What we see play out in the video of Anjanette Young is an act of racism, gendered violence and yet another violation of a Black woman’s dignity and safety. She told police 43 times that they had the wrong house, yet they stood there while she remained handcuffed and unclothed. Ms. Young had the courage to pursue the release of CPD bodycam footage in the face of legal threats from the City’s top leaders. Now it’s our turn to pursue justice and accountability for the wrongful trauma Ms. Young experienced, all rooted in the same systemic racism that plagues Black people throughout our state and country. We will not let Ms. Young stand alone without answers from the City.
Signed,
Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kim Lightford
Senate Black Caucus Chair Robert Peters
Incoming House Black Caucus Chair Kam Buckner
Senator Jacqueline Collins
Senator Mattie Hunter
Senator Adriane Johnson
Senator Emil Jones
Senator Patricia Van Pelt Watkins
Representative Lakesia Collins
Representative Curtis Tarver
* In case you are unaware of this horrific case…
* ‘You Have the Wrong Place:’ Body Camera Video Shows Moments Police Handcuff Innocent, Naked Woman During Wrong Raid
National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter Statement:
“In February 2019, Anjanette Young, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), experienced a traumatic incident that occurs in Chicago far too often—armed city officers abusing and traumatizing Black men and women under the guise of public safety. Her story is not unlike others, being reported in the news where city law enforcement wrongly traumatize communities of color with improper or incorrect warrants. In the video which Ms. Young fought to have released, a clearly vulnerable woman is shown pleading with Chicago law enforcement over 43 times that they have raided the wrong house but to no avail. The level of disdain, dehumanization, and humiliation at the hands of Chicago city officers is on full display throughout the now released video.
The National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter (NASW-IL) strongly condemns these outrageous actions by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and asks our city leaders, When will the trauma end? When will enough be enough? We further condemn the actions of Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her city of Chicago’s legal department for their efforts to further traumatize Ms. Young through the suppression of the body camera footage, and the now subsequent seeking of sanctions against Ms. Young for bringing into the light the reprehensible actions of CPD.
We call on Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Illinois State General Assembly to work to end no knock warrants and to aggressively address and enact meaningful police reforms which the city of Chicago is clearly unwilling to enact themselves. The era of deferring the safety of the residents of Chicago to powerful mayors needs to end.
Systemic oppression, racial discrimination and division, and the misappropriation of power has been ingrained in the fabric of our country and is on full display again today. There is no shortage of reforms and recommendations from the communities being traumatized to address this misappropriation of power, just a lack of will.
One of the core values of the social work profession contained in our code of ethics is that social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person. As a city—and as a society at large—we are not living up to this core value. That needs to change.
The NASW-Illinois Chapter commends the bravery of Anjanette Young. We support Anjanette Young in her fight. No one should be exposed to this level of violence and trauma. “
Zebra Technologies has played a role in coronavirus testing to fight off the pandemic, and now the barcode company has a new role to play in preventing the deadly virus from spreading further, CEO Anders Gustaffson told CNBC’s Jim Cramer Friday.
While Zebra’s products have been used for tracking samples from mass tracking sites, the company is also being counted on for vaccine distributions in what’s known as cold chain, a temperature-controlled supply chain.
“Our vaccine vial labels,” which can also be used on boxes and pallets “will change color based on the temperature exposure,” Gustaffson said in a “Mad Money” interview.
The labels come from Temptime, a manufacturer of temperature monitoring solutions for the health-care industry that the Lincolnshire, Illinois-based company acquired nearly two years ago.
Pretty darned cool.
Thanks to Mark Denzler at the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association for the tip.
On Tuesday, Governor Pritzker outlined a first round of proposed adjustments intended to begin addressing a budget shortfall. We all understand the state’s delicate financial situation, which has been exacerbated by a number of factors – foremost among these is the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying economic downturn. And while it remains critical that our federal leaders step up and deliver relief to the states, we also know tough choices ahead will be required by the General Assembly.
The work ahead of us will require strong legislative leadership. The Illinois House Democratic Caucus is one of the most diverse caucuses in the country; we must respect the unique priorities of our individual communities also while understanding our obligation to all of those in need.
We cannot ask our most vulnerable residents to bear the burden of this global pandemic. My goal remains protecting critical services like the Community Care Program, the Child Care Assistance Program, breast cancer screenings, domestic violence shelters, and other lifesaving services, while also meeting the new needs of emergency health care responders, essential workers, and families struggling because of these unprecedented times.
Among the difficult decisions ahead will be finding a balance between cost savings and new revenues. I hope our Republican colleagues choose to be willing participants instead of partisan obstructionists and come prepared to offer real proposals that are void of political theatre.
With this in mind, I plan to establish an advisory group to our budget working group which will review the governor’s recently proposed cuts and help advise our team on how future budget making decisions will affect various constituencies. If you would like to participate on this advisory group please send Jessica Basham an email at *****.gov.
I look forward to working with each of you to address the unprecedented challenges of this pandemic and help our state emerge stronger.
With kindest personal regards, I remain
Sincerely yours,
MICHAEL J. MADIGAN
Speaker of the House
"was tightened significantly down to 4.3 million doses shipped nationally next week." The following week, originally projected for another 8.8 million doses, is now only for 4.3 million.
* The NY Times looks at covidiotic claims about vaccines…
Among their misleading notions is the idea that the vaccines are delivered with a microchip or bar code to keep track of people, as well as a lie that the vaccines will hurt everyone’s health (the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have been proved to be more than 94 percent effective in trials, with minimal side effects). Falsehoods about Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist who supports vaccines, have also increased, with rumors that he is responsible for the coronavirus and that he stands to profit from a vaccine, according to data from media insights company Zignal Labs.
After a string of COVID-19 cases were reported at The School of Saints Faith, Hope and Charity in Winnetka last month, school officials dutifully notified the Cook County Department of Public Health and were soon delivered some troubling news.
The Roman Catholic elementary school had met the criteria for an outbreak, thrusting a thorny health and safety decision into the hands of the principal and the Archdiocese of Chicago about whether to halt in-person instruction.
“We decided to immediately pivot to e-learning for a temporary period, because first and foremost is the safety of our students and staff, and we just didn’t want to take the risk,” said Justin Lombardo, the leader of the archdiocese’s COVID-19 task force, who said students have been back in the classroom at the North Shore school since Nov. 30.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 163 such school-based outbreaks have been reviewed in the state, including nine reported Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health. But while the state is now posting such numbers online — and health departments are assisting schools with surveillance of cases, contact tracing and guidance — it still falls to school officials to make the biggest decision: Does the school need to shut down again?
* Hopefully, we’ll be getting some national reporting requirements in January…
With minor exceptions, Florida quit including long-backlogged deaths in its daily counts on Oct. 24, 10 days before the Nov. 3 election, and resumed consistently including them on Nov. 17, two weeks after the election.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 7,123 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 146 additional deaths.
- Adams County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- Christian County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s
- Clay County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 100+
- Cook County: 1 female 40s, 1 male 40s, 3 males 50s, 3 females 60s, 3 males 60s, 9 females 70s, 3 males 70s, 8 females 80s, 3 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 2 males 90s, 1 female 100+
- DeKalb County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- DuPage County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- Effingham County: 1 male 90s
- Fayette County: 1 female 80s
- Fulton County: 1 female 90s
- Grundy County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Iroquois County: 1 female 90s
- Jackson County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
- Jefferson County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
- Jersey County: 1 female 80s
- Kane County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 2 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Kankakee County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- Knox County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s
- Lake County: 1 male 60s
- LaSalle County: 1 female 80s
- Livingston County: 1 female 90s
- Macon County: 1 male 70s
- Macoupin County: 1 female 90s
- Madison County: 1 female 60s, 2 females 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s
- Marion County: 2 males 70s
- Massac County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- McDonough County: 1 female 70s
- McHenry County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 90s
- McLean County: 1male 70s
- Menard County: 1 male 90s
- Mercer County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
- Monroe County: 1 male 70s
- Montgomery County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s
- Ogle County: 1 male 80s
- Peoria County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s
- Perry County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- Piatt County: 1 female 70s
- Randolph County: 1 male 90s
- Richland County: 1 female 50s, 1 male 80s
- Rock Island County: 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- Sangamon County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 2 males 90s
- St. Clair County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s
- Stark County: 1 female 80s
- Stephenson County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 90s
- Tazewell County: 1 female 80s
- Vermilion County: 1 female 80s
- Washington County: 2 females 90s
- Will County: 1 female 50s, 2 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
- Williamson County: 1 male 70s
- Winnebago County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 2 males 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 870,600 cases, including 14,655 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 93,278 specimens for a total 12,055,288. As of last night, 4,793 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,045 patients were in the ICU and 590 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from December 9 – December 15, 2020 is 8.5%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from December 9 – December 15, 2020 is 10.3%.
*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.
* The 2020 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best House Democratic Non-Campaign Staffer goes to Chris Lowery…
With the mountain high challenges this year presented, no one could had helped run the House better than Chris. But really, there’s credit due to every staffer who help kept things going this year.
That is exactly right. I cannot thank all staff at every level enough for the work they’ve put in this year. A big reason I started these awards was to showcase folks who don’t usually get any attention, let alone praise. Y’all are tops in my book.
* The 2020 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best House Republican Non-Campaign Staffer goes to Eleni Demertzis…
Durkin has her and everyone else either wants her or wants to stay off her radar. Eleni works in the media the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It is her true medium, a master. She has worked for a Governor, a Senator, a Sheriff and now the Leader, they all were better with her than without, especially the Governor. Think for a second how hard it is for a Republican to get press in a blue state with a blue governor a (sadly) hollowed out news media and the largest market being all blue, then think about how much press Durkin and the caucus has gotten and how being outspent by a fortune the House Republican Caucus still picked up a seat and beat up the Speaker enough to survive and end him, then look to Eleni and be afraid. She will smash down all your plate glass windows and put her fist through your steel plated door. If it’s the boss or any member who wants or needs help, she will not stop until she thinks justice is served.
There was no way on Earth that anyone could top that nomination.
We usually have a separate category for spokespersons, but with leave of the body I’m just gonna save some time and give the 2020 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Spokesperson to Jordan Abudayyeh. Hearing no objections… so let it be written, so let it be done. Putting together daily press conferences is worthy of the honor alone. But her job encompasses so much more than that and she really stepped up when Emily Bittner went on parental leave.
The discovery recount for Nov. 3’s losing candidates Jim Oberweis, David Rickert and Jeanette Ward is expected to go until late Wednesday or Thursday, as Kane County Clerk employees are required to hold up every mail-in paper ballot from 119 precincts to show their fronts and backs to campaign representatives.
The first part of the recount on Tuesday morning was the easy part, Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham said, as the computer counted the digital ballots.
“It was like watching paint dry,” Cunningham said.
Representatives of the Republican candidates who lost, as well as the Democrats who won – U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pieorg and State Sen. Karina Villa, D-Warrenville – and those of Kane County Democrats all participated in observing the recount. […]
Though Oberweis campaign attorney John Wise would not state what he had requested of Cunningham’s employees, others at the recount said he asked that campaign workers be allowed to see both sides of each paper ballot.
The fight for the 68th District’s Representative seat continues. Democratic Representative-elect Dave Vella was declared the winner last month, but Rep. John Cabello announced plans for a recount Monday morning.
The Republican says the recount is well within the required margin of under .05% or less. Vella won by just 239 votes.
This means that 25% of precincts within the district will be reviewed. That will determine if a full recount is needed.
Wednesday, Dec 16, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Clean energy is an essential part of Illinois’ economic recovery. It protects public health and creates good-paying jobs, while ensuring that the people most in need of good jobs and clean air are at the front of the line. It will save Illinoisans money.
We can make our recovery an equitable, sustainable one, and position Illinois as a national leader on clean energy. We can stop our energy systems from sickening and excluding people of color. We can bring good-paying clean energy jobs to Illinois while preserving a livable planet.
* As I’ve been saying for a while now, this is only Part 1. And Part 1 is a siege. Part 2, the election, comes after the siege ends with one or the other side collapsing. And that siege has only barely begun…
Still, their opposition might not be enough to stop Madigan from securing another term, said John Jackson, a visiting professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.
“There’s not a major opponent announced for the speakership,” Jackson said. “… There’s an old saying in politics ‘you can’t beat somebody with nobody.’ Michael Madigan is definitely a somebody, and while there are now 19 announced opponents to his being reelected, that obviously presents him with a problem, but on the other hand the opposition has to coalesce around a significant and viable candidate.”
And so far, no major, viable Democratic candidate has announced, Jackson said.
While Madigan isn’t as powerful as he’s ever been, “He’s certainly a formidable force and not yet likely to be mortally wounded and now most likely to be the speaker again, barring any longterm stalemate,” Jackson said.
Watching this and commenting on it will require patience.
“Unless he’s having conversations with Republican members, he doesn’t have the votes from our caucus,” Rep. Jonathan Carroll, D-Buffalo Grove, said.
Carroll is one of the 19 House Democrats opposed to Madigan’s reelection.
“Right now, the 19 of us have committed to not voting for him,” Carroll said. “We’re not changing our votes, so it’d have to come from somewhere.”
* Meanwhile…
Governor Pritzker says “I’m really disappointed” Speaker Madigan was not called to testify at the House Special Investigative Committee. Chairman Chris Welch (D-Hillside) incorrectly said Pritzker hadn’t commented on whether Madigan should have testified when in fact he had.
Rep. Maurice West was elected secretary of the Black Caucus, also unanimously.
The race for the four available spots in House leadership went to Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, Rep. Mary Flowers, Rep. Marcus Evans, and Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth. Welch received 17 votes, or 22 percent of the vote, to Flowers’ 14 votes, or 18 percent.
Those are important names to watch as the House speaker position remains contested.
Congressional leaders are near an agreement to add a new round of stimulus checks to a roughly $900 billion relief package as they rush to complete a deal before the end of the week, according to three people familiar with the talks granted anonymity to share internal deliberations.
A bipartisan proposal released earlier this week by a group of moderate lawmakers excluded another round of $1,200 stimulus checks. But as congressional leaders tried to resolve differences in recent days, they decided to try and include a round of direct payments in the emerging legislation. The payments under discussion on Wednesday morning could be less than the $1,200 approved in the Cares Act in March, however.
The inclusion of these payments comes as congressional leaders opted to cut new aid for states and cities out of the bill, giving lawmakers more money to work with while keeping the total cost of the package under $1 trillion.
One of the painful lessons learned from the financial crisis was that forcing austerity on state and local governments only made things worse. And they’re doing it again.
Today, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers joined together in a social media video to encourage everyone across the region to remain safe heading into the holiday season.
“This may be the most difficult time yet in our struggle with COVID-19, especially with the holidays approaching. Until the vaccine is available to everyone and until we eradicate this virus once and for all, we must continue working to protect one another,” the governors said. “The science is settled: The best way we can protect our frontline workers and slow the spread of this virus is to double down on mask wearing, social distancing, and washing hands frequently. If you are planning to travel or gather with other households for the holidays – we urge you to reconsider. Just one infection can cause an outbreak in your community, which could overwhelm our hospitals and put you and your loved ones at risk. We owe it to the brave men and women serving on the front lines of this pandemic to do our part and be smart this holiday season.”
This is the second time this bipartisan group of governors has joined forces in the past month to encourage people in their region to do their part to protect our families, frontline workers, and small businesses. They released a similar video prior to Thanksgiving urging families to reconsider holiday travel.
Nearly three weeks after Thanksgiving, no dramatic post-holiday surge in COVID-19 has emerged in the latest state data, although some hopeful trends seemed to stall after the long weekend.
“We haven’t seen something significant to talk about now,” the state’s health director, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, told reporters Monday. “We’ll see for sure in this coming week. … We’ll keep our fingers crossed that maybe we’re not going to see a big bump.”
People listened and Illinois’ mitigations worked. Air travel, for instance, wasn’t nearly as heavy as had been feared.
