Afternoon roundup
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Interesting…
* I told you yesterday that the governor seems all-in on increasing traffic, particularly truck traffic. Well…
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker visited the Metro East to attend ribbon cutting ceremonies for some big transportation-related projects in the Bi-State region.
“We’ve got 51,000 vehicles everyday going across the bridge. If we expand the bridge, we’re going to have more. And more is better, on both sides of the river,” Pritzker said. “So, we’ve shared the cost of this. $300 million on the Illinois side, and $200 (million) plus on the Missouri side. When you put that together, you’re replacing one bridge with two.”
* First “Home Illinois Summit” held to discuss homelessness…
Governor JB Pritzker, together with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and members of the Interagency Task Force on Homelessness and the Community Advisory Council on Homelessness, hosted the inaugural Home Illinois Summit at Malcolm X College today in Chicago. The summit, which brought together community leaders, and experts to discuss potential solutions and strategies, served as a launch for major next steps in the Home Illinois plan, a multi-year holistic approach to reach “functional zero” homelessness in the state. […]
Since the launch of the Interagency Task Force via executive order in 2021, the Pritzker administration has taken significant steps to address homelessness in Illinois. The Home Illinois plan expands affordable housing options, targeting individuals in high-risk situations (including homeless college students and those leaving medical care), and providing comprehensive support for individuals experiencing homelessness.
The plan also focuses on bolstering the safety net, securing financial stability for clients, and closing the mortality gap all through the lens of racial equity with the goal of correcting the racial disparity among unhoused individuals.
Governor Pritzker’s FY24 budget commits almost $360 million for the initiative, an $85.3 million increase from FY23. These investments include:
• $118 million to support unhoused populations seeking shelter and services, including $40.7 million in the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program.
• $50 million in Rapid ReHousing services for 2,000 households, including short-term rental assistance and targeted support for up to two years.
• $40 million in Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Capital funds to develop 90+ new PSH units providing long term rental assistance and case management.
• $37 million in Emergency Shelter capital funds to create more than 460 non-congregate shelter units.
• $35 million for supportive housing services, homeless youth services, street outreach, medical respite, re-entry services, access to counsel, and other shelter diversion supports.
• $21.8 million to provide homelessness prevention services to approximately 6,000 more families.
• $30 million for court-based rental assistance.
• $15 million to fund Home Illinois Innovations Pilots.
• $12.5 million to create 500 new scattered site PSH units.
* Crain’s…
At long last, the state of Illinois appears ready to begin a detailed study of whether the proposed One Central megaproject makes financial sense — a study that, depending on the results, could kill off the South Loop proposal once and for all or clear the way for developer Bob Dunn to get the $6.5 billion state subsidy he wants. […]
(T)he state lawmaker whose district includes the One Central site, Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, is pressing for fast action.
“This study is very important. It’s way overdue,” Buckner said. “This project has been flawed from the beginning,” with open questions about the viability of Dunn’s plan to build $20 billion worth of offices, residences, retail space and a large transportation center on a deck over Metra air rights just west of Soldier Field, Buckner said. A full study should provide some answers.
* WICS…
Regan Deering announced on Wednesday that she will be running to represent the 88th district in the state of Illinois.
State Representative Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) is endorsing Regan Deering.
Caulkins says he chose to endorse Deering because of her strong commitment to values and family.
* WCIA…
The Illinois State Fair announced Tuesday that a new promotion for this year’s fair will give fairgoers a way to double their fun this August.
State fair officials said anyone who pays for parking on the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Thursday, August 10, called County Fairs and Horse Racing Day, will receive a voucher. They said the voucher is for free parking to be redeemed on either Tuesday, August 15, Wednesday, August 16, or Thursday, August 17.
The “Double the Fun” promotion is valid on nights REO Speedwagon, Alter Bridge, and Tim McGraw perform at the Illinois Lottery Grandstand, fair officials reported, making fairgoers’ Grandstand concert experience more affordable. Tickets are still available for all shows and can be purchased online or at the Illinois State Fair Box Office.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* WGEM | Local librarians react to statewide measure against book-bans: Director Kathleen Helsabeck said the Quincy Public Library will continue following the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights, and consequently, continue receiving funding. “The ALA’s position has always been to provide a wide variety of materials to all patrons,” Helsabeck said. “The ALA’s position has always been to support libraries and support librarians.”
* WBEZ | Illinois continues to enact abortion protections a year after Roe v. Wade reversal: Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, the abortion battle in Illinois rages on — despite the state previously enacting some of the strongest abortion protections in the country. Since June 2022, Democratic state lawmakers have passed a slew of bills ramping up protections for out-of-state patients and expanding overall access. But a small coalition of GOP legislators has been working to undo many of the abortion-rights bills introduced by their colleagues across the aisle — without much luck.
* Block Club | Cook County Judge Loses Retention Vote: Gregory P. Vazquez, who was set to retire next month, was the only Cook County associate judge not reappointed to a new four-year term. The vote follows Injustice Watch reporting about the judge’s actions inside and outside the courtroom.
* Daily Journal | Kankakee County will soon be debt free: As recently as 2016, the Kankakee County government was nearly $5 million in debt. […] The report showed actual revenues came in higher than projected from sales and use tax, and out-of-county bed rentals at the Jerome Combs Detention Center.
* NPR | Regan Deering launches campaign for Illinois legislature: “I am running because I’m afraid for my children’s future in Pritzker’s Illinois. Families here pay some of the highest taxes in the nation. They struggle to find quality education for their children and live in communities plagued by violence. Extreme Democrats are forcing their radical values into our homes and schools, relentlessly attacking our cherished freedoms, and destroying our jobs and economy.”
* WTTW | Developer Touts ‘Very Balanced’ Plan to Remake Hundreds of Acres of West Suburban Land, But Some Residents Still Skeptical: Hundreds of acres of vacant land in the western suburbs could be in line for a major makeover. It’s land that Crown Community Development has long owned and now wants to use for housing, civic space, retail – and distribution warehouses.
* Tribune | Naperville woman charged with using Indian Prairie-issued credit card to buy personal items, officials say: It’s alleged Mondell, while working as a financial secretary at Neuqua Valley in Naperville, used the district-issued credit card to make purchases ranging between $500 and $10,000 from Nov. 22 to Nov. 27, 2022, the release said.
* PJ Star | Peoria water buyout issue returns as city hires firm to study the contentious issue: After some debate, the council voted 7-4 to spend $99,550 to hire a consulting firm to help do research over the coming months before making a decision whether to buy the waterworks. The issue comes before the council every five years.
* Tribune | Volunteers feel shut out of city meeting on migrants, meanwhile move is made to new shelter at Daley College: Collaboration efforts between volunteers and city officials came to a head when the city hosted a closed meeting to respond to a letter sent by the Police Station Response Team, a network of volunteers providing support and resources to migrants sleeping on the floors of police stations as they wait for placement in shelters.
* WTTW | Chicago Failed For Years to Enforce Law Requiring Half of Construction Waste to be Recycled: Watchdog: That failure likely sent hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete, wood, brick, gypsum, metals, glass, plastics, soil, asphalt, soil and rock as well as doors, windows and plumbing fixtures into landfills that could have been reused or recycled, according to the audit.
* Chalkbeat | Chicago Public Schools proposes flat budget for next year: Roughly half — or $4.8 billion — would go directly to schools. District officials said it’s an additional $240 million compared with last year and about $90 million more than they reported earlier this spring, when they unveiled some preliminary school-level numbers ahead of an appeals process for principals. Roughly half of the increase — $128 million — would pay for additional teachers and support staff dedicated to students with disabilities.
* Sun-Times | Civic Federation offers revenue, cost-cutting options to confront Chicago’s financial challenges: For each new administration, the Civic Federation tries to make confronting Chicago’s financial challenges a little easier, analyzing the pros and cons of taxes, fines and fees — but without taking a definitive position on any of them.
* Tribune | What does it take to afford a 2-bedroom rental in Chicago? New report finds wages still lagging.: The study bases apartment costs on fair market rent values, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development standard that represents the cost to rent a moderately priced unit in the local housing market. The average fair market values of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in Chicago are $1,255 and $1,440, respectively.
* NYT | ‘Shiny Happy People,’ Fundamentalism and the Toxic Quest for Certainty: It was the same cult featured in the current most-watched show on Amazon Prime, a documentary series called “Shiny Happy People.” It’s centered on the Duggar family and the teachings of a man named Bill Gothard. The Duggars, as many readers know, were the focus of a popular 2008 reality television show called “19 Kids and Counting” and its 2015 spinoff, “Counting On.” Gothard — the Duggars’ spiritual mentor — is less famous in secular America but far more consequential across evangelical America, where the influence of his movement continues today.
* Poynter | Why one local newsroom startup in Chicago succeeded where others failed: Last month, Block Club Chicago officially outlasted its predecessor, DNAinfo, a Chicago online news startup that operated for four years and 11 months before billionaire owner Joe Ricketts abruptly shuttered it (and the Gothamist network of sites) in November 2017. Newly lacking funding and employment, DNAinfo editors Shamus Toomey, Jen Sabella and Stephanie Lulay chose to continue their mission and started a new neighborhood news site from scratch, Block Club Chicago, on June 13, 2018, exactly five years ago
* PJ Star | Temporary ban on 4 a.m. bars? Peoria debates new options to cut down on violence: Downtown Peoria has seen pop-up parties and large gathering plague it this spring and summer, which culminated this weekend when two people were shot at a gathering on Main Street and Hamilton Boulevard. The shooting happened around 3:45 a.m. Councilmember Denise Jackson, who represents the 1st District, asked the city attorney if the city would be able to potentially temporarily require downtown Peoria’s 4 a.m. bars close earlier to curb violence.
* Block Club | Re:SET Music Festival Is In 2 Weeks — And The Park District Won’t Say If The Shows Will Actually Happen: Ticket holders and neighbors trying to block the festival want Chicago Park District officials to make a decision to either reject or approve permits for the three-day event as soon as possible.
* Daily Journal | Presentation on links between Lincoln, Kankakee: Kankakee and Alonzo Mack were factors in Lincoln’s two failed quests for the U.S. Senate. By 1859, Mack had become Kankakee’s state representative and was involved in a financial scandal that required Lincoln’s attention just as he was about to vie for the Republican presidential nomination. George recently published his findings in the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association.
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Caption contest!
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Alexi Giannoulias’ baby and Gov. Pritzker at this week’s bill-signing event…
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From “death spiral” to finger-pointing
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the recent campaign…
“Our city faces a housing crisis and raising property taxes would only exacerbate that crisis, leading to a death spiral for our city,” Johnson’s financial plan states.
“As mayor, Brandon Johnson will not raise property taxes on Chicago families. Property taxes are already painfully high.”
* Sun-Times today…
CPS is also issuing its highest allowed property tax increase of 5%, or about $131 million, to help support its budget. Property taxes are the school system’s largest revenue source with state funding still falling about $1.4 billion short. But CPS-issued increases — a routine yearly occurrence — have often gone under the radar compared to those at the city level. […]
Johnson also vowed on the campaign trail that he would avoid raising property taxes that he claimed were squeezing the middle class out of Chicago. But the district is allowed to raise taxes by the lesser of inflation or 5% — and is again doing just that. Inflation this year was calculated at 6.5%, so CPS will take in a 5% — or $131 million — increase. That falls in line with previous years. CPS has raised property taxes every year for the last decade.
Johnson’s senior adviser Jason Lee portrayed the new mayor as powerless to stop the “tax-to-the-max” increase.
“The mayor didn’t appoint a single person on the school board. These aren’t the mayor’s appointees,” Lee said. “At the end of the day, there’s been a budget process that was operated under a different regime with different assumptions. Now, it’s the 9th inning. … This is the end of the budget process.
“This is not an act of the Johnson administration … All we can do is look forward to the elected school board and whatever intermediary board that we have,” said Lee.
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Meanwhile, in Opposite Land…
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* New York Times…
Governor DeSantis supported state laws aimed, at least in part, at limiting access to some reading materials in public schools. Books targeted to be removed have dealt primarily with L.G.B.T.Q. and social justice themes, with some groups objecting to materials on gender and sexuality in books that schoolchildren could read.
Other states, including Georgia and Kentucky, have followed suit with laws that could make it easier to lodge complaints about specific books and influence library or education boards, according to EveryLibrary, a political action committee that advocates for increased public library funding and tracks proposed book regulation laws across the country.
* South Carolina …
PEN America responded today to the removal of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ acclaimed memoir Between the World and Me from an advanced placement course in South Carolina, calling it “an outrageous act of government censorship.”
As reported, earlier this spring students in the Chapin High School classroom reported a teacher for including Coates’ memoir and two related short videos in her argument essay unit. The unit, designed in preparation for the AP Language test, which is accepted for credit by many colleges, included questions such as: “Do you think racism is a pervasive problem in America? Why or why not?”
Several students wrote to the school board about the class, saying it made them feel “ashamed to be Caucasian” and “in shock that she would do something illegal like that…I am pretty sure a teacher talking about systemic racism is illegal in South Carolina.” South Carolina passed an educational gag order last year that banned “divisive concepts” related to race and sex.
In response, Jeremy C. Young, freedom to learn program director, released the following statement:
“This is an outrageous act of government censorship and a textbook example of how educational gag orders corrupt free inquiry in the classroom.”
* Florida…
Officials with Alachua County Public Schools say they are taking stock of what’s on school library bookshelves over the summer break.
Jackie Johnson, the Alachua County Schools public information officer, said the county is having ongoing meetings to ensure that content abides by state and district standards in preparation for the 2023-2024 school year. […]
While the school board says that it is committed to the education of their students, Gainesville residents, following the actions of the school board, remain weary about the future of censoring books in schools. […]
Brad McClenny’s job as the public relations and marketing manager of the library district is to ensure libraries abide by the American Library Association’s position on censorship of information addressing diversity education standards. […]
“We have had two challenges so far this year,” McClenny said. “A book is in the middle (of being challenged) and a movie was denied to be taken off of shelves. The book is called “Grandad’s Pride.”
* Wisconsin…
Community and board members of the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau school district discussed a committee’s ban of the book “Queer Ducks” from GET’s middle school library.
No decision was made tonight, and the book is back on middle school shelves.
The book: “Queer Ducks- The Natural World of Animal Sexuality” is a book about the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world.
The book was pulled from shelves temporarily last week after an instructional resource committee vote.
The removal was canceled after concerns were raised about the vote being done illegally.
* Virginia…
At a heated meeting on Tuesday night, the Hanover County School Board voted 5-2 in favor of adopting a new policy over explicit books in school libraries.
The new policy will allow residents to file a challenge to remove books with sexually explicit material, rather than allowing educators to adequately assess the content of the libraries.
In addition, under the new policy, the school board can have sole discretion to remove books.
Following this decision, the school board exercised this new power and went on to remove 19 popular books from circulation, including “Looking for Alaska” and “Water for Elephants.”
* Indiana…
“Pornographer.”
That’s the insult Chad Heck remembers, hurled by the people behind him as he testified in the state legislature earlier this year.
Like other Indiana school librarians who spoke against legislation seeking to restrict school bookshelves this session, Heck tried to dispel the notion that he and his colleagues were peddlers of porn — and found himself part of the national culture wars that have pitted some parents who mistrust public education against school leaders and staff.
Ultimately, lawmakers passed a bill that forbids books deemed “obscene” or “harmful to minors” on school library shelves, following hours of heated public comment. House Enrolled Act 1447 also requires school districts to establish procedures to publish their school library catalogs, and to set up a process for a parent or community member to request removal of obscene or harmful material.
Now, Heck and other librarians with the Indiana Library Federation (ILF) who fought against the legislation are learning to live with the law, but they are still trying to clarify misconceptions about it. They stress that the law is not an outright book ban. They also say many districts already post their catalogs online, and already have procedures for challenging books.
* Missouri…
New restrictions on Missouri libraries have led one Kansas City-area library system to ban LGBTQ Pride displays in its children’s and teens’ sections.
The Mid-Continent Public Library said the decision was made to comply with Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s new rules, which forbid libraries from having displays of “age-inappropriate” materials in areas designated for teens and children. If libraries don’t comply, they could lose state funding.
The library will also require that all display signs come from its central office or from marketing program LibraryAware, instead of from individual branches. Adult books, including parenting books, are no longer allowed in children’s areas.
The new policies are outlined in the minutes of the library’s May 16 branch managers’ meeting.
In an email to KCUR, the library said it still has Pride displays in common areas and it strives to make its children’s displays “diverse and inclusive.”
* Iowa…
The Iowa Library Association is cautioning school librarians to wait for guidance from the state education department before removing books from school libraries to comply with state law.
The law, Senate File 496, signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds May 26, bars from school libraries books that depict or describe sexual acts. Schools are also required to have a policy that allows someone to request removal of any classroom materials.
The law also requires schools to put their library catalog online and allow parents to review certain instructional materials, a practice many schools already have in place. The Iowa City district, for example, has had an electronic catalog — that is accessible to the public — of all school library collections “for decades,” said Kristin Pedersen, Iowa City schools spokeswoman.
Without guidance from the state, librarians are left trying to interpret the law, which is not their role, said Michelle Kruse, director for the Iowa Library Association and past president of the Iowa Association of School Librarians.
“The beautiful thing about a library is that if you find a book that doesn’t speak to you — maybe it doesn’t align with a belief you or your family has — you can close it, return it and move on,” Kruse said. “Now, we have a law that’s going to limit that access.”
* Arkansas…
There are lawsuits attempting to block a new Arkansas law that bans certain books from the shelves in the children’s section. The Fayetteville Library is one of several plaintiffs involved in one of the lawsuits.
40/29’s Yuna Lee spoke to David Johnson, the Executive Director of the Library, on this week’s edition of On the Record.
“It’s a real challenge to our first amendment rights, to read what we read,” Johnson said. “If they’re going to have a governmental agency, whether it’s a quorum court or a city council or a mayor, to determine what we can and cannot read, what’s next?”
* Utah…
Republican lawmakers rallied with more than one hundred Bible-toting parents and children at Utah’s Capitol on Wednesday to protest a suburban school district’s decision to remove the Bible from middle and elementary school libraries in the wake of a GOP-backed “sensitive materials” law passed two years ago.
Concerned parents and children holding signs that read “The Bible is the original textbook” and “Remove porn, not the Bible,” said they were outraged after northern Utah’s Davis School District announced that a review committee concluded the Bible was too “violent or vulgar” for young children. The committee ruled that it did not qualify as obscene or pornographic under the sensitive materials law, but used its own discretion to remove it from libraries below the high school level. […]
State Rep. Ken Ivory, the sensitive materials law’s Republican sponsor, rebuffed the idea that his law paved the way for the Bible to be banned. Though he defended the review process after the sacred text’s removal, he said on Wednesday that the Davis School District had overstepped its role by removing the Bible from middle and elementary schools because of criteria not in state law.
He said criticism of the review process that led to the banning of the Bible didn’t relinquish the need for oversight from parents and administrators about materials in schools.
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* Context is yesterday’s testimony by former Chicago Ald. Pat O’Connor, who was hired as a gaming consultant a month after leaving office, but was almost never consulted…
This is not confined to Illinois. Attorneys call this a retainer, for example.
It’s also not uncommon for people or companies with big bucks to hire an attorney, lobbyist or consultant solely to ensure that nobody else hires the person.
* The topic came up during the ComEd 4 trial. The defendants were accused of hiring a bunch of do-nothing consultants at the behest of Speaker Madigan. According to investigative recordings, then-ComEd CEO Joe Dominguez said he was “fine” with the arrangement, explaining…
“(I)t’s like the lobbying team itself. You know. There are, at periods of time where people are saying, ‘What the hell are these guys doing? Why are we paying them?’ And then they will do something in the minute, in the magic moment.”
Discuss.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Upworthy describes itself as a site which “strives to share the best of humanity with the world.” An article on the site today claims that Gov. Pritzker’s Northwestern commencement address was “a lesson in kindness”…
“Over my many years in politics and business, I have found one thing to be universally true—the kindest person in the room is often the smartest,” Pritzker says.
Priztker’s observation may sound nice, but it is rooted in research. Numerous studies have found that people who have lower cognitive abilities—or, as Pritzker and Dwight Schrute would call them, “idiots”—are more likely to harbor bigoted beliefs about people who are different.
Pritzker concluded his speech by summarizing the lessons he learned from watching “The Office.”
“Be more substance than show. Set aside cruelty for kindness. Put one foot in front of the other even when you don’t know your way. And always try and appreciate the good old days when you are actually in them,” Pritzker said. “And remember what Dwight Schrute said, ‘You only live once? False! You live every day! You only die once.’”
* The Question: Agree or disagree with this Upworthy take? Explain.
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The Trump primary begins in CD12
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Shot…
U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) formally announced the launch of his reelection campaign at a meet-and-greet with supporters in White County on Saturday.
“Joe Biden and the crazy liberals in Congress are attempting to fundamentally change our way of life. Their woke, radical agenda is causing chaos with our economy, confusion in our schools, and a crisis at our southern border,” said Bost. “I’m honored to run for reelection because Southern Illinoisans deserve a fighter they know and trust to stand up for constitutional conservative values. We’ve got enough show horses in Washington as it is; that’s why I remain laser focused on serving the people and delivering real results for Southern Illinois, the place I’ve proudly called home my entire life.”
During his time in Congress, Bost has compiled a proven, conservative record, previously receiving endorsements from the NRA’s Political Victory Fund, Illinois Right to Life, and Illinois Farm Bureau. He was also endorsed by President Donald Trump the last three election cycles. Bost served as a state representative, small business owner, professional firefighter, and is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
* Chaser via a Mark Maxwell tweet last night…
ILGOP failed ‘22 nominee for governor Darren Bailey has a front row seat reserved to hear Donald Trump on the day of his arraignment, according to this picture taken at Bedminster. He’s tracking as close to Trump as he can ahead of an expected 2024 run vs. Mike Bost for Congress.
Pic from Politico this morning…
* Dessert from the guy who endured a 15-point thumping at the hands of Mary Miller…
Make no mistake, this is gonna be a hot one.
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Open thread
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s goin on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Sun-Times | Chicago politics take center stage as feds wind down their corruption case against businessman James Weiss: The focus turned from the state capitol to City Hall, with testimony from former Ald. Patrick O’Connor (40th) and Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association. It revolved around Weiss’ claim that he had not bribed then-state Rep. Luis Arroyo, but rather paid him to help block an ordinance O’Connor had proposed.
* Chicago Defender | State Rep. Lilly Named Assistant Majority Leader in House Democratic Caucus: State Rep. Camille Y. Lilly, a Democrat from Chicago, has been appointed as an assistant majority leader in the House Democratic Caucus. The nomination is in recognition of her extensive experience and effective leadership in addressing family-related matters, particularly in health and human services.
* WGLT | Dan Brady explores a run for Congress or return to the state legislature: Brady, a Republican from Bloomington, said he’s considering running for Congress next year, or for the state legislature where he served for 20 years before a failed bid for Illinois Secretary of State. “Over the next few weeks, I will be meeting and discussing with voters, donors, and my family the options I have to serve the public once again,” Brady said in a statement.
* NBC Chicago | Illinois kids age 5 and under can receive free books thanks to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, state grants: According to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office, the new FY24 budget allocated $1.6 million to participating in the Imagination Library program, meaning that all children in the state that are age five or younger can participate free of charge.
* Block Club | Feds Give Chicago Over $10 Million To Help Asylum Seekers As Humanitarian Crisis Continues: The state of Illinois will also get $19.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support housing and basic services for thousands of Central and South American migrants.
* Sun-Times | After days of delays, city moves migrant families from North Side to Daley College: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chief of staff said families with children needed to move to Daley College so the High Ridge YMCA could be used only for single men, who make up the majority of the 500 or so people still sleeping in Chicago police stations.
* NYT | To Fight Book Bans, Illinois Passes a Ban on Book Bans: The law, which takes effect next year, was the Democratic-controlled state’s response to a sharp rise in book-banning efforts across the country, especially in Republican-led states, where lawmakers have made it easier to remove library books that political groups deemed objectionable.
* CBS | South suburban mayors say their municipalities they need revenue and resources: Curry is in the middle of her first term as mayor of Lynwood. She and some other Southland mayors recently met with Gov. JB Pritzker – on the topic of increasing the percentage of the local government distributive fund, or LGDF. “For a village like Lynwood, when our LGDF percentage was lowered over these past years, we’ve lost roughly $6 million in revenue,” said Mayor Curry. “If you hand me $6 million today, I can do some transformative things in my village.”
* Tribune | Chicago Bears: Breaking down the team’s growing number of options in stadium search: The franchise, a founding member of the league, valued at $5.8 billion by Forbes, is looking for a new home. Team officials hadn’t been planning an immediate move from Chicago’s Soldier Field until Arlington International Racecourse went for sale in 2021. They jumped at the chance and closed the deal to buy the property for $197 million this year.
* Axios | Illinois’ state flag may get a redesign. How would you do it?: Turner wants the new design to be collaborative. “I want people from across the state to feel like they are a part of the process of designing our next official state flag,” Turner said.
* Tribune | Chicago Bears defensive lineman Justin Jones rips Green Bay Packers fans: ‘Half of them don’t even know football’: Jones’ barbs came in response to a question about the seemingly wide-open NFC North picture this year after the Packers traded quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets.
* WTVO | Illinois announces high-speed trains between Chicago, St. Louis: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced on Monday a $1.96 billion high-speed rail project that will allow Amtrak trains to reach 110 mph, according to Fox News. Trains currently reach 90 mph on the route.
* AP | The Beatles are releasing their ‘last’ record. AI helped make it possible: McCartney, 80, told the BBC that the technology was used to separate the Beatles’ voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back.” The “new” song is set to be released later this year, he said.
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Live coverage
Wednesday, Jun 14, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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