023

CTA canceled tonight's virtual public meeting on the next phase of the Red & Purple Line Modernization plan pic.twitter.com/xWbiuw24vb

— Claudia Morell (@claudiamorell) November 16, 2023

* Isabel’s top picks…

* Capitol News Illinois | Advocates hail regulatory ‘earthquake’ as state slashes requested gas rate increases: Rates will still rise next year, but not nearly as much as they would have if the commission had approved the utilities’ initial requests. The commissioners instead sided with consumer advocates – rejecting several recommendations from the ICC’s own staff – in several key areas, including profit rates, low-income discounts and spending oversight.

* Sun-Times | Ed Burke’s corruption trial opens with conflicting takes on leading figure — ‘extortionist’ vs. ‘good man’: When the trial of former Ald. Ed Burke finally kicked off in earnest Thursday, a federal prosecutor wasted no time leaning forward, pointing his finger at the veteran politician and calling him perhaps the “most powerful member of the Chicago City Council.” Then, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Chapman told the jury that Burke was more than that: “He was a bribe taker. And he was an extortionist.”

* Sun-Times | Chicago police unit that reviews cops’ use of force ‘critically understaffed,’ Illinois attorney general’s office says: The unit had a backlog of 2,702 cases in July, which has nearly doubled to 5,116, [Assistant Attorney General Samuel Kennedy] said. In February, the unit had 54 police officers and now has 47. The department is adding four part-time employees to the unit, but that isn’t going to be enough to address the three-month backlog, Kennedy said.

* A first for Illinois…

Congratulations, First Deputy Director Rebecca Hooks! #HERStory in the making as the first woman First Deputy Director of the @ILStatePolice! https://t.co/8phOEyoquj

— Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton (@LtGovStratton) November 16, 2023

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

WTTW | Legislation Would Help Non-English Speakers Access Government Services in Illinois:

* Herald-Review | Requiem for ‘Invest in Kids,’ and other takeaways from Illinois legislature’s fall session: It was controversial from the beginning, with progressive lawmakers and powerful allies, most notably the state’s teachers unions, opposing it on ideological grounds, claiming that it siphons money away from public schools. But there is a difference between now and then. In 2017, the state’s governor was a Republican and longtime advocate for school choice. The Democratic legislative leaders were were products of Chicago’s once-dominant parochial system.

* Jim Dey | Inmates’ mental issues present problem with no solution: It sounds hellish and probably was. But what’s the best way to deal with inmates whose malignant personalities and mental-health issues make them a constant behavior problem and/or threats to themselves, other inmates and prison employees Previous litigation has shown Illinois prisons provide poor mental-health services, one significant factor being the state’s inability to hire enough psychiatrists to meet the demand.

* Tribune | Chicago police officer pleads not guilty to felony aggravated battery for videotaped school incident: The Police Department, however, stripped him of his police powers last week and prohibited from carrying a gun or his badge while awaiting trial, his attorney said. He has been assigned to desk duty until the case is resolved. Lancaster was indicted earlier this month after the Chicago Tribune published a video of the altercation, which shows him hitting 14-year-old JaQuwaun Williams near his throat as the boy walked into Gresham Elementary School on May 18.

* Daily Southtown | Will County rejects plans for solar farm near Frankfort: The solar facility would have been about a quarter mile from the village of Frankfort’s border, and officials there objected to the plan. Michael Schwarz, Frankfort’s director of community and economic development, said it was not consistent with the comprehensive plan. The village includes that property in its long-term plans and officials believe it is best suited for residential development, Schwarz said. “We are not opposed to solar,” Schwarz said. “We don’t think this is the right location.”

* Block Club | Downtown Alderman Says He Asked Mayor’s Office For Help — And Was Told He’d Get It In Return For Votes: Ald. Bill Conway (34th) is accusing Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office of refusing to help him resolve issues around tent encampments in his ward after he did not support two of the mayor’s key proposals in City Council last month. The mayor said the situation is being misunderstood. At the same time, another key Conway proposal to boost safety around a women’s clinic was unexpectedly delayed amid the public squabble.

* Politico | Resolute abruptly lays off staff: On the call, Resolute CEO Greg Goldner told the group that “business development hasn’t gone the way we expected it,” and after a series of tough meetings with the firm’s founder and COO, Dave Smolensky, everyone on the call would be laid off — effective immediately, according to a person at the meeting.

* KSDK | Illinois hunting isn’t affected by the state’s assault weapon restrictions. Here’s what the law says: Under PICA, hunters are permitted to use firearms classified by the law as “assault weapons” while hunting, as long as the guns are authorized under the Illinois Wildlife Code and have the appropriate licenses and permits usually required for hunting.

* NBC | Global decline in male fertility linked to common pesticides: Researchers compiled, rated and reviewed the results of 25 studies of certain pesticides and male fertility and found that men who had been exposed to certain classes of pesticides had significantly lower sperm concentrations. The study, published Wednesday in Environmental Health Perspectives, included data from more than 1,700 men and spanned several decades.

* Tribune | Tiny Chicago Hope Academy is in the state football semifinals, but its mission is bigger than sports: With 290 students, Hope plays in the smallest division in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). It is one of only two Chicago teams left in the playoffs, along with Mount Carmel in Class 7A. If Hope wins, it’s believed it will be the first West Side school to win the state title.

* Sun-Times | Jason Benetti’s departure from White Sox hastened by contentious relationship with exec Brooks Boyer: Multiple sources said a contentious relationship with Sox senior vice president and chief revenue and marketing officer Brooks Boyer was at the center of the situation, particularly an inappropriate remark Boyer made to Benetti.

* Sun-Times | Ray Tate, musician who ran Old Town School of Folk Music and taught John Prine guitar, dies at 86: “The spirit of the Old Town School was bringing music to people who had never played before, and Ray was at the center of that,” said Michael Miles, a teacher at the school. […] He accompanied other musicians on stage, performed as a studio musician, created jingles for radio and television ads and established Project Upbeat, a program for city kids at the Old Town School that garnered a letter of support from then President Richard Nixon. He also composed, arranged and produced more than 25 film scores and television themes.

12 Comments

Live coverage

Friday, Nov 17, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here or here to follow breaking news. Click here to follow the Ed Burke trial.

Comments Off

Afternoon roundup

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* IDES…

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate increased +0.2 percentage point to 4.6 percent, while nonfarm payrolls decreased -15,000 in October, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and released by IDES. The September revised unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, unchanged from the preliminary September unemployment rate. The September monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +9,500 to +11,400 jobs. The October unemployment rate and payroll jobs estimate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.

In October, the industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll job declines included: Professional and Business Services (-6,700), Manufacturing (-5,300), Financial Activities (-2,900), and Educational and Health Services (-2,900). The industry sectors with the largest over-the-month job gains included: Government (+4,200), Leisure and Hospitality (+1,500), and Construction (+700). […]

The state’s unemployment rate was +0.7 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate reported for October. The national unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in October, up +0.1 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was unchanged from a year ago when it was also 4.6 percent.

Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll jobs increased by +65,300 jobs, with gains across most major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases included: Educational and Health Services (+34,900), Government (+28,200), and Leisure and Hospitality (+25,200). Professional and Business Services (-16,900), Manufacturing (-12,000), and Information (-6,200) reported the largest declines in payroll jobs. In October, total nonfarm payrolls were up +1.1 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +1.9 percent in the nation.

The number of unemployed workers was 296,600, up +5.0 percent from the prior month, and down -1.1 percent over the same month one year ago. The labor force was up +0.1 percent over-the-month and down -0.1 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.

* Illinois PIRG…

Regulators took critical first steps to reform the failing Peoples Gas pipe replacement program Thursday. The action was one of many included in three major gas utility rate decisions voted on by the five-person Illinois Commerce Commission.

The Commission, recently overhauled by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, disallowed the entire proposed 2024 pipeline replacement budget, paused the program, and ordered a new investigation into the program, noting particular interest in reforming the program’s “neighborhood” approach. These decisions stem from recommendations made by Illinois PIRG and co-intervening organizations Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law and Policy Center, and NRDC. The Office of the Illinois Attorney General and City of Chicago made similar recommendations.

The pipe replacement program, which has been plagued by severe cost overruns and consistently failed to achieve its public safety objective, has raised customer bills for the past decade and is the primary driver of the record rate hike. On Wednesday, Peoples Gas published its third quarter report on the program, revealing the program to be once again over budget and behind on its pipe retirement goals.

Over the past decade, the state “QIP” law shielded the obviously troubled program from meaningful oversight or accountability, causing widespread affordability problems in Chicago and delivering six consecutive years of record-breaking profits to Peoples Gas and its out of state parent, WEC Energy Group.

The pipe replacement decision is just one of many made in three rate cases impacting gas utility customers across Illinois. In all cases, the Commission approved lower rate increases than requested by utilities.

The Commission also took important steps to lower profit rates, rein in unnecessary utility spending, lower fixed customer charges, plan for the future of the gas system, and create robust low income discount rates.

Final written orders are not available yet.

* Press release…

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today announced $25 million in available grant funding through the Back to Business (B2B) NewBiz program. Following state recovery programming for businesses totaling $1.5 billion, the latest American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)-funded opportunity is designed to provide additional support for businesses in hard-hit sectors who launched during the pandemic. Businesses that launched in 2020 or 2021 and remain in operation have faced significant impacts during the pandemic, but they have not been eligible for other federal or state relief programming since they were not operational prior to the pandemic.

To provide hands-on support and raise awareness about the program, the State has mobilized a network of nearly 100 community navigators across Illinois. Applicants are encouraged to visit b2bnewbiz.com to learn more and apply.

…Adding… ACLU of Illinois…

ACLU of Illinois Hails Judge’s Decisions on IDOC Treatment of Transgender Persons Under Their Care

In a pair of orders issued this morning, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Rosenstengel today denied a motion by the State of Illinois to vacate previous court orders mandating steps to be taken by the Illinois Department of Corrections to care for prisoners who are transgender and gender non-conforming, and ordered the Department to carefully consider the requests made by those prisoners at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center to be transferred out of that facility because it is unable to provide safe conditions for prisoners with gender dysphoria. The rulings are the latest development in a case – Monroe v. Bowman – seeking constitutionally-required health care and housing for those with gender dysphoria in IDOC custody. The following can be attributed to Camille Bennett, Director of the Corrections Reform Project at the ACLU of Illinois:

Today’s rulings by Judge Rosenstengel continue to allow our clients to navigate the very difficult conditions they face inside IDOC facilities. While there has been modest improvement in recent years, the court noted that the pace of change has been “glacial” and that a slow response is the wrong response to rectifying constitutional harms. The court ordered changes more than two years ago that still have not happened today, including things as simple as access to safe and private showers.

We are pleased that the court has ordered IDOC to consider moving our clients out of Pinckneyville, calling for individualized review of transfer requests before the end of the calendar year. At a recent hearing, a number of our clients at Pinckneyville bravely testified and twenty-two clients submitted written declarations about the abysmal conditions and daily humiliations and abuse they face at that facility.

We will continue to advocate for changes in the way IDOC cares for those with gender dysphoria. Today’s rulings will move that effort forward.

* Um…

The emotional, 22-day speakership battle has Republicans still feeling raw. One member, Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), said his stress over the ordeal manifested in physical symptoms — headaches and an upset stomach that occasionally led him to vomiting. The anger culminated in a now-infamous clash between Bost and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) during a closed-door conference meeting, when Bost yelled at the instigator of McCarthy’s ouster to “sit down.”

“It took a lot of prayer to get through it,” Bost said, noting his symptoms began to alleviate once they elected Johnson.

* Press release…

Today, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the appointment of Sydney Holman to serve as the Deputy Mayor of Intergovernmental Affairs. In this role, Holman will lead Mayor Johnson’s legislative priorities at the city, state and federal levels.

“Sydney brings a vast array of experience which will prove invaluable as we tackle some of the most vexing challenges our city faces,” said Mayor Johnson. “She will bring people together and find compromises that work for all parties involved, but most important, that work for the residents and communities of the City of Chicago.

“I also want to express my gratitude to Beth Beatty who served the City of Chicago admirably and championed some historic pieces of legislation over the past six months, including One Fair Wage, Bring Chicago Home and Paid Leave, as well as yesterday’s passage of our first City budget. Her contributions were invaluable, and I wish her all the best in the future.”

“It is my top priority to work with Chicago City Council and all levels of government to pass transformative legislation for the working people and families of the City of Chicago,” Holman said. “I am honored to serve this great city and I look forward to working with Mayor Johnson to continue investing in people and moving an historic legislative agenda.”

Holman most recently worked at Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies where she assisted clients with legislative strategy and policy advocacy across a diverse range of topics. Holman previously served as Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs and as House Liaison of Legislative Affairs with the Office of Governor JB Pritzker. During her time at the Governor’s Office, Holman successfully lobbied the Governor’s progressive agenda on a wide range of issues including pension and business reform, gaming initiatives, higher education issues and healthcare accessibility.

Now, for the love of Mike, please hire a competent comms staff…

It appears that yesterday the Mayor blew off a State request to hold this new program information until today, releasing it during his own press conference & thereby distracting from the Mayor’s own #ChiBudget2024 budget passage media victory lap?

Did I get that right? 🤷‍♂️ https://t.co/9k1ZbtVO4S

— Chicago Bars (@chicagobars) November 16, 2023

* Rep. Buckner has some serious chops…

* From Isabel…

* WBEZ | As Chicago struggles to shelter migrants from Venezuela, neighboring Oak Park steps in to help: Earlier this month, Oak Park officials voted to declare a month-long emergency disaster. They appropriated $150,000 of the village’s COVID recovery funds to help migrants, adding to the $400,000 they were granted by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus for the cause. After a few days at Good Shepherd and United Lutheran, most of the migrants were moved to the Carleton of Oak Park Hotel and the West Cook YMCA.

* Tribune | Passengers injured in train crash on CTA Yellow Line in Rogers Park: At least 19 CTA train passengers were injured, three in critical-to-serious condition, Thursday morning when a Yellow Line train crashed in the Rogers Park neighborhood, said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department. According to preliminary information provided by the CTA, at approximately 10:40 a.m., a Yellow Line train made contact with rail equipment in the Howard Rail Yard. Langford said it was a snow removal apparatus.

* Sun-Times | Dozens injured in CTA train crash near the Howard Street station: The injured were taken to hospitals in fair-to-serious condition, and 15 refused care, said Keith Gray, assistant deputy chief paramedic, during a media briefing at the scene. No one suffered life-threatening injuries. The CTA operator, who was near the point of collision, was among the most critically injured. The children, the youngest of whom was 2, suffered “bumps and bruises.”

* Crain’s | Cresco Labs leans into efficiency, innovation after lower-than-expected loss: The approach – which the company leaned heavily into after its merger with Columbia Care (now The Cannabist) collapsed – resulted in a moderate decline in sales as the company closed out operations in states where it had a weaker position, such as Arizona. But the metric fell less than the high single-digit drop initially projected.

* WBEZ | More Palestinians live in Cook County than any other county in the nation: Like many other Palestinians in the Chicago area at the time, Naser’s parents initially settled on the Southwest Side of Chicago where they found a vibrant and diverse Palestinian community, especially in places like the Arab Community Center. The center is now home to the Arab American Action Network, a grassroots organizing and social services nonprofit. Naser currently serves on the board.

* CBS Chicago | Parents furious after girls are subjected to racist taunts at Illinois high school: “For us, this is a nightmarish déjà vu,” said Morgan’s mom, TeSaxton Washington. It is déjà vu because in 2021, Washington settled a lawsuit with the school district after another student threatened to “lynch” her son during class in 2019.

* Media-Ite | ‘Unvarnished Anti-Semitism’: Elon Musk Catches All Hell for Agreeing With Bigoted Tweet: The initial post written by @breakingbaht claimed Jewish communities “have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites” with the user adding, “I’m deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is.” Musk replied to the tweet, stating, “You have said the actual truth.”

* AP | Take heart, it looks like China could send new pandas to the US: The bears have long been the symbol of the U.S.-China friendship since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington in 1972, ahead of the normalization of bilateral relations. Later, Beijing loaned the pandas to other U.S. zoos, with proceeds going back to panda conservation programs.

* CBS Chicago | Stateville prison inmates receive diplomas from Northwestern University: William Peeples is serving a life sentence at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, but for the past five years, he’s been working toward a college degree. “Best five years I ever spent. This moment is the culmination of literally 30 years of people pouring into me,” Peeples said. Peeples is part of a cohort of students in the Northwestern University Prison Education Program.

* Shaw Local | Princeton’s Red Covered Bridge heavily damaged by semi-trailer: Princeton’s iconic Red Covered Bridge, located 1.5 miles north of the city off Route 26, sustained heavy damage Thursday morning as a semi-trailer attempted to pass through it. The semi attempted to pass north to south and caused damage to both the historic structure and the semi itself. Portions of the trailer were ripped off after becoming stuck in the top of the covered bridge.

* AP | Thousands of Starbucks workers walkout, go on 1-day strike on Red Cup Day: The union said it was expecting more than 5,000 workers to take part in its “Red Cup Rebellion.” Around 30 stores also staged walkouts on Wednesday. […] Starbucks downplayed any potential impact of the strike Wednesday, saying it would occur at a “small subset” of the company’s 9,600 company-owned U.S. stores.

* WaPo | A rare look at the devastation caused by AR-15 shootings: The review lays bare how the AR-15, a weapon that has soared in popularity over the past two decades as a beloved tool for hunting, target practice and self-defense, has also given assailants the power to instantly turn everyday American gathering places into zones of gruesome violence. This is an oral history told in three parts that follows the chronological order of a typical AR-15 mass shooting. It weaves together pictures, videos and the recollections of people who endured different tragedies but have similar stories to tell.

6 Comments

Today’s quotable

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. Tribune…

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday deflected questions about a City Hall controversy in which a top adviser tried to persuade an alderman to vote for parts of Johnson’s progressive agenda by tying those votes to the administration’s willingness to remove homeless camps in the alderman’s ward.

The mayor was responding to questions from reporters about the proposal, which was made by top aide Jason Lee to Ald. Bill Conway, 34th, a day after the Tribune first reported on the discussion. Conway criticized Lee’s efforts and said it was an inappropriate quid pro quo.

The mayor Wednesday at first sidestepped a question about the exchange, telling reporters, “I am not necessarily privy to every single conversation that happens throughout the city of Chicago.” But pressed further on Conway’s allegations, Johnson said they were “a mischaracterization” and said “pushing for real support around the unhoused (is) what this has always been about.”

* Full mayoral quote…

I am not necessarily privy to every single conversation that happens throughout the city of Chicago. Now, if you’re asking me do I apologize for my administration advocating for working people and making sure that we put forward solutions to do with the unhoused in this city? I’m not going to apologize for that. In fact, I’m going to invest in that and that’s exactly what I’m doing. […]

That’s a mischaracterization. There’s been a lot of mischaracterization of conversations all over the city and that look, I get it, you know, whether it’s tension, whether it’s you know, what someone said or what someone else heard. Here’s the truth. That we have 70,000 people who are unhoused in this city, of which one in four Black students in the city of Chicago go unhoused. This is about advocacy. Whether it’s my senior advisor or whether it’s Ald. Vazquez, or anyone else who’s been pushing for real support around the unhoused. This is what this has always been about. And again, I’m not going to apologize for doing right by the people of Chicago. I said that I was going to bring Chicago home. I said I was going to invest in the unhoused. There is no secret to what I said I was going to do. And my administration carrying that out, is exactly what the people of Chicago expect in their mayor.

And let me just say something to you, Chicago, every promise that I’ve made, I’ve kept it and that includes making sure that we are dealing with the unhoused in this city. And if anyone wishes to stand in the way of the people of Chicago, well, they’re going to get rolled over by the people of Chicago.

Except the unhoused people living under those viaducts by Union Station are still there, without housing, because Ald. Conway refused to vote for a a couple of ordinances which passed anyway.

11 Comments

Pritzker on why state is stepping in: Chicago ‘isn’t moving fast enough’ and ‘We cannot have people freezing on the streets of Chicago’ and the city did not make the case to legislature for direct funding

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. From Gov. Pritzker’s answers to reporters earlier today about his asylum-seekers plan…

The city has been operating its own methodology process. And it hasn’t moved fast enough. So we’ve done a complete data analysis of everything that’s happened for the last 14 months to determine exactly where the bottlenecks are. And so we’re bringing our resources in to try to flatten out those bottlenecks, make sure that people are moving through faster, and make sure that the city is building shelters faster. […]

And once again, we’re stepping in here to try to help and accelerate this process. It isn’t moving fast enough. That’s why you’re seeing people still on the street and we just can’t have people on the street. This is a humanitarian endeavor. We cannot have people freezing on the streets of Chicago as we head into very cold weather. […]

The [soft shelter site] we’re assisting with is going to be dependent on the city turning over a property to us. That’s going to be up to them entirely. Speeding up the front end, the welcoming and the intake is something that will begin nearly immediately. We’re already working on it. […]

The city is running the shelter system. We are not. We are doing what we’ve been doing all along, which is providing all the wraparound, not all, but many of the wraparound services, including by the way, the immigration assistance, making sure people move through the TPS system. We brought the federal government in to work alongside of us in order to get that done. So I just wanted to make sure you understand the state doesn’t run shelters. […]

I don’t know, you’ll have to ask the city, they run the shelter system. We’ve been absolutely encouraging the city to find bricks and mortar shelter. I’m not criticizing, I’m just suggesting that now, here we are. We’re right up against winter and very cold weather and we want to make sure that no one is left outside. […]

The state doesn’t control property in the city of Chicago that could provide a location. The city really has to do that. But we’ve talked to the city literally every day and try to be responsive to their needs. Once again, we’ve been in charge of certain kinds of things in this process. And now that we’re very close to winter, it is clear that the city needs more help. So the state is now stepping in to provide some of that help to do the contracting, to up the game when it comes to breaking through the barriers in the pipeline. You know this is a challenge that no doubt everybody’s aware of, but with very cold weather upon us, the state is now having to step in and be more aggressive. […]

[Reporter says the city has been requesting help from the state for months, “Are you saying because they didn’t identify specific dollar amounts or specific funding requests for X, Y and Z, is that why the state didn’t step in sooner?”]

When you say stepping in sooner, we’ve been working with them all long. And indeed, we have spent much more money to support the system of asylum seekers arriving here than the city has. So, you know, I want to make sure you understand that that’s the case.

I also would say that, to the extent that the city is looking for dollars and not assistance, then it needs to go to the General Assembly and make the case for that in Springfield. They have not done that. They did not do that.

The mayor chose not to show up today. Oops.

Please pardon all transcription errors.

28 Comments

Rate the new Monarch Butterfly Specialty License Plate

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

After more than seven years, Illinois residents who placed deposits for the state’s Monarch Butterfly Specialty License Plate can finally redeem it, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced today.

The Monarch Butterfly License Plate is the first Universal Specialty Plate issued by the State of Illinois – even though the General Assembly approved it in 2016. […]

In 2016, Illinois lawmakers passed legislation to create a “universal” license plate to limit the number of specialty license plates – all designed differently and deemed problematic for law enforcement. At the time, there were 109 different specialty plates.

The legislation stated that any new charitable organization would need at least 2,000 Illinoisans to place deposits that benefitted an organization or charity before any new specialty plate could get issued. Furthermore, the new specialty plates would have a universal, standardized design, but include a decal on the left side depicting the cause or charity it supports.

The Monarch plate reached the necessary 2,000 deposits in 2018, yet it was never produced despite residents having already paid the necessary $10 to pre-order the plate. The money raised from Illinoisans’ deposits goes toward protecting the Monarch from extinction. […]

“Native pollinators, like the iconic Illinois State Insect, the Monarch Butterfly, play a critical role in preserving the biodiversity of our local ecosystems. The Illinois Environmental Council is proud to have played a role in recruiting over 2,000 Illinois Monarch protectors to sign up for the new license plate decal seven years ago, funding the state’s Monarch Habitat Fund,” said IEC Executive Director Jennifer Walling. “Today, we couldn’t be more appreciative of Secretary of State Giannoulias, his office and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for finally getting this project across the finish line and into the hands of Illinois’ many pollinator protectors.” […]

The $10 deposits are allocated to the Roadside Monarch Habitat Fund, which is part of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. If renewed, $23 of the universal special license plate renewal fee will benefit the fund. The Monarch Butterfly, Illinois’ state insect, is considered endangered.

The fund helps foster habitats to support the butterflies during their twice-yearly migratory journey from Mexico to Chicago with a goal to add 150 million new milkweed stems and other nectar resources to the Illinois landscape in the next 15 years.

* Here it is…

I love everything about this except the phrase “Protect Monarchs.” I think we fought a war of independence over that slogan. /s

Anyway, try to ignore my snark.

16 Comments

Outline of Pritzker’s $160 million migrant plan emerges

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

…Adding… The governor’s press release is here. It’s worth a read.

* Subscribers know more. No direct money to Chicago. These graphics were given to reporters this morning…

* Crain’s…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday the state is providing an additional $160 million to help care for the thousands of migrants arriving in the state and awaiting shelter space in Chicago.

The $160 million will be provided in three buckets: $30 million to create a “large intake and welcome center” at an undisclosed location, $65 million to help Chicago establish a tent base camp to provide shelter for up to 2,000 people at a time and another $65 million to help coordinate the resettlement of migrants, including rental assistance. […]

State officials hope that devoting more resources to the point of entry for buses carrying migrants from border states will provide better coordination for where migrants are sent in Chicago and assist those who have a sponsor, are seeking to go elsewhere or who may have family they are seeking to connect with. […]

Pritzker previously said this fall the state was unlikely to continue providing assistance to Chicago, but state officials said Thursday the $160 million would be taken from the budget of the Illinois Department of Human Services for emergency response and did not require a vote by the General Assembly, which is not set to meet again until January.

* WBEZ…

State lawmakers didn’t explicitly authorize this level of funding to handle the flood of new migrants, but Abudayyeh said the state has authority within the Illinois Department of Human Services budget to reallocate dollars.

If additional funding is needed, she said, that could be dealt with when the General Assembly is next scheduled to return to Springfield in mid-January.

Prior to today’s $160 million commitment, the state has spent $478 million on the migrant crisis during the past fiscal year and the 2024 fiscal year, which ends next June, she said.

* WTTW…

The plan outlined by state officials calls for $65 million to be used to erect a temporary “soft-sided” shelter that could house some of the more than 2,400 migrants living in police stations across the city and at O’Hare International Airport waiting for a bed to open up in a city shelter, according to city data updated Wednesday morning.

No location has been identified for that shelter, which will house as many as 2,000 people, officials said. […]

Pritzker’s announcement came just hours after Mayor Brandon Johnson announced migrants in city shelters will be limited to no more than 60 days in city shelters. In addition, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle asked commissioners to earmark $100 million to help confront the crisis facing Chicago as part of Cook County’s 2024 budget, which is set for approval Thursday.

That plan calls for $70 million to be used by the county’s health system to care for the migrants, with $20 million set aside for suburbs to care for migrants. Oak Park launched an effort to do that in recent weeks, and officials hope more will follow suit. The remaining $10 million will be held in reserve, in an effort to allow county officials to respond to unanticipated disasters in 2024, officials said.

The governor is speaking now. We’ll have updates soon.

…Adding… More…

Illinois lawmakers were recently in session for their veto session, and there was no talk or votes about this funding. The Pritzker administration says it’s a humanitarian emergency; budget issues can be dealt with when lawmakers return in January, + IL is running a surplus. https://t.co/qmSUYn2o6N

— Amanda Vinicky (@AmandaVinicky) November 16, 2023

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Mayor Johnson says he supports half-appointed school board plan, CTU President says she’s still ‘trying to understand’ Harmon’s plan

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background on the Chicago elected school board bill is here. Let’s also go back to a Sun-Times report in 2021…

“Our mayor [Lightfoot] has misled us on a number of issues: Lincoln Yards, Hilco, Anjanette Young, No Cop Academy. Her shift on the elected, representative school board is consistent with other misleading actions,” Davis Gates said.

To “exalt mayoral control in a post-Trump America is the wrong direction” for Democrats, Davis Gates said.

“Democrats should be prioritizing and amplifying democracy. … An elected school board is about democracy … for Chicagoans. One would even say that it is a voting rights issue. This is a district that serves predominantly students of color. Why shouldn’t their parents have an opportunity to take a vote for the futures of their neighborhoods, their schools and their children?” she said.

* Sun-Times in February…

[Mayoral candidate Brandon] Johnson, in fact, has a long list of what he says are Lightfoot’s broken promises to progressive voters. […]

“It’s not a surprise to me that she broke those promises because she never believed them from the beginning,” he said.

Johnson, an organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, cited the mayor’s about-face on an elected Chicago Public Schools board as one of her broken progressive promises.

* WBEZ yesterday afternoon…

Jen Johnson, deputy mayor of education under Brandon Johnson, said the mayor wants to stick with starting with a hybrid [half elected, half appointed] board as laid out in the law. She said, as an organizer for the CTU, the mayor worked to pass the law, which took a lot of advocacy, pressure and compromise.

“Interjecting change at this stage is not super helpful,” she said.

In an interview, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said the union isn’t opposed to all members being elected next year, but Harmon needs to answer how he thinks that’s now possible when he previously argued it would be too complicated.

“The Senate president dropped this on everyone’s head without the benefit of stakeholder input or even understanding,” Davis Gates said. “So, no, the implications of this haven’t been weighed yet. We’re still trying to understand what just happened.”

“What just happened” is that Harmon gave the CTU everything it asked for at a public hearing during which the CTU lobbyist said there could be a lawsuit filed over equal representation.

*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago), who sponsored the House’s hybrid bill…

The missing piece in the conversation about the elected school board bill is that everyone - including the Senate (at least until Tuesday evening) - presumed we were working from the initially hybrid structure put into place in the 2021 bill. (The hybrid board for the first two years before going to a fully elected board in 2026.)

That was my understanding and why the House proposal was developed - to ensure everyone got the ability to vote in year one while still utilizing the (heavily negotiated) structure from the 2021 agreed bill.

We first heard about the Senate proposal to open up the agreement, scrap the transition period and go to a fully elected board late Tuesday. With only a few days left in the veto session, there wasn’t time to fully evaluate if this could be put together in time for an election less than a year away without negatively impacting the stability of Chicago public schools.

I have been a strong supporter of a fully elected board for many years; if the proposal to revisit the agreed initial hybrid structure had been proposed a year or even six months ago, it would’ve been a different story. But to abruptly switch gears at the 11th hour gave me pause. This is really really important for Chicago and we need to get it right.

If we can identify an approach which will get us there faster in a way that provides for an equitable and representative board, while ensuring a smooth transition, of course it will be considered.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Pritzker announcement preview

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Open thread

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Johnson unveils 60-day shelter limit for asylum seekers ahead of big Pritzker aid infusion. Crain’s…

- Pritzker is expected to announce more state money for migrant aid today. The amount is “more than” the $150 million Johnson included in his own 2024 budget for migrants. a knowledgeable source told Crain’s Greg Hinz.

-Johnson said the city also will begin to “cite and fine bus companies that disregard our curfews, landing zone locations and loading and unloading rules,” beginning this weekend.

* Related stories…

∙ Sun Times: Johnson implementing 60-day limit on shelter stays in next phase of plan to confront migrant crisis
∙ Block Club: Asylum Seekers Will Be Limited To 60-Day Stays At City-Run Shelters, Mayor Says

* Isabel’s top picks…

* WBEZ | One year before Chicago’s first school board election, key details remain unresolved: That schedule has long been set in stone — until last week. Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, threw a wrench in those plans by proposing to move elections for all board members to next fall. His reasoning? It’s too difficult to create a racially representative voting map that adheres to voting rights laws with only half the districts. He believes every model for transitioning from a partially elected to fully elected board has “glaring shortcomings.”

* WTTW | Suspended CPS Security Guard is 3rd Fired Chicago Cop Hired by District After Being on City’s Do-Not-Hire List: WTTW News previously reported that two CPS security guards suspended by the district were hired despite being placed on the city’s do-not-hire list after they were fired from their positions as Chicago police officers. Deluna, like those two other guards, also worked as a police officer for Chicago before his suspension by the school district. Unlike those guards, Deluna didn’t even make it past his training cycle as a police officer before being banned by the city from holding a municipal job. He was hired back by CPS about a year and a half after his CPD firing.

Governor Pritzker is set to announce new state investments in services for asylum seekers at 10 am today. Click here to watch.

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

* Capitol News Illinois | State Supreme Court weighs constitutionality of lifetime restrictions on child sex offenders: According to court records included in briefs filed with the Supreme Court, Kopf served three years of probation and reportedly has had no other criminal convictions since then. Still, because he was convicted of a sex crime involving a minor, Kopf remains subject to an Illinois statute that requires him to register for the rest of his life as a sex offender and prohibits him from ever living in certain areas. Those residency restrictions cover any place within 500 feet of a “playground, child care institution, day care center, part day child care facility, day care home, group day care home, or a facility providing programs or services exclusively directed toward persons under 18 years of age.”

* Tribune | Corruption trial of ex-Ald. Ed Burke to resume after weeklong COVID-related delay: After a sluggish start to jury selection and a weeklong COVID-related delay, the historic corruption trial of former Chicago Ald. Edward Burke is finally expected to head to opening statements Thursday after a jury is empaneled.

* WBEZ | Cook County pitches a $100 million fund for migrants and disaster aid: About $70 million in that fund would be set aside to provide medical care for migrants. That’s in addition to money already budgeted next year to treat this population, proposed budget documents show. About $20 million would flow to suburbs to help cover costs related to providing services for migrants, and about $10 million would be used to help communities with other disaster response and recovery efforts, such as record-setting rainstorms that have inundated many residents’ homes.

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson deflects questions over proposal tying homeless tent removal to City Council votes: The mayor Wednesday at first sidestepped a question about the exchange, telling reporters, “I am not necessarily privy to every single conversation that happens throughout the city of Chicago.” But pressed further on Conway’s allegations, Johnson said they were “a mischaracterization” and said “pushing for real support around the unhoused (is) what this has always been about.”

* WGN | Migrants, crime, investment in people: Brandon Johnson’s first 6 months as mayor: “As I’ve said repeatedly, I don’t know if there’s ever been a mayor that understand the trauma that violence causes in communities than someone like me who is living in one of those communities,” he said in a recent interview with WGN’s Tahman Bradley. “Today of course we’re centered in Austin, the neighborhood that I’m raising my family in. I can tell you the touch points have literally reached just outside my front door. And so I think about it every day, it’s a very serious problem that we have.”

* WAND | Pritzker highlights trade jobs, workforce development during Apprenticeship Week: USDOL plans to award $98 million in grants to YouthBuild programs across the country. YouthBuild pre-apprenticeship programs lift up low-income children and young adults who dropped out of school, are unemployed or have limited job skills. “If we think of our workforce system as infrastructure, apprenticeships are the super highways,” said USDOL Acting Secretary Julie Su.

* SJ-R | Milhiser: ‘Prioritizing public safety’ and ‘reducing violent crime’ is job one: John Milhiser said he has a slightly different perspective returning as Sangamon County state’s attorney. The 53-year-old Milhiser, who was nominated for the position by Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter and was sworn in at Tuesday’s board meeting after being unanimously approved, served as state’s attorney from 2010 to 2018 before being appointed U.S. Attorney.

* Crain’s | Former state, city officials win Democratic National Convention contract: An advisory firm run by former state of Illinois and city of Chicago facilities officials has been tapped to oversee the preparation of the United Center and its surrounding area for the Democratic National Convention next summer.

* The Pantagraph | Caulkins seeks Supreme Court review of Illinois semiautomatic weapons ban ruling: A downstate lawmaker whose challenge of Illinois’ semiautomatic weapons ban lost at the state Supreme Court earlier this year has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision.

* Michael Frerichs and Nell Minow | Those who want to ban sustainability-focused investing are on the losing end: Listening to Republican lawmakers and conservative voices, you might think that the ESG investment movement — which focuses on environmental, social and governance factors — is coming to an end. Growing anti-ESG sentiment among lawmakers, they would argue, is reflective of how the public is rejecting “woke” sustainable investment practices. We are here to tell you that this is simply not the case. Behind the smoke and mirrors of the anti-ESG fad lies a crumbling edifice with little support among investors, public fund managers or even other Republicans.

* Illinois Times | From colleges to cannabis: Before George Kennett joined Cresco Labs eight years ago, he was in a job he didn’t like, and his abuse of alcohol and other drugs led to what could have been a fatal spiral. The job at Cresco “saved my life and changed my life for the better,” Kennett, 32, told Illinois Times. “It gave me purpose.”

* Block Club Chicago | Narcan Vending Machine Comes To CTA Station, But Mother Of Overdose Victim Says More Must Be Done: The CTA’s Narcan vending machine is one of five turned on by Chicago Department of Public Health over the past two weeks, in a new pilot program bringing life-saving supplies to public spaces in high overdose areas. Uptown Library, Garfield Community Service Center, Harold Washington Library, Roseland Community Triage Center and the 95th Red Line station are recipients of the vending machines, which ask users to a create a unique PIN by first completing an anonymous online survey, although just Narcan can be dispensed by dialing “1234.”

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Live coverage

Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here or here to follow breaking news.

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State to lay out ‘next steps in managing the asylum seeker crisis’ tomorrow (Updated)

Wednesday, Nov 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The mayor broke the seal…

New help for migrants coming from state of Illinois and Cook County announces ⁦@ChicagosMayor⁩
(Assuming that means 💰)
⁦@GovPritzker⁩
⁦@ToniPreckwinkle⁩ pic.twitter.com/3nZbxUaUIf

— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) November 15, 2023

* Media alert from the governor’s office a bit ago…

Tomorrow morning Governor Pritzker will hold a press conference to announce the state’s next steps in managing the asylum seeker crisis. In advance of the presser, we are offering an embargoed background briefing at 9 AM with Acting IDHS Secretary Dulce Quintero, Associate Secretary for Early Childhood, Family & Community Kirstin Chernawsky, and Governor’s Office staff to provide more in-depth background to members of the media.

From what I’ve been hearing, this has more to do with programs than money, but money will be a part of it.

…Adding… Johnson talked a little about the state’s approach…

They know that we have to clear out these police districts, we’ve got to get people who are sleeping outside, indoors. And we have to create work authorization in an expedited way so that these [migrants] can contribute to the economy. And also creating a village in the community so that when other migrants, or asylum seekers arrive that there’s a community to receive them.

Please pardon any transcription errors.

…Adding… The mayor said earlier in the press conference that there would be a new “landing zone” or “entry point” for migrants. “I am grateful that the county and the state have heard our advocacy and their commitment to fund this mission.”

…Adding… More from the mayor…

On the front end, you know, we have to make sure that we are setting up these newly arrivals with the best opportunity to be successful. On the back end, part of the investments that the state will be providing is to expand a more expedited process for them to be resettled.

Also…

Johnson says the change in approach comes in advance of an announcement planned tomorrow by state and county officials.

— Heather Cherone (@HeatherCherone) November 15, 2023

Johnson declines to answer questions about what would happen to a migrant who hits their 60th day and has no where to go; he says the full plan will be revealed tomorrow.

— Heather Cherone (@HeatherCherone) November 15, 2023

…Adding… Update…

Johnson's deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas adds some clarity to reporters just now:

"No one will be kicked out if they're able to demonstrate that they have made progress with seeking permanent housing." https://t.co/AZKMei3KZ8

— Quinn Myers (@rquinnmyers) November 15, 2023

10 Comments

Afternoon roundup

Wednesday, Nov 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Ugh…

These folks have covered Southern IL for years with tremendous dedication. They all lose their jobs in 10 days as the newspaper sale closes out. They are all class acts. They will find work because of their talents. I don’t know what will become of news in the lower 1/4 of IL. pic.twitter.com/tAitMSq9Op

— Molly Parker (@MollyParkerSI) November 15, 2023

* SJ-R…

The U.S. House approved a temporary measure to fund the government Tuesday, keeping fears of a federal shutdown at-bay through the end of the year. […]

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, was one of two Democrats voting against the continuing resolution and was joined by all Illinois GOP members in opposition. All remaining Illinois Democrats voted ‘yes.’

No cuts to spending led to ‘no’ votes from Reps. Mary Miller, R-Oakland; and Darin LaHood, R-Peoria — Miller calling on zero funding to the Department of Education and World Health Organization. Quigley, who also voted against the prior stopgap measure, wanted more funding for Ukraine. […]

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, said in a statement that she voted in favor of the resolution due in-part to a one-year funding extension of the Farm Bill. The spending bill funds federal agriculture and food programs for five years will now continue through September 2024, the end of the fiscal year.

* The Illinois Farm Bureau found the price of a Thanksgiving meal has dropped a bit since last year…

Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) volunteer shoppers reported a state-wide average price of $63.87 for a classic holiday feast for 10, or around $6.39 per person. This reflects a 2.5% decrease over the previous year’s state average of $65.53. […]

AFBF reported a national average of $61.17, or less than $6.20 per person, for a classic holiday feast for 10. This is a 4.5% decrease from the previous year’s record-high of $64.05, but a Thanksgiving meal is still 25% higher than it was in 2019, which highlights the impact high supply costs and inflation have had on food prices since before the pandemic.

The centerpiece on most Thanksgiving tables – the turkey – brought down the overall cost of dinner. The national average price for a 16-pound turkey is $27.35. That is $1.71 per pound, down 5.6% from last year. […]

“Traditionally, the turkey is the most expensive item on the Thanksgiving dinner table,” said AFBF Senior Economist Veronica Nigh. “Turkey prices have fallen thanks to a sharp reduction in cases of avian influenza, which have allowed production to increase in time for the holiday.” […]

Individual Prices

• 16-pound turkey: $27.35 or $1.71 per pound (down 5.6%)
• 14-ounces of cubed stuffing mix: $3.77 (down 2.8%)
• 2 frozen pie crusts: $3.50 (down 4.9%)
• Half pint of whipping cream: $1.73 (down 22.8%)
• 1 pound of frozen peas: $1.88 (down 1.1%)
• 1 dozen dinner rolls: $3.84 (up 2.9%)
• Misc. ingredients to prepare the meal: $3.95 (down 4.4%)
• 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix: $4.44 (up 3.7%)
• 1 gallon of whole milk: $3.74 (down 2.6%)
• 3 pounds of sweet potatoes: $3.97 (up .3%)
• 1-pound veggie tray (carrots & celery): $.90 (up 2.3%)
• 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries: $2.10 (down 18.3%)

Meanwhile…

Americans for Prosperity-Illinois (AFP-IL) will be joined by House Republican Leader Tony McCombie and Senate Republican Leader John Curran at Montrose Food Mart & Deli in Chicago to provide free groceries for customers for a limited time.

The event will connect the rising grocery costs to the disastrous Bidenomic agenda in Washington and tax increases coming out of Springfield. The Leaders will join AFP-IL to chat with customers about the challenges they face with rising prices –especially around the holidays and discuss how Illinois can tackle inflationary policies moving forward.

Years of Biden and Pritzker’s reckless spending and inflationary policies have wreaked havoc on the American economy, making it harder than ever for Illinoisans to make ends meet. Governor Pritzker recently increased the grocery tax by one percent, hitting Illinois families even harder during economic uncertainty. From gasoline to groceries, everything seems more expensive nowadays.

Prices for groceries are up 24.4 percent since January 2021, costing a family of four an extra $59.08 per week for a moderate-cost plan. To highlight the consequences of the broken policies coming out of Washington, DC and Springfield, AFP will provide $60 gift cards to be used on groceries for Montrose Food Mart & Deli. To highlight the consequences of the broken policies coming out of Washington, DC and Springfield, AFP will provide $60 gift cards to be used on groceries for Montrose Food Mart & Deli.

* Politico…

The race for Democratic state Rep. Kelly Burke’s seat in the suburban 36th District is about to get interesting.

Sonia Anne Khalil is filing paperwork to run. She faces Rick Ryan, an attorney in Evergreen Park who’s been endorsed by Burke.

Khalil is known in Democratic circles in part for her work in the Cook County Clerk’s Office. Her father is Samir Khalil, founder of the Arab American Democratic Club.

About the district: It includes Palos Hills, Oak Lawn and Evergreen Park, where Burke is also the mayor. The district also has a large population of Arab Americans.

Khalil has close connections to progressives and former Cook County Clerk David Orr.

* Media advisory from SoS Alexi Giannoulias…

Giannoulias will be joined by elected officials and environmental leaders to celebrate the unveiling of the state’s new Monarch butterfly license plate.

Deposits for the plates raise funds for the Roadside Monarch Habitat Fund, which is part of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

The Monarch butterfly, Illinois’ state insect, is considered endangered. The fund helps foster habitats to support the butterflies during their twice-yearly migratory journey from Mexico to Chicago with a goal to add 150 million new milkweed stems and other nectar resources to the Illinois landscape in the next 15 years.

* Notice anything off about this calendar?…

New Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas calendar dropped: pic.twitter.com/AVnBQVPNJq

— Justin Laurence (@jus10chi) November 14, 2023

There is no month of May. July is listed twice.

…Adding… From Mike Phillips, a geology professor at Illinois Valley Community College…

At 4:42 am (Central), an earthquake occurred in eastern Putnam County, Illinois. The epicenter was approximately 1 mile south of Standard, Illinois (6.5 miles southwest of LaSalle/Peru). The earthquake focus is estimated to be 2.75 mi (4.6 km) below the surface. Reports to the US Geological Survey indicate that the earthquake was felt primarily within a 25-mile radius of the epicenter, but people as far away as Chicago, Illinois, and Dubuque, Iowa, also reported minor shaking. The most common report from my students and co-workers was that people were jarred awake as if someone hit their bed or something hit their house. While there is no known fault at this location, earthquakes happen in our area about once every 5-10 years.

The cause of the earthquake is still to be determined and includes several possibilities. The first is the result of pressure on our tectonic plate. The Earth’s surface is made of plates that move and interact with each other. That interaction results in earthquakes where the plates are touching, but some of that stress can result in the occasional earthquake in the middle of the plate where we are located. A second possibility related to the glaciers that left our area around 12-15,000 years ago. When they melted back, the loss of weight results in our part of the crust rising very slowly (about 1 mm/year) which can also result in the occasional earthquake.

For context, this is a normal experience for our area. Our area experiences a small earthquake about once every five or ten years. There was a M4.2 near Troy Grove in 2004 and a M3.5 near Dixon in 1999. The largest on record was a M5.1 in eastern Ogle County (west of DeKalb) in 1909. The Earth is a very active planet with earthquakes occurring all the time. They tend to make the news when they occur where people live. So, we can expect more earthquakes in the future.

Earthquakes are relatively minor, but it is always a good idea to have fragile, important items attached to something so they do not fall and break, and you probably shouldn’t have a shelf with things that could fall off directly over your bed.

I encourage anyone who experienced the earthquake or would like to know more about it to visit earthquake.usgs.gov to learn more and to share what they experienced. The Did You Feel It? reports are a very important data source for researchers.

* From Isabel…

* Tribune | Chicago judge rules federal statute barring felons from possessing guns is unconstitutional but says it’s a ‘close question’: As a five-time convicted felon, Glen Prince was facing a mandatory minimum 15 years behind bars when he was charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a handgun stemming from an armed robbery on CTA train in 2021. Instead, Prince’s case was tossed out earlier this month by a federal judge who ruled the statute barring felons from possessing handguns is unconstitutional in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

* Center Square | Prosecutors want life in prison for ComEd 4, defense attorneys say: Defense attorneys had asked for more time to deal with what they said were complex issues regarding sentencing guidelines. At a hearing Wednesday, defense attorney Patrick Cotter said prosecutors would be seeking life sentences for the defendants. “The government apparently is going to suggest that the guidelines of this case are life,” Cotter said. “And we are asking for what we believe to be adequate time, a couple extra weeks, to respond not only to the [pre-sentencing report] but to what the government files when they’re asking to put our clients in jail for life. And I think that that’s not unreasonable.”

* Crain’s | Rivian lines up $15B fake bond plan to snag tax break: The debt is structured as what’s known as “phantom bonds” that are used by companies to get a property tax break in Georgia, and involve no real financial or accounting impact for the company involved, according to a report by law firm Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP. In Rivian’s case, it’s a workaround because the state doesn’t have legislation allowing for companies to get abatements that provide such relief.

* ABC Chicago | Inside STIC, the Illinois terrorism intelligence agency fighting real and viral hoax terror threats: At a time when authorities say threats to public safety are mounting and coming from new directions, the ABC7 I-Team went to the STIC for a rare look at the safety net operation that’s working to keep Illinoisans and others across the county safe. Aaron Kustermann, chief intelligence officer for STIC, said there is more suspicious activity than ever before coming into the facility.

* Tribune | Michael Frerichs and Nell Minow: Those who want to ban sustainability-focused investing are on the losing end: In his ruling on the lawsuit, which was brought forward by 26 Republican attorneys general, Kacsmaryk acknowledged that the rule permits environmental and other risk factors to be considered in determining an investment’s risk and return while requiring pension investment firms to act “solely in the interest” of working people whose retirement they’re protecting. Unsurprisingly, none of the challengers was able to provide a single example of an investment decision that was not justified by strictly financial considerations.

* The Marshall Project | An Illinois Warden Tried to Fix an Abusive Federal Prison. He Faced Death Threats: “When the regional director called me and said, ‘Well, they looked into it and put those guys back on their post,’ I’m like, ‘Are you freaking kidding me right now?’” Bergami said. “My staff were saying to stab me and the captain. I’ve got to worry about our safety.”

* The Nation | How We Ended Cash Bail in Illinois: Leaders at these organizations recognized that none of us had the power to win on our own, so we came together and launched the Coalition to End Money Bond in 2016. We intentionally assembled a set of groups with important complementary capacities in the movement ecosystem: base building, electoral work, inside game, policy expertise, political education, and direct service. We anchored the work in an abolitionist orientation but worked to bring in more moderate groups who were willing to join because the abolitionist organizers were serious about power and created a clear center of gravity for the broader bail reform movement in Illinois.

* Tribune | Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper and Quincy Jones teaming up to reopen Chicago’s Ramova Theatre: Chicago icons Jennifer Hudson, Chance the Rapper and Quincy Jones have teamed up to reopen and revitalize the Ramova Theatre, located in the South Side neighborhood of Bridgeport, after the venue’s nearly 40-year dormancy. With Hudson, Chance and Jones as co-owners, the Ramova will reopen in fall 2023 as a 1,500-capacity live music venue with a grill, beer garden and brewery in partnership with Other Half Brewing.

* AP | Northern Illinois can become bowl-eligible by winning its final game after shutting out Western Michigan 24-0: Antario Brown ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns, and Northern Illinois kept its postseason aspirations alive with a commanding 24-0 win over Western Michigan on Tuesday night. The Huskies (5-6, 4-3 Mid-American Conference) last shut out an opponent on Oct. 26, 2019, when they beat Akron 49-0. NIU will get a chance to become bowl-eligible when it closes its regular season Nov. 25 at Kent State (1-9, 0-6).

* NYT | So Thieves Nabbed Your Catalytic Converter. Here’s Where It Ended Up: An examination of business records and social media posts, as well as interviews with more than 80 officials on three continents who have ties to the industry, showed that the stolen devices pass through middlemen, smelters and refineries in the United States and overseas. Along the way, their provenance becomes opaque, leaving beneficiaries of the thefts with plausible deniability and little incentive to stop them. During processing, the metal is blended with legitimate supplies from mines and scrapyards, The New York Times found, before being sold primarily to companies that make catalytic converters for automakers, as well as pharmaceutical companies for cancer and other drugs, military contractors for weapons production, and banks for their precious-metals trading desks, among others.

* Sun-Times | Sister Jean’s latest fan? President Biden, who sent flowers during Chicago visit: During his visit to Illinois Thursday, Biden sent a bouquet of flowers to Sister Jean, the 104-year-old icon at Loyola University Chicago, as an amiable gesture to a fellow Catholic. “Dear Sister Jean, Thinking of you during my trip to Chicago today! Keep the Faith!” Biden wrote in a note sent along with the flowers, which were purchased from a florist in Rogers Park.

* NBC Chicago | Suburban Chicago hot dog joint to be inducted into ‘Hot Dog Hall of Fame’: Scooby’s Hot Dogs, in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, will be inducted into Vienna Beef’s Hot Dog Hall of Fame at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, a press release from Vienna Beef said. Customers are encouraged to join the ceremony, organizers said.

* Sun-Times | Earthquake measured at 3.6 magnitude confirmed in Putnam County: There were no reports of injuries but about 120 people reported feeling it, according to the U. S. Geological Survey. The quake happened at 4:41 a.m. about 2 1⁄2 miles south of Standard, in Putnam County, said the USGS. It did not occur along a fault line, according to a USGS spokesman.

23 Comments

The state needs to step in now

Wednesday, Nov 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The solution in this particular instance is to either do actual case work at police stations, which isn’t happening now, or move those folks more quickly into shelters, where case work processing is being done. There’s simply no excuse for spending money on people who would rather be elsewhere…

With the realization that there is a cold winter ahead, combined with the lack of shelter and jobs, many migrants ABC7 spoke to at the 1st and 12th Police District stations said if given the opportunity they would leave Chicago for another city. […]

Jorge Barrera has been living at a police station for six months. With no opportunity to work here, the 39-year-old said he would leave, but he doesn’t have the money or luxury to pack up and go to warmer places like California, Texas or Miami.

So, the man wants to leave, but since there are no case workers at the station he can’t tell anyone who is authorized to hook him up with a bus ticket.

Complicating matters further is that some folks who do wind up in shelters really don’t like the way the shelters are run (not enough food, cold food, etc.), so they go back to the police stations where volunteers help see to their needs. But the volunteers are rapidly burning out and going back to the stations means they receive no case worker assistance and that means they’re stuck.

Ugh!

The city’s process is just so messed up. The state really needs to step in a lot more forcefully there.

* Meanwhile, I agree with Shia Kapos…

The Chicago City Council is expected to approve Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first budget proposal today.

The mayor and his team will call it a balanced budget that provides $150 million for migrant care, even though Johnson has said it costs $40 million a month to care for migrants. So “balanced” seems a stretch to some folks given the budget is for a whole year.