ISP now confirms 6 fatalities & 30 injuries, some life-threatening, in the wake of this morning’s massive, 100+ vehicle pileup on I-55 near Farmersville, south of Springfield. I-55 will remain closed between MP80 & MP63 TFN. More at https://t.co/vhbRxCcLibpic.twitter.com/2UiBlqqKTI
I-55 shut down Monday from milepost 63 to 80 due to a large crash involving more than 20 cars.
Police say they started receiving calls reporting the crash around 10:55 a.m. on Monday. […]
Illinois State Police say the crash involved approximately 20 commercial motor vehicles and 40 to 60 passenger cars.
Police say they have reports of more than 30 people being transported to the hospital and multiple fatalities.
The cause of the crash is excessive winds blowing dirt from fields across the highway, creating zero visibility.
Police say two truck-tractor semi-trailers caught on fire as a result of the crashes.
* ISP press release…
UNIT: ISP Troop 8
LOCATION: Interstate 55 near Milepost 76, north of Farmersville, Montgomery County
DATE and TIME: May 1, 2023 at approximately 10:55 a.m.
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Preliminary information indicates the following occurred: ISP Troops 6 and 8 responded to the above area for multiple crashes with injuries. Interstate 55 is currently shut down in both directions from milepost 63 to milepost 80. Visibility in the area is reported to be low due to blowing dust. Traffic is urged to seek alternate routes.
At 10:55 a.m. there was a crash on northbound Interstate 55 at Milepost 76. At the same time, there were numerous crashes on southbound Interstate 55 at Milepost 76. Approximately 20 commercial motor vehicles and 40 to 60 passenger cars were involved. This includes two truck-tractor semi-trailers that caught fire as a result of the crashes.
At this time, we have reports of more than 30 people being transported to the hospital and multiple fatalities. The cause of the crash is due to excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility.
This information is still preliminary and the ISP continues to investigate this crash. We will have more information at our next briefing at 4:30 p.m.
…Adding… More from ISP…
Injuries range from minor to life-threatening and ages range from two-years-old to 80-years-old.
Reports show there are six fatalities, all occurring in the northbound lanes. We do not have any additional information on those individuals at this time.
…Adding… Another ISP update…
At this time, 72 vehicles are reported being involved in the crash. A total of 37 people were transported to area hospitals. […]
Reports show there are six fatalities, all occurring in the northbound lanes. At this time, one decedent has been identified as 88-year-old Shirley Harper of Franklin, WI. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office is working diligently to identify the other five individuals and notify their families.
Northbound and southbound lanes remain closed. Once the interstate is cleared of all vehicles, the Illinois Department of Transportation will have to inspect the roadway before it is re-opened.
* Photos and videos from Twitter…
Interstate 55 in southern Sangamon and northern Montgomery counties remains closed in both directions because of numerous crashes caused by a dust storm, which has greatly reduced visibility. (photo via @wics_abc20) pic.twitter.com/rYbWKndJa6
UPDATE | I-55 crash in Montgomery County: Authorities say 30 people were taken to the hospital. Multiple people have died, but they do not have a number. The interstate will be shut down until tomorrow.
Massive pileup on I-55 south of Springfield, Illinois has closed the interstate for nearly 30 miles. Blowing dust off freshly plowed fields led to very low visibility#ilwx 🎥: Nathan Cormier pic.twitter.com/im7QLE8BTp
UPDATED: @ILStatePolice says 20 commercial vehicles and 40-60 passenger vehicles are involved in the pile-up on I-55, where a dust storm has visibility at zero.
The defining experience of Jordan Zamora-Garcia’s high school career – a hands-on group project in civics class that spurred a new city ordinance in his Austin suburb – would now violate Texas law.
Since Texas lawmakers in 2021 passed a ban on lessons teaching that any one group is “inherently racist, sexist or oppressive”, a little-noticed provision of that legislation has triggered a massive fallout for civics education across the state.
Tucked into page 8 is a stipulation outlawing all assignments involving “direct communication” between students and their federal, state or local officials – short-circuiting the training young Texans receive to participate in democracy itself.
Zamora-Garcia’s 2017 project to add student advisers to the city council, and others like it involving research and meetings with elected representatives, would stand in direct violation.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board announced Monday that it will counter-sue Disney after the company filed a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis last Wednesday, alleging the Republican orchestrated a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” against the company that violates Disney’s free speech rights.
Disney is challenging the legality of a new board appointed by DeSantis to govern the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District – where the Walt Disney World resort is located.
“Disney sued us, we have no choice now but to respond,” Martin Garcia, chair of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, said Monday, according to Politico. “The district will seek justice in state court here in central Florida where both it and Disney reside and do business.”
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is suing the state’s ethics watchdog alleging it doesn’t have the authority to seize $5.1 million from a book he wrote about the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Albany, argues that the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying In Government is not authorized to take money from his book “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” because the agency lacks the authority under state laws.
Cuomo’s lawyers wrote in the 46-page complaint that the move to create the new ethics commission last year “blatantly violates the separation of powers because it creates an unaccountable agency exercising quintessentially executive powers.”
“The act at issue here is a poster child for a statute that cuts at the heart of the structural protections inherent in the New York Constitution safeguarding the rights and liberties of the people,” Cuomo’s lawyers wrote. “To our knowledge, the act is unprecedented in that it creates a state entity with sweeping executive law-enforcement powers, including the authority to impose penalties, and yet utterly insulates the agency from any oversight by or accountability to the executive branch.”
Montana state legislator Zooey Zephyr is suing the state, House Speaker Matt Regier and Sergeant at Arms for the Montana House of Representatives Bradley Murfitt after being censured by House Republicans.
“The recent actions violate my 1st amendment rights, as well as the rights of my 11,000 constituents to representation,” Zephyr said in a tweet Monday. “Montana’s State House is the people’s House, not Speaker Regier’s, and I’m determined to defend the right of the people to have their voices heard.”
Zephyr is petitioning for her legislative privileges and duties to be reinstated. […]
Zephyr has since participated remotely in the legislature from the public seating of the state Capitol building.
A Missouri judge on Monday temporarily blocked a first-of-its-kind rule that would restrict access to gender-affirming health care to children and adults, just hours before it was set to take effect.
St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s emergency rule until a lawsuit challenging it is resolved.
In her ruling, Ribaudo wrote that those suing to block the ruling from taking effect “will be subjected to immediate and irreparable loss, damage or injury if the Attorney General is permitted to enforce the Emergency Rule, and its broad, sweeping provisions were implemented without further fact-finding or evidence.”
She wrote that patients “are at high risk of having their medical care interrupted for an unknown length of time; once the Rule goes into effect, they may lose access to medical care through their current providers until such time as the provider can come into compliance with the Rule’s requirements.”
The court’s decision was guided, in part, by concern that Bailey’s restrictions could have the effect of “creating confusion” in hospitals and clinics.
“The Rule promulgated by the Attorney General states specifically, ‘This rule does not contain an exhaustive list of the practices that violate the Act,’” the judge wrote in her ruling. “This leaves significant room for interpretation of what would and would not be covered by the Act, creating confusion for those tasked with the enforcement of the Rule and those required to comply.”
The rule would also require the patients’ doctors to sign off on documents stating the patients had no underlying mental health conditions. Transgender patients and medical advocates said the restrictions were written so broadly, they would amount to an effective outright ban on care.
A year after banning nearly all abortion procedures in the state, Oklahoma lawmakers focused very little on the issue this legislative session.
Bills that would clarify exceptions and others seeking to toughen punishments have not advanced this session.
Gov. Kevin Stitt, who pledged to sign every anti-abortion bill that hit his desk, said during a campaign debate last year there should be exceptions for rape and incest. But lawmakers did not send the governor any bill carving out additional exceptions.
“It was a nonissue to the Legislature this year, which proves that it was always a political issue,” said Tamya Cox-Touré, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, which supports abortion rights.
* Some folks who were eligible for Medicaid during the pandemic are no longer eligible because they have jobs again and can get their own insurance. So, judging the success of this effort by raw numbers alone will be difficult. Still, this is a huge test of how well the Pritzker administration can govern…
As the COVID-19 pandemic policy of pausing annual Medicaid renewals for customers comes to an end, the Pritzker administration is committed to protect coverage for eligible Illinois Medicaid customers, as annual eligibility verifications, or redeterminations, resume in Illinois. The first week of May is a critical time, as the first round of customers to go through the resumed renewal process will be receiving time-sensitive redetermination notices in the mail.
In Illinois, there will not be a “coverage cliff,” where everyone loses coverage at one time. Rather, redeterminations will happen on a rolling basis through mid-2024. Everybody’s due date is different, and all Illinois Medicaid customers will have a chance to go through the redetermination process.
“My administration is committed to making this renewal and redetermination process as smooth and efficient as possible, so that every Illinoisan knows the healthcare options that are available to them,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We’ve been preparing for this moment for many months now, from increasing staffing to our widespread Ready to Renew marketing campaign. And we are collaborating with community health centers, local organizations, and public health partners to deliver resources for Illinois residents that will be most impacted by the restart of the Medicaid redetermination process.” […]
In the month of June, approximately 113,600 cases in Illinois are up for renewal. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), which administers the Illinois Medicaid program, has conducted an ex parte screening on all cases using electronic data sources and known information to determine the customer’s continued eligibility. Thanks to robust preparations and enhanced data connections, HFS was able to automatically renew 51% of Medicaid customers due in June. […]
Customers who do not respond or are no longer eligible lose their Medicaid coverage a month after their due date. Anyone who is no longer eligible for Medicaid coverage will be notified and will receive information about how to enroll in alternative coverage.
* ComEd 4 jury deliberation update from the Tribune…
Shortly after resuming talks Monday, the jury sent a note asking the court to “clarify a possible discrepancy with the use of conjunctions and/or” in the indictment and instructions. It was a nearly identical question sent by the jury in the sexual abuse trial last year of R. Kelly, which was also in front of Leinenweber.
“This is precisely the same issue I had with the Kelly case” the judge said. The problem is the indictment is conjunctive, using the word “and” while describing the probable cause for the various elements of the bribery counts, while the instructions use the word “or.”
The judge said he would respond the same way he did in the Kelly case, which is to follow the instructions.
The Kelly jury later acquitted Kelly and his two co-defendants of the conspiracy counts that contained the confusing language.
Defense attorney Patrick Cotter objected on behalf of all ComEd Four defendants, saying “we believe the instructions constitute an improper amendment of the indictment” that lessens the government’s burden of proof.
Leinenweber overruled the objection, but said, “I don’t blame you at all for raising that point.”
* April numbers were up year over year, but the rest of the year was better. WTTW…
The number of shootings and homicides in Chicago are each down more than 10% through the first four months of 2023 compared to the same time last year, according to police department data.
There have been 166 homicides recorded in the city year-to-date, according to the Chicago Police Department. That’s fewer than the same time periods in both 2022 and 2021, but higher than the 156 homicides recorded through the end of April in 2020. […]
According to CPD data, vehicular hijackings are down more than 25% this year compared to last, while violent crime on the CTA is down 6% year-to-date.
[Cook County state’s attorney’s office’ chief data officer, Matthew Saniie] told the Tribune that prosecutors get digital files from more than 100 municipalities, many of which use wildly different systems. The county maintains one computer that runs Windows 2000 — a technology more than two decades old — because prosecutors still receive files that can only be played on that operating system, he said.
As we saw at the beginning of the pandemic, local public health departments and hospitals were using fax machines to report their data.
* Full video is here. The lack of bollards causes very real dangers…
This intersection cracks me up. Look at the posts Chicago uses to protect a building (Sears Tower) versus the ones to protect pedestrians. pic.twitter.com/Hy8ndBvPdk
While the rate at which murders are solved or “cleared” has been declining for decades, it has now dropped to slightly below 50% in 2020 - a new historic low. And several big cities, including Chicago, have seen the number of murder cases resulting in at least one arrest dip into the low to mid-30% range.
“We saw a sharp drop in the national clearance rate in 2020,” says Prof. Philip Cook, a public policy researcher and professor emeritus at Duke University and the University of Chicago Urban Labs who has been studying clearance rates for decades. “It reached close to 50% at that time nationwide, which was the lowest ever recorded by the FBI. And it hasn’t come up that much since then.”
That makes the U.S. among the worst at solving murders in the industrialized world. Germany, for example, consistently clears well over 90% of its murders.
While reasons behind the drop are multi-faceted, Cook and other experts warn that more people getting away with murder in the the U.S. is driving a kind of doom loop of mutual mistrust: low murder clearance rates impede future investigations which in turn potentially drive up killings in some communities where a lack of arrests undermines deterrence and sends a message that the police will not or cannot protect them.
…Adding… People driving back to Springfield today from points south should check ahead…
A portion of Interstate 55 is shut down in both directions Monday afternoon after a dust storm caused a “large crash” in south-central Illinois.
Illinois State Police said a crash involving multiple vehicles happened about 11:40 a.m. from milepost 62 to 80 in Montgomery County.
The National Weather Service said on Twitter that visibility in the area was poor after a “combination of newly plowed fields and gusty northwest winds” generated a dust storm.
* Sun-Times | Why we’re launching The Democracy Solutions Project: In the runup to the 2024 election, the Sun-Times, WBEZ and the Center for Effective Government at the University of Chicago will be collaborating on a project to educate our audience about the threat to our democracy and how we can form “a more perfect union.”
* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson names John Roberson as city’s incoming COO: Roberson, a former 2004 Crain’s 40 Under 40 honoree, said in press release: “I’ve dedicated my career to public service, and it’s an honor to serve incoming Mayor Johnson in this capacity. I look forward to working closely with Mayor-elect Johnson to identify our goals and policy priorities to achieve our vision for a safer, stronger city that delivers for residents.”
* Crain’s | Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson names more appointees to transition subcommittees: Nearly 400 people — including politicians, activists, civic leaders and businesspeople — are on the lists. Among some of the more notable names that were added to the groups: Alds. Jeanette Taylor, 20th; Byron Sigcho Lopez, 25th; and Matt Martin, 47th; as well as state Rep. Will Guzzardi; Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi; Michael Sacks and Choose Chicago’s Lynn Osmond.
* AP | Midwestern hospitals that denied emergency abortion broke the law, investigation finds: The federal agency’s investigation centers on two hospitals — Freeman Health System in Joplin, Missouri, and University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas — that in August refused to provide an abortion to a Missouri woman whose water broke early at 17 weeks of pregnancy. Doctors at both hospitals told Mylissa Farmer that her fetus would not survive, that her amniotic fluid had emptied and that she was at risk for serious infection or losing her uterus, but they would not terminate the pregnancy because a fetal heartbeat was still detectable.
* Crain’s | Rivian’s troubles don’t end at a 93% stock price wipeout: The relentless erosion in Rivian Automotive Inc.’s share price is revealing an ugly truth: Investors have little faith left in the ability of the Amazon.com Inc.-backed company to compete in a crowded electric-vehicle market. A market capitalization that exceeded $150 billion days after a blockbuster public trading debut in late 2021 now stands at less than $12 billion after a 93% stock wipeout, reflecting almost no value beyond the company’s cash hoard.
* Sun-Times | Greyhound terminal makes departure plans. Will riders be kicked to the curb?: “What we’re seeing around the country is, these stations close … and in numerous cases [bus service is] ending up occurring on the curb,” said DePaul University professor Joe Schwieterman, director of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development. But a city with two major airports, and Union Station west of the Loop for Amtrak travelers, must have a facility for the 500,000 people who arrive here yearly by intercity bus.
* WICS | Gas prices down in Illinois according to GasBuddy: According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Illinois was priced at $3.33/g yesterday while the most expensive was $4.99/g, a difference of $1.66/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.33/g while the highest was $4.99/g, a difference of $1.66/g.
* Crain’s | Return-to-office numbers haven’t been this high since before the pandemic: More Chicago workers are back in the office now than at any time since pandemic lockdowns turned downtown into a ghost town. That’s according to data from real estate technology firm Kastle Systems, which analyzes building security card swipes and compares current figures to early 2020.
* Mashable | WordPress drops Twitter social sharing due to API price hike: According to a statement released by WordPress, the platform is removing Twitter from JetPack, an official plugin run by WordPress and its parent company, Automattic. Among its many security and marketing offerings, JetPack Social provides users with the ability to automatically share content directly to an array of social media platforms from their WordPress sites.
* Salon | Political “polarization” isn’t the real problem in America: One pole is a lot worse than the other: This unspoken anti-political and even anti-democratic bias is addressed in a new paper from Daniel Kreiss and Shannon McGregor, both at the University of North Carolina. They argue that the focus on polarization as such, while ignoring the actual content of politics that produces polarization, is fundamentally mistaken: “As a concept, polarization does not provide a normative or even conceptual way of distinguishing between White supremacists and racial justice activists, despite their asymmetrical relationship to liberal democracy.”
* Robert Reiter and Tim Drea | The heart of labor is beating strong in Chicago and Illinois: On Monday we celebrate May Day, also known as International Workers Day, a holiday forged by the Haymarket Affair that took place right here in Chicago in 1886. May Day is a moment to reflect on the vital role that the labor movement in Chicago and Illinois have played — and continue to play — in the battle for economic and social justice.
Monday, May 1, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Support Renewable Energy Credits for Illinois’ public universities to help offset the cost of solar power on campus, help fight climate change and create good-paying union jobs.
Another Pontiac problem is the number of incarcerated people designated as seriously mentally ill: 26%, according to state data.
Rob Jeffreys, who just stepped down after nearly four years as director of the department of corrections, acknowledges the state has been hit with two lawsuits leading to a consent decree over its physical and mental health care programs.
“Corrections has become default for mental health,” Jeffreys told WTTW News. “Unfortunately, we have 42 to 43% of our population is on some type of mental health caseload. Of that 43%, about 14% are essentially mentally ill diagnosed. And that only increases when we start talking about the female population. I think 70% of our female population is on a mental health caseload.”
But Jeffreys claims the state has been working to address the issues.
Jeffreys says IDOC has partnered with the Department of Human Services on both policies and accreditation to open a treatment center at Joliet, where DHS will operate mental health programming.
“We have to provide programming, out-of-cell time, and to be able to do that we need to be able to consolidate our resources,” he said. “I think Pontiac serves as one of our mental health facilities along with Dixon which has a mental health treatment unit.
Jeffreys said the agency is in the process of hiring a new mental health provider.
The rising Mississippi River tested flood defenses in southeast Iowa and northwest Illinois as it neared forecast crests in the area Monday, driven by a spring surge of water from melting snow. […]
The river is expected to crest at around 21.6 feet (6.6 meters) on Monday in the Quad-Cities area, where several neighboring cities sit along the Iowa-Illinois line. Some roads and parks near the river are closed. The record at that spot is 22.7 feet (6.9 meters).
Once the river crests in an area, it may take up to two weeks for the floodwaters to fully recede.
The flooding is expected to ease as the spring surge of water from melting snow works its way further down the 2,300-mile (3,700-kilometer) length of the river on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the tributaries in Iowa, Illinois and other Midwest states are running lower than usual, so they won’t exacerbate the flooding by dumping large amounts of water into the river.
Cleanup efforts are underway after a train derailed Thursday afternoon in southwest Wisconsin, sending two cars tumbling into the Mississippi River.
Officials said the derailment occurred about 12:15 p.m. near the villages of Ferryville and De Soto in Crawford County, about 30 miles south of La Crosse. Four members of the train crew were transported to the hospital for medical evaluation.
On Friday morning, Gov. Tony Evers tweeted that he was on his way to De Soto to survey the site and speak with emergency personnel.
A spokesperson for the railroad company, BNSF Railway, said the two cars that floated downriver contained non-hazardous “freight of all kinds.” Some of the cars that crashed and remained on land contained paint and lithium-ion batteries.
* Be safe out there…
Correspondent McNeil reporting from the Mississippi River shoreline. We won’t hit 1993 or 1965 flood levels, but this one packs a punch. pic.twitter.com/oKFDuxVMhe
The power of Mississippi River flood waters rolling by our window in the reflected sun. River velocity seems higher. You can see the inundated trees on the Illinois side. #IaPolitics#Burlingtonpic.twitter.com/br89fikgjc
Closer to St. Louis the Mississippi is forecast to hit moderate flood stage of 22 feet in the Quincy area midweek. It isn’t cause for major concern, said John Simon, the emergency management director for Adams County.
“There’s going to be some roads that start to get flooded,” he said. “No major thoroughfares until we hit about 23 feet. Where we’re at is really in that monitoring phase.”
Simon said some lower-lying park and open land areas will see some flooding too. The county’s actions to respond to flooding mainly center around when the river hits the major flood stage at 26 feet, he added.
Additional rainfall in the coming days and weeks could make the river’s level rise or mean higher levels last longer, Simon said.
For decades, Davenport city councils have opposed controversial plans to build a floodwall or levee, citing costs and such a structure impeding access to or views of the river. Instead, the city has opted to rely on a system of temporary sand-filled barriers and pumps, allowing riverfront parks to hold floodwaters, and buying up or tearing down property in flood-prone areas. […]
“When people do talk to me straight up with that, this is what I tell them: How do you want us to do this? Where would you like us to get the money?” [Davenport Mayor Mike Matson] said.
An estimate in 2014 put construction of a flood wall at $174 million, but Matson said more recent estimates would be much higher, more than half a billion dollars.
Instead, the city is just starting to implement a 2021-approved plan that starts underground in the storm sewers and would eventually raise parts of River Drive to protect the city up to river stage 22 feet without temporary barriers.
* Crest forecast…
Here is the latest forecast crest information for the Mississippi River. The river will be cresting from Fulton to Muscatine today and tonight. Be careful walking near riverbanks and don't drive around barricades or into flooded areas.
Savanna is doubling down its preparation just days from seeing waters approach downtown.
“They’ve built approximately 850 feet of wall in the past 48 hours,” Carroll County Emergency Management Jim Klienefter said.
More than a dozen inmates from prisons in East Moline and Kewanee pitched in to help build roughly 45,000 sandbags.
“The plans have really worked out well over the last 72 hours,” Klienefter said.
* Congressman Sorensen…
The flood walls are holding firm against the Mighty Mississippi in Rock Island, Illinois today. Thinking of everyone affected by flooding right now. #IL17pic.twitter.com/umLYepGMyG
In North Buena Vista, the neighborhood across the railroad tracks from the Mississippi River is several feet underwater, but at least a few area residents are still living in their flooded homes. […]
Scott Blum and Heath Davis are among those who have adapted to living in a semi-aquatic community. […]
“When the river comes up like this, it leaves a lot of mud, silt, you know what I mean, ‘cause it just sits out there,” Davis said. “And so I’m sure we’re going to have to scrape and clean and new rock on everything.” […]
“It’s kind of fun,” Blum said. “Before I lived by the river, and now I live in it.”
* Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week on the flooding…
The Army Corps has closed 18 locks and dams from the Twin Cities to Illinois because of high water levels, halting barge traffic during the river’s busy spring shipping season.
Some of them, like Lock and Dam 4 in Alma, closed because the water has overtopped the lock chamber where boats typically pass through, Moes said. Others closed because the rushing current was pushing barges too close to the dam.
“I’ve been here 13 years and I’ve never experienced the amount of closures we’re dealing with this year,” Moes said. “It’s truly a historic flood.”
A few may open again April 29, but that will ultimately depend on the flood conditions, he said.
So far, locks 1-10 are closed but expect to all be open by May 4. Locks 11 through 18 are closed with no opening dates forecast yet. The Mississippi River at Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois, (lock 15) is nearing record flood stage of 22.7 feet, but the crest is expected to be at 21.6 feet on May 2. However, the river there will be in major flood stage at least through May 8.
One bill worth watching that you haven’t heard much about: Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s request to convert the state’s Affordable Care Act — aka “Obamacare” — insurance exchange from federal to state control. That would allow the state to, for instance, guarantee coverage for abortion and birth control if the White House were to flip back to Republicans.
If you click the link, keep in mind that session is scheduled to end two weeks from Friday, not one week.
Uber is out with a six-figure radio ad buy that opposes a state House bill that sponsors say would hold rideshare companies accountable for the safety of passengers. Uber opposes the bill, saying it’s more about ending “frivolous lawsuits,” which would make rideshare “more expensive for everyone,” according to the ad.
* Press release…
A new proposal from Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and State Representative La Shawn Ford (8th District – Chicago) would no longer make it illegal for motorists to have items hanging from their rearview mirror, which often serve as a pretext for traffic stops.
Under House Bill 2389, law enforcement would no longer have the authority to stop a motorist for simply hanging items like air fresheners, rosaries or disability placards from their rearview mirror while driving. This legislative effort – which passed the Illinois House on March 24 and is awaiting an expected floor vote in the Senate – follows through on a campaign promise Giannoulias made in 2021.
Current Illinois law prohibits such items from hanging from a rearview mirror, or affixed to a windshield, on the grounds that they obstruct a motorist’s vision. Such unnecessary encounters over minor vehicle code offenses can lead to violent confrontations between police and motorists. Additionally, this arcane law can serve as a pretext for racially motivated traffic stops for minor infractions.
“Pulling someone over for merely having an air freshener attached to the rearview mirror is not only archaic, it’s ridiculous,” Giannoulias said. “Amending the law by prohibiting traffic stops that encourage discriminatory practices will ultimately make our streets safer for both motorists and police officers.” […]
House Bill 2389, which is sponsored in the Senate by State Senator Christopher Belt (57th District – East St. Louis), passed the Senate Transportation Committee 17-1 on April 19, sending it to the full Senate for consideration. If the bill passes the full Senate, it will advance to the governor’s office.
* HB3601 is still in the House Rules Committee and never even received a committee vote. But, here’s WGEM…
Illinois Bill, HB 3601, looks to provide schools the information, tools, spare parts, software, and other means to extend the life of classroom devices.
The Quincy Public School District’s IT Director, Dan Ware said Chromebooks are cheaper to use and buy compared to other laptops. He said it’s also easier for both students, and teachers to use for learning purposes.
However after a certain amount of years, he said Google will no longer support certain Chromebook models which can cost $400 to replace, depending on the model. […]
Ware said their Chromebooks will expire in 2030. He said while it’s possible to put new software on the Chromebooks, it can be tricky to find and would be more expensive than buying a new one. As for parts, it can also be tricky depending on the type. He said keyboards are the most common part they have to replace, which can range up to $15, depending on the condition of it. For other parts, it can vary on prices, and availability. But the bill could make it easier for them.
A push in the Capitol would require animal shelters and animal control facilities to waive adoption fees for veterans. […]
The bill passed unanimously out of the House and is waiting further action in the Senate.
“This gives our vets who have sacrificed so much, just an opportunity to have that extra support, that extra comfort, that camaraderie, that friendship that we have with our animals, with our pets that become part of the family,” State Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood), the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, said. […]
Some shelters like the Animal Protective League (APL) in Springfield work with veterans on a case-by-case basis and have, in some instances, waived or discounted the fees.
An Illinois bill that would establish guardrails on income-share agreements, a controversial method of financing a college education, has stalled in a Senate committee.
Income-share agreements, or ISAs, allow college graduates to pay back their tuition and fees through a monthly portion of their salaries over a set time frame with little to no initial costs. However, ISA critics argue these deals are often difficult to parse, potentially saddle students with greater debt, and have minimal government oversight.
Illinois’ draft legislation would allow ISA providers to take up to a 20% cut of graduates’ income until their tuition is repaid. Providers would also need to ensure graduates wouldn’t pay an effective annual percentage rate greater than 36%.
* Maybe there should be a bill to stop these online newspaper subscription scams…
Change the state where you live in your account to California and it will let you cancel
Q: You pushed back on [Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s] financial transaction tax, but he’s also looking for state help with the possible real estate transfer tax, changes to the school funding formula. Any negotiation room on those plans?
Pritzker: Well, it’s not something that, obviously, as governor, I’m not the one in the General Assembly, in the committees that are talking about this. But I do not think we’re going to see a lot of movement on the tax front.
But I do think that there are a lot of things that we’re doing at the state level that will be very, very helpful to the new mayor, to the city of Chicago. Always we’ve focused on providing the resources necessary to fight crime, to make sure that they’ve got violence interruption programs that are well funded. We’re providing literally tens of millions more dollars than ever before, each year to help do that. We’ve got to address that issue. That’s certainly one of the top ones and the mayor talks about that as well. And then of course, education funding. We’re increasing education funding, that will help CPS. So there’s a lot that’s coming to the city and we’re going to be as helpful as we can.
Look as Chicago goes, as you know, so goes the economy of the entire state. We need to make sure we’re supporting businesses across the state and job creation and people and working families. But it turns out, as you know, that the majority of the economy of our entire state is in the Chicago area. And so the mayor of Chicago and I and the legislature all need to work together to make sure we’re growing our GDP.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
Thoughts?
…Adding… Yep…
Honestly not looking forward to the most ardent supporter backlash when every mayoral campaign promise can't be funded everywhere all at once.
Passing new revenue source bills is hard. Even harder when same body gave City a new casino four years ago that's still not open. https://t.co/iVhYEx5hCo
Not to mention the many years that the city refused to allow video gaming and instead allowed gray market sweepstakes machines to establish themselves, even though the machines don’t produce a thin dime of city revenue.
* The governor, via the Democratic Party of Illinois, supported two candidates for Hinsdale Township High School 86’s board. Only one prevailed, and now the folks who took over the board are up in arms about an upcoming Pritzker visit. Here’s David Giuliani at the Patch…
A Hinsdale High School District 86 board member is asking the district to cancel the half-hour assembly at Hinsdale Central High School with Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker as the speaker.
In a text to Patch, Board member Jeff Waters said that as a resident, he was “beyond disappointed” that Pritzker had been invited.
“It is inappropriate, completely lacking in precedence, and fails to serve the interest of students,” Waters said. “At the same time, it drives chaos and distraction to a student body needing nothing but calm and concentration.” […]
On Wednesday, the terms for Held and members Kathleen Hirsman and Cynthia Hanson end. Three new board members take office that night, with the new majority expected to be at odds with Superintendent Tammy Prentiss.
At Thursday’s board meeting, incoming member Catherine Greenspon said the assembly runs the risk of violating the school code. She also said it could be a logistics issue, with up to 40 percent of students who don’t agree with the governor opting out.
With Waters and Greenspon opposed, they would need just two more votes to cancel the assembly. In his statement, Waters suggested the board take action to end the event.
*** UPDATE *** From Jordan Abudayyeh…
We declined the invitation because it’s during the last week of session.
So, apparently the school district got ahead of itself when it announced the visit before confirming the governor’s attendance. And now everyone is angry over nothing.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is creating a “humanitarian crisis” as his state prepares to resume bussing migrants to Chicago — when the city already doesn’t have room for them.
Lightfoot sent a letter Sunday to Abbott, saying Chicago officials learned he will resume bussing migrants Monday and calling it a “inhumane and dangerous action” as the city has already reached a “critical tipping point” in its ability to help people. […]
Lightfoot said Abbott is attempting to “cause chaos and score political points” by bussing people to Democrat-led cities in protest of federal immigration policies.
The mayor called upon the federal government to freeze all emergency funding to Texas if it resumes buses to Chicago.
“We simply have no more shelters, spaces or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level, with little coordination or care, that does not pose a risk to them or others,” Lightfoot said in the letter. “To tell them to go to Chicago or to inhumanely bus them here is an inviable and misleading choice.”
It is inhumane. But you can’t on the one hand hold your city (and state) out as a welcoming place for immigrants and on the other hand say “We didn’t mean that many all of a sudden!”
They’re just gonna have to deal with it somehow.
* During the mayoral campaign, Chicago police were sent to O’Hare to sweep out homeless people. But then came last week…
About 40 migrants, mostly young women and children, wrapped themselves in blankets and tried to sleep Wednesday morning outside a homelessness center inside O’Hare Airport.
The Venezuelan migrants said they crossed the border into Texas and were offered free flights to Chicago while staying at a shelter in San Antonio. They’re just dozens of the thousands of migrants sent here from Texas since last summer. […]
Upon arriving at O’Hare, the migrants were first directed to Haymarket Center’s O’Hare homelessness outreach program, a nonprofit with an office by the airport’s Blue Line. A Haymarket spokesperson said in recent days they’ve been dealing with a “unique and developing situation,” are unprepared to handle asylum seekers and “doing what they can” to connect them to appropriate social service groups.
The Haymarket Center helps folks deal with substance abuse issues. The group is simply not equipped for this particular task. And it’s taking their staff away from the invaluable services they provide to some of the city’s most vulnerable people.
There has been a tenfold increase over the past 10 days in daily arrivals of migrants, said Brandie Knazze, commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services. Migrants — often families with children — are now sheltering in police station lobbies across the city. […]
The city has established 20 shelters since the 108 buses were sent from Texas, Doughtie said. Twelve of them have closed, leaving just eight, he said. […]
But none of this work can be done without appropriate funds at the state and federal levels, said Chicago budget director Susie Park. The total anticipated cost for January through June is $124.8 million, which includes planning for the current surge to reach a peak of 4,700 new arrivals per day, Park said.
Leveraging state and city funding and anticipated funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency still leaves a shortfall of about $53 million to meet needs through June 30 alone, she said.
* Yet, when politicians want the federal government to pay for security at and around their quadrennial party conventions, they act fast to protect the host cities from fiscal pressures…
The city of Chicago is obliged to provide “at no cost” to the Democratic National Convention Committee “police, fire, security, bomb disposal, emergency and rescue service and all other goods or services related to security” according to the contract, obtained by the Sun-Times. […]
The Democratic and Republican presidential conventions are each routinely designated as a National Special Security Event. That opens the door to substantial federal funding. Presidential inaugurations have the same designation, as did the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago.
Since 2004, host cities receive $50 million in federal funds to help pay security costs. Congress is being asked to boost this to $75 million each for Chicago and Milwaukee.
Quigley, D-Ill., is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Illinois lead in asking Congress for more cash. In a letter to House and Senate appropriations leaders, he wrote that “the City of Chicago anticipates the current federal funding of $50 million will not be adequate” for the 2024 convention, “due to inflation, potential supply chain issues, increased public safety personnel and equipment needs and increased insurance costs because of potential security threats.” […]
The contract outlines some of the special security needs: for police escorts to deliver credentials to state delegations and media at their hotels and lots of extra security at convention hotels and convention offices and all kinds of screening equipment for weapons and bombs at convention venues.
They’re gonna use cops to deliver delegate credentials? Are you freaking kidding me?
The city will expedite all permits and other permissions needed to build out the convention
Chicago is notorious for over-permitting. One can’t help but wonder if that’s a problem with the migrant housing situation as well.
* Like the convention, the city and state simply cannot afford to handle this migrant influx on their own (and, for that matter, neither can Texas). US Rep. Quigley and others need to put at least the same effort into dealing with this problem as they are to ensure delegates’ credentials arrive safely at their heavily guarded hotels.
*** UPDATE *** Gov. Pritzker was asked about this today. A couple of his responses…
Just to be clear with everybody, we’ve already provided about 150 million of state dollars and services to serve those asylum seekers that are coming to Illinois. That’s since August and continues on today. In January, we passed an additional supplemental appropriation that included money for the city of Chicago and for other agencies, about $90 million, again, to make sure that we were providing the services necessary. […]
But it is true, and the current mayor said it, that our resources are stretched. And we’ve gone to the federal government. I’ve spoken directly with the President, with the chief of staff, with the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and others, and they are helping to push the money from FEMA out the door to states, but it isn’t enough. […]
We believe, we hope, we’ve heard that perhaps we’re going to receive some of that [federal] money this week, or next week. And we’re hopeful of that, but who knows. Meanwhile, my job is to balance the budget of the state of Illinois and take care of the people that are here in our state, all of our residents.
On Tuesday, the Danville City Council is scheduled to vote on the ordinance, which is titled “requiring compliance with federal abortion laws.” It’s unclear how the local ordinance, which directly conflicts with Illinois law, could be legally enforced in this rural city of about 30,000 people located roughly three hours south of downtown Chicago.
Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said the proposed ordinance invokes the Comstock Act, an 1873 federal law that barred the mailing of contraception, “lewd” writing and every “article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion.”
The 19th Century law has been largely considered moot for nearly 50 years, while the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade guaranteed the right to an abortion nationwide. But the Comstock Act has been in the spotlight since the high court overturned Roe in June, leaving the matter of abortion rights to be decided by individual states.
“The difficulty here in my opinion is we have state laws and statutes that contradict federal law, specifically the Comstock Act,” Williams said. “We made an oath to uphold the laws of the state of Illinois and the United States, so what do we … do when they contradict one another?”
* The ACLU Illinois argues the Comstock Act is not applicable in Illinois…
The ordinance references the federal Comstock Act, which is a century-and-a-half old federal law that purports to prohibit the sending of abortion-inducing drugs and supplies by mail or common carrier. The ordinance’s attempted reliance on this law is misplaced and misguided.
As the federal Department of Justice has explained, there is over a century of judicial, congressional, and administrative understanding that the Comstock Act’s reach is “narrower than a literal reading might suggest.” Application of the Comstock Act to the Mailing of Prescription Drugs That Can Be Used for Abortions, 46. Op. O.L.C. __ (Dec. 23, 2022) at 5. The Comstock Act does not apply where the sender did not intend the materials to be used unlawfully. Id. at 1, 5-11. It is thus impossible for the mailing of abortion-inducing drugs or supplies to violate the Comstock Act in Illinois as abortion care is lawful and affirmatively protected by law throughout the state.
Furthermore, regardless of the meaning or scope of the Comstock Act, this ordinance exceeds Danville’s authority under state law and is preempted by the RHA
“Proposing an unenforceable ordinance is a political maneuver that causes confusion and that harms people seeking care,” Chaundre White, a lawyer with the ACLU of Illinois, said.
Abortion rights advocates are organizing a protest at the Danville City Council meeting on Tuesday where the council could vote on the ordinance. […]
Many residents said they supported the measure because they want to prevent a proposed abortion clinic from opening in Danville.
“It’s not like the passage of this ordinance prevents women from choosing to pursue their rights in very near locations, unfortunately,” said Josh Hayes, a speaker at the meeting. “But I think it’s an opportunity for us to say this is against federal law and not in our community.”
* WCIA reported on last week’s City Council committee meeting…
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. explained that anyone shipping or receiving abortion pills or abortion-related supplies would be subject to fines of $1,500 per offense. There was discussion over an abortion clinic that may open up in Danville soon. Williams acknowledged that while he doesn’t think the ordinance would stop the clinic from opening, he said it could provide a means by which they couldn’t perform abortions.
Alderman Tricia Teague noted internal counsel estimates that if litigation was brought against the city, it could cost up to $1 million to defend, or more if it goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. […]
Ultimately, the committee voted 3-1 to recommend the ordinance be considered by the full City Council – the first step toward an outcome many who described themselves as pro-life during public comment are hoping for. That same group of speakers called providing abortions a “grisly business” that doesn’t belong in their city, while the other side says it’s necessary health care – telling the government to stay out of the doctor’s office.
Also during the meeting, Williams mentioned receiving a letter from a lawyer who offered to represent the city if it is met with litigation over the proposed ordinance. WCIA reached out to attorney Anthony Mitchell, who said via email: “Yes, I have offered to represent the city at no charge to the city or its taxpayers in any litigation arising out of the ordinance.”
You can read the full language of the ordinance here, beginning on page 123.
The full vote will happen during the Danville City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 2nd, at 6 p.m., at 17 W Main Street, in case you’d like to voice opposition to this action.
It should be noted that Danville currently has a crisis pregnancy center, the Women’s Care Clinic, with a website brimming with misleading information about abortion.
C) Except as provided by subsection (D), it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in conduct that aids or abets the violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1461 or 18 U.S.C. § 1462 described in subsection (A).
(D) This section shall not apply to any conduct taken by a hospital, or by any employees, agents, or contractors of a hospital, that is necessary to ensure that a licensed physician is prepared to perform an abortion in response to a medical emergency.
(E) No provision of this section may be construed to prohibit any conduct protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as made applicable to state and local governments through the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, or by article 1, section 4 of the Illinois Constitution.
(F) Under no circumstance may the mother of the unborn child that has been aborted, or the pregnant woman who seeks to abort her unborn child, be subject to prosecution or penalty under this section.
(G) Any person found guilty of violating any provision of this section shall be fined $1,500 for each offense. In addition to any fine imposed under this chapter, the offender shall be ordered to pay all of the costs and fees incurred by the City in prosecuting the violation, which shall include but not be limited to the costs associated with an administrative adjudication proceeding or court proceeding, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
*** UPDATE *** AG Raoul…
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued the following statement after sending a letter to the mayor of Danville, Illinois regarding a proposed city ordinance that, if enacted, would violate state law.
“Today, I sent a letter to the mayor of Danville urging the city to reject a proposed ordinance that would violate the Illinois Reproductive Health Act by purporting to ban or severely limit access to abortion care in the city of Danville.
“The Reproductive Health Act enshrines the fundamental rights of individuals to make autonomous decisions about their reproductive health. The act clearly states that units of local government cannot limit abortion rights, and Danville has no authority under Illinois law to enact a municipal abortion ban.
“The ordinance proposed in Danville violates state law. I am calling upon the city’s elected officials to refrain from passing or attempting to enforce this unlawful ordinance and avoid exposing the city and taxpayers to unnecessary and potentially costly legal liability.
“Illinois law could not be clearer. Our state is a proud safe haven for access to reproductive health care that respects bodily autonomy and fundamental rights. I will continue to stand up for the rights of everyone in Illinois to access reproductive health care, and my office stands ready to take appropriate action to uphold Illinois law.”
* More…
* Scientific American | This 19th-Century Obscenity Law Is Still Restricting People’s Reproductive Rights: The law forbids the sending of obscene materials through the mail. Comstock was enforcing the law by ordering thousands of items through the mail, from contraceptives and sex toys to erotic images and abortifacients [substances that end a pregnancy]. Then, after receiving the items, he would prosecute the people sending them. He was targeting people who were known to be selling the raw material but also, more importantly, people who were selling any kind of information that was education-related, not obscene—literally things like “Here’s how to make a baby” and also information about birth control and abortion.
* WBBM | ACLU could sue city of Danville over abortion clinic ordinance: “You won’t know until the finality, which could go beyond potentially to the Supreme Court level,” said Alderman Ethan Burt. “My response to that would be are we willing to donate a million dollars to find out? Is it worth a million dollars to find out?” Alderwoman Tricia Teague asked.
* Fox Illinois | Danville committee recommends ordinance restricting abortion to city council :“Illinois law is very clear that Danville does not have the authority to do this. In 2019, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Illinois Reproductive Health Act, which ensures that abortion remains legal in the state of Illinois, that law applies to municipalities like Danville,” explained Ameri Klafeta, director of Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project with ACLU Illinois.
According to testimony at the federal ComEd Four trial, then-House Speaker Mike Madigan’s former 13th Ward Ald. Frank Olivo was brought on as a subcontractor under then- ComEd Chairman and CEO Frank Clark.
Clark retired in September 2011, almost a dozen years ago. He has never been charged nor has it ever been claimed he did anything illegal. And Olivo didn’t officially register as a lobbyist until the beginning of 2012, according to a 2019 report by NBC Chicago.
Olivo was put on ComEd lobbyist Jay Doherty’s payroll as a subcontractor, according to a secretly recorded video of a conversation Doherty had with ComEd’s top in-house lobbyist at the time, Fidel Marquez. Doherty explained that John Hooker, ComEd’s former top in-house lobbyist, was the person who carried the news to him.
It didn’t stop there, of course. The alleged ComEd scheme was drastically expanded and even perfected under Clark’s successor, ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, who appeared to express surprise when she was told by Marquez how, long ago, Olivo had been hired and by whom. “Oh my God,” she said on a secret government recording when told the news.
Pramaggiore, Doherty, Hooker and former statehouse lobbyist Mike McClain are now all on trial for allegedly carrying out a massive scheme to bribe Mike Madigan.
Give Madigan an inch, and he would always try to take a mile. But this sort of thing often happens with big bureaucracies, private and public. Assign a bureaucracy a task, and it’ll tend to stay on that path, sometimes to a ridiculously absurd conclusion — although rarely does that conclusion wind up with a federal criminal trial, as it has here.
Putting Olivo on the payroll eventually led to a level of absurdity that surpassed anything seen before or since, even if there are legitimate arguments the behavior was not criminal.
Needless to say, this is not how it was all supposed to end when Olivo was awarded a $4,000-a-month Doherty subcontract a dozen years ago.
But there’s an aspect to this lobbying topic that isn’t really being addressed at the ComEd Four trial.
Over the decades, Madigan built a giant “farm system” that became the backbone of his political and statehouse organization. Young people either started out on campaigns before they were put on Madigan’s issues staff or were subsequently sent out to work on campaigns after joining the staff.
The most favored were moved up to the top of the in-house food chain, and the most favored of them were eventually sent forth into the lobbying world, where they could make very good money and continue overseeing campaigns, training the young people hired for the next cycle.
Every other legislative leader had a similar operation, although none were nearly as extensive as Madigan’s far-flung operation. Madigan, as was his habit, “perfected” it to the point where companies and other special interests believed they had to hire his people as contract or in-house lobbyists or their bills wouldn’t advance.
A buddy of mine recently recalled a conversation with a former legislative leader who only half-jokingly predicted a certain bill wasn’t going anywhere because the proponents hadn’t yet hired enough Madigan people to work the legislation.
None of the current legislative leaders have been around long enough yet to set up anything like that. Senate President Don Harmon is the most senior leader, but he’s had the job a little over three years. House Speaker Chris Welch has led his chamber for a bit more than two years, and the two Republican leaders just started in January.
The ComEd Four trial should put a damper on such things going forward. Madigan and the other leaders branded this practice as building “goodwill,” and the accused have used that in their defense. Those who wanted something done did favors for people close to the leaders to grease the skids, and what could possibly be so horrible about that was the feeling.
But doing such things now could well be seen as attempted bribery by the feds.
To be clear, many of the lobbyists themselves are not the issue here. They participated in a tradition that started long before they came to the legislature. And none of them were charged by the feds in this case, after all.
But now the statehouse leaders need to figure out where to go from here.
* Daily Herald | Kane County explores going big on lobbying: Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog recently told county board members she believes a combination of state money, remaining COVID-19 relief money and cash contributions from neighboring counties will pay off the bond the county issued to pay for Longmeadow’s construction. But that’s only if $12.5 million for Longmeadow stays in the proposed state budget through the final vote.
* Tribune | Muslim trustee from DuPage Township faces racist comments during public meeting: “He said something like, ‘You can just go back to eating your lunch,’ because I broke my fast during the meeting,” Townsend, 36, told the Tribune. “So, basically, he was mocking me for practicing my religion. In that moment I heard it, so I stood up and said to him, ‘Excuse me, I’m fasting for Ramadan. We eat this late, and I am going to sit here and eat my food.’”
* AP | Mississippi River waters keep rising in Iowa and Illinois: The National Weather Service said many of the crests across the region this season will rank in the top 10 of all time, but will remain well below the records set in past floods. Officials in many cities along the river are optimistic they’ll be able to either keep the floodwaters at bay through a combination of floodwalls and sandbags or contain it to low-lying park areas. But some homes close to the river have been damaged.
* AP | Fed failed to act forcefully to head off Silicon Valley Bank collapse and crisis: Fed report: The Fed was highly critical of its own role in the bank’s failure in a report released Friday. The report, compiled by Michael Barr, the Fed’s chief regulator, says banking supervisors were slow to recognize blossoming problems at Silicon Valley Bank as it quickly grew in size in the years leading up to its collapse. The report also points out underlying cultural issues at the Fed, where supervisors were unwilling to be hard on bank management when they saw growing problems.
Remember the old joke about going to a boxing match and having a hockey game break out? Well, something like that happened last weekend in Springfield.
Marcus Lucas invited people to his house for a cookout. I know, stop the presses, right? But …
A couple of hours into the party, Marcus disappeared. He came back wearing a white suit. His girlfriend, Jackie Price, had changed from her Dallas Cowboy jersey into a white dress.
Oh, yeah, something was up. People went to a barbecue and a wedding broke out.
“It was the first ‘pop-up wedding’ I’ve ever seen,” Rich Miller, the Capitol Fax guru who was there, wrote via e-mail, “and so incredibly romantic. People have been wondering for years when the two would get married. But instead of eloping to Vegas or having an elaborate ceremony, they kept it low-key and so very personal by just throwing a little party and treating everyone to an incredibly happy surprise. Unlike a lot of weddings I’ve attended, I’ll never forget this one.” […]
“We usually have a big cookout every year,” says Marcus. “Jackie was joking, saying, ‘I’m sure for the next one we’ll have a packed house.’ They’ll be waiting for something to happen.”
It was so much fun and the food was outstanding. I never will forget it, and neither will anyone else who was privileged to be there…
Sadly, Marcus passed away this week. I’d like to extend my deepest condolences to his family and friends. He was such a good man.
* The late, great Harry Belafonte will play us out…
This is not migration data – it’s data for where people file taxes compared to prior filing periods – its scope is limited and there are a lot of caveats. The census report is the standard for determining domestic migration.
The IRS calls it “migration data.” But the governor’s office referred me to these points in the IRS data user guide…
The address shown on the tax return is a mailing address that may not reflect the taxpayer’s actual residence. […]
Data do not represent the full U.S. population because many individuals are not required to file an individual income tax return.
Lead poisoning from consuming contaminated water can cause irreversible brain damage in children. But too many Illinois childcare facilities have old lead pipes carrying water into their buildings.
Ask Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly to dedicate $104.3 million in the FY2024 budget to eliminate lead water pipes from licensed childcare facilities.
* Press release…
Supportive Housing Providers Association (SHPA) Executive Director David Esposito testified before the Senate Health & Human Services Appropriations Hearing Wednesday night. SHPA and its partner organizations are requesting a funding Increase for Supportive Housing Program Services Supports to be included as part of the FY24 budget. SHPA continues to be grateful for the commitment to funding for supportive housing services by the Illinois General Assembly in the FY23 budget, however, the need to respond to the social and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues. “Everyone needs and deserves safe, decent, stable housing. For some of the most vulnerable people in Illinois — people with mental illness, chronic health conditions, histories of trauma, and other struggles — a home helps them to get adequate treatment and start on the path toward self-sufficiency. But some conditions make it difficult for people to maintain a stable home without additional help. Supportive housing, a highly effective and proven strategy that combines affordable housing with intensive coordinated services, can provide that needed assistance.,” said Mr. Esposito, he went on to say, “The issues of affordable housing and homelessness have been made even more urgent by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, when it comes to homelessness, this is a challenge not just happening in Illinois, but across the nation, and it has deep and immediate impacts on the lives of all it touches,”
Supportive housing providers are experiencing the largest workforce crisis in decades, program cost increases and are struggling to meet increased demand for services from individuals who, but for the support of providers such as the those that are SHPA members, would be homeless or institutionalized, and facing steep barriers to housing, health and behavioral healthcare, and human services. Instead, they’d rely on hospital emergency rooms, jails, and prisons to meet their immediate needs.
· 10,431 Illinoisians are Homeless Tonight- 47.5% have a disabling condition- 20% are experiencing chronic homelessness.
· Illinois had the 5th highest increase in the rate of chronic homelessness in the nation.
· 17,684 Supportive Housing beds are currently dedicated to Illinoisians who have experienced homelessness or unnecessary institutionalization
· 40,749 Additional Illinoisians need Supportive Housing now-
· 8 times higher for Black/African Americans households to experience homelessness in Illinois.
SHPA is requesting the General Assembly to appropriate a total $57,095,130 (increase $14.5 million) to supportive housing services in the FY24 state budget (breakdown as follows): General Revenue:
· $ 28,060,180 Supportive housing MI Housing (IDHS-Division of Mental Health)
o $ 2,271,380 increase for 10% cost of living increase for all current homeless and supportive housing grantees to offset increased program related costs.
o $ 3,075,000 increase to support services to 308 new unit development between 2022 & 2023.
· $ 25,314,200 to Supportive Housing Services (IDHS-Bureau of Homeless Services)
o $ 1,649,010 increase a 10% cost of living increase for all current homeless and supportive housing grantees to offset increased program related costs.
o $ 7,175,000 increase to support services to 718 new unit development between 2022 & 2023.
State Grants:
· $ 3,720,750 to Supportive Housing Mental Health Services and a $ 338,250 increase to for a 10% cost of living increase for all current supportive housing grantees to offset increase program related costs.
Thank you for your continued support and recognition of Illinois’ Community Health Centers (FQHCs) as a longstanding bipartisan solution to the primary care access problems facing our state. As you proceed with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations process, we respectfully request that you include $100 million ($50 million GRF + $50 million federal match) within the Department of Healthcare and Family Services’ budget to increase reimbursement rates for Illinois’ Community Health Centers (FQHCs).
(C)an [the Illinois Protect Illinois Communities Act] be harmonized with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and with Bruen? That is the issue before this Court. The simple answer at this stage in the proceedings is “likely no.” The Supreme Court in Bruen and Heller held that citizens have a constitutional right to own and possess firearms and may use them for self-defense. PICA seems to be written in spite of the clear directives in Bruen and Heller, not in conformity with them. Whether well-intentioned, brilliant, or arrogant, no state may enact a law that denies its citizens rights that the Constitution guarantees them. Even legislation that may enjoy the support of a majority of its citizens must fail if it violates the constitutional rights of fellow citizens. For the reasons fully set out below, the overly broad reach of PICA commands that the injunctive relief requested by Plaintiffs be granted. […]
Assuming arguendo that there is no presumption of harm for an alleged violation of the Second Amendment, Plaintiffs still satisfy this element. For example, Barnett and Norman are no longer able to purchase any firearm, attachment, device, magazine, or other item banned by PICA, while Hoods and Pro Gun are now prohibited from selling said any item banned by PICA. These harms are irreparable and in direct violation of the Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense. There is no question that the right to armed self-defense is limited by PICA, and in some cases, may be prohibited altogether. It is true that not all items are banned under PICA; however, if a lawful citizen only possesses items that are banned under PICA, he or she would have to purchase a non-banned firearm in order to legally defend oneself under the Second Amendment. […]
Although Defendants challenged the veracity of Plaintiffs’ evidence, they were unable to produce evidence showing that modern sporting rifles are both dangerous and unusual. Consequently, Defendants failed to meet their burden to demonstrate that the “arms” banned by PICA are “dangerous and unusual” and thus not protected by the Second Amendment. See Bruen, 142 S. Ct. at 2128 (emphasis added). […]
Plaintiffs have satisfied their burden for a preliminary injunction. They have shown irreparable harm with no adequate remedy at law, a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits, that the public interest is in favor of the relief, and the balance of harm weighs in their favor. Therefore, the Plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary injunction are GRANTED. Defendants are ENJOINED from enforcing Illinois statutes 720 ILCS 5/24-1.9(b) and (c), and 720 ILCS 5/24-1.10, along with the PICA amended provisions set forth in 735 ILCS 5/24-1(a), including subparagraphs (11), (14), (15), and (16), statewide during the pendency of this litigation until the Court can address the merits.
The Court recognizes that the issues with which it is confronted are highly contentious and provoke strong emotions. Again, the Court’s ruling today is not a final resolution of the merits of the cases. Nothing in this order prevents the State from confronting firearm-related violence. There is a wide array of civil and criminal laws that permit the commitment and prosecution of those who use or may use firearms to commit crimes. Law enforcement and prosecutors should take their obligations to enforce these laws seriously. Families and the public at large should report concerning behavior. Judges should exercise their prudent judgment in committing individuals that pose a threat to the public and imposing sentences that punish, not just lightly inconvenience, those guilty of firearm-related crimes.
A Naperville gun shop owner is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block Illinois’ assault weapon ban while he fights the law in federal court.
Robert Bevis is seeking an emergency junction, one week after a federal appeals court in Chicago turned down his request.
“This is an exceedingly simple case,” Bevis argues in his appeal, filed on Wednesday. “The Second Amendment protects arms that are commonly possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, especially self-defense in the home.”
…Adding… Press release…
State Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield), the chief sponsor of the Protect Illinois Communities Act (“HB5471”), responded to the decision from U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn of the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis, after McGlynn issued an injunction against the Illinois assault weapons ban that was signed into law on January 10, 2023. The decision comes after U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins, and U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall, both out of the Northern District of Illinois, separately rejected similar requests for an injunction.
“This news is disappointing, but we remain encouraged as we’ve already had two federal judges in Illinois refuse to block the law,” said Rep. Morgan. “Since its enactment, this law has already prevented the sales of thousands of assault weapons and high capacity magazines in Illinois, making Illinois communities safer for families. This is necessary and life-saving legislation, and we feel confident we will ultimately prevail in a higher court.”
This conflict in rulings will now move the issue to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. This injunction does not impact the prohibition on rapid-fire devices, the interstate firearm trafficking strike force, or extension of the duration of a firearm restraining order established under HB5471.
Rep. Morgan serves as Chair of the Illinois House Firearm Safety Reform Working Group. He has seen firsthand the devastating effects that gun violence can have on a community. Highland Park, IL is a part of his 58th District, and he was present at the tragic Fourth of July mass shooting in 2022 during which 83 rounds were fired in less than 60 seconds, killing seven and injuring 48 people.
* G-PAC…
Today, the Gun Violence Prevention PAC (G-PAC) released the following statement from John Schmidt, a former U.S. Associate Attorney General and member of the Executive Board of G-PAC, in response to Southern District Court Judge Stephen McGlynn’s decision to enjoin the state from enforcing the Illinois’ assault weapons ban.
“Given comments he made from the bench at the hearing in East St. Louis on April 12, Judge McGlynn’s decision to rule against the Illinois ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines is not surprising. But it is still disappointing. It is directly contrary to the prior decisions of two Chicago federal judges, Judge Virginia Kendall and Judge Lindsay Jenkins, both of whom found the new statute “constitutionally sound” and declined relief. We believe Judges Kendall and Judge Jenkins are right, and Judge McGlynn is wrong.
“Judge Kendall’s decision is already on appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and that Court also declined to grant any immediate relief. We have confidence that the Attorney General representing the State of Illinois will take all possible actions to try to assure that the statute continues to remain in effect while litigation proceeds.”
*** UPDATE *** Attorney General Raoul has filed a motion with the Southern District to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal…
The Court’s Preliminary Injunction Order is inconsistent with two prior rulings from two different judges in the Northern District of Illinois rejecting requests to preliminarily enjoin the Act on materially indistinguishable Second Amendment claims. See Bevis v. Naperville, No. 22- cv-4775, Dkt. 63, 2023 WL 2077392 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 17, 2023); Herrera v. Raoul, No. 23-cv-532, Dkt. 75, 2023 WL 3074799 (N.D. Ill. April 26, 2023). The Court’s Preliminary Injunction Order neither mentions nor analyzes why those two rulings on the same Act and the same type of Second Amendment claims were erroneous. They were not. The Seventh Circuit has also had the opportunity to enjoin the Act while considering the Bevis appeal, and it denied that request on April 18, 2023. Bevis v. Naperville, No. 23-1353, Dkt. 51 (7th Cir.) (denying motion for injunction pending appeal).
In order to avoid inconsistency and confusion—particularly given that refusing to stay the Preliminary Injunction Order would have the practical effect of overriding the Seventh Circuit’s contrary order in Bevis—this Court should stay its Preliminary Injunction Order while the Seventh Circuit considers the merits of the State Defendants’ interlocutory appeal. Furthermore, the Court should stay its Preliminary Injunction Order because: the Act does not violate the Second Amendment and Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment claims will ultimately fail on the merits; enjoining the Act inflicts irreparable harm on the public by allowing the weapons preferred by mass murderers to continue to proliferate; and the public interest favors allowing the Act’s restrictions on assault weapons and large capacity magazines to remain in effect.
* Here’s a factoid I hadn’t yet seen or forgot seeing it if I did: Lori Lightfoot received fewer votes in the first round this year than she received in the first round four years earlier.
In the first round of the 2019 Chicago mayoral race, candidate Lori Lightfoot received 97,667 votes. She went on to win the runoff with 386,039 votes, or 73.7 percent, against Toni Preckwinkle.
Four years later during 2023’s first round, Mayor Lightfoot received 94,890 votes. That’s 2,777 fewer votes than four years prior and 291,149 less votes than she got in the 2019 runoff.
A Republican businessman and philanthropist from Galesburg will challenge the 17th District’s freshman congressman in November 2024.
Rafael “Ray” Estrada, 56, said he plans to tackle U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Moline, a former TV weatherman who took over the seat formerly held by fellow Democrat Cheri Bustos after beating GOP challenger Esther Joy King in 2022.
Earlier this month, the National Republican Campaign Committee announced its plans to put a bullseye on Sorensen and 36 other “vulnerable” Democrats […]
Estrada, whose family fled civil war Nicaragua 44 years ago when he was 12, is president of the nonprofit Estrada Global Foundation, “which provides aid to refugees and displaced citizens through direct assistance that helps provide for their basic needs and safety.” according to the release.
Direct Mail - Candidate Division
For Governor - Democrat [Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers]
Gold: Don’t Run. We Are Tracking You
Silver: Alleged “Miscarriage”
For U.S. Senate - Democrat [US Sen. Tammy Duckworth]
Silver: Relentless
Best Use of Targeting
Bronze: Don’t Run. We Are Tracking you [Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers]
Collateral
Most Original/Innovative Collateral Material - Democrat [Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson]
Bronze: Mayor Rex
Regional - Overall Division
Direct Mail - For Local/Municipal/Mayoral - AAPC West [Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass]
First place: Way Out of No Way
Yesterday, the City of Chicago released an independent study commissioned on behalf of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) that revealed Transportation Network Providers (TNP) chauffeurs, also known as rideshare drivers, are making over $1,000 weekly on average. Additionally, 25% of drivers earn between $28.90 - $37.90 per hour after expenses, while 65% of drivers make $18.90 - $27.90 per hour after expenses. The study, conducted by Crowe LLP, evaluated drivers who complete more than 30 hours of driving per week.
The study found that including all time online on an app, <24% of drivers work >30 hours per week and 25% of all rideshare drivers worked on multiple apps. Based on the findings, no full-time Uber or Lyft drivers earned < $21 a hour over the study period (all the way back to 2017) and only 0.4% of part time drivers did after expenses. Even including all online time (including duplicated time), >80% of full-time rideshare drivers and >55% of part-time rideshare drivers earned more than $20 an hour after expenses, dating back to 2017.
• The City is currently housing 2,702 migrants
• 3,936 clients have arrived on buses from the border and have been taken to shelters since September of 2022
• An additional 3,144 clients have been placed into shelters through the 311 system since September of 2022
• Catholic Charities has provided Outmigration Services for over 705 clients […]
Country of Origin
Venezuela - 3589
Colombia – 336
Nicaragua – 186
Ecuador – 84
Peru – 37
Honduras – 16
Mexico – 11
Cuba – 10
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Crain’s | Illinois delegation asks Congress for $75M to pay for 2024 DNC: In a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House appropriations subcommittees on commerce, the Illinoisans are asking that a total of $150 million be appropriated, half to Chicago and half to Milwaukee, where the Republicans are due to meet.
* Crain’s | Report allegedly reveals how Dan Proft’s news sausage gets made: What makes the Post’s story notable — beyond exposing the process and that operatives for Donald Trump are interested in the platform — is the ongoing investigation by the Illinois State Board of Elections into alleged illegal coordination between Proft’s People Who Play By The Rules PAC and Bailey’s campaign during last year’s election. As an independent expenditure group, the PAC is forbidden from collaborating, either directly or indirectly, with a candidate for office.
* Crain’s | A ‘ComEd Four’ prosecutor finally explains why some executives weren’t charged: As part of his final address to jurors, lead prosecutor Amarjeet Bhachu provided an answer: No one at the utility or its parent, except Pramaggiore, had the full view of the pile of favors being done for Madigan. … In a slide shown to jurors as Bhachu discussed the issue, the names of the three were shown with this comment: “1. ‘The question is whether the defendants had corrupt intent — not someone else.’” “None of those folks had the full picture,” Bhachu said.
* Herald-Whig | Eyler kicks off campaign for Adams County state’s attorney: A Republican, Eyler has served as first assistant state’s attorney in Adams County since December 2016 when State’s Attorney Gary Farha took office. Eyler said no matter what changes lawmakers in Springfield make to criminal law in Illinois, the state’s attorney’s office will continue to prosecute crime.
* Casino | Circa Sports Approved for Illinois Betting License, Eyes August Launch: Circa applied for an Illinois sports wagering license nearly a year ago. From here, the operator must make a written request to the IGB to start accepting bets in the state. Upon approval, Circa will be the eighth gaming company to offer mobile sports betting in the sixth-largest state.
* Sun-Times | Noose found on tree at Naperville middle school: Naperville police are investigating after a noose was found on the grounds of an Indian Prairie Unit District 204 middle school. The noose was found Thursday in a tree at Scullen Middle School, according to Lisa Barry, the district’s spokesman.
* SJ-R | Springfield, Logan County receive grant money for Route 66 projects: The state announced Thursday that Springfield would be receiving $623,000 from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Route 66 Grant Program to help in the construction of 12 murals connecting the city and other cities and villages in central Illinois to other murals in the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor – located in the Chicago area – and the Great Rivers & Routes area in the Metro East suburbs of St. Louis.
* AP | Iowa flooding: Cities work to keep out Mississippi River floodwaters: The Upper Mississippi River will rise to near record-high levels as it flows through Wisconsin and Iowa, but officials said they expected to hold back floodwaters with a combination of flood walls, temporary barriers and wetlands, especially if dry weather continues.
* Fox News Poll | Voters favor gun limits over arming citizens to reduce gun violence: After a series of mass shootings this spring, including the killing of several students at a private Christian school in Tennessee, voters would prefer focusing on specific gun control measures rather than arming citizens to reduce gun violence.
* Tribune | ‘Put it on me,’ White Sox GM says of team’s worst start since 1986: “Put it on me,” Hahn continued. “I’ll tell you this, let’s make this real clear, it sure as heck isn’t on (manager) Pedro (Grifol) and his coaching staff. They are doing everything in their power to prepare, focus on what’s controllable, what’s fixable, addressing the problems as they arise. And are really doing everything in their power to get this thing right. It’s absolutely not on the manager and the coaches.
* STLPD | Elvis is in the building during Illinois Elvis Festival in Collinsville: Elvis tribute artists take to the stage to the delight of Elvis fans during the Illinois Elvis Festival at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville. The festival continues on Friday and Saturday with two shows each day. ETA Festivals, the organizers of the event, said they expect 6-8,000 people to attend the shows over the weekend. The event features 12 different Elvis tribute artists, including Bill Cherry and 14-year-old Finley Watkins from Bernie, Mo.
* CNN | Twitter’s former CEO has a new app that looks a lot like Twitter: But under the hood, Bluesky, developed by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, is vastly different. The app, which launched in a closed beta on iOS in February and on Android this month, runs on a decentralized network which provides users with more control over how the service is run, data is stored, and content is moderated.
* Amanda Zurawski is one of five women suing the state of Texas for denying abortions after medical complications…
Listen to Amanda Zurawski testify about the physical and psychological trauma that Texas' abortion bans inflicted on her after her pregnancy failed. It's a horrific story that has played out again and again since the Supreme Court abolished the right to abortion. pic.twitter.com/DJhGo4HCgO
People often ask Dr. Leah Torres why she stays in Alabama.
The 43-year-old OB-GYN — who strides into her clinic most mornings wearing a clitoris pendant and T-shirts with slogans that declare “ABORT THE PATRIARCHY” — does not consider this conservative Deep South state her home. […]
The center was one of the busiest abortion clinics in the state, until the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade last year. Abortion became illegal in Alabama, one of over a dozen states with full bans. Now that doctors who perform the procedure in Alabama risk up to 99 years in prison, Torres finds herself, once again, unable to offer the full spectrum of reproductive medical care she was trained for.
But Torres has no intention of backing down.
“You don’t want me here? That’s why I’m gonna stay,” she said, sitting at a desk strewn with laboratory invoices and a tiny fetus replica handed out by antiabortion campaigners. “I’m not leaving, just out of spite!”
When Hollis Moore was looking for their next teaching position four years ago, they read news articles and tried to look for signs that a school district would be supportive of their identity. […]
Expectations for how Moore could describe themself changed again in February of this year. Moore said an administrator read them a new directive.
“I was not to say that I was nonbinary, I was not to say that I was not a boy or a girl, I was not to talk about ‘genderless lifestyles,’ because these things would be considered sex education, and sex education was something governed by Missouri laws,” Moore recalled.
Also in February, a second openly trans employee heard about the same policy. Delilah Wylde said she was told she could not discuss her identity two days into her new job as a guidance counseling substitute.
“They read some very offensive policy on how they considered my gender identity to be sexual education, which I obviously was not happy about, because they have essentially sexualized my identity,” Wylde said. “And that’s a very dangerous place to be in as an educator because you’re working with kids.”
* The Lieutenant Governor of Texas…
Allowing the Ten Commandments and prayer back into our public schools is one step we can take to make sure that all Texans have the right to freely express their sincerely held religious beliefs.
Last summer, administrators at Bradford High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin, met as they do every year to plan for the incoming class of ninth graders. From a roster of hundreds of middle schoolers, Assistant Principal Matt Brown and his staff made a list of 30 to 40 students who they suspected might struggle the most to graduate. […]
But in most cases, the students on Bradford’s list for summer visits land there because of a label — “high risk”— assigned to them by a racially inequitable algorithm built by the state of Wisconsin, one that frequently raises false alarms.
Since 2012, Wisconsin school administrators like Brown have received their first impression of new students from the Dropout Early Warning System, an ensemble of machine learning algorithms that use historical data — such as students’ test scores, disciplinary records, free or reduced-price lunch status, and race — to predict how likely each sixth through ninth grader in the state is to graduate from high school on time. […]
An internal Department of Public Instruction equity analysis conducted in 2021 found that DEWS generated false alarms about Black and Hispanic students not graduating on time at a significantly greater rate than it did for their white classmates. The algorithm’s false alarm rate — how frequently a student it predicted wouldn’t graduate on time actually did graduate on time — was 42 percentage points higher for Black students than white students, according to a DPI presentation summarizing the analysis, which The Markup obtained through a public records request. The false alarm rate was 18 percentage points higher for Hispanic students than white students.
Republican legislators in Kansas enacted what may be the most sweeping transgender bathroom law in the U.S. on Thursday, overriding the Democratic governor’s veto of the measure without having a clear idea of how their new law will be enforced.
The vote in the House was 84-40, giving supporters exactly the two-thirds majority they needed to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s action. The vote in the Senate on Wednesday was 28-12, and the new law will take effect July 1. […]
“When I go out in public, like I’m at a restaurant or up on campus or whatever, and I need to go to the bathroom, there’s definitely going to be a voice in my head that says, ‘“Am I going to get harassed for that?’” said Jenna Bellemere, a 20-year-old transgender University of Kansas student. “It just makes it so much more complicated and risky and unnecessarily difficult.”
Republican legislators argued that they’re responding to people’s concerns about transgender women sharing bathrooms, locker rooms and other spaces with cisgender women and girls. They repeatedly promised that the bill would prevent that.
Under new law, Uber drivers for undocumented people could potentially be guilty of human smuggling, one of many concerns raised about a broad bill enacted by the Legislature.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2350 Thursday, despite objections from Latino and Black Democrats who fear the legislation could punish anyone who helps an immigrant. The bill is one of several vetoed bills successfully passed into law by the Legislature.
Supporters of the bill say it will crack down on human smuggling, but several lawmakers have said the law’s wording is too ambiguous. It defines human smuggling as intentionally transporting, harboring or concealing someone known to be in the U.S. illegally while benefiting from the transaction and knowing the individual is likely to be exploited for financial gain.
In these cases, Kansas courts would have to decide whether the person being smuggled is in the country illegally, a decision usually left to federal immigration courts and one that the Kansas justice system may not be equipped to handle.
Florida Republicans are on the verge of passing new restrictions on groups that register voters, a move voting rights groups and experts say will make it harder for non-white Floridians to get on the rolls.
The restrictions are part of a sweeping 96-page election bill the legislature is likely to send to Governor Ron DeSantis’s desk soon. The measure increases fines for third-party voter registration groups. It also shortens the amount of time the groups have to turn in any voter registration applications they collect from 14 days to 10. The bill makes it illegal for non-citizens and people convicted of certain felonies to “collect or handle” voter registration applications on behalf of third-party groups. Groups would also have to give each voter they register a receipt and be required to register themselves with the state ahead of each general election cycle. Under current law, they only have to register once and their registration remains effective indefinitely.
Groups can now be fined $50,000 for each ineligible person they hire to do voter canvassing. They can also be fined $50 a day, up to $2,500, for each day late they turn in a voter registration form.
Those restrictions are more likely to affect non-white Floridians. About one in 10 Black and Hispanic Floridians registered to vote using a third-party group, according to Daniel Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida who closely studies voting rights. Non-white voters are five times more likely to register with a third-party group in the state than their white counterparts, “a fact likely not lost on those pushing the legislation”, Smith said.
Florida officials are threatening to revoke the teaching license of a school superintendent who criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis, accusing the educator of violating several statutes and DeSantis directives and allowing his “personal political views” to guide his leadership.
Such a revocation by the state Department of Education could allow DeSantis to remove Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna from his elected office. The Republican governor did that last year to an elected Democratic prosecutor in the Tampa Bay area who disagreed with his positions limiting abortion and medical care for transgender teens and indicated he might not enforce new laws in those areas. […]
Hanna has publicly opposed that law, once defied the governor’s order that barred any mandate that students wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, and criticized a DeSantis-backed bill that recently passed that will pay for students to attend private school. The Leon County district, with about 30,000 students, covers Tallahassee, the state capital, and its suburbs.
“It’s a sad day for democracy in Florida, and the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, when a state agency with unlimited power and resources, can target a local elected official in such a biased fashion,” Hanna said in a statement sent to The Associated Press and other media Thursday. A Democrat then running as an independent, Hanna was elected to a second four-year term in 2020 with 60% of the vote. He plans to run for reelection next year and does not need a teacher’s license to hold the job.
One bill advancing through the Republican-controlled state legislature would conceal information about DeSantis’ travel and who he has met with at the governor’s mansion. Another would allow state political committees – like the one where DeSantis has stashed $85 million for his future political ambitions – to report their fundraising activity less frequently.
Separately, DeSantis in court cases has lately claimed “executive privilege” to block the release of records and to keep staff from testifying – a power typically reserved for presidents and which none of his predecessors had previously asserted is entrusted to the state’s governor. If realized, it would give DeSantis tremendous new discretion to keep information about his administration from the public.
Democrats contend Republicans here are trying to protect DeSantis from news stories and opposition research that could reflect negatively on the governor as he nears a run for president in 2024. First Amendment advocates in the state warn these efforts will have a far-reaching effect on Floridians’ access to their leaders long after DeSantis’ turn in the national limelight. […]
News organizations have sued his administration to obtain records that past governors regularly released upon request. Last year, a judge found DeSantis violated the state’s open records laws by failing to turn over documents related to the flights his administration arranged for migrants to fly from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (”IDFPR”) announced today it received 2,693 applications for the upcoming Social Equity Criteria Lottery (”SECL”). This lottery will distribute the next round of 55 conditional adult use cannabis dispensary licenses across the 17 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Regions. The list of applicants participating in the SECL may be found on IDFPR’s website here. Applicants are encouraged to review the list and confirm that they have been properly listed for any BLS Region in which they applied. The SECL will be conducted by IDFPR with the Illinois Lottery in early- to mid-May. The date will be announced by IDFPR as soon as possible.
“Our simplified online application process increased the accessibility for individuals of all backgrounds and from all over Illinois to have the opportunity to write the next chapter of the most equitable cannabis industry in the country,” said IDFPR Secretary Mario Treto, Jr. “As part of the Pritzker Administration, we are committed to ensuring Illinois’ cannabis industry continues to set the gold standard for social equity and that it continues to flourish to create additional resources for communities and individuals across the state.” […]
Following the lottery, each applicant selected will have 45 calendar days to prove certain social equity eligibility criteria in order to receive a conditional license. […]
IDFPR will have at least 60 calendar days after the lottery to ensure the 55 applicants selected in the lottery meet the criteria detailed above. Applicants selected in the lottery will be provided an opportunity to provide supplemental information to satisfy these criteria if needed. If an applicant selected in the lottery does not provide the supplemental information, the conditional license will be offered to the next applicant drawn in that BLS Region, who must then meet the social equity eligibility criteria.
That’s almost three times the number of applicants that competed for the 185 licenses that were up for grabs in lotteries held two years ago. […]
Under the new rules, gone are the lengthy applications that required extensive business plans, covering everything from security to operations, which ran thousands of pages and cost many applicants thousands of dollars to complete. The cost to submit an application also dropped from $2,500 to $250.
Perhaps the biggest change is allowing only one application per applicant, leveling the playing field and increasing the number of people or groups who would receive licenses. In the previous lotteries, 937 applicants who submitted 4,000 applications competed for 185 licenses. Under the new criteria, about 2,700 applicants will compete for 55 licenses. […]
Only applicants who win a lottery pick to receive a license will then have to prove they meet the criteria. One of the complaints about the prior process was that applicants spent thousands of dollars to apply and meet the standards for ownership only to lose out on the luck of the draw.
Ascend Wellness Holdings, a multi-state operator with a large grow facility in Barry, Ill., works with Western Illinois University in Macomb. […]
People have a lot of class choices in the Western program. Horticulture 357, Cannabis Production, is one of three core classes students have to take. But they can also choose from electives such as hydroponic plant production and crop biotechnology.
The production minor also requires a three-hour practicum, where students volunteer at facilities like those at Ascend or Nature’s Grace. Hennings said the idea is to integrate students into an actual operation as they’re getting ready to graduate with the skills the cannabis industry wants.
* Scabby the Rat also made a picket-line appearance…
As workers at three local marijuana dispensaries, including two in Joliet, continue to strike, the employees have gotten support from an Illinois state senator who says the workers deserve a share of the more than $ 1 billion in pot profits they are helping to produce.
Sen. Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet) said that pot sales in Illinois generated $1.5 billion in 2022 and that employees at RISE dispensaries who went on strike last week over the lack of a fair contract should benefit from those profits.
In Fiscal Year 2022, Ventura said that Illinois cannabis sales generated $466.8 million in state taxes on the $1.5 billion in sales. Illinois total dispensary sales reached over three billion in total over the last three years, she said.
Workers at the dispensaries in Joliet and Niles went on strike last week after months of negotiating for a fair contract and are seeking better wages and retirement benefits, representatives from Local Teamsters 777 said. The last straw came, union officials said, when employees were forced to remove pins they were wearing calling for a fair contract by officials from Green Thumb Industries, which runs the dispensaries.
“This is the first cannabis strike in the country,” James Glimco, president of Lyons-based Teamsters Local 777, said Wednesday as he joined striking workers at the Rise dispensary near the Louis Joliet Mall.
Workers are seeking a contract agreement with higher wages, improved retirement benefits, and better access to health insurance.
Starting hourly wage at the dispensaries is $16.50, and the union wants to raise it to $19. […]
But there have been no contract negotiations since the strike started, he said.
“They’re playing hardball,” Glimco said. “I hear they’re advertising trying to hire people.”
The owners and operators of the RISE Dispensaries last year reported more than $1 Billion in revenue last year and a 14% growth in profits. Those profits were made due to the efforts of these workers. I fully support and stand in solidarity with their incredibly brave decision to fight for better wages and benefits. […]
It doesn’t matter if you are a machinist, carpenter, teacher, plumber, or a dispensary employee. If you work here in Illinois you deserve a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work. That is what this country was built on and union organization, negotiation, and, as a last resort, strikes are what will continue to support and revitalize the middle class in these difficult post-pandemic times.
* And the latest episode in the series “Growing Belushi” has a Shelbyville angle…
Chris sells Jim on buying a “turnkey facility” in Illinois, but the operation turns out to be growing bunk weed and will need a complete overhaul.
The episode went into great detail about the tons of improvements they put into the center, including a radiation remediation machine that costs a cool $400k! They also upgraded lights, HVAC, Vertification and better waste water management.
We asked Belushi what going national meant to him. Was it licensing intellectual property? Setting up gardens in other states?
“Lot of it is licensing. But vetting out the growers and the companies,” Belushi explained. “We got a great opportunity and Shelbyville, Illinois, taking over indoor grow that was a charity grow, all the profits go to charity. And we are taking that over and actually kind of doing like a Bar Rescue of like going into this girl upgrading everything and it becomes a Belushi Farms in Illinois. So we’re going to be growing in Illinois. We’re growing in Oregon and we’re licensing other places, other states, and possibly growing in Albania.”
From the show…
If ONE thing goes wrong with this test, @JimBelushi has to say his goodbyes to thousands of dollars 🥲
…Adding… I’m told by an expert in the field that Belushi was exaggerating about Illinois law. “Some failures are immediate destruction, other test failures can be remediated. The testing rules outline the options.”
Q: These traffic stops became the Police Department’s main way of seizing illegal guns. Block Club Chicago and Injustice Watch have found that, since 2015, CPD has carried out 4.5 million traffic stops. In 2021, the most successful year for seizing weapons during those stops, the police made 156 traffic stops for every gun arrest. What are the effects of making so many stops for one gun arrest?
Skogan: One of the consequences of this enormous number of unwarranted stops — stops of innocent people — is that they come away with a very sour taste in their mouth. What they discover is that police officers don’t want to listen to what they have to say and the officers push them around and shout at them, even though they find nothing. What the people walk away with is a very bad experience, which undermines their trust in police and undermines the legitimacy of the police in Chicago.
And that has consequences. The Chicago Police Department’s real problem, starting in the early 2010s, was the collapse of its ability to solve shootings and homicides. The number of those crimes for which they recover a gun, find a suspect, make an arrest, make what’s called a crime clearance — it began to plummet. It’s now extraordinarily low. And that limits the capacity of investigators — the detectives — to do much about crime. And because no one has been arrested, that leads many community members to conclude that the police aren’t trying hard, that they’re not paying attention to the lives of people like them, that they are not being protected.
The arrival of a new mayor and police superintendent is an opportunity for some new thinking about policy. We know a lot about things that will reduce crime in the streets. Chicago has already started to mount a pretty effective campaign using violence interrupters and related community organizations that provide services and support for young men who are in trouble. More of that is always welcome.
We also know that a focused deterrence strategy — which drops the idea of stopping hundreds of people to deter one little crime and focuses instead on a very small network of high-risk, high-offending people — is a much more effective way to get more bang for your stops and more bang for your investigations. So, the incoming mayor should focus on this detective-oriented police work.
Efforts to rebuild Chicago’s Black community are also really important. That community has been getting poorer and more isolated over time. Some dramatic action to try to bring Black Chicago back into the mainstream of city economic life is absolutely important.
As a newly formed commission launches a nationwide search for the Chicago’s next top cop, campaigns endorsing current and former Chicago police officials for the job are already impacting the process and raising some alarms.
The first-of-its-kind search by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has so far centered on three public meetings that have elicited seemingly coordinated efforts to raise the profile of certain police supervisors, including at least two who are also being pushed in online campaigns.
Anthony Driver Jr., the commission’s interim president, said those efforts are complicating the search, which relies on getting independent input from residents. […]
“We’re looking for the person to do the job, so community members’ voices are very important and their voice will be at the forefront,” he added. “But if somebody has 5,000 supporters and another person has 20 [and] the person with 20 seems way more qualified, then that’ll create an issue.”
One of the candidates even appeared in a campaign-style video. But, is it really all that unhealthy when members of the public speak up for their local commanders? We’ve seen plenty of mediocre (and worse) people chosen by “experts.” Then again, I can most definitely see where this could really get out of hand. Your thoughts?
…Adding… From David Axelrod’s interview of Brandon Johnson on what he’s looking for at CPD…
Right now, we have supervisors who supervise the supervisors, you have police officers that will have a different supervisor, sometimes three to four in one week. Now granted, they all might be part of a cadre of law enforcement but you know, every supervisor brings a different element. Right? And so having some consistency around supervision is really important, and having a superintendent who understands what it means to be compassionate, collaborative, and someone who was competent. That’s what what I’m going to look for, and that’s what we’re going to find to serve as superintendent in the city of Chicago. I’m very confident that we’re going to find someone that gives confidence to the rank and file but also understands constitutional policing.
…Adding… Final results map…
With final results by ward, Brandon Johnson @Brandon4Chicago defeated Paul Vallas by 26,448 votes & 4.3% in the Chicago mayor election. Johnson won every Black majority ward & he won northside liberal wards. Johnson won 6 Latino majority wards #chimayor23#electiontwitter#twillpic.twitter.com/IdFSbevWdY
* Isabel has some Chicago-related stories in her morning briefing, but she rounded up some more for this post…
* Tribune | What to know as Brandon Johnson prepares to become Chicago’s next mayor: Since winning election this month, Johnson has been assembling a transition team, traveling to Springfield to meet with lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly to lay out his hopes and goals for his first term and picked his chief of staff.
* Sun-Times | Frank Annunzio, who represented Chicago in Congress, was linked to the mob, his FBI file shows: The records — released in response to a public records request and now part of the Sun-Times’ “The FBI Files” online database — also reveal there was a years-long federal investigation into a “proposed bribery scheme” described as having focused in part on Annunzio. That investigation was closed in the mid-1980s without any criminal charges, the files show.
* Sun-Times | First night meeting of the Chicago Fishing Advisory Committee draws new voices: Illinois’ assistant fisheries chief Kevin Irons said they are in the process of hiring two people to replace Brenda McKinney, who retired last year, with plans to expand the Urban Fishing program; hybrid bluegills will be stocked in the Chicago lagoons but not channel catfish; and he reminded about the fishing equipment loaner program that about 150 libraries are doing statewide.
* WBEZ | After death of Emmett Till’s accuser, Chicago-area cousin says, ‘No one now will be’ held accountable: “Our hearts go out to the family of Carolyn Bryant Donham,” Parker, of Summit, Illinois, said in a statement. “As a person of faith for more than 60 years, I recognize that any loss of life is tragic and don’t have any ill will or animosity toward her. “Even though no one now will be held to account for the death of my cousin and best friend, it is up to all of us to be accountable to the challenges we still face in overcoming racial injustice.”
* Block Club | These Humboldt Park 5th-Graders Are Spreading Awareness About The Need To Protect Rainforests: A group of 10- and 11-year-old students at Casals School of Excellence, 3501 W. Potomac Ave., studied rainforests around the world for an expeditionary learning project this school year. The students then launched a multi-faceted campaign around safeguarding rainforests, urging the school community to do its part.
A federal jury deliberated for a third day Thursday without reaching a verdict in the “ComEd Four” trial alleging a group of executives and lobbyists conspired to bribe then-House Speaker Michael Madigan to win his influence over the utility’s legislative agenda in Springfield.
So far, the panel of seven women and five men has deliberated for about 15 hours over three days. They will take Friday off, as has been the schedule throughout the seven-week trial, and resume discussions Monday morning.
The only communication from the jury Thursday came in the form of three notes asking for transcripts of the recorded phone calls and meetings at the center of the case. The jurors also sent a note asking how much Juan Ochoa was paid while on the ComEd board.
Ochoa testified it was about $80,000, but U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber responded that they should rely on their collective memories.
That was the much-anticipated meeting when ComEd CEO Joe Dominguez was finally briefed about the Madigan subcontractors by Mike McCain and Fidel Marquez. McCain and other defendants were worried that Dominguez, a former Assistant US Attorney, wouldn’t approve of the scheme. But Dominguez said he was “fine” with it, although he was under the impression that the subcontractors could be deployed by the company in a pinch. Dominguez was never charged, but things did get a little rough for him on the stand…
Dominguez grew annoyed with Bhachu’s line of questioning and accused the prosecutor of taking his words out of context.
“As you full well know, I went on to tell Mr. Marquez that ‘Everything we do here needs to be on the up and up,’” Dominguez said.
Dominguez then attempted to tell the court what Bhachu allegedly told him during that September 2019 proffer meeting, but Bhachu quickly cut him off.
“If you’re going to start talking about what I said, you might want to not do that because it might not work out well for you,” Bhachu said before telling Judge Leinenweber that Dominguez was out of line in bringing up their conversation. “What I said is inadmissible.”
The dust-up elicited accusations from the defense attorneys that Bhachu was threatening a witness.
* But was the jurors’ request significant? Maybe not…
The jurors said that transcript would "not pull up on our technology."
The jurors also asked for “at least two transcript binders.” As the Tribune’s Jason Meisner quipped, “It’s fairly clear from this question that we should not be on the edge of our seats for a verdict today.”
What about other executives at ComEd and parent Exelon who not only knew of parts of the alleged scheme and did nothing to stop it, but also signed off on key elements?
As part of his final address to jurors, lead prosecutor Amarjeet Bhachu provided an answer: No one at the utility or its parent, except Pramaggiore, had the full view of the pile of favors being done for Madigan. […]
In a slide shown to jurors as Bhachu discussed the issue, the names of the three were shown with this comment: “1. ‘The question is whether the defendants had corrupt intent — not someone else.’ ”
“None of those folks had the full picture,” Bhachu said.
* Illinois Times | “Pervasive” deficiencies at Illinois State Police: The latest biennial audit report released by Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino found that the Illinois State Police did not properly manage equipment inventory, could not reconcile their accounting records, and may have lost confidential information contained on missing computers. The audit concluded that misstatements in ISP’s accounts were “both material and pervasive.”
* Chicago Tribune | Illinois Democrats denounce as ‘deceitful’ a pipeline used in last year’s elections to right-wing local news sites: The Washington Post reported Thursday that Brian Timpone, an ally and business partner of right-wing radio talk show host Dan Proft, used a password-protected portal that allowed Republicans to pitch stories, provide questions for interviews, place campaign announcements and run “verbatim” op-eds on websites and mailings that are published by the Local Government Information Services organization.
* Sun-Times | Search for Chicago’s top cop complicated by lobbying campaigns for candidates. ‘It’s not a popularity contest.’: The first-of-its-kind search by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has so far centered on three public meetings that have elicited seemingly coordinated efforts to raise the profile of certain police supervisors, including at least two who are also being pushed in online campaigns. Anthony Driver Jr., the commission’s interim president, said those efforts are complicating the search, which relies on getting independent input from residents.
* Sun-Times | Brandon Johnson not ready to clean house at City Hall, adviser says: Don’t expect “wholesale, universal changes” in city departments, said Jason Lee, a senior adviser to Johnson’s mayoral campaign and transition team, citing a need for “at least some initial continuity so that we can make sure that government maintains its core functions.”
* WBEZ | Chicago families plead for a second chance for their closing school: Hope Institute Learning Academy opened in 2009, promising to create a unique community where students with autism and other disabilities would be catered to in an environment with students without special needs. It is run by Hope Institute, a nonprofit headquartered in Springfield, which provides programs for developmentally disabled people, including a residential academy and a vocational school. Hope Institute has a contract with Chicago Public Schools to run the West Loop school.
* Tribune | Mom of Olympian Cathy Boswell gets hearing implant just in time for daughter’s induction into Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: Cathy Boswell, a former basketball star at Illinois State University and an Olympic gold medalist, is due to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday. Clarice wanted to hear her daughter’s acceptance speech. “That was my prayer, that my hearing would be restored,” she said, “that I could hear her receive her Hall of Fame recognition. It’s very important because it’s been a long journey. And one that’s very deserving.”
* WGN | Cow located in Niles after ‘senior prank’; students cited: Authorities in Niles located a cow after it was on the loose for several hours due to a “senior prank” and the students involved have been cited. Just before 3 a.m. Thursday, police responded to the 8300 block of Ballard on the report of suspicious people in the area.
