Please be advised that this law firm and I have been retained by Mr. Chima Enyia to represent him in connection with the Complaint filed by Paul Vallas and the Vallas Campaign. Please find attached a Press Release from Chima.
As indicated at the conclusion of the Press Release, Chima intends to defend the Vallas claims in court and not in the press, unless Mr. Vallas is prepared to personally and publicly repeat the accusation which he has made in his lawsuit.
Best,
J. Dahl
James E. Dahl
Dahl & Bonadies, LLC
* From Chima Enyia…
The lawsuit filed by Paul Vallas and his campaign is shameful and unfounded. I intend to vigorously defend his lawsuit, my character and my integrity. In the end, I will be vindicated and Vallas’ claims will be seen for what they are — unfounded.
I have known Paul Vallas for years. I regarded him as a trusted friend. He trusted me.
Paul Vallas desperately requested my assistance in the Black Community as a consultant regarding policy development, professional networks, personal relationships, and field support.
Vallas asked me for my help, I provided my help, I billed for my help, the bills for my help were approved, and I have been paid for my help. Each of the bills for my help was approved by both the Campaign Manager, Brian Towne, and by the Campaign Financial Chairman, Peter Jeon. I fulfilled completely my obligations to the campaign. Now after I have provided my help, Vallas wants to claw back my compensation. That is absolutely unfair.
I can assure you that Vallas will not repeat any of the accusations which he has alleged in his lawsuit outside of the courthouse, because he knows that if he makes those statements in public, then I can and will sue him for defamation.
In the end, the voters were right; Paul Vallas did not deserve to be the Mayor of the City of Chicago.
Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Support Renewable Energy Credits for Illinois’ public universities to help offset the cost of solar power on campus, help fight climate change and create good-paying union jobs.
Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza announced Monday that Illinois’ total General Funds accounts payable has been paid down to less than $1 billion for the first time in 15 years.
April is generally the state’s best month fiscally as residents and businesses pay taxes. As of Monday morning, the accounts payable stood at $941 million, the lowest it has been since August 2008.
“Over the 6½ years I have been Comptroller, I have looked for every opportunity to steadily pay the state’s unpaid bills from a high of $16.7 billion – as a result of the budget impasse under a former governor – to where we have been for the past year, which has been generally less than $3 billion,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “That included refinancing some debt at a much lower interest rate and seeking out every opportunity for federal matching funds the state used to leave on the table.”
The steady repayment brought the state’s backlog of bills down to around $3 billion before a penny of the federal ARPA stimulus dollars landed in state coffers. The stimulus dollars went to pay the state’s COVID-related expenses, all of which can be tracked on the Comptroller’s website.
“During the impasse, state vendors often had to wait 210 business days to get paid,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “Today, my oldest bill is 16 days old. The state of Illinois is paying faster than the private sector. We’ve been on this shortened payment cycle for more than two years now, proving that Illinois is on a strong path to fiscal stability and predictability.”
Illinois navigated a rocky market to clear its $2.5 billion general obligation sale Wednesday, paying more on the shorter end than its bonds have been trading, but seeing healthy demand on the long end for the newly stamped-A level rated paper.
The mostly tax-exempt transaction took center stage this week amid a total of $11.5 billion of supply. The state received nearly $12 billion of orders on the sale from more than 130 investors including retail buyers, which the state attributed to being “a direct benefit of stronger ratings in the A category,” Paul Chatalas, capital markets director, said in a statement.
Market participants said the oversubscription came on the long end, which was reflected in the repricing to lower yields there in the final pricing scale. Some earlier maturities struggled and additional concessions were needed, reflecting the market’s current appetites and a correction that’s hammered the front end.
I need to find an AI translator to help me figure out what these stories actually mean. /s
* Good news…
"The upgrade reflects our view of the state's financial recovery as well as WIU's stabilized enrollment, improved operations, & improved debt ratios," said analyst Megan Kearns.
— yvette.shields@arizent.com (@Yvette_BB) April 19, 2023
* Missouri political analyst John Hancock on St. Louis’ Fox 2 regarding JB Pritzker and the presidency…
I’ll tell you what he would do from a historical standpoint. He would give William Howard Taft a run for his money.
That comment is basically one step above a common Twitter troll. Difference is, common Twitter trolls don’t get paid for their opinions.
* ComEd Four prosecutor…
She points to McClain's comment to Fidel Marquez at Saputo's on 2/7/19, that if Joe Dominguez has "his ex-prosecutor hat on, he's gonna say we can't do this."
"What more do you need to show that McClain understood exactly the illegality of what is going on?" MacArthur asks.
But it did continue and Dominguez was never indicted.
* Weighted vote (added back after I cleared up some confusion)…
Here’s the group of Dem committeepeople who will be filling the Senate seat to be vacated by @CPZ4Senate as she joins the Johnson administration. @ward32chicago edges out @ClerkIYMartinez for the biggest vote share & will control the process. pic.twitter.com/DBPiFdE9n3
The following is a joint statement from the Northeastern Illinois University Board of Trustees Chairman Jose Rico, Northeastern Illinois University President Gloria J. Gibson, and NEIU UPI President Nancy Matthews, Ph.D.
After a productive bargaining session today, we are pleased to announce that the university has reached a tentative agreement with the faculty union, UPI Local 4100. The union’s members will vote on ratification of the tentative agreement in the coming days, after which further details will be available.
* Press release…
State Rep. Sonya M. Harper, D-Chicago, is inviting citizens and stakeholders alike to the first Illinois Black Farmers & Growers Lobby Day, at the Illinois State Capitol, Wednesday, April 26 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Agriculture is Illinois’ largest industry, and no state has a larger percentage of its land area under cultivation than we do,” Harper said. “And yet, we’ve continued to see that this industry faces widespread inequality in terms of access as well as outcomes for those members of minority communities who are a part of it. That has to change, and that’s why I’m leading the push for new policies aimed at promoting equity in agriculture.”
Throughout her career before and since becoming a legislator, Harper has been one of the strongest proponents in the state for policies to promote equitable and expanded access to healthy foods and for equity in the food and agricultural supply chain.
Wednesday’s event will include breakfast, a meet and greet as well as a press conference. Sponsors include the Black Oaks Center, Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Growing Home, Grow Greater Englewood, Urban Growers Collective, Green Era Campus, Cannabis Equity Illinois, Mia’s Heart Hemp Life and State Innovation Exchange. Lt. Governor Julianna Stratton and Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture Jerry Costello II are also expected to attend.
* Press release…
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias released his First 100 Days report today, highlighting his administration’s accomplishments since taking office in January.
The 16-page report reflects how the new Secretary has pursued an aggressive agenda to improve customer service, enhance services, protect consumers, and upgrade technology.
From implementing a comprehensive Executive Ethics Order on Day One to finding ways to reduce the Time Tax, which decreases the time spent waiting for government services, and from moving to overhaul the office’s archaic technology systems to pushing an aggressive legislative agenda, Giannoulias’ team has made significant strides to improve the lives of Illinois residents.
* I wrote up a piece for subscribers this morning on the Vallas lawsuit after spending part of the weekend kicking over rocks. When I finished, I realized I just didn’t care that much. But I do expect more fireworks in the future…
Even if enyia did what he said — take down signs and put them up — anyone who’d agree to pay $700,000 for that probably can’t manage the nation’s third largest city https://t.co/ZE4t7nUld9
* Elon’s deliberate chaos has ensnared at least one Illinoisan…
This is EXACTLY my point @elonmusk . Twitter has become a stain.
You owe @WalshFreedom an apology. A fake account tweets out something attributing it to Joe Walsh. Thousands fell for it and retweeted the disinformation.
So Joe Walsh prefers murderering 6,000,000 Jews and millions more innocent civilians to a mean Tweeter. That says more about him than Hitler or Trump. Unexpected honesty of an evil idiot. https://t.co/YFFHwF0Ms9
* Scott Holland | Is it ever possible to simplify dozens of tax streams?: As of last Aug. 1 the share is 6.16% from individual, trust and estate income taxes and 6.85% of net collections of corporate income tax. CNI said each percentage point increase would divert about $250 million into the LGDF.
* Daily Herald | Arroyo, former jockey and steward, joins Illinois Racing Board: Arroyo was the senior state steward who judged races at Chicago-area tracks for decades, in a career that began in 1965 at age 21 as a groom, hot-walker and exercise boy at Sportsman’s Park. He started as a jockey the next year and competed in the Midwest, East Coast and Florida circuits until 1978.
* Crain’s | Longtime Evanston Hospital leader to retire: Evanston Hospital President Doug Silverstein will retire at the end of 2023 after a long career in Chicago and the hospitals that make up NorthShore University Health System. Silverstein, 65, who attended Northwestern University, first came to Evanston Hospital as a summer intern in 1981. He then spent 10 years at other Chicago health systems before returning to Evanston Hospital as a vice president in 1992, NorthShore said in a statement this morning.
* Yahoo Finance | Bed Bath & Beyond: How stock buybacks undermined the company: Would you believe that Bed and Bath has spent more than $11.7 billion to buy back almost three quarters of its own stock? At an average cost about 15 times the stock’s current price? And that only a couple of months ago, when it was already in desperate financial shape, it kept buying back its shares? (For no rational reason, as far as I can tell.)
* Crain’s | A decade after Rahm Emanuel closed nearly 50 schools, CPS faces a drastically different landscape: The different approaches of then and now have common challenges, including declining enrollments, underutilized schools, scarce resources and ever-present deficits. Families of color and those in low-income communities disproportionately bore the brunt of the Emanuel-era closures, and many say they continue to receive short shrift. Even as CPS enrollment has decreased, the demographic breakdown of students has remained constant. About 47% of students are Latino, 36% are Black and 11% are white. Now is the time to re-evaluate where CPS has been and see where it is — and should be — going.
* Belt Mag | Moses of Cairo (Illinois): As for the real Arabs, most people beyond Cairo had little idea that there were any of us living in Little Egypt, and outside my family, no one knew that I was a descendant of the first generation. Inside my family it was a different story. After school and during summers, I spent a lot time with my Arab grandmother, who moved to Mt. Vernon when I was in grade school. For her, there was no contradiction in being a down-home Arab in Southern Illinois. If she harbored any internalized oppression resulting from anti-Arab and anti-immigrant bias, it was hard to detect. From her retelling of our family’s history, we belonged in Southern Illinois; we were as Saluki as a person could be.
* Statescoop | Maine introduces biometric privacy legislation modeled on Illinois ‘gold standard’: The Maine bill, which would require a written release from an individual before a private entity obtains or uses an individual’s biometric data — prohibit private entities from selling that information — is largely modeled on a 2008 Illinois law that’s considered a gold standard for biometrics privacy.
Last I checked, Bailey wasn’t much of a union guy, and this case was about how Mayor Lightfoot didn’t secure a proper agreement with the city’s labor unions before imposing the mandate…
The ruling came in response to a complaint filed by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, known as AFSCME, and the Coalition of Unionized Public Employees, which represents more than two dozen labor organizations representing city employees.
Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter said Lightfoot, who will leave office in less than a month, unilaterally imposed the vaccine mandate. It is unclear how many employees would be rehired if the ruling stands.
“The right call is collaboration,” said Reiter, adding that the complaint was not prompted by the debate over whether employees should – or should not – be vaccinated against COVID-19. “This is the right decision.”
A decision upholding Lightfoot’s action would have weakened labor rights throughout Illinois, Reiter said.
* The mandate did go to arbitration, but the state board ruled this…
And although the arbitrator found that the imposition of no-pay status for failure to vaccinate did not violate the contract based on an earlier arbitration award, his analysis does not establish that the Charging Parties clearly and unmistakably waived their right to bargain that potential consequence. … Thus, the Charging Parties did not clearly and unmistakably waive the right to bargain the effects of the Respondent’s vaccine mandate and reporting requirement.
The Respondent violated Sections 10(a)(4) and (1) of the Act by implementing its vaccination policy without first bargaining over its effects to impasse or agreement.
The Respondent violated Sections 10(a)(4) and (1) of the Act by implementing changes to the sick leave addendum without bargaining to impasse or agreement.
Failing and refusing to bargain collectively in good faith with the Charging Parties over the effects of its decision to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate and related reporting requirements.
“Whenever I first got these new hearing aids in because of the law that had passed, I heard the ref whistle on the soccer field,” he said. “Without them in, I would miss a good 50, 60, 70 or maybe 80 percent of what you’re saying.”
State lawmakers heard him back in 2018, when he convinced them to pass a law requiring insurance plans to cover hearing aids for kids under 18. Now he’s urging lawmakers to pass another bill to cover people of all ages.
House Bill 2443 has already cleared the House after a push from Rep. Sharon Chung (D - Bloomington) . Now Sen. Dave Koehler (D - Peoria) is taking it up in the senate.
“For anyone who has problems hearing, it becomes a problem engaging whether it’s education, whether it’s society or whether it’s your job,” Koehler said.
Proposed legislation requiring libraries receiving state funding to have a written policy against banning books would change little at west-central Illinois libraries, except for the dotting of a few I’s and crossing of a few T’s, according to librarians.
Like several libraries in the region, Virginia Public Library has no such written policy, but its general practice is not to ban books, library director Rebekah Pentecost said. […]
House Bill 2789 passed, 69-39, on March 22; it would require any libraries receiving or applying for state grants to establish a written policy against book banning. […]
A bill preventing book banning shouldn’t be necessary, said Jake Magnuson, director of Jacksonville Public Library, which has a long history of not banning books.
“We support providing content to all,” Magnuson said. “We are against banning books. I haven’t had any requests. As far as I can tell, it’s not a regular sort of thing. Libraries should have policies in place against book banning. If legislation is necessary to make sure we aren’t (banning books), that’s OK, but I don’t know if legislation is necessary.”
* Rep. Cassidy’s HB3158 that would legalize human composting is now on First Reading in the Senate. The Tribune…
If Cassidy’s legislation gets enough votes in that chamber and is signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois would become the seventh state in the country to legalize the process. Cassidy has also indicated that she wishes to have her remains go through human composting. […]
State Rep. Steven Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, voiced strong opposition to the proposal, and brought the abortion rights positions of Cassidy and other Democrats into the debate.
“I don’t know if anybody remembers back to the old movie “Soylent Green,” Reick said. “I think we’re going to probably reach that point in this debate. Because as we all know, ‘Soylent Green is people.’” [..]
Katrina Spade runs a full-service funeral home and human composting facility in Seattle. She said she understands that it can take some time for the public to wrap their heads around the idea of human composting.
“To bring up this, this very new idea that forces us to think about our mortality can be quite shocking,” she said. “It’s really important that proponents of natural organic reduction are being careful to couch the process in terms that allow for people to absorb the idea.”
Earlier this month, the state Senate passed a measure sponsored by Republican Sue Rezin of Morris on a 39-13 vote that would lift a 30-year moratorium on construction of nuclear power plants in Illinois. A similar bill sponsored by Arlington Heights Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker, passed in committee on an 18-3 vote and awaits action by the full House.
The politics of nuclear power, once as partisan as any major issue dividing pro-environment Democrats and pro-business Republicans, have undergone a serious transformation since the “China Syndrome” alarms of the 1970s and ’80s. The tipping point? Climate change.
With wind and solar energy options still far from sufficient to replace our reliance on coal, nuclear power has emerged as an available, clean alternative to help make up the difference. It also provides opportunities to replace jobs lost as the state phases out fossil fuels on the way to a legislated goal of 100% carbon-free energy production by 2050.
Rezin, whose bill specifically promotes the use of small “micro” nuclear reactors that can even be installed in existing coal plants, noted in committee that other states have lifted similar bans, recognizing that “advanced nuclear reactors are a potential answer to the reliability and resiliency problem within their energy portfolio.”
Under the governing case law, prosecutors do not have to show a specific quid pro quo existed between Madigan and the four defendants, only that there was a corrupt intent to provide the stream of benefits to Madigan in order to win his influence over legislative acts.
After testimony wrapped last week, lawyers for the defendants argued strenuously for instructions to be provided to the jury that would require a more specific nexus between the ComEd legislation and Madigan’s actions.
But Leinenweber stuck largely to his previous rulings that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requires only that the defendants passed gratuities or rewards to the speaker in the hope they would influence Madigan in some official capacity.
“The difference between the regular lobbying and corrupt lobbying is not only the intent to influence, as focused on by defendants, but the action which intends to provide ‘something of value,’ either given or offered, in order to influence the official,” the judge wrote in a ruling last year.
Leinenweber on Thursday acknowledged that the issue of when a gratuity or reward for a public official becomes a bribe is in flux in the federal courts nationwide. But for this trial, the prevailing law is what the appellate court in Chicago has held, he said.
A significant chunk of lobbying could be rendered illegal if “the action which intends to provide ‘something of value,’ either given or offered, in order to influence the official” stands.
* More from the debate…
Judge: "You can make your record. Eventually it’s going to probably get to the Supreme Court. Either you’re right or you're wrong, and if you’re right…" "Congratulations," Bhachu interjects.
* Here’s an example of the circuit split from last year…
By embracing a stricter interpretation of a federal bribery law and hardening a circuit court split, the Fifth Circuit’s remand of a Texas real estate developer’s conviction furthers a trend of federal judges narrowing the application of anti-corruption statutes and makes the U.S. Supreme Court more likely to weigh in on the issue again.
A three-judge panel on Tuesday overturned the conviction and eight-year sentence of Ruel Hamilton, a politically connected affordable housing developer in Dallas who was found guilty by a Texas federal court jury in June 2021 of illegally funneling funds to a pair of city council members. The appellate panel reached its decision after concluding the jury was improperly instructed to determine whether Hamilton had paid either bribes or gratuities, with both considered corrupt.
We conclude that § 666 does, in fact, require a quo; a quid alone will not suffice. And the jury instruction that the district court gave did not convey that. Thus, Hamilton’s convictions must be vacated.
Lurking just beneath the surface is a hoard of constitutional problems raised by a
broad reading of § 666. See Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The
Interpretation of Legal Texts 247 (2012) (“A statute should be interpreted in a way that
avoids placing its constitutionality in doubt.”). Treating § 666 as though it covers all sorts
of interactions with local public officials raises First Amendment, federalism, and due-
process concerns. See McDonnell v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2355 (2016); McCormick v.
United States, 500 U.S. 247 (1991). As one of our colleagues put it, when § 666 is used to “prosecute purely local acts of corruption,” it is arguably unconstitutional because it is not “necessary and proper to carry into execution [Congress’s] spending power.” United States v. Lipscomb, 299 F.3d 303, 364–77 (5th Cir. 2002) (opinion of Smith, J.). We need not reach those issues in this case because we can construe the text in a way that comports with the Constitution.
With its opinion, the Fifth Circuit is now in the minority, having joined two other circuits in the U.S. that said the federal bribery statute in question criminalizes only quid pro quo bribes and not gratuities. Five other federal circuits have ruled that the law covers both bribes and illegal gratuities.
* The Tribune has a story on the Democratic Party’s “leftward tilt” in Illinois and Chicago…
One major reason Democrats have not fractured so far is the political alternative — Republicans.
People, particularly in the suburbs, who might have once considered themselves moderate Republicans on social issues no longer fit into the narrow cast of what the GOP calls itself now, Mooney said.
And Pritzker said Republicans “have painted themselves into a terrible corner” on social issues.
“We are the party of reproductive rights. There’s nowhere else to go,” he said. “If you are a believer that women’s rights need to be protected, you are a Democrat and should vote for Democrats. If you’re a believer in public safety and protecting our children from being victims of mass shootings at schools, then you are a Democrat and should vote for Democrats.”
It’s also not a top-down phenomenon. Just look at what happened to former longtime state Rep. Mike Zalewski in the 2022 Democratic primary. He didn’t vote for a bill that deleted parental notification of abortion from the statute books and got hammered over it in the Bungalow Belt, even though many of his progressive colleagues endorsed him.
There’s also the Democratic primary win by staunch progressive Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet) over establishment, moderate, pro-union appointed Democratic incumbent Eric Mattson.
The best hope Republicans may have now is that the Democratic base pushes the party so far to the left that the GOP can somehow find a way back in. But, every time the Republicans think this has happened (SAFE-T Act, parental notification, cannabis legalization, trans rights, etc.), Illinois voters intervene to remind them that the Republicans are the ones who are way too far out of step. So far, the Democratic base here is clearly much closer to the general electorate than the Republican base.
Although there is no data cataloging these moves, real estate experts said a number of households have relocated to Illinois, or are preparing to relocate, in search of a safer and more welcoming environment for the LGBTQ community.
Roman Patzner, a real estate agent with Fulton Grace Realty in Chicago, said relocation activity picked up after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, ending the constitutional right to an abortion and leaving many in the LGBTQ community worried about whether their same-sex marriage rights would continue to be protected.
“Because you had what was widely viewed as a federally protected right and the rug was pulled out from (under you),” Patzner said of Roe v. Wade. “In the LGBTQ community, everyone viewed that as a problem for marriage equality, federally.” […]
Redfin found that about half of 1,023 survey respondents among people who recently moved to a new metro area favored living in a place where it’s illegal to discriminate based on “gender/sexual orientation,” as of 2021.
I assume that number is higher two years later, now that so many bills have been signed into law in other states.
…Adding… Related…
* The conservative campaign to rewrite child labor laws: That law passed so swiftly and was met with such public outcry that Arkansas officials quickly approved a second measure increasing penalties on violators of the child labor codes the state had just weakened. … It’s one of several conservative groups that have long taken aim at all manner of government regulations or social safety net programs. The FGA is funded by a broad swath of ultraconservative and Republican donors — such as the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation [controlled by Richard Uihlein] and 85 Fund, a nonprofit connected to political operative Leonard Leo — who have similarly supported other conservative policy groups.
* Losing Ballot Issues on Abortion, G.O.P. Now Tries to Keep Them Off the Ballot: The biggest and most immediate fight is in Ohio, where a coalition of abortion rights groups is collecting signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would prohibit the state from banning abortion before a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. That would essentially establish on the state level what Roe did nationwide for five decades. Organizers were confident that the measure would reach the simple majority needed for passage, given polls showing that most Ohioans — like most Americans — support legalized abortion and disapprove of overturning Roe. But Republicans in the state legislature are advancing a ballot amendment of their own that would raise the percentage of votes required to pass future such measures to a 60 percent supermajority. The measure has passed the Ohio Senate and is expected to pass the House this week.
* Alabama education director ousted over teacher training book’s stance on race: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced she replaced her director of early childhood education over the use of a teacher training book, written by a nationally recognized education group, that the Republican governor denounced as teaching “woke concepts” because of language about inclusion and structural racism.
* Florida drag performers balance pain and defiance as anti-LGBTQ+ laws loom: Murders of trans people have doubled over the last four years, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. And a study by the Trevor Project found that, last year, 54% of Florida’s trans and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide. From California to Oklahoma to Tennessee, right-wing activists toting AR-15s and firebombs have shut down drag brunches and children’s story hours. Last November, a gunman in Colorado Springs killed five people at a gay club that had hosted drag performances that day.
* In a thriving Michigan county, a community goes to war with itself: Moss and the board’s choice to run the county health department was Nathaniel Kelly, an HVAC service manager with degrees from an online university and no experience working in public health. Kelly, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, had regularly pushed discredited covid treatments, such as the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin.
The now-notorious violent youth riot in downtown Chicago last weekend got me thinking of a press conference way back in 2010.
Mayor Richard M. Daley voiced frustration about what he said were large groups of suburban kids causing trouble on Chicago’s lakefront, even though plenty of Chicago kids were also participating, including six teens who brutally attacked an 18-year-old suburban woman. Daley complained the youths would text each other to organize their mayhem.
Three years later, downtown’s problems with unexpected group violence hadn’t gotten any better. So then-Gov. Pat Quinn held a splashy press conference on Michigan Avenue to sign a bill, sponsored by then-state Sen. Kwame Raoul and then-state Rep. Christian Mitchell, that doubled prison sentences (to six years) for those who use social media to “incite organized mob violence.”
“We don’t want flash mobs harming anyone, anywhere, but especially where many people come from other states, other countries,” Quinn said. Their promised crackdown never materialized. However, that penalty enhancement is still in state law.
Illinois has also had a statute on its books since 1969 known as the Parental Responsibility Law. Parents and guardians can be sued for “actual damages for the willful or malicious acts of such minor which cause injury to a person or property.” Damages are recoverable up to $20,000. The law has only rarely been used.
Ed Yohnka at the Illinois ACLU told me his group was “not aware of a specific constitutional deficiency” with the law and the courts “long have recognized that one can be held responsible for the actions of others based on specific legal relationships, and recognized the authority of state legislatures to make parents responsible for the torts of their minor children.”
Yohnka did say the law was “bad policy,” partly because impoverished parents would be hurt the most. “Many of these families are struggling to make ends meet in communities that lack services and resources that help support strong families.”
The state and the city also spend millions of dollars a year, and plan to spend much more, on violence prevention programs. In the past, violence interrupters have described being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of young people breaking the law during the flash mobs or trends or whatever you want to call them.
Last week, we barely heard from anyone in that sector about how they helped during the weekend violence or how they can help in the future if properly deployed.
In 2019, WBEZ actually went out and talked to some of the kids who were causing some of the disruptions. The young people understandably complained that parks and recreational facilities in their own neighborhoods on the South and West sides were decrepit.
“There is usually vandalism over the swings, over the slides, there is usually broken material … there is trash, and there is a lot of people soliciting,” according to Tyrianna Rodgers, who was on a “girls-only afternoon” in downtown at the time. “It just doesn’t look like the place where you would send your kids and say OK, ‘You could chill here.’” Four years later, many of those facilities are still a disgrace.
The public radio station also reported at the time that Chicago police were bragging about their ability to monitor the online organization of what are now called “trends,” which the station defined as “large teen-led gatherings that are particularly popular among Black teens.”
Yet, CBS 2 reported last week that the Chicago Police Department had no clue how the mob violence was organized. And credible reports have emerged since then about police ignoring calls for assistance.
There are really two points here. The first is all those loud folks pretending the violence is somehow a new and mysterious thing and a fresh test for a mayor-elect who hasn’t even been sworn in yet really ought to take a breath.
The second is that law enforcement and local leaders have been given plenty of legal, investigatory and prevention tools (and there are more than just those listed above) to address these issues, but those leaders appear to be allowing those tools to just rust away in a drawer somewhere.
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) had it absolutely right when he complained that nobody has a plan to deal with the violence and nobody has had a real plan since he was a teen.
“That has to change!” Buckner rightly roared on social media.
Yes, it does. And it starts with the people in authority doing their actual jobs.
* Lakesia Collins and Ann Gillespie | A modest first step for children in Illinois DCFS? Give them a lawyer.: Most people might be surprised to learn that Illinois is just one of seven states that currently don’t guarantee legal counsel for any children in abuse and neglect court proceedings. This is especially disappointing given the fact that at the tail end of the 19th century, Illinois recognized that youths needed to be treated separately in our legal system, creating the very first juvenile court system in the country. While Illinois lags in assuring lawyers in family decisions, every other state has copied the Illinois’ juvenile court, aimed at addressing the unique needs of children.
* WBEZ | This father finally has a safe home for his children. It all came from his arrest on gun charges.: Gonzalez decided he needed a gun for protection while traveling between the gas station and his work. But he had felonies on his record for burglary and driving on a suspended license. That meant he couldn’t get a gun permit. So he reached out to a friend from his former life of crime and bought an illegal handgun.
* Illinois Newsroom | Piatt County wind farm opponents face off against a new state law encouraging their construction.: A new state law, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in January before the election took place, sets new statewide standards for siting wind and solar farms in downstate counties. The new standards set out in the 102nd General Assembly’s House Bill 4122 supersede existing county regulations, and appear to prevent counties from rejecting wind farm projects entirely, from this point on. Illinois Newsroom’s Jim Meadows spoke to Piatt County Board Vice-Chairman Jerry Edwards (R-Dis 1) about what’s going on.
* Tribune | Unreliable CTA service is a frustration for riders. It’s also costing Chicago.: And the struggles cost Chicago, experts said. Challenges getting employees and visitors downtown — including the tens of thousands expected as the city hosts the Democratic National Convention next summer — are a hit to the city’s economic heart, which is still facing lower office occupancy than in 2019 and a hospitality industry recovering from the pandemic.
* Crain’s | Lightfoot offers blunt takes on Chicago crime and corporate equity efforts: Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered some blunt takes at a gathering of Black mayors in Washington, D.C., today, describing some Chicago neighborhoods that still look like they’re smoldering from the 1968 riots, criticizing corporations she said offer mere lip service in response to police brutality and calling out Cook County judges and prosecutors who are too lenient in allowing suspects back on the streets. “I’ve been mayor for the last four years, my time is winding down,” Lightfoot said at the meeting of the African American Mayors Association. “There are parts of my city that look like the fires of ‘68 just got put out. Black people have been representing those areas forever. Why is it that we have taken so long for ourselves to wake up? If we are content with crumbs, our people will never, never prosper.”
* Tribune | Brandon Johnson’s win as mayor furthers Democratic leftward tilt as party examines big tent philosophy: In the end, Johnson succeeded in raising questions in voters’ minds about Vallas’ Democratic bona fides. Still, several older Democrats in the party establishment who are considered more moderate endorsed Vallas. They included former Secretary of State Jesse White and Dick Durbin, the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate. Durbin served with Vallas in Springfield more than 40 years ago in the office of the late Democratic Senate President Philip J. Rock of Oak Park.
* SJ-R | What to expect from the cannabis industry in 2023 as two new stores prepare to open: Stone’s new shop is one of three dispensaries slated to open in Springfield later this year, with work beginning recently on the former Steak n’ Shake location in Prairie Crossing for a store run by Bolden Investments III, an LLC based out of Maywood in suburban Chicago and permits being approved for Shangri La, a new dispensary being built out of a vacant lot along Dirksen Parkway.
* SJ-R | Monroe Street to be closed between Second and Pasfield streets Monday: Ongoing work at the Illinois State Capitol complex will require the shutdown of Monroe Street, between Second and Pasfield streets, beginning at 7 a.m. Monday. City officials said the closure will last one day, weather permitting.
* AP | Biden’s 2024 campaign has been hiding in plain sight: “President Biden is delivering and making the strong case for reelection before, during and after any formal campaign announcement,” said Democratic consultant and former Biden spokesman Scott Mulhauser. “Rather than throwing darts at calendars, let’s focus on the President doing his job and doing it well, from an investing in America tour, an economy humming and unemployment at historic lows to a home run of a State of the Union, an expertly pulled-off Ukraine trip and more.”
* The Atlantic | Dianne Feinstein and the Cult of Indispensability: I understand that acknowledging this may make some uncomfortable. All of us, if we are lucky, face the indignities of aging. In other circumstances, the fact that Feinstein can’t cast votes in the Senate might not be terribly meaningful for the country. But the Senate is evenly divided—and when she is out of pocket, the Democrats can’t prevail on a party-line vote. Because she sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee—and Republicans refuse to let her trade the assignment with a colleague physically fit for the job—Democrats are unable to send any of their nominees to the bench to the floor of the Senate.
* AP | ‘The Champagne of Beers’ leaves French producers frothing: At the request of the trade body defending the interests of houses and growers of the northeastern French sparkling wine, Belgian customs crushed more than 2,000 cans of Miller High Life advertised as such.
Heidi Keye Biederman, 83, of St. Charles, Illinois, passed away peacefully on April 20, 2023, surrounded by her loving family.
She was born on March 29, 1940, in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, to the late Vernon and Elizabeth Keye. A proud Detroiter, Heidi attended Ferndale High School in the early 1950s - along with the Motown group, the Spinners. She was the third generation of her family to graduate from Beloit College, and it is also where she met her husband, William Biederman (84). Heidi and William eventually moved to the Chicagoland area and raised their two children, William (55) and Robert (51) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Heidi was a fierce advocate for justice and equality, especially for women and children. She worked tirelessly to ensure that all students had access to a quality education and was instrumental in passing legislation that improved the lives of countless children. She served as the first Executive Director of the Large Unit District Association (LUDA), where she represented the 56 largest school districts in Illinois. She also worked for the Illinois Association of School Boards. Heidi was an elected Board Member and President of School District 41 from 1976-81. She began her career as a first grade teacher and kept in touch with many of her students throughout her life.
Heidi embraced every moment of retirement where she traveled, followed her artistic passions and worshiped her 4 grandchildren Jake (21), Elizabeth (17), Kate (16) and Abby (13). She was so grateful to finally have daughters through marriage in Kim (51), Amber (50), plus many other “daughters by choice.” She enthusiastically appreciated beauty both in the arts and in nature - especially at her family home in Omena, MI. Heidi showered her family and friends with unconditional love and overwhelming positivity, and touched the lives of everyone she met.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at 11:00 AM at the First Congregational Church, 535 Forest Ave., Glen Ellyn, IL. In Heidi’s honor, wearing pastel colors is welcomed! In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her honor to the Omena Village Preservation Association, https://omenapreservation.org/contribute/.
Some of you know Heidi’s son Rob, who now works for Google. He and the rest of his family have my greatest sympathies. Heidi was a gem.
* As I mentioned earlier, I tested positive for covid last week while in New York. I’ve been pretty tired since then (a massively delayed flight home didn’t help), but I deliberately slept late this morning and I’m feeling a bit better this afternoon. Just gonna take it easy this weekend, read and listen to music…
Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right
* Tribune photojournalist Brian Casella: “Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson meets Joakim Noah, who talked up his summer basketball program, while visiting with House Speaker Chris Welch”…
*** UPDATE 1 *** I told you Tuesday that the Vallas campaign had paid Chima Enyia’s Ikoro LLC $500,000 during the quarter. $20K of that was for consulting, and the other $480K had the notation “Disputed - not verified.” Well, the Vallas campaign filed a lawsuit against the company yesterday. Here’s Crain’s…
After Vallas made it to the runoff election, Enyia — a political operative who had been an aide to Gov. Pat Quinn, former executive director of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, former executive of Cresco Labs and brother of 2019 mayoral candidate Amara Enyia — convinced Vallas to hire him as a campaign consultant for $20,000 a month for March and April.
Enyia later told Vallas’ campaign manager he would hire workers from Black Men United to place Vallas yard signs in majority-Black communities and remove signs that had been damaged, as well as unauthorized yard signs connecting Vallas to “MAGA,” an abbreviation for the Donald Trump presidential campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” according to the filing. Enyia told the campaign manager Vallas had approved the idea. […]
“During an independent review of the Vallas for Mayor raise and spend, and as we prepared to file our report with the Illinois State Board of Elections, we flagged a pattern of payments to a vendor, which are now in dispute,” the [Vallas campaign] statement said.
Veteran Democratic strategist Tom Bowen said the level of fraudulent campaign spending alleged in Vallas’ lawsuit is unprecedented and underscores how desperate Vallas was to make inroads into the Black community. It also shows how little oversight his campaign had over the $18 million avalanche of contributions that came pouring in from the business community after his first-place finish on Feb. 28, Bowen said.
“If he set $700,000 on fire with a very atypical campaign vendor to try to win votes in the Black community like that, that is possibly the stupidest thing anyone in Chicago politics has ever done,” said Bowen, who served as a senior adviser to lame-duck Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign and as political director for former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2012.
Bowen said he’s sure former Gov. Bruce Rauner and vanquished Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey “also wasted incredible amounts of money on services like that” in their failed attempts to make inroads into the African-American community.
But in a Chicago mayoral race, it’s “unheard of” to spend that much money so unwisely, Bowen said. After running Lightfoot’s 2019 runoff campaign, Bowen said he “understands the stress” of keeping close tabs on campaign spending when contributions come pouring in.
While that may have been fraud, lots of other folks took full advantage of Vallas’ strong belief that he could win over Black voters. His D-2 report is loaded with payments to South and West Side hucksters. This isn’t new for him. Vallas was fully convinced of his singular popularity with Black voters during the 2002 gubernatorial race as well. Nope.
The University of Chicago will become the first school among 17 prominent colleges to settle claims that they conspired for many years to restrict financial aid and overcharged students by billions of dollars in violation of U.S. antitrust law. […]
The plaintiffs have estimated the class size of former and current students at more than 200,000.
The lawsuit accused all of the defendants of having considered prospective students’ financial needs in weighing whether to offer admission, disfavoring students who need aid.
* Gov. Pritzker was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program today. He talked about his involvement in school board races and was asked about how the Republicans are pushing decades-old culture war issues…
Joe, you’ve got it exactly right at the heart of it, and I think this is why voters are rejecting it, at the heart of all of these positions is this fundamental cruelty. Focusing on attacking children who are LGBTQ, or teachers that are LGBTQ, or taking on people who are not white, banning Black history from our schools, making sure that certain texts aren’t available to people. They want to rewrite history. There’s a cruelty to it all. And I think that voters see that and they’re showing up and rejecting it.
Well, we’re already working together. He’s come to Springfield to talk with the legislature and to me about the things that are necessary to lift Chicagoans up. He’s focused on something that I’m focused on too, which is lifting up people who’ve been left out and left behind. We have neighborhoods in Chicago that have been disinvested from. He ran a campaign that focused on that, and he won because, in my opinion, he addressed that. I also want to say that this is a world where people recognize kind of genuineness. You know, authenticity matters. And Brandon Johnson just seems to be, he is who he is. You know, you can see it, you can feel. He’s the son of a preacher. He has kids, you know, family. He lives in Austin, you know, not the easiest neighborhood to live in. There’s public safety issues in that neighborhood. So he kind of represents the challenges and the opportunity for Chicago.
Darren Bailey, the former Republican candidate for governor, talked to former President Donald Trump on Wednesday about a potential run for Congress against Rep. Mike Bost in Illinois’ downstate 12th District.
Bailey was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a fundraiser for Louisiana governor candidate Jeff Landry and was able to buttonhole Trump, according to a person familiar with their meeting.
The University Professionals of Illinois (UPI), the union representing faculty, librarians, and advisors at NEIU, has voted to authorize a strike. A mediator will work with the union and the administration to attempt to reach an agreement according to Nancy Matthews, the president of the UPI chapter at NEIU. UPI has announced that the earliest they will strike is Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
If mediation is unsuccessful the faculty will go on strike. Depending on how long the strike lasts, coursework, final exams, and projects may be disrupted. Professors will make individual policies for class work in the event of a strike. Union spokespeople have stressed that students will get their grades and be able to graduate.
In a press release from UPI-NEIU, issued on April 13th, “the last two days, NEIU faculty and staff who are members of NEIU’s University Professionals of Illinois (NEIU UPI, IFT Local 4100) overwhelmingly voted to strike, with 95% of voting members asserting their willingness to do so if an agreement can’t be reached at the table.”
* Press release…
The State Treasurer’s Office made a record $98.7 million in investment earnings from the state investment portfolio in March, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today.
Another $75 million in gross investment earnings was earned for cities, villages, school districts, counties and other units of local government that take part in the highly rated Illinois Funds local government investment pool operated by the State Treasurer’s Office.
These key monthly metrics and more are available at The Vault, the transparency website that allows Illinois residents to see how the State Treasurer’s Office is working for them. The site is at iltreasurervault.com.
“Every dollar my office makes through smart, safe investing is a dollar that does not need to be raised in taxes,” Frerichs said. “The State Treasurer’s Office really is an economic engine, and we invest money in a safe and responsible manner.”
* IDPH…
IDPH has recorded a total of 4,127,625 cases and 36,735 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic. The department is reporting 5,278 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois in the week ending April 9, and 9 deaths.
Both IDPH and the Illinois Department on Aging have endorsed action this week by both the FDA and the CDC to simplify their recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations. The two federal agencies approved an optional additional updated bivalent vaccine dose for adults ages 65 years and older and optional additional doses for people who are immunocompromised. The bivalent booster is designed to offer better protection against newer strains of the virus. […]
As of last night, 558 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 65 patients were in the ICU and 22 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 44 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans.
However, new research by a team from the University of Tokyo and Nagoya University may have finally brought an end to the debate.
“We believe that the mystery of it being an invertebrate or vertebrate has been solved,” said Tomoyuki Mikami, a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Science at the University of Tokyo at the time of the study and currently a researcher at the National Museum of Nature and Science. “Based on multiple lines of evidence, the vertebrate hypothesis of the Tully monster is untenable. The most important point is that the Tully monster had segmentation in its head region that extended from its body. This characteristic is not known in any vertebrate lineage, suggesting a nonvertebrate affinity.”
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Tribune | Latest Bears stadium legislation would add $3 to ticket prices at Arlington Heights site to help pay off Soldier Field debt: Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights, who introduced a separate proposal in the House that mirrors the stagnant Senate measure, said he was familiar with Moylan’s bill but hadn’t thoroughly reviewed it. “I read one paragraph about it,” he told the Tribune Thursday afternoon. “I know of no one that Marty’s talked to. I just guess it’s a bunch of new ideas that people should talk about.”
* Sun-Times | Loop security is expected to tighten over weekend after violent teen gathering: For years Chicago teens have used social media to meet up downtown in large crowds. On Saturday, the crowds culminated around 9 p.m., and several videos posted online showed cars being broken into and set on fire. The chaos made national headlines and sparked debate about who was to blame for the violence. An alderman criticized the Chicago Police Department, some observers pointed fingers at parents, and others focused on a lack of youth programs.
* NBC Chicago | Downtown Chicago March Planned To ‘Help Redirect’ Behavior Following Teen Gatherings: “We are not walking against our children,” said Dr. Charlie Dates, senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago and Progressive Baptist Church said in the release. “Our children are brilliant, but we are not absolving them of responsibility for the events that took place last weekend. Instead, we are taking accountability as the church by meeting them where they are and providing alternatives to disruptive behavior.”
* CBS Chicago | Some young people fear fallout of Loop chaos could be more racial profiling: Every teenager out on the streets of the Loop last Saturday night was not there to start trouble. CBS 2’s Terry caught up with a group of supervised youngsters who became swept up in the “takeover” mayhem – and who now fear when, and if, they come back downtown, people will look at them with side eyes because they, in their words, “fit the description.”
* Sun-Times | Bridgeport bank failure cost millions more than feds have said: Where did all the money go?: That figure, records show, turns out to have been far higher than previously has been revealed. Now, for the first time, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says it spent nearly $139.8 million to cover the bank’s losses after regulators closed the bank on Dec. 15, 2017. That’s about $50 million more than previously was disclosed in court documents.
* Crain’s | What to do with a raft of new aldermen: How about a boot camp?: The session is one of several aldermanic boot camps happening during the transition period for freshman aldermen who are taking over a job that is increasingly expected to be legislative in nature rather than a local ward boss who acts as a rubber stamp for powerful mayors.
* NEIU’s Independent | Student Journalist Files Ethics Complaint Against NEIU Administrator: A NEIU student journalist filed an ethics complaint against Manish Kumar, Vice President of Finance and Administration, at NEIU on April 17, 2023. The complainant alleges that he felt pressured by Kumar to provide favorable news coverage of the administration and the university. The student said “he was trying to…influence me into saying good things about him”.
* Crain’s | At this South Side plant, one new house rolls off the assembly line every week : In a factory near Midway Airport, houses are now being built the way cars, refrigerators and other products have long been made for a long time: on an assembly line. A box-shaped module starts as a steel cage at one end of the assembly line inside the Kinexx factory on South Kildare Avenue in Archer Heights.
* Sun-Times | Joffrey Ballet’s ‘Little Mermaid’ unsettles as it entrances: Much more in keeping with the darkness of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale, this nearly 2½-hour adaptation is meditative, intense, unsettling and sometimes even grim. It is also unfailingly entrancing and beautiful.
* Crain’s | NBA players could be a source of capital for weed: Roberts, who was executive director of the National Basketball Players Association for eight years, says she always encouraged players to become investors in companies as a way to prepare financially for life after their playing days were over.
* Chicago Eater | Celebrate Breakfast Queen Ina Pinkney’s 80th Birthday With 60 Chicago Chefs: Ina Pinkney earned the moniker the Breakfast Queen as the chef and owner of Ina’s, which was a West Loop staple from 1991 to 2013 along Randolph Restaurant Row. Since closing her restaurant, Pinkney has continued sharing her love of food, spending five years writing her monthly breakfast column for the Chicago Tribune and publishing Ina’s Kitchen: Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queen. The polio survivor also advocates for post-polio syndrome and advises chefs looking to open their own restaurants.
* Sun-Times | Chicago tavern history: Did you know the vote to make us a city happened in a bar?: WBEZ’s Curious City podcast crew stopped in at the iconic Carol’s Pub in Uptown for a night of beer, honky-tonk and Chicago bar history with writer Robert Loerzel — who has reported on the history of Uptown’s nightlife and entertainment scene — and Liz Garibay, founder and executive director of the Chicago Brewseum.
As Twitter began removing legacy verification badges Thursday, impersonators quickly took advantage of the situation by creating parody accounts for public figures, including celebrities and politicians.
After their real accounts lost their blue check marks, impersonator accounts quickly emerged for users such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, the City of New York, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and former Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. […]
Programmer Travis Brown tweeted that only 28 legacy verified accounts got new Twitter Blue verification following Thursday’s purge. Brown said his findings are based off data pulled from the company’s API, which offers developers access to the platform’s data.
28?
* Fake “official” accounts are popping up in Illinois and elsewhere…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago & Illinois’ transportation departments just announced the permanent closure of DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Except, of course, they didn’t really do that.
Fake accounts posing as (previously verified) government accounts did & 100k+ people saw. pic.twitter.com/RjJ64dEpge
— Marc-André Argentino, PhD (@_MAArgentino) April 20, 2023
Mission accomplished. While everyone was distracted by his blue-check removals, Musks's Twitter deleted labels that alerted users that they were reading news from state-run propaganda outlets of authoritarian governments. Potemkin news channels now free to inject disinformation. pic.twitter.com/2gHHXqyc8s
“We are aware of the fake Twitter accounts, and our team is working with Twitter to resolve this matter,” tweeted mayoral spokesperson Ryan Johnson. “Users can verify official City accounts by visiting: chi.gov/social”
The fake Lightfoot account has been removed however the fake CDOT account remains active as of Friday at 12:30pm.
Pope Francis lost his checkmark, as did Donald Trump and Christiano Ronaldo. Meanwhile, LeBron James still had a blue check by his name even though the athlete previously said he wouldn’t pay for a subscription.
“My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t,” the author Stephen King tweeted.
Musk said he was “paying for a few personally,” including King, James, and Star Trek actor William Shatner. […]
It wasn’t just celebrities who were bewildered. Twitter also scrapped labels describing news organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated after weeks of sparring between them.
These labels that had been added to accounts — including the British Broadcasting Corp., National Public Radio in the US, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as well as accounts affiliated with China state-backed broadcaster CGTN among others — were deleted as of Friday morning.
A fake account subscribed to Twitter Blue claiming to represent the paramilitary group fighting for control of Sudan has falsely claimed its leader has died in the fighting.
After Elon Musk’s Twitter removed legacy blue ticks, the tweet from the fake @RSFSudann account claiming to represent the Rapid Support Forces does have a verified blue tick, but the actual RSF account, @RSFSudan, does not.
The fake tweet wrongly claimed that RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, otherwise known as Hemedti, had died from injuries sustained in combat. […]
While many of the quote tweets and replies were in response to it being fake, many took the tweet’s false information at face value.
Contacted for a response, Twitter’s press department responded with a poop emoji.
* Rich has had some takes as well…
More worried about fake emergency service accounts, frankly. You could see some clowns trying to create havoc during a tornado, for instance.
Yeah, instead of enticing people to pay for add-on services like those and others, he's stripped people of what they've long had. It's just ludicrous. Also, he's totally broken list embeds. Boggles the mind
Dozens of regional LGBTQ community centers are deactivating their Twitter accounts today, decrying recent policy changes despite the rise of hate speech and calling on the app to do more to protect its users.
The announcement came from CenterLink, an international nonprofit network of more than 325 LGBTQ organizations, many of which will also be leaving the platform.
“Twitter has become increasingly unsafe in recent months for LGBTQ and BIPOC people with anti-LGBTQ, anti-trans, anti-Black, and antisemitic tweets on the rise. The removal of this policy was the last straw,” Denise Spivak, CEO of CenterLink, told Mashable. […]
Twitter has seen an exodus of users, verified accounts, and advertisers since Musk’s purchase. While many see the app’s changes as the end to a fun social ecosystem, others are more worried about the implications Musk’s policies have on users with disabilities, LGBTQ users and users of color, the spread of accurate information, and the ability for organizations doing important work to stay connected to communities online.
As hospitals and other health care providers continue to battle rising costs and labor shortages, industry groups were in Springfield this week pushing for legislation they say could help their members weather these challenges, many of which were worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
The Illinois Health & Hospital Association, or IHA, supports Senate Bill 1763, which calls for a 20% increase to hospital Medicaid reimbursement rates. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Ann Gillespie, D-Arlington Heights, and Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, would allow every hospital in the state to collect more money for patients on Medicaid, the state-sponsored insurance plan for low-income and disabled Americans. If the bill passes, it would provide the first Medicaid base rate increase for Illinois hospitals in 28 years, according to the IHA.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Primary Health Care Association, or IPHCA, supports a similar bill, House Bill 2298, which would raise Medicaid reimbursement rates for services at Federally Qualified Health Centers. Services would include medical, dental and behavioral health care. It is estimated to cost about $50 million each for Illinois and the federal government, but the IPHCA says the rate increase would help its members care for an additional 180,000 patients each year, hire 250 more health care providers and expand services.
Both the IHA and the IPHCA say that without additional state support, hospitals and FQHCs could be forced to close units and limit services, which would reduce Illinoisans’ access to health care.
Community health centers in Illinois say they need more money to give patients the care they need.
Proposals in the Capitol would give $100 million to help with that. […]
The centers, also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), provide care to patients without insurance and to others regardless of their ability to pay. […]
“We really do our very best to meet people where they are and make sure that they can get culturally competent, high-quality health care,” Tanya Andricks, the center’s CEO, said.
But with rising costs and a workforce shortage, Andricks and other centers say they need more money from the state to keep doing their jobs. […]
There are 53 centers across the state, and some showed support Wednesday for proposals that would raise the reimbursement rate they receive from Medicaid.
Survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination would be shielded from weaponized defamation lawsuits under a bill sponsored by state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights.
“Speaking out against sexual assault or abuse is a daunting task, and those who bravely share their stories should not have to face legal challenges meant to punish them for choosing to come forward,” Canty said. “When we empower survivors to expose wrongdoing, we can prevent future harm and protect others from sexual misconduct.”
House Bill 2836, also known as the Right to Speak Your Truth Act, prohibits a person accused of sexual misconduct from using a defamation action to silence or retaliate against an accuser, staff, or third party reporting on the matter. The bill mirrors California’s Assembly Bill 933, which passed the State Assembly Thursday morning.
“My contemporaries in California are sending a clear message that the court system can no longer be used as a weapon to silence survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination. Illinois can and should do the same,” Canty said. “We must stand up for these brave individuals and protect them from further harm during their most vulnerable moments.”
llinois State Rep. Mary Beth Canty and her husband remember struggling to balance full-time jobs and picking up two children — who are currently in sixth and third grade — from their half-day kindergarten program in Arlington Heights District 25. […]
She has introduced a bill that would mandate full-day kindergarten for school districts around the state by the 2027-28 school year. The bill, HB 2396, would also require the state to create a task force to examine full-day kindergarten in 2024.
The bill has already passed the house with bipartisan support and is in the Senate’s education committee where it will go up for a hearing on April 25. […]
Emily Warnecke, director of public relations and deputy director of governmental relations for the Illinois Association of School Board Administrators, said her organization supports the idea of full-day kindergarten but believes more work needs to be done first.
“We know that there are districts that want to be able to do this,” said Warnecke, “but they just do not have the space and they would need the money to fund the construction to add those spaces.”
A bill would allow colleges to receive grants to address student hunger if they meet requirements like creating a hunger task force that meets at least three times a year, having a staff member designated to assist students sign up for food stamps, and making programming for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Any Illinois higher education institution is eligible.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Paul Faraci (D-Champaign) and Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana).
According to the nonprofit Swipe Out Hunger, one in three college students nationally faces food insecurity. […]
The bill has passed the Illinois House of Representatives and the Senate Higher Education Committee with bipartisan support. It now heads to the Senate Floor.
* Senate Bill 140 is awaiting assignment to a Senate committee…
Illinois is one of just 12 states that still has a state estate tax, and State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) is sponsoring legislation to eliminate that tax and keep Illinois competitive with the 38 other states in the nation.
Senate Bill 140 amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act to eliminate the state tax for persons dying on or after the effective date of the new law or for transfers made on or after the effective date.
“Many of us were born and raised in Illinois and are proud to call it our home. It is no secret however, that Illinois is a state notorious for its tax burden on its residents, especially when compared to neighboring states. Thirty-eight other states do not have a state estate tax,” Tracy said. “Illinois’ unfriendly business climate is the reason so many large companies are leaving the state or significantly reducing their corporate presence here. We need a business advocacy mindset with initiatives to help Illinois better compete, create jobs, and boost its economy.”
The 50th District Senator says the Illinois estate tax is imposed on a decedent’s estate before distribution to heirs. The amount of the tax is calculated after allowable deductions. The Illinois estate tax rate is graduated and goes up to 16 percent; however, it is only applied on estates worth more than $4 million.
Anti-criminal violence advocates rallied in the state Capitol on Thursday, pushing a slate of bills they say will better serve survivors and victims in Illinois. […]
Advocates like Carter support House Bill 2493 from state Rep. Aaron Ortiz, D-Chicago, which would grant up to 10 days of unpaid leave time for family members dealing with a loss related to criminal violence. The bill passed the House 95-16 last month and was assigned to the Senate Executive Committee earlier this week.
An employee has 60 days after receiving a death notice to use the leave and must prove the death by providing an obituary or death certificate to their employer. It follows-up after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act earlier this year, which provides most workers in the state with up-to 40 hours of paid leave per year to be used for any purpose. […]
While the focus on the rally centered on the victims, Thomas said CSSJ was also working with lawmakers on a bill regarding rehabilitation of the incarcerated. House Bill 3026 from state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, would amend the Earned Discretionary Sentence Credit — where incarcerated individuals can reduce their sentence if permitted by the Illinois Department of Corrections — to allow for time served in county jail to be included in the 60-day minimum before a credit can be awarded.
* HB1273 is on Second Reading in the Senate. The Telegraph…
State Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, said she is hopeful all Illinois schools will observe Constitution Day in the near future as her legislation would require of schools.
The legislation signals Harriss’ first bill to move out of committee since taking office in January. Filed by State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, and carried by Harriss in the Senate, the bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration before the governor can sign it into law.
Her bill, House Bill 1273 would require schools to recognize Sept. 17 as a commemorative holiday and recently has passed the Senate Education Committee. […]
“This legislation doesn’t give students a day off, but rather requires school districts to teach students the highest form of law in our country,” Harriss said.
* I. I just. I don’t. What in the actual heck is happening here?…
A lot of people are making fun of this article because of the headline, which is sad because if you don't read the whole article, you'll miss the really, really hilariously stupid stuff. https://t.co/wFWqvuy52C
— Luigi D’Napla is only sort of a fake name (@LuigiDNapla) April 21, 2023
It implies revamping the pension, school, criminal justice and political systems is no harder than telling a line cook to make the cheese "meltier."
— Luigi D’Napla is only sort of a fake name (@LuigiDNapla) April 21, 2023
* The Tribune’s editorial page editor is a very talented theater critic. I loved his recent review of “Fat Ham,” which I saw in New York last week a couple of days before I tested positive for COVID and was then forced to spend the rest of the week holed up in a tiny NYC hotel room…
In playwright James Ijames’ eye-popping “Fat Ham,” a malcontent named Juicy, kinda like Hamlet, is chilling in his North Carolina backyard when his recently deceased dad exits the presumptive fires of hell and pops up out of his patio grill.
His message? Put down your books from that correspondence course at University of Phoenix, you lazy kid, and avenge my prison shanking at the hands of my brother. You know, the guy now married to your wild momma and a pit master about to barbecue some ribs right here, maybe even the ones left over from my recent funeral. […]
At no point does this play feel like anything other than a big-fun Broadway show: it’s a smart, fearless and often wildly entertaining 90 minutes, filled with radical ideas and absurdist spectacle. To his credit, Ijames is willing to blow up even his own assertions. You get musical numbers, tableaux, crazy comedic antics and a suite of outsized performances from the likes of the superb Nikki Crawford, making her Broadway debut, like many in this knockout cast. I’d go so far as to say I can’t recall such a well-acted Broadway show with so many first-timers.
* Anyway, perhaps the Tribune should just switch to ChatGPT, which John Amdor tasked with rewriting the McDonald’s editorial to be about Ernie and the Keebler Elves…
When Ernie, the leader of the Keebler Elves, spoke to the Economic Club of Chicago, he shared an enchanting message that we welcomed wholeheartedly. Chicago, he said, was being done in by rampant crime, an unfriendly business climate, and an overly cautious mindset that made it harder to solve its admittedly hard-to-solve problems. “We are playing defense when we need to be playing offense,” he said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and some other civic leaders unwisely pushed back against the truth-telling elf. But now that the voters have spoken, sending the Lightfoot administration packing, it’s even more obvious that Ernie was right all along.
You know what else makes it obvious? Ernie’s own leadership style, playing offense at the magical Keebler Elves factory when he could more easily play it safe instead.
As practically everyone on the planet knows, the Keebler Elves are renowned for their cookies and crackers. And nothing — really, nothing — is more important to the elves than maintaining the magic of their brand.
So, hat’s off to Ernie for having the courage to innovate within the factory. In a recent announcement that affects millions of people, the Keebler Elves said they are refining their classic recipes.
The new cookies will be even more delicious, with improved texture and flavor. The elves will experiment with new baking techniques to create the perfect crunch, and ingredients previously served separately will be combined in innovative ways, adding a unique taste sensation. The packaging will be more eco-friendly, showcasing the elves’ commitment to the environment.
These changes will be implemented in stores over the coming year, and, in addition, their famous E.L. Fudge cookies will feature even more scrumptious fudge filling, a secret recipe as celebrated as Coca-Cola’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken’s.
Sounds delightful. But make no mistake: This is a big risk.
The Keebler Elves have tinkered with their recipes before, with mixed results, including some memorable flops. But this is what strong leaders do. They make tough decisions, and they’re willing to experiment with new ways of doing business — as Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will need to do if he plans to solve the problems Ernie cited.
To stay relevant and successful, the Keebler Elves are doing more than tweaking their recipes. Ernie promised to break up outdated and self-limiting ways of thinking and shift from “legacy mindsets” to “new behaviors.”
Relying on magic alone wouldn’t be enough anymore.
Mayor-elect Johnson, it’s your move.
In his inspiring victory speech, Johnson promised “the politics of old” would not interfere with “building a better, stronger, safer Chicago.” He went on to say, “Today we celebrate the revival and the resurrection of the city of Chicago. It is time for Chicago to come alive. Come alive, Chicago.”
The city can keep trying to achieve that goal with the same stale recipes that haven’t been working, or start playing offense, directly attacking crime, the sluggish business climate, and the cover-your-hindquarters mindset.
The stakes in this city are far greater than a single magical factory producing more delectable cookies and crackers.
But one thing we know for sure: Chicago needs “accelerating” far more than the Keebler Elves. So, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, take a page from Ernie’s book and lead Chicago with innovation, courage, and a touch of magic.
For the second time, the village of Bourbonnais’ proposed Non-Home Rule Sales Tax referendum for property tax relief was voted down. […]
The village was asking residents to increase its local sales tax by 1 percentage point, or one cent, going from its current 7.25% sales tax to 8.25% in its three business districts.
Outside of those business districts, the rate would increase from 6.25% to 7.25%.
If residents had approved the referendum, funds collected would have provided property tax rebates to single-family, owner-occupied homeowners on the municipal portion of their tax bill for at least 10 years.
Back when the state income tax for property tax swap idea was all the rage, some folks believed that voters just wouldn’t go for it, despite the obvious benefits. There was so little trust in government, the fear was voters would focus solely on the tax hike and totally reject the premise that they’d ever get a tax cut.
I don’t know if that’s what happened in Bourbonnais, but I’m just sayin’.
Illinois House Republican leaders are calling for a moratorium on expansion and a State audit of Illinois’ billion-dollar health benefits program for undocumented immigrants.
At a Capitol press conference Thursday, Deputy Republican Leaders Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) and Ryan Spain (R-Peoria), along with Assistant Republican Leader C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville), highlighted a bombshell State report detailing the massive cost and enrollment expansions of Illinois’ health benefits program for undocumented immigrants.
Hammond, who serves as chief budgeteer for the House Republican Caucus, laid out in detail the dramatic growth in undocumented immigrant participation, which will require nearly a billion dollars in general revenue funds to support the program in Fiscal Year 2024.
“In FY24, Illinois’ program of health benefits for undocumented immigrants is estimated to cost $990 million, which is a $768 million increase (346%) over FY23,” Rep. Hammond said. “Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for any federal Medicaid match, resulting in State GRF being used to pay for the entirety of services provided. These ballooning enrollments and costs are unsustainable and could lead to the loss of funding and services for Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens.”
A recent report from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) shows that HFS and its contracted actuarial firm, Milliman, repeatedly underestimated actual enrollees and costs.
FY24 estimates now show growth in healthcare benefits coverage for eligible undocumented immigrants totaling 108,400 over original FY23 estimates, and enrollees totaling 31,500 over original FY23 estimates, a 202% and 94% increase respectively.
“Year after year, we saw the majority party continue to double down on these expansions, which are not eligible for federal matching funds. The Medicaid program in the State of Illinois is our biggest area of spending,” said Deputy House Republican Leader Ryan Spain in discussing House Resolution 220, which he filed to audit and pause new enrollees in the program. “This billion dollar hole, which is just the beginning, requires the General Assembly to exercise fiscal responsibility in both the short-term and long-term to ensure state budget sustainability.”
The additional Medicaid pressure for these expansions is happening at the same time the State is expected to lose $760 million in additional federal funding through the enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Program (FMAP) that was provided to states during the pandemic.
Several important State programs are still drastically underfunded and could greatly benefit from the $990 million in GRF that would go to HFS to continue to provide medical services to undocumented immigrants.
Assistant Republican Leader C.D. Davidsmeyer discussed the process by which these expansions of health benefits to undocumented immigrants were enacted into law and the absolute lack of accountability and transparency for this program.
“During the 2020 pandemic-shortened House session, Democrats slipped health benefits for undocumented immigrant seniors into the FY21 Budget Implementation (BIMP) bill. This new benefit was included in the BIMP at the last minute, without a committee hearing, public input, or debate. We had virtually no time to review the massive BIMP and budget bills that were passed at the end of that special session,” said Rep. Davidsmeyer.
“In 2021, Democrats again slipped expanded health benefits for undocumented immigrants for ages 55-64 into the FY22 BIMP bill. This was again included at the last minute, with no committee hearing and almost no time to debate the bill.
“Last year, Democrats blew up an agreed Medicaid Omnibus bill by yet again adding a last-minute expansion of health benefits for undocumented immigrants for ages 42-54 at the end of session. Zero transparency, zero accountability, zero public input.”
Illinois Democrats recently filed House Bill 1570, which would complete the expansion of health benefits for undocumented immigrants by adding ages 19-41 to the program. HB 1570 has not been debated and no stand-alone vote has been taken on this benefit expansion. Davidsmeyer suggested that if recent history is any guide, the Democrats will again, for the fourth time, add this expansion to the upcoming FY24 BIMP bill or some other massive omnibus bill at the end of the General Assembly’s spring session.
“The sad fact is Illinois has become a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants,” Rep. Davidsmeyer said. “The State of Illinois gives them free healthcare benefits, driver’s licenses, mortgage and renters’ assistance, as well as other taxpayer-funded benefits. All I can say is ‘If you build it, they will come.’”
The administration has said there’s enough money in the budget to pay for at least half of the coming fiscal year’s shortfall.
* From Jordan Abudayyeh…
The Republicans said it’s time we have some adults in the room when it comes to budgeting. To be clear, the only lawmakers with a proven record of balancing the budget and improving state finances are Governor Pritzker and the Democratic supermajority in the General Assembly. The Governor just proposed another balanced budget that invests in education, healthcare, and communities. The credit ratings agencies have so much trust in his track record that after his proposal the state received two credit upgrades.
Let’s review some history.
Who balanced the budget four years in a row? Democrats.
Who eliminated the bill backlog that reached $16 billion left by the Republican governor? Democrats.
Who rebuilt the rainy day fund to nearly $2 billion? Democrats.
Who paid additional pension payments? Democrats.
Whose prudent fiscal decisions led to eight credit upgrades? Democrats.
Who invested hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild our human services infrastructure after the Republican budget impasse? Democrats.
Just this week Senate Republicans outlined hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending and did not offer a plan to pay for it. Budget challenges and spending constraints are nothing new to Democrats who have done the hard work to balance the budget year after year. The Governor and the General Assembly will continue on the proven track of working together to ensure state spending does not exceed revenues setting the state up for even more success moving forward.
* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson faces tough choice as the search for the next Chicago police chief moves forward: Johnson won an historic election campaigning on a vision for a new approach to public safety that de-emphasizes hiring more police officers to solve Chicago’s crime issues and instead reorganizing the department to focus on solving violent crime while investing in public programs that tackle the so-called root causes of crime. That approach will face scrutiny when Johnson takes office May 15 as Chicago heads into the summer months, when violent crime typically spikes, giving a new superintendent little runway to form a strategy to combat violence in both the immediate and long term.
* CBS Chicago | Chicago pastors to lead hundreds downtown in response to last weekend’s Loop chaos: Some of the pastors said they feel responsible for what happened over the weekend because the teens in those videos are from their communities. “I was disappointed, hurt by it. because that is not the character of our young people.” Bishop Dr. Horace Smith of Apostolic Faith Church said he felt accountable after watching teens jump on a CTA bus and learning two boys were shot during the Loop take over.
* Jim Dey | Union chapter president’s thefts cost far more than money: Byron Clemons Sr. of Alton should have remembered that. If he had, he wouldn’t be in quite as much legal trouble. He pleaded guilty April 11 to “transportation of stolen money.” That’s fed speak for embezzling more than $202,100 from the AFSCME union chapter in Alton and spending much of it at casinos across the river in Missouri.
* WTVO | Empower Illinois wants to give more kids the chance to go to private school: mpower Illinois has a mission to provide kids from low-income and working-class families the chance to have a quality education by giving them private school scholarships. Anthony Holter, President of Empower Illinois shares how great it is to partner with a school like Kikifers Entrepreneurial Academy to match kids with the best education for them.
* SJ-R | Crime victims call for expanded protections, rights at Capitol rally: While the focus on the rally centered on the victims, Thomas said CSSJ was also working with lawmakers on a bill regarding rehabilitation of the incarcerated. House Bill 3026 from state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, would amend the Earned Discretionary Sentence Credit — where incarcerated individuals can reduce their sentence if permitted by the Illinois Department of Corrections — to allow for time served in county jail to be included in the 60-day minimum before a credit can be awarded
* Sun-Times | City went too far in worker crackdown over COVID vaccines, judge rules: The decision in a case before the Illinois Labor Relations Board applies to city workers represented by trade unions or by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The unions banded together to challenge regulations Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposed starting in 2021.
* WAND | Survivors advocate for bereavement expansion, rehabilitation access for returning citizens: Hundreds of survivors of gun violence, domestic abuse, and sexual assault rallied at the Illinois Capitol Thursday afternoon to demand stronger public safety reforms. “We cannot leave crime victims behind. We also must make sure that communities have the resources that they need,” said Aswad Thomas, a gun violence survivor and the national director of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice. “So here in the state of Illinois, we’ve expanded the trauma recovery center model.”
* Chicago Reader | ‘Why you talking to a bum?’: When the very presence of unhoused people on the CTA is considered a public safety concern, who is the public, and what are we keeping them safe from?
* The Marshall Project | The War On Gun Violence Has Failed. And Black Men Are Paying The Price: A Marshall Project analysis found that from 2010 to 2022, the police made more than 38,000 arrests for illegal gun possession. These arrests — almost always a felony — doubled during this timeframe. While illegal possession is the most serious offense in most of the cases we analyzed, the charges often bear misleading names that imply violence, like “aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.”
* My Radio Link | First Lady MK Pritzker Opens Her Door to Illinois’ Cultural Community, Honors Artist Richard Hunt: Illinois First Lady MK Pritzker will host a cocktail reception at the Governor’s Mansion the evening of Monday, April 24, 2023, to welcome Illinois’ cultural leaders attending the “One State Conference and Capital Day” in Springfield. Inside, the First Lady will deliver a proclamation honoring world-renowned sculptor Richard Hunt and will declare April 24, 2023, Richard Hunt Day in Illinois.
* USA Today | North Carolina man in custody in connection with shooting of 6-year-old, parents: Robert Louis Singletary allegedly shot a 6-year-old girl and her parents after their basketball rolled into his yard and the family went to retrieve it, according to local WBTV and WSOC-TV. Singletary turned himself in to police in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday afternoon after a search, the Gaston County Police Department in North Carolina said.
* Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines) and 13 co-sponsors have introduced HB4040. From an analysis…
HB 4040 maintains the foundation of the mega project/PILOT concept that was proposed in HB 3565. It adds additional layers of oversight for local stakeholders and the General Assembly to ensure that the Arlington Megaproject - and potential future megaprojects - proceed in a manner that is in the best interest of the local community and the state of Illinois. Additionally, HB 4040 ensures that the Bears will reimburse the City of Chicago over $150 million for the LGDF money that was reallocated from the city and used to pay down the Soldier Field renovation debt. The legislation also secures significant new funding for capital projects and infrastructure improvements in Arlington Heights and the surrounding communities that will face additional infrastructure challenges as a result of the Arlington Megaproject
I. Arlington Megaproject Oversight Board
HB 4040 creates a Megaproject Oversight Board with the power to approve or den incentive agreements and zoning actions in the Arlington Megaproject. Voting members of the oversight board include representatives from Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Salt Creek Rural Park District, school districts 214, 211 and 15, and legislators from Senate District 27 and House Districts 54 and 53. Additional advisor members or the oversight board include representatives from other area municipalities, Cook County, state agencies, and legislators in the region.
II. Admissions Tax to reimburse the City of Chicago
A $3 admissions tax is imposed on all entertainment and sporting events within the Arlingtor Megaproject. This revenue will be used to reimburse the City of Chicago for the LGDF funding it lost because of the Soldier Field renovation debt. The City of Chicago’s LGDF share has been reduced by at least $5 million per ear since 2001. and those reductions are exoected to continue for a most ten more ears. The admissions tax will ensure the Bears repay the over $150 million that has been reallocated from the City of Chicago to service the Soldier Field debt. After the City of Chicago is fully reimbursed, subsequent admission tax revenue will be deposited into the Common School Fund to support education initiatives statwide.
III. Infrastructure Improvements in Arlington Heights and the surrounding communities
State tax revenue originating within the Arlington Megaproject from sales tax, hotel tax, liquor tax and sports wagering tax will be deposited into a new Arlington Megaproject Infrastructure Fund. The balance of this fund will be distributed on a monthly basis to the local governments who will see additional infrastructure challenges as a result of the Arlington Megaproject: 35% to Arlington Heights, 10% to Cook County, 10% to Palatine, 10% to Rolling Meadows, 7% to Buffalo Grove, 7% to Elk Grove Village, 7% to Mount Prospect, 7% to Prospect Heights, and 7% to Wheeling. Revenue received from this fund must be used for capital projects and infrastructure improvements.
IV. General Assembly must expressly approve all megaprojects
Because of the unique nature and statewide impact of megaprojects, any future projects must receive express authorization from the General Assembly before proceeding. HB 4040 expressly authorizes the Arlington Megaproject and requires express authorization on megaprojects going forward.
This is not a Bears initiative, from what I’m told.
The Chicago Police Department launched an investigation into how officers responded to violence that broke out late Saturday during a large gathering of young people in the city’s downtown tourism district.
The investigation comes after a viral video showed a mob attacking a couple as they exited a Loop store and it follows allegations of police inaction. […]
As the attack dragged on, police cars passed. Dennis and others called 911 to no avail. As the fifth police car passed, [Lenora Dennis] stopped in front of the cruiser and put her hands up, motioning that she needed the officers’ help, she said.
“And the police officer locked eyes with me, cut a pass right around me, and kept going,” Dennis said.
That’s when she decided to directly intervene. The Englewood resident walked over to the crowd, which she said consisted of around 80 teens, and yelled at them. After they exchanged words with her, they eventually ran off, she said. […]
Police sources told the Tribune that there were no officers downtown who held a rank above lieutenant for much of the night, which prohibited the officers who were present from requesting more officers to assist.
Emphasis added.
…Adding… Ms. Dennis also posted an account to Instagram…
In the 45 years, I’ve lived in this city and ALL of the things I’ve seen AND experienced living on every side of this city. Last night was one of the most DISGUSTING, DEPRESSING, RIDICULOUS displays I have ever witnessed. I watched a mob of hooligan’s attack and viciously BEAT an interracial couple on Wabash, I watched several, at least 5, police cars drive by while this attack was in progress. I watched teenage children jump on the hoods of people’s cars, smashing windshields and causing several thousands of dollars of property damage.
The desk sergeant at the 1st District told me to MY face that this is happening because @Brandon4Chicago was elected and he IS the wrong person to get a handle on this situation. I felt like I was watching the city devolve into complete and utter chaos like the Joker was finna pop on the scene.
PARENTS, UNCLES, AUNTS, BROTHERS, SISTERS, COUSINS…Is this 👆🏾your relative(s)? Is this your ward out here…randomly assailing people in the streets? Was your child downtown yesterday?
I’m all for getting to the ROOT cause of the problem but right now, we are going to have to do something swift and immediate…possibly civil right infringing to get this 👆🏾under control.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 18 states, today called for a federal recall of Hyundai and Kia vehicles following the companies’ continued failure to take adequate steps to address the alarming rate of vehicle thefts.
The letter, sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), encourages the NHTSA to recall unsafe Hyundai and Kia vehicles manufactured between 2011 and 2022 that have easily-bypassed ignition switches and lack engine immobilizers that make the vehicles vulnerable to theft.
In a letter issued in March 2023, Raoul and a coalition of attorneys general urged the companies to take stronger steps to address the safety concerns caused by vehicles’ vulnerability to theft. Because the companies have failed to address safety issues, Raoul and the coalition are now calling on the NHTSA to step in. The attorneys general argue that the vehicles’ systems remain out of compliance with federal standards and pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.
“Kia and Hyundai have still not fully addressed vulnerabilities in certain models that have resulted in increased thefts in Illinois and around the nation,” Raoul said. “I am calling for a federal recall of unsafe Kia and Hyundai vehicles because I stand committed to protecting consumers and our communities from crime. Because these car companies have not done their part to prevent thefts, I am urging the federal government to help us protect our residents.”
From approximately 2010 to 2021, Hyundai and Kia failed to equip base vehicle models with engine immobilizers, which prevent the vehicle from operating without a key or key fob. In 2022 alone, there were over 7,000 Hyundai and Kia thefts in Chicago, which account for 10% of all registered Kia vehicles and 7% of all registered Hyundai vehicles in the city.
An Illinois appellate court has slammed Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s electronic monitoring program for its “ambiguity” on whether apartment-dwelling detainees are allowed in other parts of their building for daily tasks such as getting the mail and washing clothes.
The ruling, a unanimous three-judge decision, throws out the 2018 escape conviction of Demarko Williams, a Chicago man who was imprisoned nearly five years for the offense — a conviction that followed his acquittal on drug charges, the case that landed him on the electronic monitoring in the first place.
“The state failed to offer any evidence that [Williams] was not permitted to go to other places within his apartment building without the sheriff’s approval,” the court ruled April 7, finding that Dart’s electronic monitoring program did not define whether a “residence” in a multi-unit building consists solely of the detainee’s unit.
So, he got five years for going someplace else in his apartment building, but was acquitted on the original charge?
…Adding… Joe Ryan at the sheriff’s office…
Hello Rich
I saw you reposted the WBEZ piece and raised an understandable question. I want to make sure you know WBEZ didn’t report the whole story and we have been discussing that with them. They failed to report that the court opinion noted that during trial the other following facts came out: the defendant knew he needed to turn himself in and didn’t, he skipped his regular court date more than 20 days after that visit by Sheriff’s officers, and was found weeks after that initial visit by CPD about six miles from his house after having cut off his ankle monitor.
Oddly, WBEZ didn’t report that. We also included that information in our statement to them below. And it is in the court opinion: https://ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net/antilles-resources/resources/5a62e8c5-9af5-45c0-8363-0f24bc5e46d3/People%20v.%20Williams,%202023%20IL%20App%20(1st)%20181285.pdf
These are highly relevant facts because to leave them out leads to the questions that you raised.
Thank you
Joe
Here’s the statement we provided to Mitchell: The Sheriff’s Office strongly disagrees with the Court’s opinion. No reasonable interpretation of Electronic Monitoring rules would allow for individuals to have free reign to wander all over a multi-unit residential building. Further, this Court’s ruling ignores the facts outlined in its opinion that in early September 2017 the defendant knew he needed to turn himself in or a warrant would be issued for his arrest, cut off his ankle monitor after the Sheriff’s Office tried to locate him, failed to appear in court three weeks after investigators first visited his residence, and was subsequently arrested approximately six miles from his residence the following month still without his ankle monitor.
* Gary Rabine lives in exurban Bull Valley and his company is headquartered in Schaumburg. But here’s Fox “News”…
A Chicago business owner says he is fleeing the crime-infested city because leaders are “supporting anarchy” and he “can’t put up with it any longer.”
“Our employees are being held up for their wallets and their phones at gunpoint,” Rabine Group founder Gary Rabine told “America Reports” on Wednesday. “It’s just not worth it anymore, the danger. You know, we are very safety-oriented company, and we can’t put up with it any longer.”
Rabine got 6.55 percent of the vote in the 2022 Republican gubernatorial primary and took fewer votes than Beverly Miles. If you don’t know who she is, you’re not alone.
Many have wondered why Scott Kaspar bought the Illinois Review and is using it to pummel Mayor Pekau almost daily. Well, it just became crystal clear. Kaspar recently changed his committee name to run for Orland Park Village President
Chicago is home to 124,000 millionaires, making it the fourth-wealthiest city in the United States and the 11th-richest city globally, according to investment migration firm Henley & Partners. Its growth in that field is slowing considerably, though.
Chicago follows New York City, the Bay Area and Los Angeles in number of high-net-worth individuals in the U.S.
* Block Club | DePaul Student Journalists Say Newspapers Vanished After Critical Story On University’s Budget Gap: The reporting quoted faculty members who said university leadership had “hastily” planned cuts to non-tenured teaching positions, other staff and department budgets. The teachers said they were left in the dark about changes. In the days after the article ran, several DePaulia editors noticed student workers tossing papers off newsstands into recycling bins at the school’s Lincoln Park library, student center and academic center, said Marla Krause, the paper’s adviser and a journalism professor at the university.
* Chalkbeat | Urban Prep Academies could be turned over to Chicago Public Schools after state denies appeal: But Urban Prep officials said late Wednesday that they filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County “asserting that the Chicago Public Schools has violated state law that there be a moratorium on school closings until 2025.” However, the district is not planning to close the schools. In October, when the Chicago Board of Education voted to revoke Urban Prep’s charter agreement to operate campuses in Englewood and Bronzeville, district officials – in a nod to the network’s unique mission and model – promised to continue operating the schools under district management.
* WICS | Illinois receives approval from Biden admin for school-based health services expansion: The expansion of the School-Based Health Services program will build on a foundation of currently-offered health care services available in Illinois schools to Medicaid-enrolled children, as well as training offered to staff, and reporting and claiming of federal matching funds that HFS does on behalf of schools.
* Illinois Times | City receives $500K state grant for the Y block: The empty lot just north of the Illinois Governor’s Mansion was once the site of the YWCA building, which was razed in 2017. Over the years, various ideas ranging from a law school campus to an apartment complex and private businesses have been proposed for the site.
* Cannabis Business Times | Green Thumb Workers Strike at 3 Dispensaries in Illinois: Among the three Green Thumb Industries (GTI) retail locations in Illinois—two in Joliet and one in Niles—there are more than 100 unionized workers represented by Teamsters Local 777 who began engaging in the “open-ended unfair labor practice strike,” not an economic strike, according to union spokesman Matt McQuaid. Local 777 represents more than 500 cannabis workers throughout Illinois.
* Patch | How Illinois Facebook Users Can Claim Cash In $725M Settlement: A settlement comes after Facebook paid out $650 million last year for using photos of users without their permission as a violation of Illinois and federal privacy laws. Last year, Facebook users in Illinois received up to $400 as part of the settlement payout.
* News-Gazette | In founder’s honor, empathy takes center stage at Ebertfest: In a speech outside the Chicago Theatre in 2005, Ebert called movies “machines that generate empathy,” which allow viewers to gain a greater understanding of others that are different form them in some way. Ten years after her husband died after a long battle with cancer that left him unable to speak, Chaz and other Ebertfest organizers decided to honor Roger at this year’s festival with a theme of “Empathy at the Movies.”
* The Atlantic | A History of Humanity in Which Humans Are Secondary: Most accounts of humanity’s origins, and our evolution since, have understandably put Homo sapiens center stage. It was our ingenuity, our tools, our cultural savvy that enabled our species to survive long past others—that allowed wars to be won, religions to blossom, and empires to rise and expand while others crumbled and fell. But despite what the schoolbooks tell us, humans might not be the main protagonists in our own history. As Jonathan Kennedy argues in his new book, Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues, the microscopic agents behind our deadliest infectious diseases should be taking center stage instead. Germs and pestilence—and not merely the people who bore them—have shaped inflection point after inflection point in our species’ timeline, from our first major successful foray out of Africa to the rise of Christianity, to even the United States’ bloody bid for independence.
* Daily Beast | Tech Bosses Are Letting Dictators Censor What Americans See: It sounds far-fetched, but recent moves from some leading names in tech and social media paint a worrying picture: Foreign censorship laws are increasingly determining what people in free countries, including the United States, can do online.
The Illinois Municipal League (IML) announced a Civility Pledge at its Spring Board of Directors meeting. The pledge seeks to restore civility in local governments, encourage productive dialogue and build public trust in all of Illinois’ 1,295 cities, villages and towns.
A growing need for civility has become more relevant and significant at all levels of government, but especially at the local level. Residents and elected officials are often faced with challenging and complex issues that can spark strong emotions and create conflict. Adopting the pledge and putting civility at the forefront provides a foundation for effective community conversations.
The pledge reads, “In the interest of civility, I pledge to promote civility by listening, being respectful of others, acknowledging that we are all striving to support and improve our community and understanding that we each may have different ideas for achieving that objective.”
“Even in these times of political disagreement, we believe in finding common ground and engaging in civil discussions about community issues that are important to everyone,” said IML President, Village President Catherine M. Adduci, Village of River Forest. “The Civility Pledge is a reminder for all municipal officials and constituents to work together in the pursuit of understanding the points of view of others.”
This assumes, of course, that all the folks elected are actually interested in improving their communities.
* The Question: Worthwhile endeavor or not? Explain.
27,000 students in Illinois are set to lose access to afterschool programming in Illinois. Due to internal errors, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) will not have enough money to adequately fund 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programs past this fiscal year. 21st CCLC programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and then administered by ISBE. ISBE has overspent its 21st CCLC funds beyond the funding that the federal government provides. This means ISBE is not able to cover all of its current contracts.
80% of these students are people of color, including 30% being Black youth and 36% being Latinx youth. These students all attend high poverty, low-performing schools and 66% of participants overall are qualified for free and reduced lunch. Cutting funding to afterschool programs due to an administrative error is unacceptable. A large body of research shows that 21st CCLC programs can support students in the areas where they need it most post pandemic, including improving academics, keeping youth safe, and providing social and emotion supports. These programs are also crucial resources for working families.
Afterschool programs are now asking ISBE and the General Assembly to allocate state funds to cover this error. Programs also need ISBE to investigate how this error happened and how to prevent it from happening again.
A miscalculation by the state of Illinois is putting in jeopardy after-school programs that serve about 27,000 students across the state.
That’s according to ACT Now, a statewide advocacy organization for Illinois after-school programs.
Staff from many of these threatened programs, spanning from Chicago to East Moline to Vermillion County, will be in Springfield Wednesday to testify at the monthly Illinois State Board of Education meeting.
They plan to ask lawmakers and the state board to allocate state funds to cover the state’s error as it administered federal 21st Century Community Learning Center grants, which are provided to community organizations. They also want them to investigate how the error occurred to prevent it from happening again.
During the pandemic, the state awarded a new set of programs 21st Century grants and allowed organizations to keep unspent money, not realizing this would result in insufficient funding to continue funding longtime recipients. ISBE estimates this could result in a shortfall of up to $15 million.
* Part of ISBE’s response…
ISBE has reached out to the U.S. Department of Education about utilizing ARP ESSER state set aside funds to address the shortfall. This would allow ISBE to meet its obligations to grantees in FY 2024, but would still not make a renewal or new grant competition possible for FY 2024 for those grantees whose five-year grant cycle concludes in FY 2023. Renewals and new competitions are never guaranteed and are only offered in years when sufficient funds are available. (ISBE did not offer new 21st CCLC Grant competitions in about half of the last 10 years.)
Chicago Public Schools plans to use federal COVID-19 relief money to help out programs here that are in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, kids shouldn’t pay the price, and state lawmakers can fill the budget gap for programs elsewhere that need help. ISBE, for its part, has to make sure costly miscalculations don’t happen again.
Down the road, though, community-run after-school programs that operate on shoestring budgets need some assurance of long-term funding. That’s the problem these programs, as well as state government and private philanthropy, will need to answer. […]
The need is clearly there. Fewer than one in five Illinois teens — 18% — participate in an after-school program, yet 41% would do so if programs were available, according to the group ACT (After School for Children and Teens) Now Illinois.
* Patrick Keck of the State Journal-Register takes a look into environmental lobby day and the bills environmental groups are behind…
A bill that did not pass in the Illinois House of Representatives last month still has the support of environmentalists. House Bill 2520 from state Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, has now been approved for consideration by the House Rules Committee and would have until May 19 to move out of the chamber.
The bill creates several new provisions to construction projects to ensure they are environmentally-friendly, including a supplemental fee of $100,000 for each construction permit application if the build takes place in an “environmental justice community.” […]
Senate Bill 2421, among several changes, would create the Carbon Transportation and Sequestration Readiness Fund and require any company or individual wishing to capture CO2 to receive a permit from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. EMS workers would also receive training in case of a carbon release. […]
A bill banning the use of polystyrene by retail establishments advanced out of the House and now awaits a vote in the Senate. […]
HB 2376 from state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, is now in the Senate Executive Committee and would make Illinois the first midwestern state to ban polystyrene.
* Throwback!…
April 20, 1993: A bill eliminating a requirement that limited partnership renewal reports be filed with county recorders failed in the Senate with just six votes after Sen. Gary LaPaille denounced sponsoring Sen. John Cullerton as "the Dr. Kevorkian of county funding in Illinois" pic.twitter.com/59CKiAaVDN
House Bill 2789 passed the Illinois Senate Executive Committee today. The bill moves to the full Senate for a vote. We are one step closer as we work to support libraries and librarians as they face unprecedented censorship of books and resources. #ILSOS@IllLibraryAssocpic.twitter.com/anyeQLO2Iv
A bill to lower exorbitant Illinois sports betting renewal fees for suppliers faced backlash Wednesday in the House Gaming Committee.
The Illinois sports betting legislation passed in 2019 set the initial supplier licensing fee at $150,000 for the first four years. But suppliers must continue paying $150,000 annually.
Chris Nybo, a lobbyist representing the gaming trade association iDEA Growth, presented the discrepancy as a drafting error. That argument worked in the Senate, where SB 323 passed 55-1 on March 29.
But with Illinois Gaming Control Board Administrator Marcus Fruchter expressing opposition, House committee members pushed back on lowering the fee.
A new bill may make more community college students continue to universities in state.
Senator Paul Faraci (D-Champaign) is pushing for a bill that would allow automatic admission to more of Illinois’ universities to community college students.
The current law allows any Illinois high school graduate to go to University of Illinois if they complete at least 36 graded transferable hours at an Illinois community college with a 3.0 GPA. The bill would expand the law to allow guaranteed admission into all state universities, including Eastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, both Southern Illinois Universities, and Western Illinois University as well. […]
The bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives, and the Senate Higher Education Committee unanimously. If signed into law, the proposal would go into effect during the 2024-2025 academic year.
* Sen. Fine’s HB1364 passed committee and now heads to the Senate Floor…
State Senator Laura Fine is launching an initiative to review data from the first year of operations and recommend updates for the future in order to make the 988 hotline as effective as possible for hotline operators and people experiencing a mental health crisis.
“The 988 hotline is the most accessible form of mental health care in Illinois and can be lifesaving in times of crisis,” said Fine (D-Glenview). “It is vital that we work to make the operation of care as effective as possible to best support Illinoisans struggling with their mental health.”
Last year, Illinois launched the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a three-digit dialing code for a national suicide prevention and mental health hotline, offering 24/7 access to trained counselors who can help people experiencing mental health-related distress. The hotline has been beneficial to many Illinoisans, but currently there is no method of collecting data on the hotline that may be used to improve the 988 system.
House Bill 1364 would create a task force to review existing information about the first year of the 988 call center operations in Illinois and examine the recommendations and decisions of previous state-led workgroups on transforming the mental health crisis response system. The task force would develop a plan for establishing a network of 988 call centers in Illinois that will best promote connection to care and sustainably funding the 988 call centers in future fiscal years.
* Sen. Villanueva…
Senator Villanueva championed legislation to bring more qualified computer science and art teachers to Chicago Public Schools, creating better learning opportunities throughout the district. […]
House Bill 2442 would increase the amount of computer science and art teachers in CPS. CPS says there are not enough teachers endorsed to teach these classes to meet district needs. To tackle this issue, Villanueva’s measure would allow licensed employees to receive additional training – or endorsements – through a pilot program within the district, allowing them to teach other classes, such as computer science and art classes. […]
House Bill 2442 passed in the Senate Education Committee and is headed to the Senate for further consideration.
State Senator Dave Koehler latest legislation is advocating for the hard of hearing.
According to a press release, Senator Koehler has introduced House Bill 2443, which would require insurance providers to cover hearing aids and related services. […]
Building upon a 2018 measure that requires insurance to cover hearing aids for children under 18, the new bill would expand upon anyone who is prescribed a hearing instrument by a doctor. […]
House Bill 2443 passed the Senate Insurance Committee Tuesday and now heads to the full Senate for further consideration.
* Sen. Dave Koehler…
State Senator Dave Koehler is leading a measure to remove vital records fees for survivors of domestic violence.
“Domestic violence survivors are already dealing with immense trauma,” said Koehler (D – Peoria). “Why are we taking money out of their pockets, adding more burdens to the reporting process?”
House Bill 2841 would remove the fees associated with services of vital records done by the State Registrar for survivors of domestic violence. The fee for a search of vital records is $10 per application currently and includes the files on birth, death, and fetal death. These records can be used to dissolve marriages and civil unions, receive information on the birth of a child and unexpected miscarriages and for genealogical purposes.
“A basic service to help a survivor in need shouldn’t have a cost,” said Koehler. “This initiative would prevent the possibility of survivors being turned away.”
House Bill 2841 passed the Senate Local Government Committee Wednesday and now heads to the full Senate for further consideration.
* Press release…
To ensure that Illinois schools have a crisis response plan in case of an emergency, State Senator Julie Morrison is advancing a measure that would require rapid entry protocol for law enforcement and first responders, including the threat of firearms.
“It seems like every day there is a new violent threat made against schools – we just saw that at Highland Park High School,” said Morrison (D-Lake Forest). “While we have taken strides to curb gun violence in Illinois, we must continue to develop new strategies in partnership with law enforcement and first responders so that our schools are as safe as possible.”
Morrison’s House Bill 3559 would require schools’ emergency and crisis response plans to include procedures for local law enforcement to rapidly enter the school building in the event of an emergency.
House Bill 3559 passed the Senate Education Committee just two weeks after five students at Highland Park High School were taken into custody following a report of a student with a handgun. The threat left the community shaken, as it came less than a year after the 4th of July mass shooting that took the lives of seven innocent community members.
“The threat at Highland Park High School could have become a tragedy,” said Morrison. “Law enforcement should be equipped to handle safety threats immediately and without hesitation.”
The measure now heads to the full Senate for further consideration.
(W)hen Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York needed to dream up something exceptionally grand this year for the annual State of the State address, the Manhattan ghostwriting firm was a good fit. For $25,000, it helped hire a writer to produce a 277-page book, “Achieving the New York Dream,” that outlined Ms. Hochul’s agenda and set the stage for budget fights over housing policy, tax rates and the state’s bail law that continue. […]
Although she has no shortage of in-house communicators, policy analysts and budget experts at her disposal, Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, has spent nearly $2 million on additional help, mostly on the giant consulting firms Deloitte Consulting and the Boston Consulting Group, in shaping her vision for the state delivered each January. […]
Representatives of three of Ms. Hochul’s predecessors — Andrew M. Cuomo, David A. Paterson and George E. Pataki — said they had never paid for outside help to prepare for the annual address. […]
Julie Wood, a spokeswoman for Ms. Hochul, said the outside firms had played supporting roles, helping Ms. Hochul’s policy team catalog proposals from across state agencies to present them to the governor and her senior advisers. Ms. Wood noted that Ms. Hochul had just a short time to hire her own staff and prepare for her 2022 speech, which took place less than five months after she was sworn into office.
Wait. She had five months? And that’s considered a short time in New York? Are you kidding me?
Just as an example, JB Pritzker was first sworn in on January 14, 2019. His budget/State of the State address was given one month later, on February 20th. And he was facing a $3.2 billion budget deficit plus a $15 billion backlog of unpaid bills.
This week the Justice Department arrested two Americans for operating a secret Chinese police station in New York City and separately charged 44 Chinese officials with enforcing Chinese laws on U.S. soil. These actions spotlight a tiny piece of the network Beijing uses to exert influence inside the United States. Tackling this complex issue will require greater American awareness, sensitivity and action.
Until the FBI raided the facility in October, a Chinese government-controlled police outpost in Manhattan coordinated widespread harassment of U.S.-based critics of the Chinese Communist Party, according to the U.S. government. Although this seems to have been China’s first such operation inside the United States, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has established more than 100 illegal police stations around the world. […]
What the criminal complaint doesn’t explain is how this police station fits into the larger picture of Chinese influence operations.
The station’s location offers one clue. The building was rented by the America Changle Association, a charity that claims to assist Chinese and Chinese Americans. The IRS revoked its tax-exempt status last May after it failed to file proper paperwork for three years. Nevertheless, just months later, the group was able to attract several prominent New York politicians to its gala, including Mayor Eric Adams.
Chicago’s current mayor has many faults, but cavorting at galas with secret Chinese agents likely isn’t one of them.
The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Gov. Kim Reynolds that seeks to require her office to respond to public record requests.
The court in a unanimous decision rejected Reynolds’ argument that her office wasn’t obligated to respond in a timely matter to record requests and that she could avoid the state’s open records law by simply ignoring the requests. The Supreme Court ordered that the case be returned to the district court where it would be decided on its merits.
“The governor’s office wanted a rule that it and its agencies can ignore public records requests without any consequences,” said Thomas Story, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, which represented three media organizations. “Instead, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that nobody is above the law.”
Illinois’ FOIA laws may need to be tweaked, but that’s a bit much.
Iowa children would be allowed to work longer hours, including in jobs that are currently prohibited such as serving alcohol, under a bill passed by the Iowa Senate early Tuesday morning after a marathon session.
The Senate voted 32-17 just before 5 a.m. Tuesday to pass Senate File 542. Two Republicans, Sens. Charlie McClintock, R-Alburnett, and Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, broke with their colleagues to join every Democrat in opposition.
The House must still pass the bill before it could go to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature.
North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill into law that restricts transgender health care in the state, immediately making it a crime to give gender-affirming care to people younger than 18.
Gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations, but it has increasingly come under attack in many conservative legislatures, including North Dakota’s, where lawmakers have passed at least three anti-trans bills this year.
The Florida Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that would prohibit investment strategies that Gov. Ron DeSantis has deemed “woke,” sending the issue to his desk.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 28-12 along party lines to prohibit consideration of “environmental, social and governance” standards in investing government money. The bill (HB 3), a priority of House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, passed the House last month.
The bill also would prohibit financial institutions from engaging in any “unsafe and unsound practice” or applying a “social credit score” when offering services. They wouldn’t be able to deny or cancel services to people based on political opinions, affiliation or speech.
The measure would expand on a directive issued last year by DeSantis and state Cabinet members requiring investment decisions in the Florida Retirement System Defined Benefit Plan to prioritize the highest returns without consideration of the standards known as “ESG.”
Haven’t seen anything yet about if this would effect Florida’s anti-BDS law.
In July 2020, at the height of protests over the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, Daniel Perry considered killing someone.
“I might have to kill a few people on my way to work, they are rioting outside my apartment complex,” Perry, then a 35-year-old Army sergeant, wrote to a friend, the Austin Chronicle reported. It wasn’t the first time Perry had spoken about killing people on social media or in messages with friends. On another occasion, Perry mused, “I might go to Dallas to shoot looters.”
After all this talk, Perry did shoot a Black Lives Matter protester in downtown Austin, an Air Force veteran and libertarian activist named Garrett Foster, who had been legally carrying an AK-47 at the protest. Perry, who was working as a rideshare driver, sped his car into the crowd, witnesses said, then opened fire on Foster. Perry claimed that he had acted in self-defense and that Foster had been raising his rifle, but prosecutorial witnesses told the jury during his trial that Foster had done nothing of the sort. “I believe he was going to aim at me,” Perry told police in an initial interview, having called law enforcement and turned himself in after the shooting. “I didn’t want to give him a chance to aim at me.”
Thursday night, the judge in Perry’s case unsealed a filing that also contained messages the jury did not see before the verdict. The document shows Perry sharing racist memes, referring to Black protesters as “monkeys,” and musing about “hunting Muslims in Europe.” Perry’s attorneys are reportedly seeking a new trial. […]
Convicted of murder, Perry became a right-wing political martyr. Last weekend, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott announced that he would ask the Texas parole board to recommend a pardon for Perry, following coverage from the Fox News host Tucker Carlson portraying his conviction as unjust and criticizing Abbott. Carlson characterized Perry’s conviction by a jury of his peers in one of the most pro-gun states in the union, not as a result of the atypical volume of evidence, but as a conspiracy by the liberal billionaire George Soros, who paid “people to put his political opponents in jail.” Fox News has a disproportionate influence over the only constituency Abbott heeds, which is Republican primary voters.
* Perhaps only the revived graduated income tax idea has been deader than this turkey since its inception. But the Bears bill has received far more media coverage. Crain’s…
As the Illinois General Assembly enters the frenzied final weeks of its spring session, one subject has effectively disappeared from the conversation. That’s the proposal by the Chicago Bears to subsidize the cost of their proposed new stadium complex in Arlington Heights, which — for the moment, anyhow — seems stuck somewhere around the Bears’ 12-yard line. […]
“I don’t see it coming up in the Senate,” said state Sen. Ann Gillespie, D-Arlington Heights, who agreed to introduce the bill a couple of months ago to get the discussion going. “I just don’t see the votes here.”
Ditto for state Rep. Mark Walker, D-Arlington Heights. “I don’t see anything this session,” he says. “Maybe in the fall.”
Walker says the proposal faces two major obstacles. One: It would allow the village of Arlington Heights to control the negotiated-fee process, effectively cutting out school districts, much to their dismay. Two: It’s run into strong sentiment that, while subsidies to win a company here from Michigan or Indiana might make sense, throwing money at a company to move from one part of the state — in this case, Chicago’s Soldier Field — to another is silly.
Developer Bruce Adreani already was having difficulty obtaining financing for his mixed-use redevelopment plan for the long-vacant Block 425 in downtown Arlington Heights, but this week he added a new wrinkle: the Bears.
Adreani cited the NFL franchise’s possible move to Arlington Park — and how that redevelopment could affect the village’s downtown — among reasons his Arlington 425 project has been slow to progress since it was first approved by the village board in May 2019.
And despite being grilled by trustees about why his proposed three-building residential and commercial campus doesn’t yet have a shovel in the ground, board members reluctantly agreed to his request for a 12-month extension to their zoning approvals.
Besides the Bears’ redevelopment of the sprawling 326-acre shuttered racetrack, Arlington 425 would be the largest development in the Northwest suburb in decades.
Thursday, Apr 20, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Throughout the pandemic, hospitals and frontline healthcare professionals dedicated countless hours and significant resources to save lives and provide needed care. Fast-forward a couple years into the public health crisis and headlines like these stretched across news websites:
• “‘It’s an Ugly Year in Health Care’: Hospitals Report Record Losses,” from The Boston Globe on Dec. 22, 2022
• “Hospital Finances Are Deteriorating, Fitch Says,” from The Wall Street Journal on Aug. 16, 2022
Facing dire financial distress—from increased labor, drug and supply costs—Illinois hospitals are asking state lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 1763, which provides the first General Revenue Fund (GRF) Medicaid rate increase for hospitals in 28 years. The bill would increase hospital Medicaid base rates by 20%, to release the pressure valve on hospitals’ deteriorating finances.
SB 1763 is especially needed as:
• The GRF hospital inpatient rate is less today than in 1995, while hospital costs are up 85%.
• Illinois ranks 48th in Medicaid spending per enrollee, with only Georgia, South Carolina and Nevada spending less.
Support and co-sponsor SB 1763 to preserve access to care for our most vulnerable urban and rural communities. SB 1763 will reduce the shortfall in Medicaid hospital rates, which now reimburse only about 80% of hospitals costs. Discover the facts to learn more.
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson today named Rich Guidice as his incoming Chief of Staff and Dr. Cristina Pacione-Zayas as his incoming First Deputy Chief of Staff.
Guidice, who most recently served as Executive Director of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, and Pacione-Zayas, who currently serves as Illinois State Senator for the 20th District, both bring years of experience in delivering for the people of Chicago.
“It’s going to take all of us to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago, and I know the people of Chicago will be served well by Rich Guidice as my Chief of Staff and Dr. Cristina Pacione-Zayas as my Deputy Chief of Staff,” said Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson. “Both Rich and Cristina have shown dedication to making Chicago work for all of Chicago, and I know they will lead these positions with a sense of collaboration, compassion, and competence.”
“It’s an honor to join the incoming Johnson administration and help deliver a stronger and safer Chicago for all,” said Rich Guidice, incoming Chief of Staff. “Together, we will build a government that addresses the challenges ahead, delivers on the promise of a better city, and unites all Chicagoans around our common goals.”
“I am excited to join Mayor-Elect Johnson’s City Hall and help lead a team dedicated to lifting-up working people, strengthening our public schools, and fostering safer communities,” said Dr. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, incoming First Deputy Chief of Staff. “We are building a team that will deliver for the people of Chicago, and I look forward to our work together.”
Rich Guidice, Chief of Staff, is a seasoned public servant and emergency operations professional with decades of experience working on behalf of Chicagoans. Guidice most recently served as head of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, where since 2019 he oversaw the city’s emergency response, 911 call center, and traffic management system, playing a pivotal role in coordinating crisis response efforts and enhancing public safety infrastructure across city agencies. His tenure as head of the agency drew widespread praise for its innovative, technology-driven approach. Before that, he helped create the city’s Traffic Management Authority and oversaw planning and coordination for large-scale events like the 2008 inauguration of President Barack Obama. Born and raised on the northwest side of Chicago, Guidice currently lives in the Schorsch Village neighborhood.
Dr. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, First Deputy Chief of Staff, is a distinguished education and policy advocate widely recognized for her efforts to promote educational equity and advance social justice through her service in community-based and policy organizations, Chicago Public Schools, and as board secretary of the Illinois State Board of Education. Formerly as the Associate Vice President of Policy at the Erikson Institute, she played a crucial role in shaping early childhood policy and advocating for children, families, communities. Dr. Pacione-Zayas is credited with establishing Erikson’s Early Childhood Leadership Academy and Community Data Lab—two statewide initiatives that have helped Illinois leaders and lawmakers understand the importance of investing in children’s early years and their overall well-being and development. Since December 2020, Dr. Pacione-Zayas has served as a State Senator representing the 20th District leading education, housing and public safety policy initiatives. Born and raised in Chicago, Dr. Pacione-Zayas earned her doctorate in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
* From a recent Sun-Times article when Guidice announced his retirement from OEMC…
The Humboldt Park native joined OEMC in 2005, overseeing championship parades for the White Sox, Blackhawks and Cubs, as well as security at the 2012 NATO Summit.
He is well-respected in government circles and has public safety experience, a plus for Johnson as his administration works to replace Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown and demonstrate the they’ll be able to handle problems in the Loop like the chaos that unfolded last weekend.
Again, that’s a very strong hire.
And CP-Z is, IMHO, brilliant. She also has strong ties to the city’s progressives.
…Adding… Illinois Restaurant Association…
We commend Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson on his selection of Richard Guidice to serve as Chief of Staff. Rich is a distinguished public servant who has served the City of Chicago notably for over three decades.
With this appointment, the Mayor-Elect signals his strong commitment to prioritizing solutions to some of the most pressing concerns facing our city, including safety and security.
We applaud this pragmatic decision and look forward to working with the Mayor-Elect and Rich.
Afterwards, Johnson spoke publicly for the first time about weekend violence that caused chaos in downtown Chicago and along the lakefront.
“The violence that happened over the weekend - and the violence that happens too many weekends and too many days - of course we don’t condone that behavior,” Johnson said.
Johnson denied he was sending mixed messages over the weekend in a statement where said the violence can’t be condoned, but also said it was not constructive to “demonize youth.”
The exchange between Johnson and the station’s Craig Wall was quite something…
Wall: You said that it’s not constructive to demonize youth who’ve otherwise been starved with opportunities in our communities. There has been some criticism of that that suggested you are in some way passively condoning that behavior for kids.
Johnson: …What does the whole statement say?
Wall: I realize that, but…
Johnson: I get it, but, because there are two aspects. So let’s talk about both aspects. I do not, look, the violence that happened over the weekend and the violence that happens too many weekends and too many days. Of course we don’t condone that behavior. That’s the first thing that I said.
Look, you’ve been a part of my conversations about raising a family in Austin. Who has more incentive for a safe Chicago than someone who is raising a family in a neighborhood where there are more homicides in my neighborhood over the last four years combined than many of the neighborhoods that have been discussed.
[Cross talk.]
It’s not a mixed message. Slow down for a second, OK? It’s not a mixed message. These false choices that people continue to try to make, this body and the city of Chicago make, and it ends under my administration. That’s a false choice. You can make sure that we eradicate the root causes that lead to violence. And we also can make sure that there’s support on the frontline to make sure that we’re preventing violence. It’s a false choice. And no one takes it more seriously than a family that lives through it every single day.
Do you think I want my son on his bike, and he has to worry about getting shot? Do you really believe that?
Wall: No.
Johnson: Of course you don’t. Right? So don’t give people false choices. We get to do both, you all. It is well past due that we put an end to this dynamic that somehow not making, look demonizing children is wrong. We have to keep them safe as well. Have you ever taught middle school? I have. Have you ever raised young people? Do you understand the risk that young people take just because they’re young? Do you know that home plate is at the bottom of my stairs? I found that out when my son was sliding down those stairs trying to score. They’re young. Sometimes they make silly decisions. They do. So we have to make sure that we are investing to make sure that young people know that they are supported. But we also have to make sure that police officers who put their lives on the line have the resources that they need to keep us safe.
* Sun-Times | Mayor-elect Johnson pitches unity to state legislators in Springfield: ‘Our challenges are not that unique’: Johnson kept his Capitol visit to generalities and focused on unity, saying he has spoken to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic leaders about “making sure that we’re investing in the necessary programs that will allow for our neighborhoods to be a lot safer.” And even as the clock ticks for legislators to finalize a state budget, Johnson said he didn’t come to Springfield to “dictate” what Chicago needs when it comes to public safety dollars.
* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson goes to Springfield with a few big asks — and a big message: The city’s incoming mayor made it clear that he wants changes in the state’s school aid formula. It was heavily revamped a few years ago with an eye toward putting more money into lower-income school districts with higher needs, but Johnson said more changes are needed, changes sufficient to ensure that every school in the state has a nurse and a social worker. The latter has been a longtime goal of the Chicago Teachers Union, where until recently Johnson worked as an organizer. Only such spending will break “the cycle of violence” that afflicts many neighborhoods, Johnson said.
* AP | Chicago Mayor-elect Johnson pledges ‘smart’ fight on crime: Pounded later by reporters’ questions about reducing crime in Chicago, he promised to be “smart” as well as “tough,” putting resources into youth employment and other preventive measures as well as enforcement. But his primary message was one of collaboration. “They told us that if something is good for Chicago, that means we’re taking something away from Peoria,” Johnson told lawmakers. “They tell us that the challenges that we face in the city of Chicago … aren’t the same challenges shared by families from Rockford to Carbondale. … No one has to lose at the expense of someone else winning. There’s more than enough for everybody in the state of Illinois.”
* NBC Chicago | Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson Addresses Lawmakers in Springfield Wednesday: Johnson will also meet with the House Democratic Caucus, the release says, “to discuss how state lawmakers and his administration can best work together to deliver lasting results for Chicago residents and all of Illinois.” “I am excited to join our dedicated leaders in Springfield and discuss how we can invest in people to lift up all of our communities,” Johnson said in the release. “Building a better, stronger, safer Chicago will take all of us, and I look forward to establishing a strong foundation for collaboration.”
* ABC Chicago | Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson on Chicago weekend chaos: ‘We don’t condone that behavior’: Johnson told lawmakers that Chicago and Springfield can get along even though they may not always agree on things. On several occasions, he received a standing ovation from Democrats when talking about his progressive agenda, but some Republicans were not impressed. “Is there any accountability? Is there any consequences? There’s no consequences in the city of Chicago instead, Brandon Johnson makes excuses for them,” said Blaine Wilhour, R-107th District.
* WTTW | Brandon Johnson Claims Mandate to Reshape Public Safety, Pledges to Partner with General Assembly: Johnson also vowed to reopen six mental health clinics closed more than a decade ago as part of his effort to address the root causes of crime in Chicago. Johnson did not miss the opportunity to ask state lawmakers to help Chicago, urging them to “fully fund” the Chicago Public Schools. Under the state’s education funding formula, Chicago schools are due an additional $1.4 billion to serve the city’s students, according to CPS and state officials. In addition, if state funds paid for teachers’ pensions — as they do in every other school district — CPS would have an additional $552 million to fund schools.
* Bond Buyer | Chicago’s Lightfoot aims to cement pension policy legacy: This instead The forecast also depends on Chicago Public Schools covering $245 million of what amounts to a $291 million responsibility for its non-teaching employees that participate in the city’s municipal fund in the current budget. The city’s payment totals $976 million this year. The $250 million it asked CPS to pay this year is up from $175 million last year and the 2024, 2025, and 2026 projected gaps rely on CPS covering its full share which grows to between $304 million and $309 million annually. The Chicago Teachers’ Union has criticized the city for transferring the burden and Johnson, who is a former teacher and organizer for the CTU, has said that the city should continue to financially help CPS even as it moves to an elected board in the coming years.
* Capitol News Illinois | Chicago mayor-elect hails Illinois as ‘vanguard for progressive policy’ in speech to lawmakers: Some of Johnson’s agenda for the city, such as increasing the city’s real estate transfer tax on properties exceeding $1 million, would require action from the General Assembly. In his speech to lawmakers, he also supported a “revised school funding formula,” with unspecified changes that would “help ensure there is a nurse and a social worker in every single school in Chicago.”
* Brenden Moore | Illinois recreational marijuana sales still growing, but at a slower pace: According to state data, monthly year-over-year dispensary sales growth dipped below 10% in June 2022. It hovered between 4% and 9% every month until this March, when it fell to just 2.9%. It’s a far cry from the exponential growth experienced in the first couple of years of the legal market.
* WAND | DoorDashers gather at capitol to make their voices heard: With fearing potential changes to come for the company, Dashers are hoping law makers understand the importance of flexible work opportunities. “The people that we’ve talked to have been very welcoming and wanting to hear our story. So, then this way they can think about it when some of those bills and stuff come up,” said Dean. “That they can actually fight for us.”
* Tribune | Paul Vallas outspent Brandon Johnson nearly 2-to-1 in losing mayoral bid: Vallas raised $18 million and spent nearly $17 million of it en route to a 52% to 48% loss to Johnson, according to recently filed state campaign finance records. Much of the money Vallas raised came from business leaders and private equity investors, many of whom have also contributed to Republican candidates across the country. Vallas ended the first quarter of 2023 with $1.7 million on hand, the campaign records show.
* Sun-Times | City Council honors Mayor Lori Lightfoot, 13 departing members: Tears were shed, good-natured barbs traded, hatchets buried. One would never have known Ald. Edward Burke is leaving under the cloud of a federal indictment or that the mayor’s relationship with the Council was so contentious.
* Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) spoke today at the Illinois Freedom Caucus’ press conference in response to Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s legislative address…
In DuPage County, we’re seeing the crime levels go up because of our neighboring Cook County. Last Saturday, when the ruckus was going on, last Saturday night when the ruckus was going on in Chicago, on Roosevelt Road, in Lombard, mind you, which is real close to where I live, they had to shut the carnival down because of all the misbehavior.
In Villa Park, not long ago, there was a vape shop. The vape shop was being looted by two men. The owner called the Villa Park Police. The Villa Park Police show up. The looters run out of the vape shop with their guns shooting at the police officers. This is what is going on, and you can only go…
Talk to our our state’s attorney Bob Berlin. Talk to our sheriff, James Mendrick. We have a jail in DuPage County, and believe you me, we are having problems. And it’s because of this crime.
And I don’t see that Brandon Johnson, he was bragging about all the money that they’ve put into schools and crime, but if they’ve put all this money into schools and crime, why is there still a problem? So you wonder, in the future, throwing money at government agencies, does it, I don’t know, I wish I knew.
…Adding… Also, I can’t find a news story about the alleged vape shop shooting. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, of course. Just sayin.
…Adding… Thanks to a commenter for finding it. The shooting was in Lombard last December.
…Adding… Press release…
The IL Freedom Caucus is issuing the following statement on the speech Chicago Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson gave during a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate.
“Much has been made about the great divide between Chicago and the rural parts of our state. Yes, there certainly is a deep ideological divide between the people of our districts and City of Chicago leaders on many issues but there is a recognition by everyone regardless of party affiliation that a strong and healthy Chicago is good for Illinois and the nation as a whole.
We all want Chicago to succeed. Unfortunately, what we heard today does not inspire confidence that Chicago is moving in the right direction. Brandon Johnson today decided to use his first interaction with the Legislature to launch one of the most partisan speeches we have heard in a long time on the House floor. It is hard to build a bridge with someone who comes to Springfield looking to pick a fight.
What we wanted to hear today was real ideas and real solutions – not more virtue signaling. What people want and what Chicago needs are good roads and sound infrastructure. Chicago families need good schools for their kids and above all they need and deserve safe neighborhoods. Instead of solutions, all we heard today was one woke cliché after another. There is no vision for building a better business climate in Chicago. Under the future Johnson Administration, businesses in Chicago will be taxed even more than they already are.
Brandon Johnson has proven again today the truth of the old adage that Chicago is a great city with terrible leaders. The problems in Chicago could be solved with better leaders and better policies. Unfortunately, under the Brandon Johnson administration, the City of Chicago will get neither. It is a sad day for Chicago and a sad day for Illinois.”
The Illinois Freedom Caucus is comprised of State Representatives Chris Miller (R-Oakland), chairman; Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City), vice-chairman; Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich); Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville); Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur); Jed Davis (R-Newark) and David Friess (R-Red Bud). The members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus are members of the Illinois General Assembly who are advocating for limited government, lower taxes and accountability and integrity in government.
“What Chicago needs are good roads and sound infrastructure,” say the same folks demanding that the motor fuel tax be cut in half.
* Tribune | Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson preaches unity, importance of Chicago to Illinois during Springfield visit: “They’ve told us that this is a zero-sum game. And if something is good for Chicago, well, that means we’re taking something away from Peoria,” Johnson said. “But I’m here to deliver an emphatic message today. It is a false choice. No one has to lose at the expense of someone else winning. There is more than enough for everybody in the state of Illinois.”
* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson goes to Springfield with a few big asks — and a big message: Johnson said his model for the city is what Democrats have achieved statewide with the party controlling both houses of the General Assembly and J.B. Pritzker occupying the governor’s mansion: improved funding for schools, strong labor and abortion-rights protections, and simultaneously an improvement in the state’s credit rating. “Our values have to be in line with our investments,” he said, and in Illinois that has meant achieving progressive policies that are a national example.
* WTTW | From Leopold and Loeb to Gacy: Cicero Facility Houses Millions of Criminal Records: WTTW News got an exclusive look inside the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s massive records storage facility, located in Cicero. The warehouse just south of Roosevelt Road might not look like much at first glance. But take a peek inside and you’re transported to a world of criminals, court cases and the dark side of Cook County history.
* WTTW | End of the Burke Era: A 54-year Political Reign at City Hall Comes to a Close: Burke’s career will come to an end under the shadow of a 14-count indictment alleging the powerful politician repeatedly — and brazenly — used his elected office to force those doing business with the city to hire his private law firm. Burke has pleaded not guilty, and used millions of dollars of stockpiled campaign cash to fund his defense.
* NPR Illinois | Springfield inauguration set for May 5: Springfield’s newly elected mayor will officially take office early next month. Misty Buscher will be inaugurated on Friday May 5. […] Along with the new mayor, other city officials, including Clerk Frank Lesko and new City Treasurer Colleen Redpath Feger, will be sworn in.
* WSIL | Construction on Southern Illinois Multimodal Station to begin in June: A transportation hub that will serve Illlinois’ southernmost 30 counties is set to begin construction this summer in Jackson County. The city of Carbondale began demolishing the old Carbondale Cycle building on Illinois Avenue & Walnut Street over the weekend. On Tuesday, crews were still cleaning the debris at the site.
* Block Club | ChiFresh Kitchen, Co-Op That Hires Formerly Incarcerated People To Cook For Those In Need, Finds A New Home In Greater Grand Crossing: “Our team is committed to hiring formerly incarcerated folks” and locals, Kerr said. The company could grow to “between 30 and 40, even up to 50 people in that facility once we get to that 5,000-meal mark.” All employees are eligible for an ownership stake in ChiFresh Kitchen after 18 months on the job, after which they can start paying toward a $2,000 membership share. Members serve on the co-op’s board, have a vote in business decisions and can receive dividends if the company is profitable, Kerr said.
* Crain’s | Ad calls on Carl Icahn to join fight against McDonald’s ‘blatant racism’: Media entrepreneur Byron Allen took out an ad in the Chicago Tribune today soliciting support from activist investor Carl Icahn in his fight against “blatant racism” at McDonald’s. The Chicago-based hamburger chain has been under pressure from both men in recent years via lawsuits and shareholder meetings. Icahn pushed McDonald’s last year to wean off its dependence on meat products, and Allen has called for CEO Chris Kempczinski’s ousting and filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company.
* CNN | Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launches 2024 presidential bid: His sister Kathleen served as the lieutenant governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003. His brother Joseph was a congressman from Massachusetts from 1987 to 1999. And more recently, his brother Chris Kennedy was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Illinois in 2018.
* Click here for the House’s feed, or click here for the free BlueRoomStream.com feed. Let us know what you think in comments.
…Adding… Mayor-elect Johnson called for restoring the full Local Government Distributive Fund payment. The Illinois Municipal League’s members have descended on the Statehouse demanding the same thing. From the governor’s office…
Supporting the operation of local governments is a key part of the state’s financial infrastructure. Since Governor Pritzker took office, over $1.1 billion annually has been allocated to local governments to assist with costs over and above what they were previously receiving from the state. This is on top of the 49% increase in revenue sharing to local governments over Governor Pritzker’s first term. When possible, the State has provided additional funding mechanisms to help local governments, including one-time and permanent revenue supports to minimize the need for local property tax increases.
Over the last few years, local governments have also seen an increase in the percentage of income and sales taxes that state government shares with towns, counties, and transit districts. This is due to the removal of the distribution proration that was put into place during the budget impasse. In fiscal year 2018, these allocations totaled $1.7 billion, but are expected to total $2.7 billion in the fiscal year 2024 budget proposal.
Background
Support for local governments enacted since Governor Pritzker took office includes:
• An additional $200 million a year in sales taxes from the passage of internet sales tax language following the Wayfair decision, including the Leveling the Playing Field for Illinois Retail Act, to help ensure compliance with state tax laws on internet sales.
• Over $600 million annually in additional motor fuel taxes directed to local governments and transit districts to support needed transportation projects through the passage of Rebuild Illinois.
• Granting $1.5 billion in state transportation bond funds directly to local governments for road and highway project expenditures, saving local governments $110 million annually in debt service costs from not issuing local bonds.
• Authorization of adult-use cannabis, generating an estimated $100 million in additional revenues for local governments.
• Increased allocations through the Local Government Distributive Fund process totaling $46 million annually from business loophole closures included in PA 102-0016.
• Increased tax rates and positions for video gaming operations are expected to generate an additional $77 million a year for local governments.
• Anticipated additional local revenues from the opening of new casinos authorized under the Rebuild Illinois plan.
• Provided $400 million to support local governments during the 12-month suspension of the grocery tax authorized under the Illinois Family Relief Plan.
• Increased the percentage of individual income taxes that state government shares with municipalities and counties from 6.06 to 6.16 percent of total individual income tax collections. This 0.1 percent increase is worth $27 million annually.
OVERALL LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
• Income tax revenue sharing with locals increased 49% over the last 4 years. In FY19 LGDF was $1.342B. In FY22, LGDF was $2.00B – an increase of $658M or 49%.
…Adding… The IML’s fact sheet on the LGDF is here.
…Adding… If you’d like to compare with the last two first-time mayor speeches, click here for Rahm Emanuel and click here for Lori Lightfoot. [Hat tip: Amdor]
…Adding… Illinois Chamber…
The Illinois business community stands ready to work with Mayor-Elect Johnson to achieve our shared goals of a vibrant Chicago.
We look forward to working with Johnson on developing specific proposals for job growth and economic development within the state. This can be achieved through bipartisan cooperation that balances the needs of the citizens of Chicago with measures promoting a strong business climate, enhancing the city’s role as an economic engine that is so important to the prosperity of the state of Illinois.
…Adding… Press release…
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, welcomed Chicago Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson to the State Capitol Wednesday, beginning a conversation on economic development, public safety, and moving Illinois and the City of Chicago forward together.
“I sincerely thank Speaker Welch, President Harmon, and every legislator for their warm welcome today. Together, we have laid the foundation for a collaborative, productive, and energetic partnership to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago that benefits every community across Illinois,” said Mayor-Elect Johnson. “This legislative body has shown it’s possible to take bold action to lift-up people all across our state, and I stand ready to work together to strengthen our public schools, ensure safety in every community, and support Illinois businesses to drive widespread economic growth and prosperity.”
Before a joint session of the House and Senate, Johnson emphasized the need for collaboration and collective responsibility in creating a stronger Chicago and a stronger Illinois.
“In the days ahead, this Legislature will make significant decisions about how we continue to rebuild Illinois’ fiscal house, expand opportunity across our state, and protect and strengthen Illinois communities. I’m pleased to welcome Mayor-Elect Johnson now, so that the priorities that will define the beginning of his term can inform our work,” said Speaker Welch. “Chicago is a critical component to Illinois’ success and it’s wonderful to hear the mayor-elect discuss priorities that mirror so closely what we’ve been fighting for in Springfield. I’m excited to work with Mayor-Elect Johnson as we continue to push for a smart approach to public safety, for fiscally and socially responsible budgets, and for the rights of women, of immigrants, and of working families.”
“I commend the mayor-elect for hitting the ground running, establishing his priorities and building relationships with the General Assembly before he even takes office,” said Senate President Harmon. “I found inspiration with his central message that progressive values and economic prosperity are one and the same, and that we are proving it here in the great state of Illinois. I look forward to finding ways to work together in the years ahead.”
Earlier Wednesday, Johnson met with Welch and Harmon, as well as the Black, Latinx, Progressive, and Moderate House sub-caucuses. Johnson emphasized that Chicago’s success is Illinois’ success, and called for leaders across the state to work together for a smart approach to safe communities, economic opportunity for all, and increased investment in local government.
And another $41K or so went to TMKS, LLC out of Rochelle, also for consulting work. I think that’s Michael Koolidge’s firm. Koolidge works for People Who Play By The Rules PAC and is a former congressional candidate.
So, if you add that up, you get $142,500 paid to consultants, which is 38 times the amount spent on actual (losing) campaigns.
Wednesday, Apr 19, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
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* The stories from last weekend’s downtown youth violence are completely disturbing, if not particularly new. Plenty of news media outlets are giving it extensive coverage (particularly Fox). But what’s being pushed down in many of these stories is that the taxpayer-funded adults who are supposedly in charge also have something to answer for. Here’s CBS 2…
A couple attacked by a group of teens during the unrest downtown over the weekend said Tuesday that they had to fight for their lives.
The video of the vicious attack near a T-Mobile store on Wabash Avenue has been shared millions of times online.
CBS 2’s Marissa Perlman spoke with the couple – and a woman who jumped in to save them. The couple remains noticeably shaken up – trying to find moments to smile after what they went through.
They were in town from South Carolina, walking in the Loop just trying to find a place to eat.
In seconds, they were cornered and attacked with no way out.
Video shows the group of teens assaulting 20-year-old Ashley Knutson in front of 129 N. Wabash Ave. – across from the Macy’s building – Saturday night. She screams as the group corners her against a set of doors.
Knutson falls to the ground.
“It just doesn’t feel real,” she said. “I can’t believe that happened to us.”
The video’s audio reveals Knutson yelling for help as the attack took place, and that’s when an unlikely hero emerged.
“I felt like at that moment I needed to take action,” Lenora Dennis said.
Dennis jumped in to help and was able to deescalate the attack. […]
Dennis says what frustrates her the most was that she didn’t receive any help from Chicago police.
“I literally went in front of a police car that I saw coming, like literally stood in front of their car, and I was like ‘stop! There’s people over here getting assaulted,’ and he looked, there were four police officers in the car. The driver looked, and he just cut a path and drove around me,” she said.
“They didn’t stop. Who knows what would have happened if it wasn’t for her,” Garrisson-Johnson added.
Those officers may have been on an important and urgent call and simply couldn’t stop. It happens. We just don’t know yet, but that probably ought to be at least looked into.
Also, this does show that deescalation and violence interruption can work. We need more of that from trained workers. Lots more. Where were all those groups over the weekend? …Adding… Question answered…
There are many dedicated City employees who work on initiatives that serve residents and reduce violence. That said, the answer is: there no person clearly responsible for implementing a detailed and comprehensive violence reduction strategy; there is no such plan. +
Dennis said she ushered the couple into the flagship Macy’s store where they hid until they could safely leave. Eventually, Dennis drove them to the 1st District police station where she said a desk sergeant told her words to the effect of: “This is happening because Brandon Johnson got elected.”
“I’ve lived in Chicago my entire life and would’ve never expected that,” Dennis said. “If that’s a precursor to what’s about to happen that’s a total and complete problem.”
It’s an allegation about a single curmudgeon sergeant. But I can see where people would find that very believable and also quite alarming. The FOP’s president did, after all, predict “blood in the streets” if Paul Vallas lost the election. And most of the outraged reaction to the violence appears to be coming from people who wanted to see Vallas elected mayor. It’s bad enough as it is, but it’s now being used as a political cudgel against a guy who hasn’t even been sworn in yet.
* Tribune | Apparent slip-up during ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore cross-examination leads to revelation about interview with feds: The cross-examination of former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore took a dramatic turn Tuesday when she inadvertently opened the door to questions about a 2019 interview with prosecutors where she denied knowing about the utility paying subcontractors connected to Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. The apparent slip-up occurred while Pramaggiore was being asked about a recorded call with then-ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, who told her that the subcontractors, including former 13th Ward Ald. Frank Olivo, were being funneled through a contract with lobbyist Jay Doherty and that they didn’t do any work.
* Sun-Times | Former ComEd CEO testifies that secretly recorded call central to bribery case against her actually ‘proves my innocence’: Jurors also heard Tuesday that the September 2019 interview ended after the feds played the recorded phone call for Pramaggiore and her attorneys. Meanwhile, Pramaggiore insisted to Streicker that, if she had remembered the call, “I would have shared it with you because it proves my innocence.” At one point in the February 2019 call with Marquez, Pramaggiore can be heard saying “oh my God.” She testified this week that it was because she was “taken aback” by some of Marquez’s comment
* ABC Chicago | Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore defends actions in bribery case; Hooker testifies: One such conversation-which led to her ending her talks with the U.S. attorney’s office- included a phone call between herself and ComEd lobbyist-turned-government informant Fidel Marquez early that same year. During the call, they discussed how to go about explaining Doherty’s contract to the new CEO and maybe suggesting he put an end to it. “Let’s not do it until after the session’s over. Let’s look at this in terms of going forward to next year because we do not want to get caught up in a, you know, disruptive battle where, you know, somebody gets their nose out of joint and we’re trying to move somebody off and then we get forced to give ‘em a five-year contract because we’re in the middle of needing to get something done in Springfield,” Pramaggiore said in the call on February 18, 2019.
* Hannah Meisel | Former ComEd CEO testifies she was unaware of Madigan allies’ monthly checks for no work: “We didn’t view him as a friend or an ally,” Pramaggiore said of Madigan’s relationship to ComEd, outlining the speaker’s “classic Democrat, very pro-consumer” stance on utilities. She also said ComEd officials were never quite sure what to make of the influencing effect of Madigan’s daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who “was always in opposition to us.”
* CBS Chicago | Prosecutors question ex-ComEd CEO on her knowledge about do-nothing subcontractors: Prosecutors doubled down, asking Pramaggiore to confirm she was testifying that she forgot the entire recorded phone conversation before that interview. She replied simply: “I am.” Fellow defendant Hooker also took the stand on Tuesday afternoon to testify in his own defense, focusing on the ComEd legislation he was involved with.
* NBC Chicago | Second ComEd 4 Defendant Takes The Stand as Trial Continues: Hooker laid out how the office worked but denied any wrongdoing. He also denied being part of then-Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s “inner circle.” When asked if he was an agent for Madigan, Hooker proudly said “no, he was ComEd all the way.”
* Crain’s | A key meeting with the feds takes center stage in Pramaggiore cross-examination: Hooker also spoke extensively about his role in helping pass the various bills on which the trial has focused. But he didn’t get to the key questions pertaining to him, which is a recording of him talking about his role in helping create the Doherty subcontracts. He will be on the stand beginning Wednesday morning, when no doubt that issue will come up.
* I told you this was going to happen quite a while ago. Center Square…
The Illinois Supreme Court has granted a motion to pause proceedings in a challenge of Illinois’ gun and magazine ban pending the outcome of a separate challenge before the state’s high court.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted the state’s ban on certain semi-automatic weapons and magazines Jan. 10. The law has been challenged in both federal and state courts.
One of the first state-level lawsuits came from attorney Thomas DeVore. He secured temporary restraining orders for thousands of named plaintiffs and gun stores in two cases from Effingham County and one from White County. The first case, named Accuracy Firearms v. Pritzker, was appealed by the state to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court decided the case challenging the law on equal protections was likely to advance on its merits.
Separately, a Macon County judge issued a final judgment that the law was unconstitutional based on the appeals court decision. That case was brought by state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur. Because of the appeals court decision, the state appealed Caulkins’ case directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.
DeVore attempted to consolidate his cases with Caulkins’ case, a motion the Illinois Supreme Court denied. They are set to hear the Caulkins case in mid-May.
On March 31, the state filed an abeyance motion in the Accuracy Firearms case with the Illinois Supreme Court. The request was to hold the state’s appeal of a temporary restraining order in the DeVore case “pending the disposition” in the Caulkins case, “which is a direct appeal currently pending before this court.” […]
Tuesday, the Illinois Supreme Court granted the motion for abeyance, effectively holding off the appeal of the Effingham County TRO until the Caulkins case is resolved.
Meanwhile, DeVore is still trying to subpoena constitutionally protected legislative communications.
Either way, if Rep. Caulkins loses (and he probably will at the state level), then DeVore can ultimately claim victory by claiming he would’ve won if only Caulkins hadn’t interfered. Some folks believe that may actually be why DeVore is pulling his subpoena stunt.
Rep. Caulkins’ case has been scheduled for a May 16 Supreme Court hearing.
* The federal cases are more important, and here’s an update on one of those…
The federal appeals court in Chicago on Tuesday denied a request to block the Illinois assault weapons ban while it faces legal challenges.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for an injunction by Robert Bevis, a firearms store owner in Naperville, while he appeals a ruling by U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall that found the ban “constitutionally sound.” […]
Bevis’ lawyers argued that his Law Weapons & Supply business suffered because of the ban and might end up closing if it can’t sell the popular guns.
In her ruling, Kendall wrote that, “because assault weapons are particularly dangerous weapons … their regulation accords with history and tradition.”
* Sun-Times | Illinois assault weapons ban withstands appeal in federal court: The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for an injunction by Robert Bevis, a firearms store owner in Naperville, while he appeals a ruling by U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall that found the ban “constitutionally sound.”
* Sun-Times | CPS looking to move away from student-based budgeting, CEO Martinez says: Martinez shared these plans during a virtual briefing Tuesday outlining CPS’ school budget for the 2023-24 school year. The school-level budgets represent the money the district gives principals to use for their schools. The budgets, which are set to be finalized and approved over the summer, represent around one-third of the district’s total $9.4 billion budget. They include an infusion of cash from federal COVID-19 relief funding.
* Tribune | Big spending didn’t always lead to wins in school and library board races fueled by partisan rancor: The Illinois Democratic Party spent nearly $260,000 on local school and library board races across the state leading up to the April 4 election, but in some high-profile contests was outspent by slates of conservative candidates pushing for a rightward turn that nonetheless failed to win seats, according to first quarter campaign disclosures.
* Sun-Times | Year of the Incumbent? Only one sitting City Council member unseated this year — first time in a century: The sole incumbent voted out, Southwest Side Ald. Anabel Abarca (12th), was only on the job about two months before she was beaten by Julia Ramirez in the first round of municipal voting Feb. 28. Abarca had been appointed by outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot last fall to replace former Ald. George Cardenas following Cardenas’ election to the Cook County Board of Review.
* SJ-R | ‘Every vote counts’: Two candidates eke out one-vote wins in county election finale: Gordon Gates called his 19-vote win over Melissa Hahn Moseley for a trustee’s seat on the Lincoln Land Community College board “an odd, but ultimately gratifying result.” Gates’ slim margin of victory wasn’t the only oddity that played out in the Sangamon County Election office where officials tabulated late arriving vote-by-mail and provisional ballots Tuesday.
* Patch | Racist Remarks Directed At DuPage Township Trustee During Meeting: Townsend, who is Muslim, was breaking her fast while observing Ramadan. Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims, marked by a period of fasting, which is broken after sunset. This year, Ramadan runs from March 20 to April 20. Townsend said she began eating during the meeting, after the sun had set. She was speaking to a resident during the meeting when they mocked her and said, “go back to eating your lunch.”
* Sun-Times | Lightfoot says she’s handing Johnson a city with rosy financial future: In a “midyear” budget forecast released Tuesday, the lame-duck mayor argues that she is handing off a budget shortfall to Johnson of just $85 million. That’s more than a historic low for Chicago mayoral transitions. It’s a $390 million improvement from the yawning $473.8 million gap Lightfoot had been expecting, according to her previous midyear budget forecast, released last August.
* Kimberly Lightford and Carol Ammons | It’s time for Illinois to systematically support student well-being: Adverse childhood experiences — or ACEs — include traumas such as parental separation, domestic violence, mental illness, abuse and neglect, and substance abuse and incarceration. Exposure to traumatic experiences impacts a child’s social-emotional development, their mental and physical health, and their learning and academic outcomes.
* WAND | Pritzker, Stratton join advocates for early childhood lobby day: Pritzker hopes Democrats and Republicans will support his Smart Start Illinois plan with investments in preschool, child care, early intervention, and early childhood facilities. The governor is calling for $250 million in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget to launch the program.
* Tribune | Rails to trails: How converted railroad paths became great escapes for cyclists, from the Great American to The 606: Chicago is also home to a stretch of the Great American Rail Trail, a 3,700-mile bike path from coast to coast that passes through northwest Indiana and the south suburbs. Though supported by the national Rails to Trails Conservancy, it is really a network of more than 125 locally backed trails that is still filling out some gaps in the run from Washington, D.C., to the Pacific Ocean west of Seattle. I did a relatively short stretch in Indiana, and it left me wanting to ride more.
* Daily Herald | Bears to blame? Developer cites stadium proposal for delay in Arlington Heights project: Developer Bruce Adreani already was having difficulty obtaining financing for his mixed-use redevelopment plan for the long-vacant Block 425 in downtown Arlington Heights, but this week he added a new wrinkle: the Bears. Adreani cited the NFL franchise’s possible move to Arlington Park — and how that redevelopment could affect the village’s downtown — among reasons his Arlington 425 project has been slow to progress since it was first approved by the village board in May 2019.
