Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Oct 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Tribune | Ed Burke’s lawyers ask to bar mention of alderman’s tax work for Trump Tower at upcoming trial : At one point in the call, the alderman asks his brother “to ask a third party why that third party doesn’t give Mr. Burke’s law firm some business instead of giving it all to (then-House Speaker Michael) Madigan,” the filing stated. “Mr. Burke then suggests that they could figure out a way to make Daniel a consultant.”
* WCIA | ACLU of Illinois meets in Urbana to discuss book banning: To kick off Banned Books Week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois had a discussion and workshop in Urbana to educate people on book banning and what they can do. In June, Illinois was the first state to pass legislation that will take funding away from any school or library that bans certain books. ACLU Director of Public Policy Ed Yohnka said this is no time to stop.
* Edwin C. Yohnka | Stepping up on Banned Books Week: Hank Aaron is a personal icon. His chase of Babe Ruth’s home run record captured my attention. My admiration for Aaron grew after learning about the racist threats Aaron endured as a Black man chasing the record. Aaron persevered in the face of this ugliness, responding with dignity. I was reminded of this youthful esteem when reports revealed that Hank Aaron’s Dream, a book for Aaron’s courage, was blocked from Florida classrooms while its content were reviewed. How could the story of a national hero be controversial? The explanation is that discussion of racism could somehow make some white students feel bad.
* WICS | Domestic Violence homicides remain high in Illinois: The Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) is reporting that 57 people died in 45 separate domestic violence incidents in Illinois during 2022. […] “The actual numbers have dropped slightly with the easing of the pandemic,” stated Vickie Smith, President and CEO of ICADV. “But these incidents are preventable, and this loss is untenable.”
* WCIA | Lawmakers react to Teutopolis crash, I-70 construction: State Representative Adam Niemerg grew up and still lives in Teutopolis. He said that while there was panic and confusion during and after the evacuation, there was another emotion at the front of people’s minds: frustration. “A lot of folks are a little frustrated because of what’s happening on Interstate 70,” Niemerg said. “Everything being diverted to 40. We’ve been dealing with this for months in Teutopolis. And now we have this happen.”
* Pantagraph | Effingham County coroner IDs 5 killed from ammonia leak; others recount narrow escape: Shortly afterward she got a phone alert from a relative whose son-in-law had been driving a FedEx truck at the tail end of the crash east of Teutopolis. “He didn’t know what the heck was going on either, but he opened up his window to see and he got a whiff of it and he saw people pouring water on their heads,” recalled Deters.
* Naperville Sun | Naperville police find machine gun in car at TopGolf — third weapons bust made there since mid-September: During a vehicle search, police recovered a fully-loaded Glock 22 .40-caliber handgun with an auto switch converting it to a fully automatic weapon as well as an extended magazine, the release said. […] Littleton is being held in the DuPage County jail without bond per an order issued Monday by DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 16.
* SJ-R | Sangamon County coroner expected to name teen who died in police shooting at juvenile center: The Sangamon County Coroner’s office was expected to identify Monday afternoon the 17-year-old male killed in a confrontation with Springfield Police at the Sangamon County Juvenile Detention Center Saturday evening. […] SPD said a subject was armed and “had possibly shot an individual and was holding another hostage.” Officers encountered a teen at the entrance to the facility, where he was fired upon. After receiving medical assistance, he was taken by ambulance to HSHS St. John’s Hospital, where he later died.
* Daily Herald | ‘It’s pretty devastating’: Losing territory and revenue, Elk Grove Twp. fire department closes shop: The Elk Grove Township Fire Department answered its first call in 1979. On Sunday, it finished its last shift. In the wake of annexations by surrounding communities that have shriveled its territory, tax base and revenue, the fire district bowed to the inevitable Sunday morning and discontinued fire and emergency medical services.
* Daily Herald | Statewide paint recycling to come in 2025: What to do with your leftover paint until then: Until then, the Illinois EPA recommends alternatives to disposal like storing the paint for future touch-ups, or giving the paint to a friend or neighbor. That’s because while oil-based paint is accepted at state-sponsored household hazardous waste collection events, latex paint is not.
* Crain’s | Chicago’s top women-owned businesses see an average 20% uptick in revenue: Crain’s list of Chicago’s Biggest Women-Owned Businesses is back. The latest ranking showcases organizations that are at least 51% owned by a woman or women. Heico Cos. takes the No. 1 spot for a second consecutive year, reporting a 2022 revenue of $3.2 billion, nearly a 15% increase from 2021. The metal processing and construction company is 80% woman-owned, with Emily Heisley Stoeckel as the company’s majority owner and chairman.
* Chalkbeat | At six Illinois college campuses, advocates seek to create ‘comfort’ for foster care peers: A 2021 study found that of Illinois youth in foster care who turned 17 between 2012 and 2018, 86% enrolled in community college. Of those, just 8% graduated, according to the study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Students told researchers that they felt alone, largely weren’t aware of financial aid options, and that they needed more specialized attention.
* Herald-Whig | Hancock County looking to next broadband steps: “The Broadband Breakthrough Program was for us to understand what the options were, where as a community we were at. It was very successful. We got a ton of information,” Hancock County Economic Development Executive Director Sam Harnack said. “Now we’re utilizing the data to help support these service providers looking to expand in the area.” Expansion is on the way after grants to two companies serving the county — including $18 million to McDonough Telephone Cooperative.
* CBS 2 | Chicago State University told to turn over documents in Nigerian presidential election battle: A U.S. federal judge has ordered Chicago State University to turn over documents related to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s time at the school in the late 1970s. CSU had found itself at the center of a political dispute between Tinubu and his rivals over the legitimacy of a CSU diploma Tinubu provided before the national election earlier this year.
* Crain’s | Restaurant-industry vets raising $100M venture fund: “We were already helping operators, so we thought: Why don’t we start a fund?” says Focht, 47. “We have deal flow other funds don’t have access to because of our data and customers.” Emerging plans to focus on restaurant concepts with one to six units, as well as restaurant-tech startups.
* Block Club | Midwestern Food And Why It’s Special Is The Focus Of New Cookbook By Big Jones Chef: “Nobody’s done a book about the Midwest where it addresses the Midwest as a serious regional cuisine,” he said. “Most books are just legends and lore, and they don’t deal with the establishment of a culture. I wanted to have a real, serious conversation about what this stuff is and where it came from.”
* Capital B | A New Tool Mapped Out 184 Climate Risks for Every Community Nationwide. Check Yours: A new mapping and data tool built by Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University researchers outlines those factors — 184 of them to be exact — in hopes of giving people the knowledge to understand the climate risks they face and the tools to advocate for more resources.
* AP | Nobel in medicine goes to 2 scientists whose work enabled creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19: Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman were cited for contributing “to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health,” according to the panel that awarded the prize in Stockholm.
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* From the governor’s office…
October 2, 2023
President Biden,
In the 13 months since the first bus of asylum seekers arrived in Illinois from the border, our state has undertaken an unprecedented humanitarian response to the arrival of now over 15,000 people. Governors and mayors from border states have shipped people to our state like cargo in a dehumanizing attempt to score political points. The people of Illinois are kind and generous. We believe in the fundamental right of every human, especially those facing persecution, to find refuge and live with dignity in this great country of ours.
But as the numbers being transported to Chicago are accelerating, the humanitarian crisis is overwhelming our ability to provide aid to the refugee population. Unfortunately, the welcome and aid Illinois has been providing to these asylum seekers has not been matched with support by the federal government. Most critically, the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois.
On top of the 15,000 that have arrived in Chicago and Illinois over the last 13 months, we are now seeing busloads more migrants at increasingly higher rates being sent specifically to Chicago each day. Our state government has been forced to dedicate over $330 million to provide humanitarian aid — and that amount is increasing each day. That’s a massive amount of money for a state still overcoming the health and economic effects of COVID-19. Add to that the over $100 million the city of Chicago contributed. Though we have found temporary housing in existing buildings for a majority of the refugees, we are challenged to find additional housing for the continuous flow of people who keep coming and are now forced to sleep in police stations and on sidewalks. This situation is untenable and requires your immediate help beyond the coming work authorizations for some of the asylum seekers.
There is much more that can and must be done on a federal level to address a national humanitarian crisis that is currently being shouldered by state and local governments without support.
First and foremost, I recommend that there be one person in the federal government who works directly for you in the White House who can lead the oversight of our nation’s efforts at the border. Right now, we have too many different federal department contacts — who are uncoordinated with one another — that handle various programs related to this humanitarian crisis. A single office with an identified leader must be assigned to work for the cities and states across the silos of government to manage the challenges we all face.
For my state which has been targeted with busloads of asylum seekers by the border politicians seeking to increase the partisan divide, this crisis has strained the already stretched human services network we have attempted to rebuild in our recovery from the pandemic. As just one state in our union, we cannot lead coordination efforts at the border. It is time for the federal government to take a much more active role in managing the transport and destination of the transport of asylum seekers. Our nation is large and resourceful. Allowing just one state to lay the burden upon a certain few states run by Democrats is untenable. We are a nation that has welcomed immigrants and refugees since our founding, and we have done so in a bipartisan manner. It cannot be that just a few cities and states should now bear the cost of this effort alone.
Below is a list of specific requests to address this crisis without further delay. These actions include:
• Waive fees for TPS applications
o I’m grateful that you have listened to some of the requests other governors and I have made over these many months. As you know, I remain deeply concerned that the high cost of applying for TPS is yet another obstacle for the population we have in Illinois. I urge you once again to waive those fees for those who cannot afford them and just want to be able to work and build a better life
• Significant increases in logistical coordination and data collection
o The federal government must take over the interior coordination of routing buses of newly arrived migrants across the country and oversee communication between states, so they are aware of who is arriving and when. The federal government must stop abdicating responsibility once CBP releases migrants into the interior of the country. Your administration has the capacity, resources and legal recourse to do this right now.
o Currently, very little data is being made available to states on the migrants arriving in the country, making legal applications for asylum, extended parole, etc. difficult for advocates and government workers. There is no reason that the United States federal government should be unable to collect and share simple data on people presenting themselves at our border. Sending federal staff to Illinois and other affected states to provide data analytics and on the ground coordination between local city, state and federal agencies would massively streamline these processes.
o Specifically, I am calling for a federal coordinator and task force based at the border that are solely dedicated to migrant coordination and resettlement.
• Provide financial support to states, local governments, and NGOs for temporary housing, food and social services.
o The Biden administration has provided modest funding to Illinois through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the Shelter and Services Program, which we are thankful for. However, this funding is not nearly enough to close the gap between what the state is able to provide and what is needed to address concerns. The burden of funding the state and city have taken on is not sustainable only by our budgets.
o
• Further accelerate the timeline for employment authorization
o While Illinois was among the many states thrilled to learn of the Administration’s
new TPS rule for Venezuelans, it is our understanding that a large population of these newly TPS eligible individuals will potentially wait upwards of six-months to have their work authorizations processed and confirmed. We ask that the White House and the Administration continue to look for ways to “cut the red tape” and speed up the work authorization process by all means necessary including instituting a mass blanket fee waiver.
o Unfortunately, Congress has long failed to provide the comprehensive immigration reform and funding resources necessary to tackle our nation’s immigration issues. And with the Republican Conference currently fixated on deep, painful cuts to the federal budget, the chances of the hoped-for and much-needed financial aid seems slim to none. Which is why I urge you, President Biden, to look beyond the small set of programs that states and local governments can currently tap into for migrant- related response efforts and find additional federal dollars that can be sent to places, like Illinois, that are carrying out for our entire nation the obligations to care for the “huddled masses yearning to be free” who are so desperately in need of assistance.
• Approve Illinois’ requests for Medicaid waivers, housing vouchers, and federal coordination and support
Today, Illinois stands mostly unsupported against this enormous strain on our state resources. Mr. President, I urge you, Secretary Mayorkas, and the rest of your administration to take swift action and intervene on our behalf and on behalf of the other affected states and their residents, as well as on behalf of the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who undertook a dangerous and difficult journey in hopes of attaining public safety and forging a better life for themselves and their families.
Sincerely,
Governor JB Pritzker
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It’s just a bill
Monday, Oct 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Rep. Amy Elik filed HB4150 last week…
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that, should provisions regarding manufacture, possession, delivery, sale, and purchase of assault weapons, .50 caliber rifles, and .50 caliber cartridges be found to be unconstitutional by a court with all appeals exhausted or expired, the Illinois State Police shall immediately and permanently destroy or have destroyed each endorsement affidavit and all information collected from the endorsement affidavit in possession of the Illinois State Police and any law enforcement agency.
* Subscribers know more. Republican House Leader McCombie filed HB4152…
Amends the Invest in Illinois Act. Provides that certain notices under the Act shall also be sent to the Minority Leader of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. Provides that the Minority Leader of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives may also object to agreements under the Act. Effective immediately.
* HB4149 from Rep. Anne Stava-Murray…
Amends the Administration Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to provide persons lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act and other noncitizens the same medical coverage for family planning and family planning-related services and supplies as provided under the Medical Assistance Program to eligible persons who are United States citizens. Provides that to be eligible for family planning and related services, a lawful permanent resident or other noncitizen must meet all other eligibility qualifications under the HFS Family Planning Program established in accordance with the Illinois’ Family Planning State Plan Amendment as approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Provides that the Department shall not require lawful permanent residents or other noncitizens who are otherwise eligible for family planning and related services under the amendatory Act to complete a mandatory waiting period as a condition of receiving medical coverage.
* HB4151 from Rep. Windhorst…
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Creates the offense of fentanyl-related child endangerment. Provides that a person commits the offense when the person knowingly or recklessly endangers the life or health of a child under 18 years of age by exposing or allowing exposure of the child to fentanyl, including consumption of fentanyl. Provides that a violation is a Class 2 felony. Creates the offense of aggravated fentanyl-related child endangerment. Provides that a person commits the offense when the person knowingly or recklessly endangers the life or health of a child under 18 years of age by exposing or allowing exposure of the child to fentanyl, including consumption of fentanyl and the child experiences death, great bodily harm, disability, or disfigurement as a result of the fentanyl-related child endangerment. Provides that exposure to fentanyl as prescribed or administered by a health care professional in the course of medical treatment does not constitute endangerment. Provides that a violation is a Class X felony for which the offender shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 6 years and not more than 30 years and fined not to exceed $100,000. Defines terms.
* Rep. Sonya Harper’s HB4155…
Creates the Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office Act. Establishes the Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office. Provides that the Office may provide voluntary technical assistance, nonregulatory programs, and incentives, including grants, that increase the ability to anticipate, prepare for, mitigate, adapt to, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to drought or the climate. Provides that the Director of Agriculture may promulgate rules necessary for the administration of the Office’s assistance, programs, and incentives, including grants. Requires the Director or the Director’s designee to conduct a study to examine greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration opportunities in the agricultural sector and in agricultural land management in the State. Includes provisions regarding Office assistance, programs, and incentives; grants; a greenhouse gas offset program; rules; and other Office studies. Defines terms. Effective immediately.
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* WICS…
5 people dead and 5 more are injured following a crash Friday night on U.S. Highway 40 near Teutopolis involving a toxic chemical.
Another collision on Interstate 70 which led drivers to US Highway 40 and caused it to be backed up.
Teutopolis Fire Protection District said they received a call around 9 pm that a semi-truck turned over releasing anhydrous ammonia into the air and killed the 5 people.
3 of them are Teutopolis Residents who are a father and his 2 children. The other two were from Ohio and Missouri.
* The latest update from WAND…
UPDATE: 9 am Monday
The tanker that contained anhydrous ammonia has been drained, patched, and removed to a secure location. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is pending.
* AP…
The tanker truck crash in central Illinois that killed five people may have started when another vehicle tried to pass the chemical-laden truck, a federal transportation official said Sunday.
The tanker truck was carrying caustic anhydrous ammonia when it jackknifed Friday night, and hit a utility trailer parked just off the highway, according to Tom Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. The tank carrying anhydrous ammonia hit the trailer hitch of the other vehicle, which punched a six-inch (15 centimeter) hole in the chemical container, Chapman said during news conference Sunday.
Chapman said the tanker truck’s driver pulled to the right and ran off the road as it traveled west on U.S. 40 in Teutoplis, a small community about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis.
* ABC…
At least seven other people from six different states were also treated at hospitals after being overcome by what authorities described as a “large plume cloud” that was released when the tanker truck spilled its load on a highway east of Teutopolis, Illinois, Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said in a statement Sunday evening.
Autopsies are scheduled to be performed Monday morning on the victims to confirm the preliminary findings, Rhodes said.
“Preliminary investigation indicates five individuals died from exposure to anhydrous ammonia at the crash site,” according to Rhodes’ statement. […]
Rhodes said the victims were exposed to the ammonia “due to traveling through the scene of the crash site.”
* NYT…
Anhydrous ammonia — often used in manufacturing, refrigeration and agriculture — is a toxic gas that can be corrosive if people have contact with it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It’s terrible,” Sheriff Kuhns said. “It’s bad stuff if you are involved in it — breathe it, especially — because it gets in your airways, in your lungs.”
Chief McMahon said that shifting wind directions had further complicated the response to the crash. Crews had to be set up in multiple locations to respond to the gas leak based on the wind changes, he said.
…Adding… If you would like to help victims of the accident here are some GoFundMes.
* More…
* CNN | Five dead in Illinois crash involving semi-truck carrying ammonia as evacuated residents begin to return home: The truck was carrying about 7,500 gallons of the toxic substance at the time of the wreck in Effingham County, according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The agency said early estimates say more than half of that – about 4,000 gallons – were released.
* IPM | Residents returning home after a wreck in Effingham County kills 5, and leaks ammonia: Emergency crews worked overnight Saturday trying to control the plume from the leak and struggled to get near the crash site. “We have a lot of brave firemen, EMT, hazmat specialists, police officers that are working on this scene as we speak,” Effingham County Sheriff Paul Kuhns said at a Saturday morning news conference.
* WICS | Victims in deadly U.S. 40 hazardous material incident identified: The victims have been identified as 67-year-old Danny J. Smith of New Haven, Missouri, 31-year-old Vasile Cricovan of Twinsburg, Ohio, and 34-year-old Kenneth Bryan of Teutopolis along with this two children, 7 year old Rosie Bryan and 10-year-old Walker Bryan.
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* Illinois State Police…
People can now submit an endorsement affidavit online for assault weapons, assault weapon attachments, .50 caliber rifles, and .50 caliber cartridges. On January 10, 2023, Governor JB Pritzker signed into law Public Act 102-1116, the Protect Illinois Communities Act, regulating the sale and distribution of these items in Illinois, along with large capacity ammunition feeding devices. The Act went into effect immediately upon signing. Individuals who possessed assault weapons, assault weapon attachments, .50 caliber rifles, and .50 caliber cartridges before the Act took effect are required to submit an endorsement affidavit through their Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) Card account prior to January 1, 2024. Large capacity ammunition feeding devices are regulated, but do not require and endorsement affidavit.
As of October 1, 2023, individuals are able to submit their endorsement affidavits online. Affidavits must be submitted online through a FOID Card account. Individuals can access their FOID Card account from the ISP Firearms Services Bureau website, or going directly to www.ispfsb.com/Public/Login.aspx. If you have forgotten your username or password, links on the login page will help you recover or reset your information. The same Firearms Service Bureau links can be used to create an account for those who do not have one. You will need an email address, and driver’s license or State ID to create an account. A tutorial video on how to create an account can be found on the ISP FOID webpage under Application Help.
A tutorial video on how to submit an endorsement affidavit through your FOID account is also available on the ISP website and can be found on the Protect Illinois Communities Act, Regulation on Assault Weapons page. Individuals who need help submitting an endorsement affidavit can refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page or visit one of the ISP FOID Kiosks, both of which can be found on the ISP website at https://isp.illinois.gov/Home/AssaultWeapons.
Do not bring your weapon, ammunition, or accessories if you visit a Kiosk.
* Daily Herald…
The affidavits must include the applicant’s name, date of birth and FOID card number, along with the make, model, caliber, and serial number of each weapon, and a statement testifying that they own a locking mechanism for the weapon.
Stating false information on the affidavit could lead to a charge of perjury, under the new law.
The ban, passed during the General Assembly’s lame duck session and signed it into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in January, has prompted several lawsuits alleging it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
A federal judge in the Southern District of Illinois ruled that it did, but two other judges in the Northern District rejected the claims. Those cases are now pending before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
* Sun-Times…
Guns won’t be confiscated as a result of the new law, but the registration affidavit is still required.
The Protect Illinois Communities Act took effect immediately when Pritzker signed the bill Jan. 10 and has spurred a flurry of court challenges since then. The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law in a 4-3 vote last month following a lawsuit filed by state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur.
Opponents of the law have vowed to seek out avenues in federal court to challenge it once again.
“Pritzker and Illinois Democrats have criminalized hundreds of thousands of legal gun owners,” Caulkins told the Chicago Sun-Times after the state Supreme Court ruling, adding he’s confident the ban “will eventually be overturned” in federal court.
* Tribune…
State police said there are roughly 2.4 million FOID card holders in Illinois. It’s not known how many people possess guns that are now banned but would be grandfathered in under the law. […]
A federal challenge on Second Amendment grounds is pending before a federal appeals court in Chicago. The ban has withstood state lawsuits, with the Illinois Supreme Court upholding the law in August.
How the law’s gun registration requirements will be enforced remains to be seen. Earlier this year, an estimated 90 of Illinois’ 102 county sheriffs issued letters stating they “believe that (the new gun law) is a clear violation of the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution” and that they wouldn’t enforce it. […]
Also, devices that increase the firing rates of a firearm, known as “switches,” to convert them from semi-automatic or automatic weapons, are covered by the ban. Someone in possession could face a felony count for each device.
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Asylum-seeker coverage roundup
Monday, Oct 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Not helpful on so many levels…
* I’m not sure that this is all city money…
During a briefing with reporters, Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, said the latest estimate of costs associated with migrants arriving in Chicago from August 2022 to the end of the year could reach $361.3 million, a whopping $58 million more than the previous projection.
With more than 1,800 migrants awaiting shelter placement while housed in Chicago police stations, and another 450 staying at the city’s airports, Pacione-Zayas indicated the administration is not backing down from its contract with GardaWorld Federal Services, which has been at the center of controversies over its handling of migrants elsewhere, and its subsidiary Aegis Defense Services to run “base camp” landing zones.
“GardaWorld can speak to the allegations. That’s not our job,” Pacione-Zayas said. “Our job is to ensure that they’re meeting our expectations, that there is a system of accountability and that we are going to operationalize that.”
* I haven’t been in love with the tent city idea, but the city may have no choice as the numbers increase. From last Wednesday…
27 buses carrying migrants arrive in Chicago since Saturday as city moves forward with tent plan
Each bus carries between 40 and 50 people. So, that’s over a thousand people in just a few days.
From Saturday…
Nine more buses carrying people arrived in Chicago Friday. That’s the most ever in one day.
Also Saturday…
“We were told by OEMC this morning that we would be expecting ten buses today and that every district would receive at least ten more people,” Gomberg said.
Today…
“Gov. Abbott is not respecting our curfew of not sending buses from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. He is beefing up contracts with busing fleets and plans to send them 24-7,” Deputy Chief of Staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas, who is managing the migrant issue, told Playbook. “If the trend continues, that means thousands of people daily.”
And it’s not just buses…
Chicago began using the city’s two international airports as temporary shelters as the number of migrants arriving by plane increased. Nearly 3,000 people who have arrived by plane since June have sought shelter.
* Back to the tent cities…
As the city proceeds with its GardaWorld contract, the potential locations for the large tents could also stir up racial strife. The city is requiring two to three acres on concrete or gravel land for the base camps. The areas that fit that description with vacant land are concentrated on the Far South Side, the same neighborhoods where the majority Black community has cried out for resources. […]
That housing strategy would include existing public buildings, warehouses and privately owned buildings that could house at least 200 people, Vasquez added. He encouraged landlords who owned buildings that meet that requirement to reach out to the city.
* Also…
Neighbors in Pilsen will meet Monday night to discuss a plan for the first migrant shelter there.
The meeting will detail plans to turn a warehouse on Halsted Street into a temporary shelter for migrants.
The warehouse, located in the 2200-block of South Halsted Street would be the first city-run shelter in the 25th Ward.
* Coverage follows conflict…
In response to the criticism, Pacione-Zayas committed to bringing GardaWorld officials to testify before the committee, as well as Catholic Charities, which has been working to help new arrivals move into more permanent housing.
Long-brewing tension over supporting migrants while the city grapples with existing unhoused residents was on display, too. At one point, the meeting was recessed due to disruptions by a group of public commentators upset over resources being doled out to help new arrivals.
Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th Ward, said she sympathized with that anger but urged Black and Latino residents to remember “white supremacy is our enemy.”
Still, she didn’t pull punches in criticizing the administration, urging officials to handle the crisis differently, including by refusing to accept new arrivals. Taylor warned officials they’re “going to start a race war.”
The Cardinal ought to be on the phone asking the Catholic Charities operations in Denver and El Paso to work more closely with the city and to maybe send some folks to other archdioceses.
* More…
As their communities deal with a tsunami of new arrivals, voters in those cities are increasingly pointing fingers at Democrats such as Johnson and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Among Black voters, the Democrats’ most reliable base, that anger could put their party in deep peril.
So went my conversation with Perri Small and her listeners on the popular morning show on WVON-AM 1690, Chicago’s Black talk radio. She invited me on last week to chat about the latest in politics. When we hit the migrant issue, the phone lines started sizzling.
“I’m going to tell you, this is a make-or-break issue for WVON listeners and their support of Democratic candidates,” Small declared.
Talk radio, like Twitter, is not real life, but the anger is real.
* Speaking of pushback…
A spokeswoman for Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy said the city did not apply for the grant that involves the awarding of millions of dollars to house asylum seekers that was announced by the governor’s office late Friday afternoon. […]
DiBenedetto said the city of Joliet government did not apply for the grant to house asylum seekers coming to Illinois from other countries. Rather, the grant went through Joliet Township government and Supervisor Angel Contreras, she pointed out. […]
Joliet City Councilman Joe Clement said he will speak against the measure during this week’s City Council meetings.
“I follow what’s going on all over the country and I knew it was a matter of time before we would have to address this,” Clement, the at-large Council representative, told Joliet Patch on Saturday.
* The Pritzker administration has already sent people to the border…
It was also revealed during the meeting that Johnson and a group of alderpeople plan to head to the Mexico border.
“We need to see what’s going on at the border as buses are coming in daily. We need to see where you’re coming from. We need to be able to talk with folks we need to assess before folks are getting here to the city of Chicago,” Robinson said.
Details on that border visit are expected in the next few weeks.
* More from Isabel…
* WBEZ | How some Chicago migrants struggling to leave shelters are getting help: Finding landlords who will rent to new arrivals who have no credit or rental history is challenging. “We were running into dead end, after dead end, after dead end, trying to find housing on our own…” said Matt Joynt, a Pilsen resident and volunteer with the mutual aid group Todo Para Todos, which means “everything for everyone” in Spanish. “We were getting quite desperate.”
* NBC Chicago | Chicagoans, aldermen question city’s response to migrant crisis: Non-profit organizations, such as the Chicago Refugee Coalition, have been providing critical support for migrants who have been brought to the city. Alisa Bhachu, the coalition’s executive director, said she doesn’t think the base camps are a good idea. “I would respectfully challenge the notion establishing multiple tent camps across the city as a durable solution to this crisis,” she stated.
* Block Club | South Side Nonprofit Helps Hundreds Get CityKey IDs At Community Event: The voluntary program provides identification to undocumented immigrants, homeless individuals, refugees and teens. All Chicagoans — regardless of age, gender, immigration status or housing status — are eligible for the card through the CityKey municipal ID program, run by the Clerk’s Office.
* Streetsblog | Advocates provide bikes to migrants, request help from CDOT to meet growing demand: “Logistically, it has been very challenging to make this work,” says Andrew Mack, a founder of the organized effort to provide bikes to migrants. “I dropped off a bike at the police station last week and was just surrounded by people asking for bicycles. Right now, it’s on a case-by-case basis.”
* Eater | As Southern States Bus Migrants to Chicago, Service Workers Are Waiting With Hot Meals: Over the last four months, the owner of Tandoor Char House has distanced himself from day-to-day operations at his three restaurants to focus on converting his River North location into a pantry of sorts, making culturally appropriate meals for the mostly South American migrants housed at police stations across the city. More than 14,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago over the last year or so.
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Today’s quotable
Monday, Oct 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois President Chuck Sullivan testifying in a House committee last week about pensions…
* Please pardon all transcription errors…
Records will indicate that the AFFI was adamantly opposed to any changes to the pension fund of our future members in 2010.
I want to very respectfully remind this committee what your firefighters do, what we have done and what we will continue to do.
Our job is a difficult and demanding one that takes a tremendous toll on us physically and mentally.
When someone calls 911 - again, depending on the nature of the emergency - this is what they expect. They want an Olympic athlete, they want a chemist, a doctor, a mechanic, an HPA specialist, an electrician, a gas expert, a middle linebacker, an arborist, an expert swimmer and a social worker, all wrapped into one person. That’s us. That’s us.
That caller wants us there now. They want their emergency mitigated now. And quite frankly, they deserve that request.
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Let the feds deal with China
Monday, Oct 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
The Illinois Senate Republicans are amplifying complaints made earlier by the Illinois Republican Party and others about a massive economic development project in Manteno.
The Illinois GOP complained in a recent fundraising email about the “encroachment” of the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on the economy, then connected Gotion Inc. to the CCP. Gotion’s American subsidiary is building a massive, $2 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Kankakee County with big help from state and local governments.
Elements of the far right, including former state Rep. Jeanne Ives and various newsletters and social media forums, have essentially claimed that Communists are using taxpayer funds to build some sort of spy base, or use it to promote CCP activities, or something. It’s not totally clear what. The state GOP claimed the plant would be built “right next to a military base,” which isn’t true, unless you count National Guard and Army Reserve camps in that category.
Anyway, the Senate Republicans expressed their own concerns in what was supposed to be a private letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week, which I obtained. Gotion is based in California, but its parent company was founded in China and has standard language in its Chinese charter about how it will “carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.”
“During your conversations with Gotion Inc.,” the Republicans asked the governor, “were there any discussions concerning whether the company will continue to ‘ensure necessary conditions for carrying out Party activities’ while in Illinois?”
Man, what I wouldn’t give to see Chinese commies try to organize a cell in Manteno. That would be a hoot.
Look, the Chinese are already here. Several Chinese companies invest in Illinois, and several Illinois companies do business in China. The computer used to create that letter was probably made in China or has lots of Chinese components.
More importantly, Illinois Manufacturers Association CEO Mark Denzler pointed out to me that a federal process exists to assess security risks for companies like Gotion and, he said, that process will play itself out here as well. Denzler, a lifelong Republican, doesn’t seem to have any major concerns and was at the project’s Manteno unveiling. Gotion was already given a federal green light in Michigan.
The U.S. Departments of Defense, Justice and State have not expressed any qualms about the project that anyone knows of. The company is required to invest $2 billion and create at least 2,600 good-paying jobs. Gotion is using American workers to build a product with lots of American-made components for American-made automobiles. Yeah, it’s the Chinese government. They have to be watched, for sure. But that’s not the state’s responsibility. That’s on the federal government.
And the Senate Republicans’ questions about whether the plant’s workers will be union members or whether there are any safeguards for workers’ rights have some legitimacy, particularly since a majority of the caucus voted for the union-backed Workers’ Rights Amendment.
Manteno is about 15 miles from the Indiana border. If Gotion had opened its massive new plant in Hoosierville, the Republicans would’ve undoubtedly pounced on the governor’s failure.
Manteno is represented in the House by a Republican, Rep. Jackie Haas, who supports the project. The state party and Senate Republican attacks are not sitting well with the House Republicans, but they’ve had to remain mostly silent.
The governor has put an enormous amount of time and effort into getting this deal done. Illinois has a bad reputation among business types. Overcoming those reputational hurdles ain’t easy, which is why Pritzker has had to work so hard to achieve this goal.
Pritzker also believes that closing this deal will convince other companies to follow along. So, he’s not about to sit back while people dump on this accomplishment.
The letter Pritzker sent back to the Senate Republicans was brutal, accusing them of “doubling down on your own irrelevance.”
“Opposing 2,600 jobs and $2 billion dollars in investment for a community that needs it is a curious position, but I have long since stopped trying to understand what the Illinois Republican Party has become,” he wrote.
The Republicans replied they were simply asking some questions and would still like them answered. Then again, a cynic could point to the fact that Democratic Sen. Patrick Joyce is up for reelection next year. The Manteno plant is in his district, and he is an enthusiastic supporter.
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Open thread
Monday, Oct 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Oct 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Tribune | Registration of high-powered guns owned before Illinois ban took effect begins this month: Prohibited guns owned prior to the ban were grandfathered in but owners are required to register the weapons by Jan. 1, 2024, under the measure signed into law on Jan. 10 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Registration began Sunday and must be completed online through a firearm owner’s identification card account from the state police’s Firearms Services Bureau website, www.ispfsb.com. Gun owners will need an email address, driver’s license or state ID, and FOID card to create an account.
* Sun-Times | Senior citizens are the safest drivers on Illinois roads: According to the “2023 Study on Age-Related Driving Abilities,” conducted by the secretary of state, drivers in Illinois between 75 and 79 are the safest drivers on the road. “Statistics show that seniors are among the safest drivers of any age category,” said Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who is urging lawmakers to permanently increase the age requirement for driving tests from 75 to 79.
* Crain’s | Migrant crisis pits Pritzker vs. City Council: During a tense Immigrant & Refugee Rights Committee hearing on Friday, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, repeatedly attacked the governor for not doing enough to assist the city. The mayor’s floor leader first mounted his criticism against the governor yesterday after Pritzker expressed concerns over the city’s contract with security company GardaWorld to build large tents to house migrants. The $29 million contract, part of an existing agreement GardaWorld made with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, has come under fire in recent weeks since the company also transported migrants north from Florida.
* Tribune | After months of protest, Amazon set to open in West Humboldt Park to mixed reception. ‘A job beats no job.’: Community groups have attempted to wrangle commitments from Amazon related to local hiring and wages for around two years, but they have mostly stopped short of trying to keep the warehouse from opening.
* ABC Chicago | UAW strike: Ford’s Chicago assembly plant workers join walkout Friday: In addition to the Chicago Ford plant, Fain said workers at a GM plant in Lansing, Michigan Delta Township plan will also join the strike. Fain said the Lansing regional stamping plant will continue working.
* Sun-Times | Poised to shutter Catholic parishes, Joliet bishop tight-lipped on financial impact of the priest sex abuse scandal: “The diocese has demonstrated slavish adherence to off-the-books, unwritten policies that derail justice for abuse survivors and much-needed institutional transparency,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in the May report, adding that the diocese’s “current approach to abuse allegations against a religious order priest who ministered in the diocese are particularly opaque and ill formed.” That lack of transparency also extends to church finances, a Chicago Sun-Times examination has found.
* Tribune | Will Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transfer tax plan deliver for the homeless amid a real estate downturn?: The debate about overhauling the real estate transfer tax comes at a time when revenues from it are already falling. The tax will end this year 37% lower than initially anticipated, according to the Johnson administration’s own projections. What’s more, revenues from the tax since 2003 have been fickle and followed fluctuations in the real estate market, spiking at $242 million in 2006 and tumbling to $62 million at the height of the Great Recession in 2009.
* Tribune | Some allies break with Mayor Brandon Johnson over migrant response: During a tense meeting of the City Council’s immigration committee, three of Johnson’s hand-picked committee chairs criticized the mayor’s response to the migrant situation, including his plan to utilize a controversial private security firm to establish tent encampments for some of the more than 15,000 migrants who have been bused or flown to Chicago from southern border states since August 2022.
* Sun-Times | Ed Burke once bragged about his work for Trump — now he doesn’t want jurors to know: Former Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke once touted his work for Donald Trump’s companies by handing out copies of a 2016 Chicago Sun-Times report that Burke’s firm had saved Trump and investors $11.7 million in property taxes on a luxury downtown hotel.
* Tribune | ‘Everyone is so freaked out’: Armed robbery crews sweep city as Chicago police task forces struggle with brazen crimes: To try to thwart the growing problem, Chicago police have used an array of tools including helicopters, phone tracking, physical surveillance and fingerprint analysis to try to catch the robbery crews in real time and develop the evidence to make charges stick in court, sources told the Tribune.
* Sun-Times | Menashe Properties takes a chance on West Loop’s elusive revival: Menashe Properties bought a 29-story office building at 230 W. Monroe St. The family-owned firm, based in Portland, Oregon, and making its first investment in Chicago, took the plunge as other property moguls talk about tax rates, high crime and the still-uncertain comeback from COVID-19 as reasons to shun deals here.
* Tribune | Enrich Chicago’s racial impact survey finds equity still lacking across arts and culture ecosystem: According to the survey, 30% of Asian American and Latina cisgender females don’t feel safe bringing their whole selves to work. And 40% of Black folks who identified as LGBTQ said they “disagreed or strongly disagreed” that they are fairly compensated. And nearly 24% of respondents who identified as Hispanic/Latino strongly disagreed that they were fairly compensated.
* Sun-Times | Black Cook County residents face scarcity of mental health resources as their suicide rates remain high after the pandemic: The problem is even worse for men, who have suicides rates that are more than three times higher than women in Cook County. Advocates say there isn’t much encouragement for men — particularly Black men— to discuss mental health.
* VCE | Governor JB Pritzker to Visit DACC Wed Oct. 4 for Senator Bennett Memorial Dedication: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker will visit Danville Area Community College on Wednesday, October 4, to pay tribute to the late State Senator Scott Bennett during the Memorial Tree Dedication ceremony at 11:00 am. The ceremony will take place on the lawn south of Prairie Hall. Additional speakers include former colleagues and members of the Senator’s family. The public is welcome.
* The Atlantic | The Best Thing About Amazon Was Never Going to Last: What happened to Amazon? The company no longer excels at the thing it’s supposed to be best at: shopping. Its unparalleled convenience and cost helped turn it into an e-commerce juggernaut, one that now faces an antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission over alleged anticompetitive practices. Now around every corner lies a brand you’ve never heard of, selling a product you’re not sure about. Good deals on name brands are harder to come by. Amazon’s dominance has also transformed it into a different kind of company. Along the way, the famously customer-obsessed company has lost track of what its customers actually want.
* SF Chronicle | The Trump administration touted him as a victim of #MeToo. Now he’s accused of dismembering a girlfriend: The Trump cabinet member referenced Roberts as she announced sweeping rollbacks of Obama-era reforms to Title IX, the law prohibiting sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. High-profile sexual assaults at universities had prompted the Obama administration to strengthen enforcement in 2011 and 2014, but critics like DeVos said the rights of the accused were being trampled.
* Tribune | Chicagoan sets record for oldest skydiver at 104 years old: ‘Age is just a number’: The crowd gathered along the skydiving resort’s landing strip roared. Friends rushed to share congratulations. Someone brought over Hoffner’s red walker. She rose fast, and a reporter asked how it felt to be back on the ground. “Wonderful,” Hoffner said. “But it was wonderful up there.”
* Crain’s | Chicago-born rapper Common lends his star power to a new ad campaign for WTTW: Chicago has always been a city that gave Common “so much,” he said. “It’s a city that has been the foundation of many of the stories I have told throughout my career,” he said in a statement. “Through my work with Art in Motion and the Common Ground Foundation, I’ve realized there are so many stories just like mine that deserve to be told with reverence.”
* Sun-Times | 75 years covering race in Chicago: A newspaper for a diverse city: As the Sun-Times looks back during its 75th year of continual daily publication, race is a key lens through which to understand the newspaper’s history.
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Live coverage
Monday, Oct 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* ScribbleLive is still down. Twitter has stopped allowing people to embed list feeds on websites. So, click here or here to follow breaking news.
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* Pritzker spokesperson Alex Gough…
In the likely event that Republicans in Washington cannot get their act together to fix the mess they’ve created, the Pritzker administration is prepared to do whatever is possible to maintain critical state services. If the government shuts down and the federal programs we rely on were to run out of money, the state would temporarily fill in spending gaps. Upon reopening, we would then immediately apply for federal reimbursement for programs that do not have a state/federal funding split.
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* I told you this was coming earlier today. Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker announced today $41.5 million in awards to local governments in the Chicago region that are welcoming asylum seekers. The funds will make it possible for municipalities to provide direct services to migrants who have fled their homes to escape violence and other threats. The funds will be used for shelter and housing support, food, wraparound services, legal support, and health care.
“Illinois is a welcoming state, and we have stepped up to aid asylum seekers who have undertaken a dangerous and trying journey to try and build a better life for themselves and their families,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Although we will still need significant federal support as this crisis continues, these grants will empower local governments to build out services and supports for new arrivals so we can successfully transition them into our state and give them the opportunity to complete their legal immigration process.”
“In Illinois, we recognize the humanity of everyone and reject fearmongering and cruelty toward those seeking asylum,” said Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. “Through this funding, our administration is reaffirming our commitment to being a welcoming state because our diversity makes us stronger.”
It has been more than a year since Illinois started to receive buses from Texas governments, transporting migrants from the southern border who are seeking asylum in the United States. Since August 31, 2022, without notice, Illinois has welcomed over 15,000 new arrivals, primarily from Central and South America. To date, the state has contributed $328 million overall to support asylum seekers.
The Illinois General Assembly and Gov. Pritzker appropriated $42,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget to provide support to local municipalities for the provision of basic services to new arrivals. To distribute the funds, IDHS is partnering with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (MMC), which provides management oversight in the form of a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity process. MMC aims to work past geographical boundaries to build collaboration around public policy issues, with a common goal of improving the quality of life for the millions of people who live in the region.
“We were honored to play a role in this process, so that the recipients can receive much needed funding,” said Executive Director of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Neil James. “We understand the importance of providing support services for this vulnerable population.”
Municipalities receiving funding include:
• City of Chicago: $30.25 million
• Joliet Township: $8.6 million [Updated]
• City of Elgin: $1.27 million
• Lake County: $1 million
• City of Urbana: $250,000
• Village of Oak Park: $150,000
“The commitments announced today will strengthen the support provided to asylum seekers in Illinois,” said Grace B. Hou, Secretary, Illinois Department of Human Services. “We are grateful to every municipality that applied for this funding. Today’s awards demonstrate our commitment to assisting recent arrivals from the southern border with the resources that they need to be successful.”
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, Sep 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Tribune | Ford workers walk out as UAW expands strike to Chicago Assembly Plant: ‘It’s our time’: The Chicago Ford plant has about 4,600 workers on three shifts making the Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor SUVs, the automaker said Friday. In 2019, Ford spent $1 billion to transform the nearly century-old Torrence Avenue facility, which phased out production of the Taurus sedan to focus on building SUVs.
* SJ-R | Springfield to receive $100,000 in grants for police hiring: Springfield will get $102,523 from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant to aid in the hiring of new Springfield Police Department officers and retention of current police employees. U.S. Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.) of the 13th Congressional District announced the grant recipients Wednesday, with Springfield being one of six cities in her district to receive money. Departments in Champaign, Decatur, Alton, Belleville and Edwardsville also received funding.
* Sun-Times | Teachers will have ‘strong demands’ in contract talks — even with one of their own on other side of bargaining table: With the old contract due to expire next summer, Davis Gates has started “talking turkey” with her members about their priorities for any new deal. They include smaller class sizes; more bilingual support staff to serve the children of asylum seekers; building time into the elementary school day for teachers to collaborate; and more “sustainable community schools.”
* Tribune | What’s the impact on Illinois if the federal government shuts down?: “We are truly heading for the first-ever shutdown about nothing,” said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. Strain has started referring to the current GOP House-led impasse as “the ‘Seinfeld’ shutdown,” a reference to the popular sitcom widely known as “a show about nothing.” “The weirdest thing about it is that the Republicans don’t have any demands. What do they want? What is it that they’re going to shut the government down for? We simply don’t know.”
* WaPo | Amid GOP confusion, U.S. braces for ‘first-ever shutdown about nothing’ : House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s last-ditch plan to keep the federal government temporarily open collapsed on Friday as hard-right holdouts rejected the package, making a shutdown almost certain. McCarthy’s right-flank Republicans refused to support the bill despite its steep spending cuts of nearly 30% to many agencies and severe border security provisions, calling it insufficient.
* Daily Herald | DuPage County judge ousted over 2017 gun incident found guilty of aggravated assault: O’Shea, you may recall, has been in trouble with guns before. In 2017, while he was still on the bench, O’Shea was charged with reckless conduct after authorities said he fired a handgun in his Wheaton apartment.
* Crain’s | Walgreens eyes ex-Cigna executive for CEO: Walgreens Boots Alliance is considering former Cigna Group executive Tim Wentworth to be its next chief executive officer, according to people familiar with the matter. A final decision hasn’t been made and Wentworth may not wind up in the job, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information. Wentworth and a representative for Walgreens both declined to comment.
* Shaw Local | Troubled DeKalb County nursing home’s future again in state hands: It’s been 14 months since the DeKalb County Board decided to sell the DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center to a private buyer, but this week a unanimous decision by elected leaders stalled the sale yet again.
* Tribune | After no victim or witnesses found, COPA closes investigation of alleged sexual misconduct involving CPD officer, migrant: The investigation was opened in early July after a text message, circulated among police officers and other city employees, alleged that a 29-year-old CPD field training officer assigned to the Ogden District had engaged in a sexual relationship with a 16- or 17-year-old female migrant who was housed at the police station, 3315 W. Ogden Ave. The text message further claimed that the teen was impregnated by a CPD officer.
* Tribune | Migrant teens from Venezuela jumped after school in Rogers Park: A group of students from Venezuela were punched and kicked by local teens near Sullivan High School in Rogers Park Wednesday afternoon, said Ricky D’Gucci, an activist who spoke to the students after the altercation […] According to D’Gucci, the Venezuelan teens walk about 30 minutes to school every morning from a city-run shelter at a Super 8 motel on the Far North Side. He said the fight was likely race related, and that the perpetrators were older than the Venezuelans. “The only reason they got them was because they were Latinos,” he said. “They got pretty beat up.”
* Block Club Chicago | Chicago Public Schools Says $3.1 Billion For ‘Critical’ Building Repairs Needed: The $3.1 billion in costs identified as the most urgent work includes repairs to windows, roofs, masonry, and heating and cooling systems. Another $5.5 billion would go toward repairs in the next six to 10 years, according to the facilities plan. Beyond that, the district wants money to build labs “to support STEM education,” accommodations for students with disabilities, new auditoriums, new fields for sports, and classrooms “outfitted” for career and technical education — programming that [CEO Pedro Martinez] wants to expand, according to the plan.
* Pitchfork | Man Arrested and Charged in Tupac Shakur Murder Case in Surprise Breakthrough: Nevada police detained Duane Keith “Keefe D” Davis today (September 29), and a grand jury indicted him in the killing of Shakur, The Associated Press reports. Davis, who has long been known to investigators, has admitted in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he was in the Cadillac with Shakur’s shooter. He is now the first person to be arrested in direct connection with the killing.
* Daily Herald | ‘It is pumpkin guts galore’: Jack O’Lantern World takes over Lake Zurich’s Paulus Park: “Not only do we have this huge conglomerate of jack-o’-lanterns, we have pumpkins which people took 30 hours on,” Starykowicz said. “Every one is hand-carved, it’s one-of-a-kind, you can’t go anywhere else and see another version of this.”
* Sun-Times | Clearer college financial aid offers promised by hundreds of colleges, including some in Illinois: Northern Illinois University, Chicago State University and Northeastern Illinois University have signed onto a new commitment to standardize financial aid offers so students can more easily compare costs and understand what they will owe after graduation. Other Illinois schools that have signed on include both campuses of Southern Illinois University, Oakton Community College, Waubonsee Community College and Rockford University.
* WMBD | Honor Flight co-founder and former Boys and Girls Club head found dead at West Bluff home: The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Peoria’s board of directors and staff are profoundly saddened by the passing of their former CEO, Lesley R. Matuszak. During Lesley’s tenure at the Clubs, thousands of local under-served youth benefited from her tireless devotion to provide them with one-of-a-kind educational and life experiences. Her belief that every child deserves an equal opportunity to succeed in life has created a legacy that will continue long into the future.
* The Atlantic | Trump Didn’t Go to Michigan to Support Autoworkers, So why did so many news outlets report he did?: There’s an expression reporters use, that you’ve “reported yourself out of a story.” That is, you had a hunch or a tip about something, but when you checked the facts, the story didn’t pan out. Sometimes, though, reporters stick to the narrative they’ve decided on in advance, and they don’t let facts get in the way.
* Block Club | Dorm Room Picassos? UChicago Students Can Borrow Rare Pieces Through Art Loan Program: “Everybody doesn’t have exposure to art in their daily lives,” said Lauren Payne, the university’s associate registrar of art and public spaces. “Having time to live with a piece can change the way you experience it over time. It’s an invaluable experience for [students] to have an opportunity to live with these pieces.” Students receive the pieces for free and must hang the art in their dorm bedroom. They sign loan agreements requiring a certain level of care for the pieces, and Smart Museum staffers check on the works’ condition throughout the year, UChicago spokesperson Rachel Hatch said.
* SJ-R | ‘A beautiful woman inside and out:’ Wenonah Bish turns 111 and shares secrets to longevity: Bish’s daughter, Delores Hughes, who lives in Bolingbrook, turns 90 later this year. Wright joked that Bish also has said: “Never let a man control your life,” as her secret to longevity.
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* Crain’s…
The same federal judge who is hearing a case challenging an Illinois law that targets anti-abortion health care providers for defrauding patients is also hearing a case against a similar state law passed years ago. […]
Conservative Chicago law firm Thomas More Society said in a statement that it filed the lawsuit on behalf of obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Ronald L. Schroeder and pro-life pregnancy help ministries 1st Way Pregnancy Support Services and Pregnancy Aid South Suburbs challenging an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which passed into law in 2016.
The amendment, Thomas More Society said in the statement, is meant to require health care providers to provide referrals of abortion providers to patients, regardless of the provider’s own beliefs about abortion. […]
“Health care professionals should provide patients with information on all their medical options in a timely manner,” Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said in a statement. “Challenging the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act is another attempt to deprive people from accessing essential reproductive care like abortion services. Everyone should be aware of all their options in order to make the best decision for themselves without discrimination or coercion.”
* Hannah Meisel at Capitol News Illinois…
When Illinois Democrats passed the 2016 law, its sponsors’ rhetoric was focused not on crisis pregnancy centers, but Catholic hospitals, which do not provide elective abortions and often bar doctors from prescribing contraceptives and sterilization.
In extreme cases, like to save the life of the mother, Catholic hospitals may terminate a pregnancy, but sponsors pointed to the story of a woman who was made to wait five weeks during her prolonged miscarriage until she was bleeding enough to justify the procedure. Then, as now, roughly 30 percent of hospital beds in Illinois are in Catholic-affiliated institutions.
But negotiations over the bill in 2015 and 2016 were able to neutralize opposition from influential organizations like the Illinois Catholic Hospital Association and the Catholic Conference of Illinois, and arguments against the bill evolved to prioritize the First Amendment concerns of CPCs. During debates over the bill in the House and Senate, Republican opponents warned the law would violate both the facilities’ rights to free speech and religious liberties.
Those comments turned out to be a preview of the legal battle over the Health Care Right of Conscience Act’s amendment; last week’s trial involved no plaintiffs associated with Catholic hospitals. Instead, plaintiffs are a handful of CPCs in Illinois, one doctor who volunteers as a medical director for a CPC, and the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, a Virginia-based nonprofit that offers resources, training and legal advice to CPCs across the U.S. Out of the roughly 100 CPCs in Illinois, 81 are members of NIFLA’s network.
Go read the whole thing.
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* The complaint is here. Exelon and ComEd paid a civil penalty and is now in the clear. But the SEC is going after Pramaggiore. Press release…
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Exelon Corporation, electric utility company Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), which is Exelon’s subsidiary, and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore with fraud in connection with a multi-year scheme to corruptly influence and reward then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan. Exelon and ComEd agreed to settle the charges, with Exelon paying a civil penalty of $46.2 million. The charges against Pramaggiore will be litigated.
According to the SEC’s order against Exelon and ComEd, from 2011 through 2019, ComEd arranged for various associates of Madigan to obtain jobs, subcontracts, and monetary payments, all with the intent to influence Madigan regarding legislation favorable to ComEd. The order finds that ComEd arranged payments to Madigan’s associates through third-party vendors to conceal the size of the payments and to assist ComEd in denying responsibility for oversight of Madigan’s associates, who in some instances did little to none of the work for which they were hired. The order finds that ComEd made indirect payments totaling more than $1.3 million to Madigan’s associates. In a deferred prosecution agreement entered into with criminal authorities, ComEd acknowledged that Madigan’s support of legislation favoring ComEd resulted in reasonably foreseeable anticipated benefits to ComEd of more than $150 million.
The SEC’s complaint against Pramaggiore alleges that she participated in, and in some instances directed, the bribery scheme. The complaint alleges that Pramaggiore did not disclose the bribery scheme and instead misled investors when she characterized ComEd’s lobbying activities as legitimate. The complaint also alleges that, as part of the scheme, Pramaggiore lied to Exelon’s auditors and filed false certifications.
“As alleged in our complaint, Pramaggiore’s remarks to investors about ComEd’s lobbying efforts hid the reality of the long-running political corruption scheme in which they were engaged,” said LeeAnn G. Gaunt, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Public Finance Abuse Unit. “When corporate executives speak to investors, they must not mislead by omission.”
Exelon and ComEd consented to the SEC’s cease-and-desist order finding that they violated antifraud and books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws. Exelon agreed to pay a $46.2 million civil penalty.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that Pramaggiore violated antifraud and books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws and that she aided and abetted Exelon’s and ComEd’s violations of books and records and internal accounting controls provisions. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar against her.
* From an Exelon filing…
On September 28, 2023, Exelon Corporation and its subsidiary, Commonwealth Edison Company (the “Companies”), reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), concluding and resolving in its entirety the SEC investigation previously disclosed by the Companies, which related to the conduct identified in the deferred prosecution agreement that was entered into by Commonwealth Edison Company in July 2020 and successfully exited in July 2023. Under the terms of the settlement, the Companies have agreed to pay a civil penalty of $46.2 million and to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of specified provisions of the federal securities laws and rules promulgated thereunder. Exelon recorded an accrual for the full amount of the penalty in the second quarter of 2023, which was reflected in Exelon’s financial results reported in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2023.
The Companies fully cooperated with the SEC over the course of its investigation. The SEC’s administrative order recognized the remedial measures promptly undertaken by the Companies, including the significant enhancements made to the Companies’ compliance program.
[Hat tip: WTTW]
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* From the governor’s office…
Asylum Seeker/Migrant Assistance
Since August 2022, Illinois has provided or committed over $328 million in funding to address the humanitarian asylum seeker crisis with direct funding to the City of Chicago, State-operated asylum seeker services, and additional State-supported services.
In addition to direct funding, the State has partnered with municipalities across the state, elected officials, community-based providers, and the federal government to coordinate, develop, and implement the infrastructure and coordination required for comprehensive, responsive, and strategic planning.
This $328 million investment is on top of the State of Illinois’ ongoing programming as a welcoming state for all immigrants and unhoused residents, including Illinois Welcoming Centers; VTTC (Victims of Trafficking Torture & Other Serious Crimes) medical, food and cash assistance; Immigrant Family Resource Program (IFRP); New Americans Initiative(NAI); and Home Illinois, Illinois’ plan to prevent and end homelessness.
Direct Funding to City of Chicago
• $51 million in direct funding from the State to the City of Chicago for general asylum seeker support services
• $19 million passthrough funding from State to City in accessing federal Shelter & Services Program (SSP) appropriation
Direct State Asylum Seeker Support
• ~ $90 million in IEMA emergency support services ($3M Federal and $87M State)
• $51 million in State direct support to asylum seekers
o Hotel Supports (Rooms + Staffing)
o Transportation
o Medical
State-Supported Services
• $64 million in comprehensive State-supported services for asylum seekers:
o Asylum Seeker Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ASERAP)
o Move-out Supports (Catholic Charities, New Life)
o Wrap-around Services (ICIRR, Coalition of Immigrant Mental Health (CIMH))
o Food (Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD))
o Legal Services
• $43 million in funding to municipalities to support asylum seekers statewide
• $10 million to stand-up Interim Congregate Housing (ICH) facility on behalf of City of Chicago
The city has applied to receive all of the “$43 million in funding to municipalities to support asylum seekers statewide,” but Chicago Deputy Chief of Staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas said at a city council hearing today that she doesn’t expect the city will receive all the money. In fact, she said, the city has asked the state to identify Latino communities throughout the state. You can click here for a list. [ADDING: The state will announce soon that it is sending the city $32 million out of that $43 million.]
* Slide from the city’s presentation to that city council hearing about its costs…
No word on how much of that came from the state beyond the $70 million listed by the governor’s office (although the state’s outline goes back to last year, while the city’s is year to date).
…Adding… The city is reportedly planning to ask the state for an additional $200 million appropriation during the veto session. Not sure where that’s gonna come from.
* The city is laughably under-staffed. There’s no excuse for this…
That’s Beatriz Ponce de León, Deputy Mayor of Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights.
* Volunteers are really stepping up, despite the lack of help and direction from the city. They estimate they’ve spent $6.1 million…
* Also from today’s hearing…
Wow.
* Not only is the federal government paying to fly some migrants to Chicago, they’re also doing this…
At least some waivers are available, but still. Ridic.
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* Last week, UAW President Shawn Fain said, “Ford is showing that they’re serious about reaching a deal,” and exempted them from the expanded strike. Something apparently changed…
The United Auto Workers strike that began Sept. 14 at limited locations for the Detroit Three automakers spread to Chicago on Friday as the union sent workers at the Ford assembly plant to the picket lines.
Union President Shawn Fain made the announcement about the expanded strike action on Facebook Live. He said it would also begin a walkout at a General Motors plant in Lansing, Mich. The strikes are to start at 11 a.m. CDT. […]
Ford’s Chicago assembly plant at 12600 S. Torrence Ave. has about 4,800 workers. The new walkout does not include a Ford stamping plant in Chicago Heights.
Ford’s Chicago plant produces the popular Ford Explorer as well as the Lincoln Aviators SUV.
* Stellantis was spared this time…
Fain said Chrysler-parent Stellantis was spared from additional strikes because of recent progress in negotiations with that company.
“Moments before this broadcast, Stellantis made significant progress on the 2009 cost of living allowance, the right not to cross a picket line, as well as the right to strike over product commitments and plant closures and outsourcing moratoriums,” said Fain, who was delayed nearly 30 minutes in making the online announcement. “We are excited about this momentum at Stellantis and hope it continues.” […]
Unlike past strikes, UAW leaders opted for targeted strikes at select plants instead of initiating national walkouts. It’s calling the work stoppages “stand-up strikes,” a nod to historic “sit-down” strikes by the UAW in the 1930s.
The strategy is in an effort to keep the automakers on edge in an effort to pit them against one another to achieve better contracts, according to private messages leaked last week involving the UAW’s communications director.
The messages, which described a strategy to cause “recurring reputations damage and operational chaos” for the companies, were heavily criticized by the automakers.
* Related….
* What are the UAW strike demands? Here are the issues amid negotiations: The union wants an end to the tiered employment system, which means newer workers work for lower pay and lesser benefits. The union also wants the manufacturers to rely less on temporary workers, who are effectively in their own lowest tier. The companies say hiring temporary workers allows them to operate factories efficiently, respond to surges in consumer demand and give full-time employees more work flexibility. Ending employment tiers has been a big focus of other unions lately. UPS workers and their union, the Teamsters, recently approved a new contract that ended a tiered wage system that paid newer part-time employees less.
* Why is the UAW on strike? These are their contract demands as they negotiate with the Big Three: The UAW also wants the Big Three to reinstate annual cost of living adjustments, arguing that inflation is eating away worker paychecks. For decades, the Detroit automakers offered a COLA, but stopped after GM and Chryslers went bankrupt following the 2008 financial crisis. Adjusting for inflation, autoworkers have seen their average wages fall 19.3% since 2008, according to Adam Hersh, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. That’s because autoworker “concessions made following the 2008 auto industry crisis were never reinstated,” Hersh said in a recent blog post, “including a suspension of cost-of-living adjustments.” … Currently, UAW workers who were hired after 2007 don’t receive defined benefit pensions. For years, the union gave up general pay raises and lost cost-of-living wage increases to help the companies control costs. “The majority of our members do not get a pension nowadays. It’s crazy,” Fain complained while speaking to Ford workers last month at a plant in Louisville, Kentucky.
* UAW expands strike against Big 3 automakers: Sticking points in negotiations were wage increases and the length of the workweek. The union is demanding a 46% pay increase combined over the four-year duration of a new contract, as well as a 32-hour workweek at 40-hour pay. So far, GM, Ford and Stellantis have each put forward proposals that offered workers a 20% pay increase over the life of the agreement but preserved a 40-hour workweek. … On Thursday, Fain accused GM and Stellantis of enabling violence against striking workers, pointing to incidents that occurred in Michigan, Massachusetts and California. Both companies denied the allegations and cited an escalation in behavior on the picket line.
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* NBC Chicago…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday said he continues to have concerns about Chicago’s plan to set up winter tent basecamps for an increasing number of asylum-seekers from South America and suggested officials may seek to offer shelters in unused buildings instead.
After Mayor Brandon Johnson announced last week a one-year, $29.4 million contract with GardaWorld Federal Services to set up a camp, Pritzker’s office said it addressed concerns around “cultural competency” by holding meetings with officials from the company and city.
Pritzker said the city could instead create shelters in existing, unused buildings. He said the federal government could offer buildings, but the state and federal governments haven’t yet identified any.
“I have concerns about it, and we continue to have conversations about it,” Pritzker told reporters after his keynote address at a cannabis business conference in downtown Chicago.
* Sun-Times…
After Mayor Brandon Johnson announced last week a one-year, $29.4 million contract with GardaWorld Federal Services to set up a camp, Pritzker’s office said it addressed concerns around “cultural competency” by holding meetings with officials from the company and city. […]
“With a lack of existing buildings to put people in, I know the city has looked at this as one of its options. But I don’t think this is the only option,” Pritzker said.
The state has a contract with GardaWorld through the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, but it’s never been used at the state level, Pritzker said. However, the contract can be used by counties and cities, as Chicago has.
Although GardaWorld is a controversial choice — the company has been accused of mistreating migrant children at the border and labor trafficking — the state has few options for companies that provide emergency services and can construct shelters on short notice, Pritzker said.
* ABC Chicago…
A few blocks up the street on South Halsted Street in Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez’s ward, a big empty warehouse is about to become another Pilsen shelter. Members of City Council say it’s time for the state of Illinois to do more
“The state has been very slow, and, in my opinion, negligent on their response, and I think the leadership of the governor is critical right now,” Sigcho-Lopez said.
Pritzker defended his response to the migrant crisis.
“The city has received not just resources from the state, but people, personnel and a whole lot of effort during the last year,” he said.
Pritzker said the state has given the city close to $330 million to help with the crisis, but Council members say more than money is needed. While the state was putting migrants in hotels at the beginning of the crisis, it is no longer.
* WGN…
Gov. Pritzker responded to democratic mayor of El Paso sending migrants to Chicago:
“[He] needs to listen to the cities that he’s sending folks to and start thinking about whether or not this should be spread across the country. Why is he not sending anybody to Idaho, Wyoming?” […]
The state said it’s working on one shelter. The governor’s office stated it had plans for that shelter dating back to the Lightfoot administration, but the city didn’t take the state up on its offer until a few weeks ago.
The Illinois governor also stated that he has spoken with the Department of Homeland Security and the White House to seek assistance.
* Center Square…
At an unrelated event in Chicago Thursday, Pritzker blamed Republican governors, but was confronted with even Democratic El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser sending migrants.
“You know that they’re sending, nope, they’re doing it because they’re sending them to areas where they think that people will take care of them and where people will put the resources forward because this is a humanitarian crisis,” Pritzker said. “But the reality is that states that are controlled by Republicans ought to be offering the same services.” […]
At an unrelated news conference Thursday, Pritzker asked other communities from throughout the state to volunteer.
“I hope that cities will raise their hands and offer assistance,” Pritzker said. “We have provided grant opportunities for cities that will do that.”
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Rate the NRCC’s hit on Bailey
Friday, Sep 29, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This came in over the transom from the National Republican Congressional Committee last night…
Hey Rich,
Hope this email finds you well! I recently saw your report on Mike Bost and Ukraine and I wanted to see if you were interested in covering some examples of Darren Bailey moderating his previously conservative positions when he ran for statewide office. I don’t think these positions would play well now that he is in a primary challenge against Bost. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!
Government Waste:
Darren Bailey claimed to support fiscal responsibility, opposing wasteful government spending. However, he reportedly took nearly $570,000 in PPP loans and since 1995, his farm has taken $2.1 million in federal subsidies. Additionally, his family members received millions from the Pritzker admin.
Wouldn’t Stand For Life:
Darren Bailey claims to be pro-life. However, he also claimed abortion laws in the state would not have be changed should he had won his gubernatorial race, stating “Illinois has the most permissive abortion laws in the nation. Nothing’s going to change when I’m governor.”
Second Amendment:
Darren Bailey claims to support the second amendment. However, while running for Governor, Bailey called for a special session to strengthen the Firearms Restraining Order Act, red flag law legislation that allows judges to take away firearms.
Chose to live in Chicago:
Darren Bailey claims to be anti-Chicago, supporting measures for separation and calling it a “hellhole.” However, he chose to live on the miracle mile in the John Hancock center, while campaigning for Governor, claiming he wanted to “immerse [him]self in the culture” of the city.
* As noted above, we talked yesterday about how Mike Bost flip-flopped on his previous votes in favor of funding the defense of Ukraine against the Russian invasion. Bailey had whacked Bost and US Rep. Darin LaHood for their past votes in favor of Ukraine funding. “We can’t secure our border, but we continue writing blank checks to Ukraine? We need to get our priorities straight and put America first. How any member of Congress can vote for this while our border isn’t secure, families are suffering, and we have veterans living on our streets is abhorrent,” he wrote.
This morning brought another bit from the NRCC. It’s a Sun-Times report from February of 2022…
Pritzker’s Republican rivals have found a rare patch of common ground with him on Ukraine, with candidates in the GOP primary field for governor summarily denouncing the Russian invasion.
“Russia’s actions are unconscionable and we should place extremely strong sanctions on Russia,” state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, said in a statement. “Ukraine has made clear it can fight for itself but we should provide the resources they need to defend their sovereignty.”
* Bailey’s response…
“I have always been against sending blank checks to Ukraine. My position hasn’t changed. Unlike career politicians like Bost, I would have demanded accountability with every penny and cut it off a long time ago. And I would not have joined a never-Trumper like Adam Kinzinger to push new gun control laws, and I would never vote to send millions to planned parenthood. I’m a conservative fighter who has been in the fights against Pritzker’s lockdowns and more while Bost has been sitting on his hands and playing politics.”
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Drip, drip, drip
Friday, Sep 29, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tom Schuba…
Fifty minutes after two women were somehow wounded by gunshots Aug. 25, [the now-former commander of the CPD’s patrol bureau John Spellman] informed Sox staff that Patrol Chief Brian McDermott wanted to “stop the game for public safety reasons,” according to a police report.
Spellman had been serving as a security supervisor for At Your Service LLC, the company that guards Sox park and is controlled by team executives, according to law enforcement sources.
There was concern that Spellman might have prioritized the interests of the team over the department and stalled in delivering McDermott’s request to pause the game, a source said. He also didn’t have the superintendent’s approval to work the security job, as required by a departmental order. […]
In an appearance last week on the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman Show, [former acting police superintendent Fred Waller] wouldn’t comment on whether Spellman had been given approval to work for At Your Service. He also sidestepped a question about whether Spellman had disobeyed a direct order from McDermott.
Spellman was demoted and sent to the Morgan Park District on Waller’s last day in office, according to the report.
Also, points to Schuba for calling it “Sox park.”
...Adding… Related…
* White Sox ballpark shooting victim breaks silence, speaks exclusively with ABC7: “I heard a loud pop,” the victim said. “I felt an impact on my leg, and I looked down and I did not see anything. I thought somebody, you know, in the crowd had thrown a beer can or thrown something, bottled water or something, and there was nothing there.” But then, someone nearby noticed a lot of blood, and she looked down and saw her right leg was bleeding. “It wasn’t until a couple moments later that somebody mentioned that there was a bullet found a couple of rows down,” she said. “And at that moment was when I realized I had been shot. I panicked. I completely went into panic mode, knowing that there was a bullet fired nearby us. And at that point I didn’t know if it was there was going to be more gunfire. I didn’t know anything. I was terrified. I wanted to get out of that area because I knew somebody in the immediate area had a gun on them.”
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Open thread
Friday, Sep 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s goin’ on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, Sep 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Sun-Times | Pritzker says Chicago could house asylum-seekers in unused buildings, not winter tent basecamps: Pritzker said the city could instead create shelters in existing, unused buildings. He said the federal government could offer buildings, but the state and federal governments haven’t yet identified any. […] “With a lack of existing buildings to put people in, I know the city has looked at this as one of its options. But I don’t think this is the only option,” Pritzker said.
* Tribune | Tension between city and state over migrant crisis on the rise — as are cost estimates: During a briefing with reporters, Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, said the latest estimate of costs associated with migrants arriving in Chicago from August 2022 to the end of the year could reach $361.3 million, a whopping $58 million more than the previous projection.
* ABC Chicago | SEC files fraud charges against COMED and Former CEO, found guilty in Madigan bribery case: The Securities and Exchange Comission charged ComEd and its former CEO Anne Pramaggiore Thursday with fraud in connection to the alleged corruption scheme involving former house speaker Mike Madigan. Commonwealth Edison and its parent company Exelon agreed to settle, paying a penalty of more than $46 million. However, charges against Pramaggiore will move forward.
* WAND | Illinois police, fire leaders urge lawmakers to eliminate Tier 2 pension system: “We’re about 12 years into this two-tiered system - a system quite frankly that our members find not fair, immoral and wrong,” said Chuck Sullivan, President for the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois.”AFFI was one of several organizations speaking on behalf of first responders during a House Personnel & Pensions Committee hearing Thursday afternoon.
* Benzinga | Illinois Is Paving The Way For Cannabis, Pritzker Says: ‘Here In The Land Of Lincoln We’re Trying To Do Things Differently’: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker highlighted the importance of that initiative Thursday in a keynote address at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago. […] “We couldn’t just legalize cannabis and say that our work was done. We had to address the trauma inflicted by the war on cannabis and the war on drugs more broadly, which incarcerated thousands … and tore apart families and neighborhoods in the process,” he said.
* CBS Chicago | Illinois child care providers face “cliff” with pandemic funds set to expire: Several daycare owners told CBS 2 the funding was the only reason they survived the pandemic, and without it, parents and staff are going to face a serious dilemma. The American Rescue Plan funding has helped thousands of child care centers across Illinois pay their staff, upgrade their facilities and keep cots lower for parents. But it’s set to expire on Sept. 30.
* WSPY | Chief of Staff for current 76th District State Rep. now running for the job: Amy “Murri” Briel, who is the chief of staff for current 76th District State Representative Lance Yednock, is announcing that she’ll run for the job in 2024. […] DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes has also announced that he will also seek the Democratic nomination.
* Tribune | Chicago Housing Authority could continue to redirect funds under controversial HUD program extension: Called Moving to Work, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program allows CHA and other public housing authorities to use money allocated for housing vouchers and public housing for other purposes, such as providing free meals to seniors and youth and helping residents find jobs.
* WBEZ | A politically connected Chicago Park District manager got a light punishment after mishandling a sexual harassment allegation: Maya Solis — a daughter of disgraced former Ald. Danny Solis — continues in her $126,072-a-year post as one of three region directors for the Park District, despite an internal investigation that found she learned about the sexual harassment allegation in 2018 and did not report it to the human resources department.
* SJ-R | Shipman trustee accused of collecting and spending village funds for personal use: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said that through payments to herself and on personal costs, Robinson spent anywhere from $10,000 to $65,000 in village money. According to the AG’s office, she paid herself by forging signatures on unauthorized village checks and used village funds to pay personal utilities and the rent on personal storage units.
* WGN | Evanston residents protest Ryan Field renovations for 2nd straight day: The $800 million project would rebuild Ryan Field, but also rezone the area to allow for six concerts at the stadium, a major sticking point for many neighbors. The Evanston Chamber of Commerce released a statement Tuesday, saying they support the planned renovations, citing an economic impact study to back their stance. That study found the new stadium would generate $1.3 billion in economic impact to Cook and Lake Counties.
* Aurora Beacon-News | Ceremonial lease signing marks milestone in development of VNA Health Care facility at old Copley Hospital site in Aurora: The development includes an independent living community for people with intellectual, cognitive and developmental disabilities, senior citizen residences, the East Aurora School District administrative headquarters, a five-acre park and playground and a soon-to-be VNA Health clinic.
* WIRED | US Justice Department Urged to Investigate Gunshot Detector Purchases: Justice Department (DOJ) is being asked to investigate whether a gunshot-detection system widely in use across the US is being selectively deployed to justify the over-policing of mainly Black neighborhoods, as critics of the technology claim.
* Block Club | City Drops Citations Against Migrant Barbers Arrested For Cutting Hair Without License: Chicago’s municipal code states it’s illegal to operate a business and exchange money without a proper license. People can be fined at least $250 for violations, according to the code. The men were not fined and have since stopped operations, one of the barbers previously told Block Club.
* Crain’s | Art Institute again under fire over disputed ownership of artwork: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office earlier this month issued a series of warrants for art created by Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele believed to have been stolen by the Nazis during World War II. While five museums and collectors in the U.S. voluntarily returned seven pieces of art from the stolen collection, the Art Institute of Chicago is one of three museums digging its heels in over ownership of the remaining three items.
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Live coverage
Friday, Sep 29, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* ScribbleLive is still down. Twitter has stopped allowing people to embed list feeds on websites. So, click here or here to follow breaking news.
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