“If this is the norm, we don’t have a chance”
Tuesday, Aug 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Sunday…
Dear Maine South Families,
On Friday evening, the building administration was notified about potential COVID exposures to students in social settings at multiple parties across a four day period beginning on August 14th. After spending the entire weekend calling families, we know students were exposed to positive cases of COVID at these parties. When we’re notified about potential positive cases, we enact our mandated contact tracing protocol. For this protocol to work, it requires complete cooperation and honesty with all parties and unfortunately, we did not have that from some families. It makes the process impossible if we’re not able to quickly figure out which students were present where and with whom. In total, Maine South staff made contact with, or attempted to make contact with, at least 71 students over the weekend to determine the scope of contact tracing for the reported events.
Based on the numbers of students we believe were in attendance at the parties, and the positive cases we know of, we are making the following changes to the week of August 24th:
Senior day (August 24th) is now online.
Junior orientation (August 25th & 26th): a virtual orientation recording will be sent via email.
Sophomore orientation (August 27th & 28th): a virtual orientation recording will be sent via email.
More information about instructional materials pick-up will be forthcoming.
The following will remain the same for the week of August 24th:
When your student is being tested for COVID, we need to know about it immediately. Please call the school’s health office when you take the test and then again with the test result. Information can be found in our COVID parent guide.
We have repeatedly said in the online sessions that we all want our students back in school. For that to happen, the rules outside of the school cannot differ from the rules inside school … and large parties are not going to help. What was also troubling was the lack of partnership that we witnessed through the weekend as we spoke to families who either refused to share information or gave us false impressions of what took place. There is no disciplinary action when we have to contact trace and when we call, we are doing so to keep our students and staff safe and make sure COVID is not passed along to anyone, especially those with underlying health conditions.
The virtual schedule for Senior day can now be found on the Class of 2021 webpage.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ben Collins, Principal
* Tribune…
“If this is the norm, we don’t have a chance (for in-person learning),” [Maine South Superintendent Ken Wallace] said. “If this is what we have to deal with week to week, trying to run down who is exposed and who is positive, it’s going to be really difficult to maintain any semblance of in-person school and grow it like we want to.”
In order to transition from remote learning to in-classroom learning, schools in District 207 must know if students have tested positive for COVID-19 or been exposed to it, Wallace said. Such information should be reported immediately by calling the student’s school, the superintendent said.
Students and their parents also share the responsibility in protecting themselves from contracting the virus and exposing others, he added.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Aug 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kelly Bauer…
The city is launching a contest that will ask Chicagoans to envision how there can be outdoor dining this winter.
Chicago is famous for its cold, snowy winters, with patio dining all but impossible. That’ll be challenging for restaurants, which are relying on expanded outdoor service because the coronavirus pandemic has limited their indoor capacity.
But the Winter Design Challenge will ask Chicagoans to “propose innovative outdoor dining solutions that adhere to COVID-19 protocols,” according to the Mayor’s Office. Three winners will get prizes of $5,000 each.
* My snarky entry…
* The Question: Your idea(s)?
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Please, wear a mask
Tuesday, Aug 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Market Watch…
Do masks really work? Ask the dozens of Starbucks customers who tested positive for COVID-19 in Seoul this month after a woman with coronavirus sat under one of the cafe’s air-conditioners.
According to a local news report, at least 56 coronavirus cases have been linked to that one customer. The kicker: The four masked workers avoided infection.
The Starbucks SBUX, 4.88% patrons, according to officials, weren’t consistently wearing masks because, of course, it’s hard to enjoy a latte when you can’t access your mouth.
“This speaks volumes about the role masks can play,” Ma Sang Hyuk, a pediatric infectious diseases physician in South Korea, explained to Bloomberg News. “Masks may not provide 100% protection, but there’s nothing out there that’s as effective.”
Local authorities made it mandatory this week for everybody to wear masks both indoors and outdoors, as the greater Seoul area has seen a surge in coronavirus cases.
* And wear your mask over your nose…
Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill mapped locations in the respiratory tract to see where COVID-19 most likely infiltrates the body and found the cells that line the nose were significantly more likely to become infected and spread virus than the throat or lungs.
In addition, they said that part of the reason you could be more likely to get infected through the nose is because COVID-19 infects cells with tiny hairs on them called cilia, which usually helps protects from pathogens.
“The nose is basically the purveyor of all viral ill,” said Dr. Richard Boucher, director of the Marsico Lung Institute/UNC Cystic Fibrosis Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. “The virus appeared to pick the nose as a fertile ground for infection.”
Ellerin called the study “important” and explained that the nasal passage has as many or even more receptors that the virus can use to enter the cell than the throat or in the lungs. Which makes it imperative that people cover their noses, he said.
* Science Daily…
Density and temperature are intricately related, and coughs tend to be warmer than their surrounding area. Tapping into this connection, Simha and Rao utilized a technique called schlieren imaging, which visualizes changes in density, to capture pictures of voluntary coughs from five test subjects. By tracking the motion of a cough over successive images, the team estimated velocity and spread of the expelled droplets.
Unsurprisingly, they found N95 masks to be the most effective at reducing the horizontal spread of a cough. The N95 masks reduced a cough’s initial velocity by up to a factor of 10 and limit its spread to between 0.1 and 0.25 meters.
An uncovered cough, in contrast, can travel up to 3 meters, but even a simple disposable mask can bring this all the way down to 0.5 meters.
* WebMD…
A study conducted in Brazil — the nation with the second-most coronavirus cases and deaths in the world — found that people with sociopathic traits were less likely to follow safety measures designed to curb the virus, such as face mask wearing.
“Our findings indicated that antisocial traits, especially lower levels of empathy and higher levels of Callousness, Deceitfulness, and Risk-taking, are directly associated with lower compliance with containment measures,” said the study published in the online journal Personality and Individual Differences. […]
People who tested for high levels of empathy were more likely to follow coronavirus safety measures, the study said.
Researchers said 1,578 adults in Brazil took a test between May 21 and June 29 to assess their “maladaptive personality traits,” as well as their attitude toward COVID-19 safety measures. The test included 220 questions answered on a 4-point scale.
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* A reader today sent me this mailer she recently received from her county sheriff. The return address is the same as the Stark County Sheriff’s office in Toulon. The email the sheriff uses in the letter matches the one on his official website and he admits below that this is official stationery…
1) Applette? Aside from the multiple typos in the letter, Justice Thomas Kilbride is running for retention on the Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois Republican Party has made defeating Kilbride a top priority this year.
2) What the heck is Sheriff Sloan doing sending a political mailer on official stationery with that official return address?
Here’s our email exchange today…
Did your office send this mailer? It has your office’s return address. Were taxpayer resources used?
Was this on county stationery?
Yes, it was. It was on a piece of paper with my letter head
So, did you reimburse the county?
Yes. I an on it I’m at a conference right now
Um.
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* Background…
As part of a previous federal coronavirus relief package, workers collecting unemployment insurance temporarily received an extra $600 per week in supplemental benefits. Though Democrats pushed to extend it, they could not get Republicans to agree, and the extra benefits expired July 31.
As a workaround, President Donald Trump authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set aside up to $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund for lost wage payments. Under this Lost Wages Supplemental Payment Assistance program, FEMA will provide participating states with grants to help cover expanded unemployment benefits of $300 per week, plus 5% of the total grant amount to cover administrative costs.
States also may choose to contribute an additional $100 per week, bringing the total extra benefit amount to $400 per week. However, few states are expected to do so because of the cost.
It was originally expected that these unemployment benefits would last about five weeks. However, states approved for funding are now only guaranteed three weeks, retroactive to Aug. 1. If there are still funds available after that period, allocation of the money will be determined on a week-by-week basis until the money is gone. […]
“I think the reason that states are reluctant to get engaged is because of the technology involved,” said Jane Oates, a former U.S. Department of Labor official who now serves as president of the advocacy group WorkingNation. “Many of the states are using antiquated technology that doesn’t have interoperability. … it’s very difficult for them to add it to the unemployment checks of out-of-work workers.”
Getting that money into unemployed workers’ pockets depends on when the state applied, when it gets approved for funding and how quickly it can update computer systems to handle the payments. Arizona, for example, has already paid out benefits to qualifying residents. Other states may need six weeks or longer to get up and running.
* The article noted that Illinois hadn’t yet announced what it planned to do. I’ve been asking the governor’s office for days about this and the governor was finally asked today about why the state hadn’t yet made a decision when so many other states have…
That’s not accurate. It’s just not an accurate question. We have begun that process and, indeed, it takes a lot of setup on an internal basis for us to move forward with that and so that’s what we’ve been doing.
He did not say how long this process would take.
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* Press release…
The State of Illinois today announced revised guidelines for restaurants and bar establishments statewide to operate safely and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Based on a recent increase in cases, these latest guidelines will require patrons to wear a mask during any interaction with wait staff, food service workers and other employees at bars and restaurants. Face coverings must be worn over the nose and mouth when patrons are approached and served by staff, including but not limited to when employees take patrons orders, deliver food and beverages, and service tables. This guidance will also apply to other facilities with food services areas that are currently subject to the Restore Illinois guidance, such as indoor recreational facilities, museums and entertainment venues.
New guidelines go into effect Wednesday, August 26th and will require face coverings to be worn both in indoor and outdoor dining settings in all eleven regions in the state. Full guidelines may be found on the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) website.
“Illinois residents continue to take important steps to protect the safety of our loved ones and neighbors. However, due to a recent uptick in cases, we must take additional precautionary steps when we are out in public,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Based on conversations and input from industry and business leaders, the State of Illinois is implementing updated guidelines which will allow restaurants and bars across the state to stay open while helping protect the health and safety of patrons and staff.”
The revised guidelines announced today build on both the statewide Restore Illinois guidelines as well as the tiered mitigation strategies that are implemented when a region sees consistent increased test positivity or hospital admissions. The latest data on regional test positivity and hospitals can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health(IDPH) website. More information about the Restore Illinois guidelines and tiered mitigation measures can be found on the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) website.
“Going out for food and drinks should not be a reason or an excuse to let our guards down in the fight against COVID-19,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of IDPH. “IDPH and DCEO are updating current guidance to make it clear that face coverings should be worn in any situation where we are interacting with those outside of our immediate circles. We will continue to adapt our guidelines and institute additional precautions to help protect all residents that make up our communities.”
Patrons are currently required to wear a mask whenever on premises, except while eating and drinking at the table or bar. The new guidelines ensure that while seated, interactions between business staff and patrons can happen safely to prevent possible spread of the virus.
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* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,680 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 29 additional confirmed deaths.
- Cook County: 1 male 50s, 3 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- DuPage County: 1 female 80s
- Jersey County: 1 female 90s
- Lake County: 2 males 60s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- LaSalle County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 100+
- Madison County: 1 female 80s
- Massac County: 1 male 70s
- Peoria County: 1 male 80s
- Rock Island County: 1 male 40s
- Saline County: 1 female 70s
- Shelby County: 1 female 70s
- Vermilion County: 1 male 80s
- Williamson County: 1 female 90s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 50s, 2 males 60s, 1 male 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 223,470 cases, including 7,917 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 40,859 specimens for a total of 3,781,050. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 18 – August 24 is 4.1%. As of last night, 1,549 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 345 patients were in the ICU and 135 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
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* Press release…
Sens. Sue Rezin (38th District) and John Curran (41st District), both of whom represent portions of Region 7, have issued the following statement regarding the Governor’s double-standard when it comes to applying COVID-19 mitigation restrictions.
“In making his announcement today, the Governor has decided to place partisan politics above science. As a result, Will and Kankakee Counties will be forced to ban indoor dining while the Metro-East (Region 4) will be given an extra week to improve their numbers. Why the double standard? Because Democrat elected officials from that region pressured the Governor to change this stance. Backroom political deals should not be how public health decisions are made. The same rules should apply to all regions, and they should be based on science, not politics.”
I’ve asked the governor’s office for a response.
…Adding… I’m told that neither Curran nor Rezin were contacted or briefed about this decision.
* BND…
State health officials reversed a decision to preemptively ban indoor dining in the metro-east after facing pressure from lawmakers and mayors, St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency director Herb Simmons said Monday.
The state was planning to reimpose a ban on indoor dining and drinking at bars and restaurants in the metro-east Wednesday as the region sees a resurgence of coronavirus cases — a week before the original deadline they’d given regional leaders to reduce cases. […]
Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike told mayors in a Monday morning conference call that their communities could see restrictions this week because cases are increasing so rapidly, said Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
But area mayors and county leaders reacted with outrage and frustration at being cut short by a week. […]
Democratic State Reps. Jay Hoffman of Swansea, LaToya Greenwood of East St. Louis, Nathan Reitz of Steeleville, Katie Stuart of Edwardsville and state Sen. Christopher Belt of Cahokia “worked to combat the additional restrictions set to be imposed,” the county emergency management agency posted on social media after the reversal.
…Adding… The latest IDPH numbers show the Metro East’s positivity rate is 9.8 percent, far higher than Region 7’s 8.4 percent. Yet, the mitigation measures are far more restrictive in Region 7.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Gov. Pritzker said today that the mitigation efforts in Region 4 haven’t worked. The mitigations were based on advice from local public health directors who had worked with St. Louis to devise a standard set of guidelines on both sides of the Mississippi River. In retrospect, Pritzker said, bowing to that arrangement “was not a good idea.”
When asked why Region 4 was given another week before mitigation efforts would match Region 7, Pritzker said “We had said when we put the mitigations in place that they would have two weeks under those sets of mitigations and so there’s one week left.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Sen. Hastings, a Democrat, is not pleased…
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* Florida’s non-presidential primary was August 18…
Rauner owns “a waterfront mansion in Key Largo,” which is in Monroe County. According to the Tribune, the mansion has a “72-foot-long pool.” A quick Google search found this photo.
* I only mention it because his name has popped up a few times this week, including on WTTW…
Leading up to and during his term as Illinois’ 42nd governor, Bruce Rauner spent some of his personal fortune to help boost the Republican Party in the state.
He’s not only no longer doing that, Rauner’s not even registered to vote in Illinois anymore; he’s set to cast his ballot from Florida.
It’s a sign of the lurch the Illinois GOP is in: The Congressional delegation is split 13 Democrats to five Republicans, both of the state’s U.S. Senators are Democrats, there are no GOP constitutional officers and Republicans are in super-minorities in both the Illinois House and Senate.
* The Tribune also ran a story last week about Democrats teeing off on the former governor…
“As comptroller, I’ve witnessed firsthand how bad leadership has hurt Illinois, mainly because of two Republicans. … These two Republicans have a lot in common. Former Gov. Bruce Rauner who nearly crippled our state over political ideology and now President Donald Trump who has botched the White House response to the COVID-19 pandemic and tanked our economy,” Mendoza said.
Fair hit?
…Adding… Interestingly enough, Mrs. Rauner and several of the Rauner kids are still registered to vote in Chicago.
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* To refresh your memory, this was from a couple of weeks ago…
[Logan County] Judge Jonathan C. Wright ruled Monday morning that Pritzker’s order that temporarily halted county jails from moving prisoners to state-run facilities ran afoul of state law.
The Illinois Department of Corrections must accept an inmate within 14 days of a transfer, but Pritzker’s order struck that language for the duration of his emergency orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Well, the Fourth Appellate District just overturned the circuit judge’s preliminary injunction and stayed the ruling…
(W)e hereby find defendants have made a strong showing on their likelihood of success on the merits, which would offset equitable factors that may favor the plaintiffs.
* Trial judges should not attempt to govern the entire state from their little county benches. Make a ruling and then stay it pending appeal…
In Stacke, 138 111. 2d at 302-09, the Illinois Supreme Court explained that when considering whether to grant a stay pending appeal, courts should consider the following non-exhaustive factors: (1) whether the party seeking the stay is likely to succeed on the merits, (2) whether a stay would preserve the status quo,’ and (3) whether the balance of equities favors a particular party.
Section 7(8) of the IEMMA, 20 ILCS 3305/7(8) (West 2018), provides that the governor shall have the power to “[c]ontrol *** the movement of persons within the [disaster] area, and the occupancy of premises therein.”
At oral argument, this court asked plaintiffs if they had any argument as to why section 7(8) did not apply. Their only response was that it did not apply because another portion of the IEMMA states that nothing in the IEMMA should affect the responsibilities of the police. Id. § 3(c). Plaintiffs made a similar argument in their brief. However, we conclude that this limitation pertains only to active law enforcement and policing and does not extend to incidental activities such as transferring prisoners. When read in context with the remainder of § 3[(c)J, “responsibilities of police forces” refers to the core functions performed by the police, such as keeping the peace, protecting the public, and enforcing criminal laws. Transferring prisoners to IDOC custody is an administrative task outside of the essential responsibilities of police forces generally. […]
We acknowledge plaintiffs believe EO 2020-50 imposes serious hardship on numerous sheriffs’ offices throughout the State and is unwise and unfair. However, we do not pass judgment on whether the Governor’s actions are unwise or unfair, but rather on whether the Governor’s actions are authorized.
* Jim Dey…
The good news for Illinois’ 102 sheriffs is that they had two weeks to transfer roughly 2,000 inmates to state prisons. The bad news is that they now face the same problem they had before — holding newly-sentenced inmates in county jails who ought to be serving their sentences in prison. […]
Coronavirus infection numbers jumped in DOC after the department was ordered to accept inmate transfers.
Two weeks ago, DOC reported that 371 inmates had contracted the virus, 336 of whom recovered.
On Monday, DOC reported 729 coronavirus cases, 470 of whom recovered.
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* After revealing that he planned to vote for Joe Biden, former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar talked to several reporters about his decision. Turns out, this won’t be the first time he’ll cast a ballot for a Democratic presidential candidate. Bernie smoked him out…
Edgar, who was a state representative and secretary of state before serving as governor from 1991-1999, has broken with his party previously. In 2016, he said he wouldn’t vote for Trump, but didn’t reveal his vote at the time.
Edgar said Monday that he had always voted for Republicans for president until 2016. Asked if he marked Democrat Hillary Clinton on his ballot, he said, “I think you could guess that, yeah.”
* Tribune…
“I had hoped when he got elected, he’d kind of grow into the job. I think it’s been a very unfortunate four years — there’s a lot more turmoil than there needed to be. He doesn’t act like a president — his character is lacking. The presidents of the past, none of them have been perfect, but this is unusual,” Edgar said in a phone interview.
So is it a vote against Trump? Or do you like Biden? “It would have been hard for me to vote for Trump no matter who the Democrats would have” nominated, Edgar tells The Spin. “He never was around government. Some people like that. I think you need to understand the relationship between the federal government and the states. You have to watch what you say. What the president says really matters, and the president, it’s not in his DNA” to edit himself. “Do I agree with all his policies? No,” Edgar said of Biden. “But I do think he’s a decent guy and he’ll steer a moderate course.”
* Back to Bernie…
“I have been very disappointed,” Edgar said. “We’ve had chaos for four years we didn’t need to have. I mean, there’s always going to be some turmoil, but he stirs it up. He bullies. You can’t believe what he says because he’ll do the different thing the next day. … He’s bungled the virus, there’s no doubt about that. He continued to stir up division in the country, (when) a president should be trying to bring people together. I mean, the list goes on and on.” […]
A spokesman for the state GOP did not respond to Edgar’s statements.
* Dave McKinney…
“I think he bungled the pandemic thing. He undercuts our allies. I don’t understand his relationship with [Russian President Vladmir] Putin. The list goes on and on.
“But I think the biggest thing is his character. He’s a bully. He doesn’t tell the truth. Just all kinds of things,” said the former two-term governor from downstate Charleston who served between 1991 and 1999. […]
Edgar, who had high approval ratings that once topped out at 73%, said he understands how Trump’s message resonates among downstaters. But it is a losing ideology for Illinois Republicans, he said.
“All the downstaters are going to vote for Trump, but it’s not going to matter because they’re going to get out-voted by the suburbanites and Chicagoans,” Edgar said. “For the Party to be able to win in Illinois statewide, we need to divorce ourselves from the Trump thing.”
* Amanda Vinicky…
“He has been more of a disappointment than I thought he would be four years ago, and I was definitely bummed out when he won four years ago. But I’m just – I think this country has suffered a lot that going to take a while to take care of.”
While Trump is popular in much of downstate Illinois, Edgar said the President hurts Republican candidates who run statewide, in the city of Chicago and in the suburbs.
“If Trump would lose in November, then I think the Republican Party in Illinois statewide has a better chance of coming back,” Edgar said. “Republican candidates have to answer everything Trump says and does. … It hurts them in the suburbs and in the city.”
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* It’s convention week, so I generally give people latitude when they act all exuberant. Here’s Greg Hinz…
The goal: Snag a couple of congressional seats from Democrats, grab a seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, defeat Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax amendment. And maybe even make Donald Trump competitive in what now is very much donkey country.
So says Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider, asserting that a mix of law-and-order concerns among voters and ethical stumbles by Democrats make those goals achievable. […]
“The president can win in Illinois,” said Schneider, a former member of the Cook County Board who got the job leading his party at the behest of then-Gov. Bruce Rauner. “Sitting here, 71 days out, I’m not saying that he will. But there is a lot going on.”
* Rachel Hinton at the Sun-Times…
In a livestream Monday afternoon, Schneider said “we need to make Illinois Republican again.”
He pointed to looting that has roiled the city in recent months, as well as the heavy security presence around Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home while “terrible crimes and murders and shootings” happen in the city as reasons why the state should swing to the right.
“So, we can institute policies that are positive for the people of Illinois, to keep people from leaving our state,” Schneider said. “Or, as I always say, we’re going to need a wall around Illinois just to keep people in.”
Schneider said Lightfoot has barricaded four blocks in her neighborhood but she hasn’t protected “our downtown and our Loop and our Magnificent Mile.”
* Amanda Vinicky…
Illinois Republican Party chairman Tim Schneider said on Monday that President Donald Trump can win the state.
“Our side has the energy going this election. Who really cares about Sleepy Joe and Kamala Harris,” Schneider said. “People aren’t rushing out the door to vote for Joe Biden.”
The “lawlessness in Chicago” will put Trump on the victory path, Schneider said.
* But this particular issue hovered over the entire convention yesterday…
“This convention is going to be one of optimism, one of leading the American people,” said Demetra Demonte, a Republican National Committeewoman.
Demonte had to cancel her trip to Charlotte after being exposed to someone with COVID-19 two and a half weeks ago.
She did not contract the virus and has just been invited by the President to attend his acceptance speech in Washington Thursday. She believes his pre-COVID record on the economy, and his push for law and order will make him an appealing candidate for suburban women.
“Donald Trump is a man of action,” she said. “He is a man who says what he will do and he does what he says he is going to do.”
It’s kinda difficult to make the case that all is well when your party is forced to hold a mostly remote convention.
* Mark Brown dumped cold water on the upbeat mood…
Despite having a member of their own party in the White House, or partly because of that fact, these are tough times for Illinois Republicans, probably the worst in memory.
Coming up on two years since Bruce Rauner vacated the governor’s mansion, taking his money with him, the Illinois GOP has no statewide elected officials, faces super-majority opposition in both chambers of the Legislature and can claim only five of 18 members of Congress. Party coffers are anemic, if not quite bare.
To top it off, President Donald Trump is so unpopular in the state, particularly among the Chicago suburban voters who once gave Illinois Republicans an even chance, that no quick turnaround seems likely.
It’s so bad that Jim Edgar, the state’s last popular Republican governor, revealed Monday that he, too, is voting for Joe Biden for president.
And the kicker…
For now, though, they’re the party of Trump, who seems to want nothing to do with them.
Ouch.
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* Yesterday…
* More from Capitol News Illinois…
Prosecutors first indicated in June that additional, related charges could be forthcoming.
Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat, was charged in October 2019 with one felony count of bribery for allegedly attempting to pay $2,500 to an unnamed state senator, with promises of more to come, in exchange for the senator’s support of gambling legislation that would have benefitted one of Arroyo’s lobbying clients. The senator was wearing a wire at the time for federal investigators.
Chicago-area media outlets, citing unnamed sources, have reported that the unnamed state senator was Terry Link, a Democrat from Indian Creek in Lake County, although Link has strongly denied any involvement. Link was recently charged in an unrelated case with tax evasion for filing a false 2016 federal tax return.
Arroyo has pleaded not guilty to his charges, but he resigned his office Nov. 1, just ahead of a special House investigative hearing to determine whether he should be expelled from the General Assembly.
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* From the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals…
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has again extended Executive Order 2020-25, which includes limits on garnishments and wage deductions. It is now in effect until Sept. 19, 2020.
The extension is part of a new order that continues or reissues several existing regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The garnishment and wage deduction order, which originally took effect April 14 and was extended into July, “suspends sections in the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure that permit the service of a garnishment summons, wage deduction summons, or a citation to discover assets on a consumer debtor or consumer garnishee. It shall not be construed to apply to domestic support obligations or relieving a debtor of any liability.”
The EO is here.
Thoughts?
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* Good point…
* I warned subscribers about this more than a month ago. Aurora, where Henry lives, is in DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will counties. Bolingbrook and Naperville are in both Will and DuPage counties. Plainfield is located within Will and Kendall counties.
So, the Will County areas of those cities and towns will now see indoor tavern service closed, no indoor dining in restaurants and social gatherings limited to the lesser of 25 guests or 25 percent of overall room capacity, among other things. The rest of those municipalities will see no changes at all.
* I’ve said this before, but we really need a county remap in this state. We have far too many counties here. And their boundaries, particularly in the suburbs, are just too confusing.
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