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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Campaign stuff
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Attorney General Kwame Raoul in response to federal LIHEAP and SSBG employee firings…
* Click here for some background. CoinDesk…
* Illinois Department of Central Management Services…
* Illinois Times | Springfield diocese files lawsuit to allow religious groups to determine hiring criteria: A new Illinois law prohibits discrimination against individuals based on their position on abortion, but Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield is challenging its constitutionality. “States can’t force religious groups to violate their faith by affirming and accepting employees who violate their religious beliefs,” said Paprocki, who has made a name for himself as one of the nation’s most conservative Catholic leaders. * Center Square | DOJ asks judge to deny IL’s motion to dismiss migrant sanctuary lawsuit: The U.S. Department of Justice is urging a federal district court judge to deny a motion to dismiss its challenge to Illinois’ migrant sanctuary policies. Arguing Illinois’ migrant sanctuary policies “allow criminal illegal aliens to move freely throughout the United States, inflicting harm on victims that would have been averted had the alien been detained,” the DOJ moved Tuesday to deny the motion to dismiss from Chicago, Cook County and the state of Illinois. * Tribune | Lauren Rapisand readies to take over as Park Ridge 6th Ward leader, wants to ‘give back to the community’: Park Ridge Alderperson Richard “Rick” Biagi had decided not to seek reelection to be 6th Ward leader, creating a contest to replace him where, according to unofficial vote totals from the election Tuesday, Lauren Rapisand appears to have prevailed. “Having held elected office in Park Ridge for the past 16 years, I believe it is my time to step aside and make way for new faces and new voices,” Biagi told Pioneer Press via email ahead of the April 1 Consolidated Election. * Aurora Beacon-News | Election results in Sugar Grove show continued concern over Crown development: Unofficial results from Tuesday night appear to show the ousting of current village president Jennifer Konen and an incumbent village trustee, and the passage of a non-binding referendum question asking the village to reverse its decision on the controversial Crown development project. The advisory referendum asking the village to reverse its decision to allow the project appears to have passed with 57.74% of votes as of Tuesday night, according to unofficial election results from the Kane County Clerk’s Office. * Daily Herald | Grafton Township Board turns blue as voters also deliver change to Huntley District 158 school board: For the first time in recent memory, the Grafton Township board in McHenry County is slated to be run by Democrats. Voters in the township also appear to have helped boost Huntley Unit School District 158 candidates who were backed by the teachers union and a grass-roots group seeking a new direction for that board. In the District 158 school board race, incumbents Paul Troy and Sean Cratty appear headed for another four-year term. Challengers Melissa Maiorino and Rich Bobby also appear poised to win seats, though results remain unofficial. * Daily Herald | Vetter’s $163 million expansion plan faces big vote in Des Plaines: A German pharmaceutical company’s $163 million plan to expand its Des Plaines facility could get a key go-ahead from the city council Monday. Vetter intends to construct a roughly 158,000-square-foot manufacturing and office building on its nearly 18-acre campus at 10 W. Algonquin Road. Three existing Vetter buildings on the property will remain. * Daily Herald | Lakemoor trustees to vote on controversial solar farm on golf course land Tuesday: The Pistakee Country Club could soon be converted to a solar farm in Lakemoor, but neighbors living nearby have issues with it. Many neighbors spoke against the proposal in a packed zoning board hearing last month. Among their concerns is the potential impact of the solar farm on the nearby Chain O’ Lakes and property values, and how much noise it would generate. * Crain’s | Feds explore building data centers at Argonne, Fermi labs: The Energy Department said it’s exploring using thousands of acres of federal land nationwide that are positioned to quickly develop data-centers, in part because the government can fast-track permitting for nuclear reactors and other power plants to run the facilities. “The global race for AI dominance is the next Manhattan project,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “The Department of Energy is taking important steps to leverage our domestic resources to power the AI revolution, while continuing to deliver affordable, reliable and secure energy to the American people.” * ELgin Courier-News | EPA starts work removing radium-tainted soil, debris from former Silbert Watch Co. in Elgin: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week started removing radium-contaminated soil from the former Silbert Watch Co. site and adjacent property at the northeast corner of Dundee and Stewart avenues on Elgin’s northeast side. The EPA is paying for the cleanup, which is expected to cost about $500,000 and to be finished by early summer, EPA spokesman David Shark said. * WMBD | Dan Brady wants smooth transition into office: The former state representative is eager to have discussions and implement measures to ensure public safety. Brady wants to continue working on existing projects like the downtown streetscape. Overall, this transition includes talking to department heads and seeing which staff members stay and which ones leave. “You know, there’s some city staff that are employees under different union contracts. Other city staff, that’s administrative staff,” said the former county coroner. “We want to keep, obviously, good experienced workers there to help make sure the transition is smooth and they have a history with the city. And we definitely want people there as employees that remember that customers first are the citizens of Bloomington.” * Illinois Times | Juvenile Detention Center reopens: The Sangamon County Board in 2024 spent more than $362,000 on security upgrades for the county’s Juvenile Detention Center, including $132,500 for an X-ray body scanner similar to what is used in airports. The improvements are hoped to make the center, in the 2200 block of South Dirksen Parkway in Springfield, safer for staff and detainees in the wake of a fatal shooting outside the center’s entrance on Sept. 30, 2023. * KFVS | First Housing Security Summit held in southern Illinois: Boots SI, a forum for nonprofit organizations throughout Southern Illinois working to provide for those in poverty and crisis hosted the event. The summit focused on insights and successes from other regional professionals to inspire starting similar initiatives in communities across southern Illinois. * WCIA | Danville City Council votes to oppose correctional center firing range in resolution: In 1988, a judge issued a permanent injunction to end firing any weapons at the firing range on the Danville Correctional Center’s property. Now City Council says the warden is working with the Illinois Attorney General’s office on vacating the injunction, but the council viewed it as unsafe. * WGLT | New Bloomington-Normal tourism chief gets settled as her agency ramps up for Route 66 Centennial: Bloomington native Melissa Chrisman says there are tons of things to do in the Twin Cities. Now, getting people to find the fun in Bloomington-Normal is her job. Chrisman is settling into her new role as the CEO of the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau [CVB], also known at Visit BN. She’s been on the job for about two months, choosing to move back home and leave a job in communications in Fort Worth, Texas. * South Side Weekly | Mayor Accused of Preventing Department Reps From Attending Hearing: Police district councilors’ efforts to explore alternatives to having police and 911 handle parking violation complaints hit a snag this week when a City Council hearing on the matter was abruptly canceled. Members of the 19th Police District Council (PDC) who have been pushing for the subject-matter hearing laid the blame squarely on the Fifth Floor of City Hall in an email to constituents. It said the meeting was canceled after the mayor prevented department heads from attending, a charge the Mayor’s Office denied. * WTTW | Chicago Police Continued to Target Black, Latino Drivers with Traffic Stops in 2024, Advocacy Group Reports: Approximately 65% of the more than 293,000 traffic stops made by CPD officers and reported to state officials were prompted by improper or expired registration plates or stickers and headlight, taillight and license plate light offenses, according to a new report from Impact for Equity, a nonprofit advocacy and research organization that has helped lead the push to reform the Chicago Police Department. * Tribune | Spiking natural gas prices to hit home for Peoples Gas customers: Peoples Gas is charging customers 52.79 cents per therm for gas in April, up about 30% from March and 104% year-over-year, according to the Citizens Utility Board, making it the second-highest gas price Peoples has charged during April in a decade. “Peoples Gas misled its customers,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said in a news release Wednesday. “It was absurd for the utility to claim that its rate hike wouldn’t lead to higher bills. The supply price spike took effect on April Fools’ Day, but this is no joke for so many Chicago families who are struggling to afford their heating bills. We hope it’s a warm spring.” * Sun-Times | CTU president Stacy Davis Gates denies union power play caused rift with SEIU: The civil war between the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU has fractured Mayor Brandon Johnson’s progressive union coalition continues — so much so that it endangers Johnson’s political future. It centers around Davis Gates’ failed attempt to have the CTU take over classroom assistant jobs held by SEIU Local 73. * Sun-Times | Resisting mayoral pressure, Choose Chicago picks tourism vet Kristen Reynolds as CEO: Choose Chicago said Thursday it has named Kristen Reynolds to fill the key post, which has been the highest-paid public position in Chicago. Reynolds comes to Chicago after 27 years in tourism leadership, the last decade as CEO of New York’s Discover Long Island. She will take over an organization that, with public and private funding, is tasked with promoting Chicago against cities that have much larger budgets to market themselves. While Chicago has seen growth in business and leisure travel, it still hasn’t hit the record numbers it recorded just before the pandemic. * Sun-Times | Venezuelan man arrested by ICE to be freed temporarily to donate kidney to brother: “This marks a victory for humanity and compassion,” said Erendira Rendón, Chief Programs Officer for The Resurrection Project, in a statement. “This decision recognizes that our fundamental human rights transcend immigration status and that our communities have the power to demand that our humanity be recognized. We are grateful to everyone who stood with the Gonzalez family and our broader immigrant community as we fought to correct this grave injustice.” * Crain’s | Michael Reinsdorf blasts Comcast over Bulls, Sox, Blackhawks blackout: Bulls President Michael Reinsdorf called out Comcast today over its negotiations for a carriage deal with Chicago Sports Network, saying the cable provider has acted in “bad faith” toward the new network co-owned by the team. Reinsdorf, appearing with Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz at a Crain’s real estate event this morning, said CHSN believed it had a deal with Comcast in December, but the agreement fell through for an undisclosed reason. * Block Club | Tom Skilling Gets Hero’s Welcome In Chicago — And Raises Alarm About National Weather Service Cuts: “I feel guilty every time I get on the darn plane to Hawaii,” legendary local weatherman Tom Skilling told a packed house of scientists, environmentalists and superfans who flocked to City Club on Wednesday to hear him speak for $95 a seat. Skilling — who has gone snorkeling in Hawaii and hiking in Alaska since retiring from WGN in February 2024 — received a hero’s welcome back home in Chicago, the city where he’s famous for his long spiels about the iconically crummy weather. This time, he took aim at President Donald Trump. * WIRED | Trump and DOGE Defund Program That Boosted American Manufacturing for Decades: At the height of the US trade war with Japan in the 1980s, Congress established a nationwide network of organizations to advise small American manufacturers on how to survive and grow in what was then a particularly difficult environment. Decades later, there is now at least one Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) center in all 50 states, and they continue to provide taxpayer-subsidized consulting to thousands of businesses, including makers of ovens, printers, tortillas, and dog food. […] The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which administers the program to help manufacturers, emailed lawmakers to say that it would not be paying out nearly $12.9 million that had been due overall this week to MEP centers in 10 states, according to Democratic staff of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology who spoke on on the condition of anonymity. * NPR | U.S. stocks post deep losses on trade war fears over new tariffs: President Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement Wednesday triggered a sharp drop in U.S. stock markets, a flashing-red warning sign of the economic fallout that’s expected to result from the widening trade war. Around midday Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had tumbled over 1,200 points, or 3%. The broader S&P 500 index sank 4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index dropped nearly 5%. * Crain’s | Now comes the hard part: Sifting through the Trump tariff wreckage: Companies will spend weeks and months figuring out exactly what President Donald Trump’s lengthy executive order means to them. […] “Instead of talking about tariffs on a handful of countries, we’re talking about at least a universal 10% additional tariff,” says Kristin Bohl, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ customs and international trade practice. “It doesn’t matter where you source from, you’re hit 10% more than you were yesterday, with limited exceptions.”
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Repeal IFPA Now
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.]  Casey Martin, CEO of Midwest Coalition of Labor CU
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It’s just a bill
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Senate Democrats…
Of the proposed mental health bills, only SB1322 (Third Reading) and SB2500 (Second Reading) have advanced out of committee. * President and CEO of G-PAC of Illinois Kathleen Sances
* WAND…
* Sen. Christopher Belt…
* WAND…
* Sen. Sue Rezin and Sen. Terri Bryant…
* WAND…
* WAND…
* Meanwhile… In Indiana. Tribune…
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Broken Promises: Despite Billions In Public Funds, Illinois Nursing Homes Still Rank Among the Worst
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] The state and federal governments have poured billions of dollars of funding into the nursing home industry in Illinois to improve staffing and quality care for residents, but the industry has failed to deliver. The industry receives nearly $7 billion in annual revenues, mostly from state Medicaid and Medicare. The 2022 Medicaid rate reform increased the Illinois nursing home industry’s revenue by at least $670 million per year. This came shortly after increases of $240 million annually starting in 2019 and an additional $60 million in 2020. But the industry hasn’t used this taxpayer money to improve resident care. Illinois nursing homes have consistently rated among the worst in the country in staffing and quality of care–with residents receiving 25% fewer direct care hours than the minimum required to meet their daily needs. Instead of fully staffing homes to meet residents’ needs, too many nursing homes operators continue to divert resources away from the bedside–without transparency or accountability. State Rep. Anna Moeller recently called out the industry for this lack of accountability: “There’s this constant back and forth: the industry asks for a ton, we give them a ton. We ask for some accountability with all of those resources we’re giving to improve patient care, to improve resident care. There’s always this pushback on doing that.” Care can’t wait – it’s time to hold the nursing home industry accountable and ensure taxpayer dollars fund improving care for our seniors.
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Roundup: DuPage Dems say they flipped 38 offices; Rock Island elects Black mayor after police shooting; Meyer/Hoffman over Gregory/Kern in Belleville
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Background is here, here and here if you need it. Statement issued late yesterday afternoon by Democratic Party of DuPage County Chair Reid McCollum…
* The Tribune caught up last night with its own story about the suburban carnage…
As subscribers were told earlier this week, that permanent vote by mail program is a built-in Democratic advantage because rank and file Republicans have been shooed away from mailing their ballots. Also, Chair Coyne’s Safe Suburbs USA’s website was taken offline this week, as were its Facebook and XTwitter accounts. A very strong point in the article was that these lower-level offices are hugely important if the Republican Party wants to try and rebuild. Unsaid in the piece is that also means Democrats are strengthening their positions down to the ground-level, which is hugely important for longterm stability. Their biggest problem this year was finding enough candidates to run. * Speaking of which…
* We have not paid enough attention to Rock Island…
* In the BND last month…
And then…
Kern’s candidate got stomped at the polls…
* Back to the suburbs. NBC 5 on the Aurora race…
Kind of an odd thing to say. * More… * Muddy River News | Landslide Linda: Moore downs Troup to become city’s first female mayor: Quincy has elected its first female mayor in the city’s history as former City Treasurer Linda Moore defeated incumbent Mike Troup in Tuesday’s election. … Moore ran on a pledge to have all of the potholes in the city fixed in the first 100 days and Troup said he planned to hold her to that. … Moore is the first mayoral candidate to win while not running on a Republican or Democratic ticket. * Tribune | Incumbent Vicki Scaman claims victory in contentious Oak Park village president race: After what was an unusually contentious and at times personal battle, incumbent Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman appeared to win a convincing victory over challenger Ravi Parakkat, a member of the Village Board, according to preliminary results from Tuesday’s municipal elections. With results from all 32 precincts reporting, Scaman has received 6,083 votes to Parakkat’s 3,705 votes. This was a significantly bigger margin than Scaman achieved in her first race for village president four years earlier, when Scaman won 56.14% of the vote against progressive activist Cate Readling. * WCIA TV | Tolono could have first African American Village President: Village Trustee Terrence Stuber could become the first African American Village President in Tolono. He said it’d be an honor to go down in history but that isn’t his goal. Stuber wants to be remembered for creating a welcoming community, building economic success and more. * Shaw Local | Guerrero will be next Joliet Township supervisor: The results are not official, but [Cesar] Guerrero had almost 64% of the vote with all precincts counted at the end of election night. … Guerrero was the Democratic candidate in a township that overwhelmingly votes for Democrats. But he almost didn’t make it on the ballot because of legitimacy questions related to late payments on fines for past violations of state campaign laws. Had Guerrero not made it, Boisdorf would have had the supervisor spot on the ballot all to himself, providing a surprising opportunity for a Republican in Joliet Township. * WGLT | Donor says campaign contribution flap in Normal is just ‘gossip’ and that he didn’t know Chris Koos was his cousin: Shepard played an unusual role in the race. Records show the businessman and his wife, Heather, made a $29,200 campaign contribution to the McLean County Republicans. A few weeks later, the Republicans gave $28,000 to Lorenz’s mayoral campaign – money that Lorenz said was from an unnamed donor who wanted to funnel it through a group like the GOP. A pass-through move like that circumvents campaign-finance laws which limit how much a single person can give and require everybody to disclose what they did. * WQAD TV | Illinois April 1 election: East Moline votes down home rule referendum; Whiteside County passes public safety tax: East Moline residents voted against having ‘home rule’ status. Around two-thirds of votes cast were against the proposition. * Evanston Now | Biss wins reelection with 62% of vote: The campaign, which began as a cordial disagreement of ideas and vision became marred by accusations of lies and personal attacks as it went on. … Biss faced harsh criticism from some about his possible future political ambitions, his negotiations and ultimate tiebreaking vote on Ryan Field’s rebuild and most recently his advocacy for Envision Evanston 2045 and a new zoning code, which could revamp housing opportunities across the city. * Daily Herald | District 211 write-in votes appear to fall short, but won’t be counted for two weeks: A pair of late-announced write-in candidates in the previously uncontested Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 board of education election appeared to fall short Tuesday. However, the Cook County Clerk’s office won’t even begin to count votes for write-in candidates until after the April 15 deadline for mail ballots to return, Director of Communications Frank Herrera said. * News-Gazette | Election ‘25 | Patterson says township will look at other options for supporting Strides: Rantoul could soon have a new mayor, Champaign will have five new school board members and the City of Champaign Township needs to come up with a new funding model for its Strides Shelter that doesn’t involve raising property taxes. Those were among the headlines from Champaign County’s consolidated election, after the 18,531st and final vote was tallied around 11 p.m. Tuesday. * News-Gazette | Hoopeston’s incumbent mayor out, Georgetown’s returning: The city of Hoopeston has elected a new mayor. Newcomer Tracy Carter defeated incumbent Jeff Wise on Tuesday night by a margin of 445-282, or 61.2 to 38.8 percent. … In other Vermilion County communities, the incumbent mayor of Georgetown prevailed in a much closer contest, while current Westville Village Board member Troy Strebin beat out challengers Darin Troglia and Nick Pierce for that village’s top job. * Shaw Local | Three-way race for Sandwich mayor remains too close to call: Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham, who is seeking a second term, faced two opponents in Tuesday’s election – 4th Ward Alderman Rick Whitecotton, whose term expires in April, and aircraft mechanic Colton Otto. According to unofficial results from DeKalb and Kendall counties, Latham has 455 votes, Whitecotton has 453 votes and Otto has 391 votes. * Shaw Local | Four newcomers elected to DeKalb school board: State Appellate Prosecutor Nicholas Atwood was the top vote-getter in a crowded race, nabbing 2,134 votes over almost a dozen challengers. Jose Jaques, a retired DeKalb police officer who also served as a District 428’s school resource officer and has worked as a substitute teacher, also earned a seat with 1,846 votes if unofficial results hold. And Kristin Bailey, a communications professional for an agriculture machinery manufacturer who holds bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in English, won the third seat with 1,740 votes.
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Illinois Manufacturers’ Association criticizes Trump’s tariffs: ‘Will be felt greatly throughout Illinois’ (Updated x2)
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller …Adding… Chicagoland Chamber…
Nothing from the Illinois Chamber in my inbox. …Adding… From IRMA…
* From the IMA…
* Gov. Pritzker…
* US Reps. Miller and LaHood…
* From a writer for the Atlantic…
That’s been confirmed. * Reason magazine senior editor Jacob Sullum…
* Related…
* Tribune | In Mexico, Gov. JB Pritzker positions Illinois as a ‘stable and reliable trade partner’ amid Trump tariffs: Pritzker’s update on the trade mission comes the same day Trump announced a baseline tax of 10% on imports from every country and higher tariff rates on a number of nations running trade surpluses with the U.S., according to The Associated Press. The move, according to the news agency, could lead to trade wars and threatens to aggravate the global economy. The governor, an outspoken foe of Trump, reiterated his stance that tariffs are “really a tax on working families” and that they’re not good for the economy and may lead to a recession in the U.S.
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Healing Communities: Illinois Hospitals Are Addressing Community Needs Statewide
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department In every corner of Illinois, across the state’s 58,000 square miles, Illinois hospitals are leading and funding initiatives to improve individual and community health. It’s one of the ways Illinois hospitals are healing communities—beyond their core role of delivering lifesaving care 24/7. How are they building healthy communities? By addressing community needs. In total value, hospital community benefits topped $8 billion in services, donations and support to Illinois communities in 2024. Because of these investments, Illinois hospitals are helping individuals live healthier lives and communities thrive. Here are a few of the countless hospital-led initiatives making a difference:
• UW Health, with hospitals in Rockford and Belvidere, partnered with other providers on parenting classes about caring for a newborn. • Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove opened the Wellness Food Connection food pantry within the hospital. • The Regional Cancer Partnership, which includes Memorial Health in Springfield and HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, sponsored an event offering free colon cancer screening tests. Hospitals are having a positive impact throughout the state. Learn more about how Illinois hospitals are healing communities.
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Open thread
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * What’s going on in your part of Illinois…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Intellectual and developmental disability services brace for potential Medicaid cuts. Illinois Times…
- “We’re very concerned. We don’t see what the path is right now,” Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities CEO Josh Evans CEO said. “And so our mission is to continue to educate our members of Congress that this is not just a program that is ripe with payments, it’s serving people.” - “I’m going to do whatever it is that I can do, but I can’t come up with $8 billion to keep a federal program going in my state,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in an interview with The Contrarian last week. “I can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to try to provide free healthcare for people who are most acute, but people are going to die because of what they’re doing.” * BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here. * WCIA | Crime Stoppers seeking tips on Wyndham vandalism; hotel expected to be closed for 90 days: Scott Dahl of Springfield Convention and Visitor’s Bureau said at the city council meeting Tuesday evening they have been successful at working with groups for moving conventions up to 120 days out. Wyndham management expects the hotel to be closed for three months, Dahl said. * Crain’s | Judge extends pause on firing federal probationary employees in Illinois: The new order from U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland stipulates that 20 federal agencies must continue their efforts to reinstate unlawfully terminated probationary employees in the states that filed suit while the court case proceeds, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office said in a press release. The injunction also requires those agencies to follow lawful procedures in conducting any future reductions in force, the release said. * Chalkbeat Chicago | Biden gave Illinois schools another year to spend $77 million in COVID relief. Trump wants the money back.: The move impacts 27 school districts, two Regional Offices of Education, and three grantees, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. The programs now at risk served students experiencing homelessness, students with disabilities, teachers who work with English learners, and after-school tutoring programs, the state board said. * Sun-Times | Pritzker tries to bolster Illinois ties with Mexico, even as country prepares for Trump tariffs: Pritzker said he’s calling for economic cooperation with Illinois, even amid ongoing tariff threats. But he said the tariffs are a “deep concern” for Mexican companies. “Tariffs are really a tax on working families. They’re not good for the economy, and these broad-based tariffs are very challenging and may lead to a recession in the United States,” Pritzker said. “The uncertainty that we’ve heard over and over again in the discussions with our Mexican counterparts is going to lead to them pulling back on making investments, and potentially pulling back on providing the supply items that our U.S. businesses need. So I would say there is a great deal of concern.” * Streetsblog Chicago | When the levy breaks: Taxpert Maurice Scholten says updating IL sales tax could help fund transit, but not soon enough to avert fiscal cliff: The day “Modernizing Illinois’ Sales Tax” dropped, the federation released its own press release. “We appreciate the research teams for their recommendations and share their belief that funding education, mass transit, and public pension systems are vital to economic growth,” Scholten stated. “Expanding Illinois’ historically narrow sales tax base could be one part of a long-term solution, but it is important to remember new sales tax revenues would take a significant amount of time before they are available to address these critical services.” Talk about a reality check! * WAND | Illinois officers undergo training through interactive simulator: The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) recently acquired a new VirTra Simulator system. It consists of five screens, cameras, speakers, and an immersive environment where officers can practice a variety of interactions. Departments can choose a specific training topic, such as de-escalation, traffic stops, or active shooter scenarios for their officers to take part in. The operator watches the officer’s interactions and chooses what the subject of the simulation does based on their actions. If they are calm and direct, the subject will comply. If they are nervous or aggressive, the subject may escalate the situation. * WCIS | Domestic violence data shows increase need in Illinois shelter beds: I dug into the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s last report to see how many Illinoisans were affected. In the 2024 fiscal year, the coalition had to turn away nearly 5,000 adults and 3,800 children seeking emergency shelter. This is a 22% increase from the prior year. In the 2024 fiscal year, nearly 8,000 Illinois children witnessed domestic violence. * Bloomberg | Chicago’s revenue surpasses estimate on cloud tax, home sales: Chicago’s revenue exceeded estimates by 7.2% in the first two months of this year thanks to taxes on cloud storage and home sales, collections that will help a city that’s struggling with annual deficits. The city collected $365.7 million in revenue during this period, according to a report on its website. That represents a turnaround from January, which showed revenue 4.2% below forecast. * Crain’s | Talk of a leadership shake-up opens a rift between key progressives and Johnson: Alds. Andre Vasquez, 40th; Maria Hadden, 49th; and Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, are demanding assurances that Johnson is not considering stripping them of the City Council committees they chair. Despite the unlikelihood Johnson would actually follow through on the move that would require City Council approval, the three believe a conversation that included senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee and Kennedy Bartley, who oversees Johnson’s legislative agenda, took place in which they discussed purging the trio from Johnson’s leadership team. * Bloomberg | Microsoft pulls back on data centers from Chicago to Jakarta: The software company has recently halted talks for, or delayed development of, sites in Indonesia, the UK, Australia, Illinois, North Dakota and Wisconsin, according to people familiar with the situation. […] It’s hard to know how much of the company’s data center pullback reflects expectations of diminished demand versus temporary construction challenges, such as shortages of power and building materials. Some investors have interpreted signs of retrenchment as an indication that projected purchases of AI services don’t justify Microsoft’s massive outlays on server farms. * Sun-Times | Charges dropped against Chicago activist accused of violently shaking Rep. Mace’s hand: McIntyre said Wednesday he was “pleased but not surprised” the charges were dropped, adding that the case was meant “to criminalize anyone who advocates for the needs of our trans youth,” according to a statement. “This experience has been traumatic, but the outpouring of support from my community, colleagues and friends has meant everything,” he said. * Crain’s | What to know about the lawyer leading Jenner’s battle with Trump: WilmerHale hired Kirkland & Ellis alum Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general considered a — if not the — top appellate lawyer in the country, whom a legal industry blog aptly said needs no introduction. Perkins Coie selected Williams & Connolly, a premier inside-the-Beltway operator. Jenner & Block, meanwhile, looked, of all places, to San Diego in choosing . . . Michael Attanasio. * Block Club | Neighbors Call For Kenwood Homeless Shelter To Close — And Demand More Transparency From City: “The city never engaged with our community prior to opening the temporary migrant shelter, nor committing to a permanent shelter,” meeting co-organizer Cathy Perry said. “We are giving the community a platform to express their concerns about the city shifting the landscape of our neighborhood and quality of life overnight. “We want to tell the city we are not OK with a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week, permanent shelter that is literally 30 feet from our residents.” * Tribune | As Trump dismantles EPA, Great Lakes states with a history of pollution likely will suffer: Dirty air remains a chronic problem in the Chicago area. Shortly before President Joe Biden left office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reclassified the region from “moderate” to “serious” violations of federal regulations limiting lung-damaging smog, also known as ground-level ozone. Better understanding about the dangers of particulate matter, commonly known as soot, prompted the Biden EPA to tighten federal standards, effectively requiring cleaner factories, power plants and vehicles. * Tribune | As environmental justice ordinance nears City Council introduction, activists express hopes and frustrations: The ordinance would be the next step after the 2023 release of a cumulative impact assessment that analyzed how exposure to toxins, socioeconomic factors and health conditions vary throughout Chicago. That report was part of a voluntary compliance agreement negotiated with the federal government following a two-year federal investigation that found the city culpable of steering heavy industry away from white communities and into Black and Latino communities. The report is also a tool that will be used to inform future policies, officials have said. * Daily Herald | Back to the ‘burbs? Bears say Arlington Heights again in the mix for stadium site: Chicago Bears brass Wednesday made another public shift in where their new stadium could go, confirming that the team’s land in Arlington Heights is back in the mix. “The focus now is both downtown (Chicago) and Arlington Heights,” Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren told reporters at the NFL owners meetings in Florida. “The pace will definitely pick up, and we’re fortunate to have optionality.” * Daily Herald | Kane County Cougars introduce new ownership: The new and former owners of the Kane County Cougars invited press, stakeholders and season ticket holders to Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva on Wednesday to officially introduce the new ownership group REV Entertainment. About 40 people attended, notably Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, Kane County Treasurer Chris Lauzen, and Cougars mascots Ozzie and Annie. * Tribune | Voters reelect numerous suburban mayors, despite a few upsets of incumbents: While mayors in Aurora, Orland Park and Waukegan lost in unofficial vote counts, incumbents in Evanston, Elmhurst, Oak Park, Park Ridge, North Chicago and Tinley Park appeared to have held onto their seats. Just 17% of registered voters went to the polls in Cook County, a slight uptick from local elections in recent years, but well below the participation rate for presidential and statewide elections. * WCIA | Emergency Management Agencies reporting storm damage in Illinois counties: The Cumberland County EMA said several different areas around Cumberland County are reporting damage. In Jewett, there have been reports of trees and powerlines down. The Cumberland County EMA said the area was hit with strong winds. In Greenup, a tree feel on top of a home. Luckily, the Cumberland County EMA said the owner was not home at the time, and was unharmed. There have been reports of trees and powerlines throughout the entire county as well, according to the Cumberland County EMA. * WCIA | Tolono could have first African American Village President: Village Trustee Terrence Stuber could become the first African American Village President in Tolono. He said it’d be an honor to go down in history but that isn’t his goal. Stuber wants to be remembered for creating a welcoming community, building economic success and more. “I recognize the impact that that can have, especially on people who look like us,” Stuber said. “They can’t just see a dark-skinned man and say, ‘I want to be that.’ The skin color is not what matters. Do you have the heart to serve people?” * WGLT | Developer tries again for Essex apartments and townhomes project near Shelbourne Drive in Normal: A plan to build over 250 apartment and townhome units near Shelbourne Drive and Beech Street in the heart of Normal has been revived, this time with changes that could make the development more palatable to neighbors. The Essex complex would be built on the northeast corner of Shelbourne and Beech, on what’s currently undeveloped infill land next to the Collie Ridge subdivision. There would be 19 three-story apartment buildings (228 units) and six four-unit townhomes (24 units) across 19.5 acres. There would be 504 parking spaces. * NYT | E.P.A. Hunt for Shady Deals and ‘Gold Bars’ Comes Up Empty: Mr. Zeldin has said that the program, which Congress approved as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, was vulnerable to “waste, fraud, and abuse.” If that claim was substantiated, it would allow the E.P.A. to take back the $20 billion, which was awarded to eight nonprofit groups. The money was to be used to finance projects across the country such as solar panels on community centers and geothermal systems to heat and cool subsidized housing. * Nieman Lab | How to leak to a journalist: I spoke with eight journalists about how to leak in a safe, smart way. Disclaimer you probably knew was coming: No method of leaking is 100% secure, and the tips here reduce risk but cannot eliminate it completely. “I know it’s appealing to be instrumental in helping a reporter break a story, and god knows reporters love breaking stories,” says Marisa Kabas, an independent reporter and writer of The Handbasket who’s been breaking one scoop after another about DOGE and the Trump administration. “But in almost all cases, your safety and physical and mental health should come first.” * The Hill | HHS fires entire staff of program that helps low-income people afford heat and air conditioning: “Every single federal staff member that worked on LIHEAP was let go, so there are no federal staff members left to work on the program,” Germain told The Hill. He said that prior to both probationary cuts and the latest round of firings, there had been about 15 people working on LIHEAP.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Thursday, Apr 3, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.
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Ives tries to explain ‘complete wipeout,’ says GOP needs ‘Trumpian type of voice’ in 2026 (Updated)
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Former state Rep. and current Illinois Republican Party state central committeeperson Jeanne Ives was on Dan Proft’s radio show this morning talking about yesterday’s Republican losses. Excerpts…
* Proft also talked about the RINOs…
* More Tuesday react from the self-proclaimed “RINO hunter” Tom DeVore…  They will never understand. The Trump backers who are not Republican supporters are the actual RINOs. …Adding… Wheaton’s school district…  Oops…  Jeanne had a really bad day.
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Crain’s…
* Forbes…
* Covers | Illinois Issues Cease-and-Desist Orders to Prediction Companies: The Illinois Gaming Board sent cease-and-desist orders to Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com dated April 1, claiming that those companies are operating illegally without a sports betting license with their sports-event outcome contracts that act like wagers. Kalshi, which burst on the scene last fall with election trading markets, got into the sports outcome business earlier this year with Super Bowl and March Madness markets. The company linked with Robinhood to list those offerings on its popular trading platform. * NBC Chicago | Legendary rock band The Black Crowes added to 2025 Illinois State Fair lineup: Legendary rock band The Black Crowes has been added to the Springfield lineup, according to a Wednesday press release. The popular rock and roll band will perform at the fair Sat. Aug. 9, the release said. “The Illinois State Fair is all about bringing people together for great entertainment, and The Black Crowes are the perfect addition to our lineup,” Illinois State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark said in the release. “Their music has resonated with fans across generations, and we’re excited to bring their legendary sound to this year’s Fair.” * WCIA | ‘I think they’re extremely important’: Champaign Co. Clerk breaks down voter turnout in Consolidated Election: By 5 p.m. on Election Day, Aaron Ammons, the Champaign County Clerk, said about 6,000 people had voted in person that day and about 4,000 others voted early. Once those ballots are counted, plus the ones in the mail, he estimates about 15-20% of voters will participate in this election, which is a pretty standard trend. * BND | The pink elephant along I-55 is eye-catching, but wait until you see the inside: The Pink Elephant Antique Mall in Livingston is more than an antique shop — literally. It houses three businesses in one, including a retro diner, fudge shop and haunted house, and has dozens of unique, custom-built figures to pose next to. * WBEZ | Venezuelans in Chicago relieved their deportation protection is safe, for now: A federal judge in San Francisco paused plans Monday by the Trump administration to end temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, including in Illinois, one week before they were scheduled to expire on April 7. Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, allows non-U.S. citizens from 17 countries, including Venezuela, to live and work in the United States if they face extremely difficult or unsafe conditions in their home country. The Trump administration announced an end to the program for Venezuelans in February. * Crain’s | Downtown office vacancy hits new high for 11th straight quarter: The downtown office vacancy rate edged up to 26.5% at the end of March from 26.3% at the beginning of the year, according to data from real estate services firm CBRE. The share of available workspace has now hit record highs for 11 straight quarters and is up from 13.8% when the public health crisis began. The grim data points tell the same tale of woe that has now plagued landlords for a half-decade: Remote work’s rise has pushed many companies to reduce their footprints, a shift that has stripped the central business district of about 2.1 million square feet of tenants over the past couple of years, CBRE data shows. * Crain’s | Rahm Emanuel returns to investment banking: Rahm Emanuel is going back to investment banking, rejoining Centerview Partners, where he worked for two years after leaving office as mayor of Chicago. It’s familiar territory for Emanuel, who has toggled between investment banking and public office throughout his long career. In addition to his previous stint at Centerview, Emanuel worked at Wasserstein Perella, where he was involved in the 1999 merger that created Exelon, before running for Congress. * Tribune | George McCaskey has no intention for family to sell the Chicago Bears: ‘Another 100 years would be great’: Less than eight weeks after the death of principal owner Virginia Halas McCaskey, George McCaskey said his mother long ago established a sustainable succession plan that the NFL approved. “She gave us the playbook,” McCaskey said. “She coached us up. Now we’ve got to execute the plan. And we’re prepared to do that. We’ve got to stick together.” * Crain’s | Ex-employee alleges testing fraud at Chicago-based real estate appraisers group: A former employee filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging years-long fraud in the certification process for real estate appraisers at the Chicago-based Appraisal Institute. Alissa Akins, who was the institute’s director of education and publications from February to December last year, claims in her suit that for at least five years, the 16,000-member Appraisal Institute has been aware that many of its test results are incorrect. She also claims that when she reported the pattern of incorrect results to her superiors, they fired her. * Crain’s | Chicago Reader avoids closure after successful fundraising campaign. Here’s how much they raised.: The newspaper said in a memo to subscribers that its “Save the Reader” campaign was a success and has raised over $300,000 to date. The proceeds will allow the company to restructure, cut costs and rework its budget in order to continue operating. The Reader’s staff of 33 will continue to print its weekly paper for free, the memo said. * Chicago Reader | The legacy of Marty Goddard: In 1972, Marty Goddard, an executive at a Chicago philanthropic foundation and an independent-minded divorcee, sought to change that. Goddard wasn’t a picket-waving activist; in fact, she didn’t identify as a feminist at all. But she did recognize that sexual assault was seething under the surface of society, like a quiet epidemic for which there was little or no recourse. * Block Club | Art Institute Of Chicago Returned A Sculpture To Nepal But Obscured Its Connection To A Wealthy Donor: That omission obscured a simmering controversy about whether Chicago philanthropists Marilynn Alsdorf and her husband, James, both of whom are dead, improperly built their collection of hundreds of South Asian works and why the Art Institute, which houses some of that collection in its Alsdorf Galleries, has been reluctant to return those works to countries with compelling claims for them. * WTTW | Retirement Not in Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s Lexicon: “I don’t believe in retirement,” said Preckwinkle, who last month on her 78th birthday announced she will run for a fifth consecutive term in 2026. “If I didn’t do this job, I’d pick another one and it wouldn’t be as interesting or challenging or as impactful,” said Preckwinkle, who has led Cook County since 2010. * Naperville Sun | Voter turnout across DuPage, Will counties about average for consolidated election: As of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, DuPage County was sitting at 16.3% turnout out of a total 626,499 registered voters, with 27,128 casting their ballots on election day so far, according to DuPage County Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson. Though it’s difficult to know what to expect out of turnout, it looks as though DuPage is on pace to “be pretty close if not slightly higher than the overall turnout in 2023,” Johnson said in a call. Just over 20% of the county’s registered voters participated in the last consolidated election. * The Bond Buyer | States loosen restrictions on pension funds and crypto: According to an S&P Global Ratings report released last week “U.S. states and statewide pension plans are increasingly considering cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, as a reserve investment.” * The Bond Buyer | Closing Education Department unlikely to dent K-12 bonds, but some charter schools could feel pinch: “For traditional public schools, I do not foresee an increased risk of default due to potential delays of federal funding,” Lowin said, adding, however, that some charter schools, particularly those that are smaller and have fewer reserves, “could be a little more challenged.” * AP | Amazon’s last-minute bid for TikTok comes as platform’s ban set to take effect Saturday: Amazon has put in a bid to purchase TikTok, a Trump administration official said Wednesday, in an eleventh-hour pitch as a U.S. ban on the platform is set to go into effect Saturday. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Amazon offer was made in a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. * Accu Weather | Atmospheric river to trigger central US flooding that may become life-threatening, historic: A firehose of moisture is forecast to produce repeating thunderstorms with torrential downpours over the middle of the United States through much of this weekend. More than a foot of rain may pour down from portions of Arkansas to Kentucky and Ohio, likely triggering rapid, major and historic flooding, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. More than 46 million people will be affected by rounds of intense rainfall over the central U.S. Of this, at least 13 million will be within a high- to extreme-flood risk zone. Within these higher-risk areas, there is the potential for catastrophic flooding in some communities.
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Pritzker: University fears of community colleges offering four-year degrees are ‘misplaced’
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * First, some background from Rich…
* I asked the governor about the stalled bill during an unrelated press conference this morning…
* Related…
* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker’s community college initiative stalls in House committee: But legislative deadlines are not always strictly observed in Springfield, and Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, who chairs the committee, said the decision not to act on the bill does not necessarily mean it is dead for the session. “I don’t think around here anything’s really ever dead, and I think there’s a path forward,” she told reporters after Wednesday’s committee hearing. * WSIU | SIU Continues to Follow Stalled Community College Bill: Chancellor Lane and the SIU system are neither lobbying for, or against House Bill 3717 and its resolution in favor of expanding degree offerings. Chancellor Lane says right now it’s just a lot of discussions. “I think it’s just discussions, but there’s the word opposition that sometimes comes off a little strong,” Lane says. “There’s a lot of discussions that are happening at the state level.” * KFVS | Southern Illinois community college leaders hold out hope to offer bachelor’s degrees: John A. Logan College President Dr. Kirk Overstreet says a proposed bill from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s office that would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees is a win-win for students and the southern Illinois economy. “This is a big resource for keeping students here and keeping people here in the region,” Overstreet said. * KWQC | ‘Workforce driven’ community college looks forward to offering 4-year degrees: The president of Black Hawk College already has some fields of study in mind if community colleges can offer bachelor’s degrees. […] “Respiratory care is not offered at any of the four-year degree schools right now. And so it allows us to offer something and fill a niche.” Other areas of study considered for bachelor’s are advanced manufacturing, nursing and early childhood education.
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Broken Promises: Despite Billions In Public Funds, Illinois Nursing Homes Still Rank Among the Worst
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] The state and federal governments have poured billions of dollars of funding into the nursing home industry in Illinois to improve staffing and quality care for residents, but the industry has failed to deliver. The industry receives nearly $7 billion in annual revenues, mostly from state Medicaid and Medicare. The 2022 Medicaid rate reform increased the Illinois nursing home industry’s revenue by at least $670 million per year. This came shortly after increases of $240 million annually starting in 2019 and an additional $60 million in 2020. But the industry hasn’t used this taxpayer money to improve resident care. Illinois nursing homes have consistently rated among the worst in the country in staffing and quality of care–with residents receiving 25% fewer direct care hours than the minimum required to meet their daily needs. Instead of fully staffing homes to meet residents’ needs, too many nursing homes operators continue to divert resources away from the bedside–without transparency or accountability. State Rep. Anna Moeller recently called out the industry for this lack of accountability: “There’s this constant back and forth: the industry asks for a ton, we give them a ton. We ask for some accountability with all of those resources we’re giving to improve patient care, to improve resident care. There’s always this pushback on doing that.” Care can’t wait – it’s time to hold the nursing home industry accountable and ensure taxpayer dollars fund improving care for our seniors.
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Stop Credit Card Chaos In Illinois
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] A last-minute provision called the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) was snuck into the budget process last May and will create chaos for small businesses and consumers across Illinois if it takes effect on July 1, 2025. The IFPA gives corporate mega-stores like Walmart and Home Depot — who pushed for this backroom deal — millions more in profits, while small business owners get new expenses and accounting headaches. What’s more, consumers could be forced to pay for parts of their transactions in cash if this law moves forward. A recent court ruling in the litigation challenging the law suggests IFPA is likely pre-empted by federal law for national banks and will only apply to credit unions and local Illinois banks, putting local banks at a disadvantage against their national competitors. Illinois lawmakers should repeal the IFPA and focus on protecting small businesses and consumers across the state — not lining the pockets of corporate mega-stores. Stop the countdown to chaos by supporting a repeal of this misguided and flawed policy. Learn more at https://guardyourcard.com/illinois/ 
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After raising $3 million in the quarter, Krishnamoorthi says he has $19 million on hand
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Get ready for that US Senate announcement…
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Pritzker says DPI won almost 80 percent of its 270 targeted local races (Updated)
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * We’ve already discussed how the Democratic Party of Illinois was involved in a bunch of local races during the consolidated elections. Gov. JB Pritzker updated reporters today on how the party did…
Barack Obama narrowly won DuPage in 2012. Hillary Clinton won it by a mile in 2016. The trend started moving down-ballot and picked up steam in the past six years. Yesterday was a blowout in that county which reminded me of the way Democrats were stomped in 1994 almost everywhere. Also, I’ve been trying to get a list of those 270 races to see how many were actually competitive. * From DPI last night…
* Back to the governor, who was asked if last night’s results were about party organization or the current national mood…
Please pardon all transcription errors. …Adding… DuPage Dems…
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RETAIL: Strengthening Communities Across Illinois
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Retail generates $7.3 billion in income and sales tax revenue each year in Illinois. These funds support public safety, infrastructure, education, and other important programs we all rely on every day. In fact, retail is the second largest revenue generator for the State of Illinois and the largest revenue generator for local governments. Retailers like Meli enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.
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Consolidated Election news coverage roundup
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Democratic Party of DuPage County…
* Daily Herald…
* WGLT…
* Some school board race results…
* Tribune | Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau concedes defeat in bid for third term: Pekau thanked supporters gathered at Papa Joe’s restaurant, telling them “I got shellacked” but that “we ran a great campaign.” He said he texted congratulations to Dodge. With 44 of 45 precincts reporting, Dodge had 57% of the vote to 43% for Pekau, unofficial results show. Turnout for the election was more than 33% of registered voters, according to the Cook County clerk’s office. * CBS Chicago | Jason House easily elected mayor of Dolton, Illinois after defeating Tiffany Henyard in Feb. primary: Dolton Village Trustee Jason House was elected mayor of the south Chicago suburb Tuesday, and the sign outside Dolton Village Hall announcing Mayor Tiffany Henyard will soon come down. House won the race with more than 95% of the vote, up against Rebuilding Dolton Party candidate Casundra Hopson-Jordan. House dispatched Henyard in the February Democratic mayoral primary. * Tribune | Ann Tennes overwhelmingly elected Skokie mayor, unofficial results show: Former Skokie official Ann Tennes declared victory in the race for Skokie mayor Tuesday, with unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk’s office showing she commanded a hefty percentage of vote totals. The victory starts a new era in the village of about 65,000 after 24-year mayor George Van Dusen chose not to run for another term. Unofficial results show Tennes, the village’s former director of marketing and communications, received a little over 49% of the vote, with all precincts reporting, in a three-way election race. Those unofficial results also showed David “Azi” Lifsics with just over 38% of the vote and Charles Isho with 12% of the vote. * Aurora Beacon-News | Voters appear to overwhelmingly shoot down proposed Kane County sales tax hike: Voters in Tuesday’s consolidated election appear to have shot down a referendum question in Kane County that would have increased the sales tax by 0.75% to pay for public safety expenses in the county. With all precincts in Kane County reporting, unofficial results from Tuesday night showed 75.25% of voters against and just 24.75% of voters in favor of the proposed sales tax increase as of 9:55 p.m., according to data from the Kane County Clerk’s Office. * Daily Herald | Voters favor incumbents in Kane County council and board races: There were contested races for four seats on the St. Charles City Council. In Ward 1, incumbent Ronald Silkaitis bested challenger Robert Kasper. According to unofficial totals, Silkaitis had 691 votes, and Kasper had 553 votes. * Aurora Beacon-News | In Tuesday election, Aurora City Council incumbents appear to stay, except alderman at-large: Incumbent at-large Ald. Ron Woerman trailed challenger Keith Larson with his 41.95% of the vote to Larson’s 58.05%, according to unofficial results Tuesday night from Kane, Kendall, DuPage and Will counties, with all precincts reporting. Larson told The Beacon-News that he “wasn’t expecting this” but that it “feels really amazing,” and he is grateful to everyone who helped to make it possible. * Naperville Sun | Two incumbents, two newcomers appear headed to Naperville City Council; Bruzan Taylor unseated: With all Naperville precincts in DuPage and Will counties reporting, incumbents Benny White and Ian Holzhauer appeared headed toward another term on Naperville City Council alongside newcomers Mary Gibson and Ashfaq Syed, according to unofficial results. Incumbent Jennifer Bruzan Tayor was trailing behind as the fifth-highest vote getter in the eight-way race for the four, four-year council seats up for election. * Daily Herald | Tinaglia to take over as Arlington Heights mayor amid Bears stadium talks: Longtime Arlington Heights resident, architect and village Trustee Jim Tinaglia will become the town’s next mayor amid ongoing discussions with the Chicago Bears over redevelopment of Arlington Park. Tinaglia had 7,165 votes, Tom Schwingbeck had 4,090 votes and Jon Ridler had 1,700 votes, according to unofficial vote totals Tuesday night. * Daily Herald | Bertucci, Santa Maria, Zyck and Manganaro top crowded Arlington Heights trustee race: Jim Bertucci, Carina Santa Maria, Greg Zyck and Bill Manganaro were the top vote-getters Tuesday night in the crowded race for Arlington Heights village board, according to unofficial results. Eight candidates ran for four available trustee seats on the elected panel. Bertucci, the lone incumbent, led the pack with 7,301 votes, followed by Santa Maria with 6,926, Zyck with 6,229 and Manganaro with 5,619, early results show. * ABC Chicago | Jason House projected to win Dolton mayoral election, replacing Tiffany Henyard: ‘It’s a new day’: House has been on the Dolton Board of Trustees for eight years now. He is projected to defeat businesswoman Casundra Hopson-Jordan, who ran as an independent. “I just felt it was important to throw my hat in the race to give people options, to know that we don’t have to just keep recycling the same old politicians,” Hopson-Jordan said. * Shaw Local | Joliet Junior College board incumbent likely to retain seat despite controversy: Broderick and Lee were accused of harassment by JJC President Clyne Namuo in a Nov. 6, 2024 report from law firm Laner Muchin, which was not publicly released until weeks before the election. Despite those controversies, Broderick said on Tuesday night she believed the public realized the “value of having me as a board member.” * Tribune | Incumbent Elmhurst Mayor Scott Levin celebrates apparent victory: Incumbent Elmhurst Mayor Scott Levin appeared to defeat challenger Mark Mulliner by a wide margin, taking 6,436 votes, or 71% of the 9,000 votes cast, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s voting. Mulliner, the city’s longest serving alderman before leaving the City Council two years ago, drew an unofficial tally of 2,625 votes, or 29%. * Patch | Hinsdale Officials Well Ahead Of Newcomer In Race: Unofficial Returns: Former DuPage County Board member Greg Hart was the sole candidate for village president in Tuesday’s election. Elected in 2009, President Tom Cauley decided against seeking a fifth term. In a statement Tuesday, Hart said he was looking forward to serving “our incredible village.” He said he wanted to maintain and improve public safety, diversify the sales tax base through “smart” economic development and bring new energy to local government. * Daily Herald | Schielke secures 12th term as Batavia mayor, St. Charles’ Vitek appears headed to defeat: Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke appeared to secure his 12th term Tuesday, keeping him in the post he’s held since 1981. Schielke had 2,620 votes, and challenger Tom Connelly had 2.294, according to unofficial results. Schielke is believed to be the third-longest-serving current mayor or president in Illinois. * Daily Southtown | Incumbent Michael Glotz leads in Tinley Park mayoral race: Unofficial results show Glotz leading with 59.7% of the vote over Michael Maloney, a former union executive, with all precincts reporting. Also leading was Glotz’s One Tinley Park slate, which includes Village Clerk Nancy O’Connor, with 58.8% of the vote or Cynthia “Cindy” O’Boyle. Trustees William Brady, Dennis Mahoney and Colleen Sullivan held signifcant leads. Brady had 5,639 votes according to unofficial results, followed by Sullivan with 5,286 votes and Mahoney with 5,113. * Daily Southtown | South suburban high school board race results: In Orland High School District 230, three incumbent board members sought reelection though there were six other candidates for the four seats. With all precincts reporting, unofficial results showed board veteran Susan Dalton leading with 12,704 votes, followed by Mark Kelly with 12,200 votes and recently appointed board members Nadine Scodro with 10,466 votes and Chris Kasmer with 10,059. They were all park of the 230 United Slate. * Daily Herald | Several school board battles unfolded in Northwest suburbs Tuesday: Among several school board races in the Northwest suburbs Tuesday, Barrington Unit District 220’s was one of the most contested with six candidates vying for four seats. Incumbents Sandra Ficke-Bradford, Steve Wang, Katie Karam and Erin Chan Ding all appeared to be leading late in the evening, according to unofficial results. Their reelection bids were challenged by Harathi K. Srivastava and Deanna Stern. * Evanston Now | Biss wins reelection with 62% of vote: Unofficial returns show Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss winning a decisive victory Tuesday night defeating Jeff Boarini to remain the 22nd mayor of Evanston. With 44 of 45 precincts reporting, the Cook County Clerks office says Biss received 62% of the vote to 38% for challenger Jeff Boarini. That was a narrower margin than the 73% Biss won four years ago in his first race for mayor. * Daily Herald | Challenger defeats 12-year incumbent in Palatine trustee race: With all precincts reporting in the race for three seats on the Barrington village board, two-term incumbent Jennifer Wondrasek appears to have won a third term with 902 votes. She will be joined by 10-year village board veteran and fellow incumbent Todd Sholeen, who received 777 votes and challenger Lauren Klauer who received 686 votes. Former U.S. Army Reservist Jesse Rojo received 551 votes. * Daily Herald | Burket edges past Fasules in Glen Ellyn village president’s race; mayors losing in other DuPage towns: James Burket edged past Gary Fasules in the race to decide Glen Ellyn’s next village president. Burket, a former village trustee, garnered 2,462 votes, compared to 2,096 for Fasules, a sitting board member, according to unofficial tallies so far. * Tribune | Incumbent Vicki Scaman claims victory in contentious Oak Park village president race: After what was an unusually contentious and at times personal battle, incumbent Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman appeared to win a convincing victory over challenger Ravi Parakkat, a member of the Village Board, according to preliminary results from Tuesday’s municipal elections. With results from all 32 precincts reporting, Scaman has received 6,083 votes to Parakkat’s 3,705 votes. This was a significantly bigger margin than Scaman achieved in her first race for village president four years earlier, when Scaman won 56.14% of the vote against progressive activist Cate Readling. * Lake County News-Sun | Long-time North Chicago mayor declares victory once again; ‘I will continue to do everything I can to make North Chicago better’: Rockingham had 68.72% of 924 votes counted as of Wednesday morning, compared to community activist David Hood with 21.21% and Ald. Anthony Coleman, 2nd Ward, at 10.06%, according to unofficial results from the Lake County Clerk’s Office. * Lake County News-Sun | Cunningham declares victory in campaign to return as Waukegan mayor; ‘I want to continue with the plans we started’: Former Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham, the city’s first Black chief executive, declared victory Tuesday night in his bid to regain the office he lost four years ago, thus extending the city’s 28-year string of one-term mayors. Leading in a four-candidate race, Cunningham was ahead of incumbent Mayor Ann Taylor, who defeated him four years ago to become the city’s first woman chief executive, according to unofficial results. * Daily Herald | Incumbents fare well in Lake County municipal board races: In a close race for three seats, Katherine “Casey” Rooney led all candidates with 1,885 votes followed by newcomer Kara Macdonald with 1,573 votes and incumbent Matt Krummick with 1,490 votes. Andrew Herrmann had 1,403 votes and Patrick Scheibler, 1,401. Krummick, Rooney and Herrman ran as a team with Donna Johnson who squeaked out a victory for a second term. * Tribune | Rose Reynders, Michael LePore, Nicholas Muller lead in Homer Glen: Rose Reynders, Michael LePore and Nicholas Muller had a commanding lead Tuesday night in a race for three 4-year seats on the Homer Glen Village Board. […] With all precincts reporting, Reynders had 1,821 votes, LePore had 1,675 votes and Muller had 1,505 votes, according to unofficial results. * Elgin Courier-News | Elgin City Council incumbents Thoren, Good and Dixon appear headed to victory, joined by newcomer Alfaro: Election results will remain unofficial until mail-in ballots postmarked for Election Day or earlier are counted, provisional ballots are checked and votes are canvassed. Thoren, an Elgin native, is seeking a second term on the council. He previously served as an Elgin Township trustee. He is an Elgin Neighborhood Watch captain, member of the Elgin Breakfast Rotary and Elgin American Legion and past board member of Senior Services. * Daily Herald | Meier defeats Wilson in Mundelein mayoral race: The third time was the charm for Mundelein mayoral aspirant Robin Meier. As ballots were counted Tuesday, Meier was ahead of fellow Trustee Tim Wilson for the center seat on the village hall dais. Meier had 1,335 votes to Wilson’s 837, unofficial results showed. * Daily Herald | Fox Valley school board incumbents appear headed to victory, early returns show: One of the most hotly contested races in the suburbs was in Burlington-based Central Unit District 301, where 10 candidates ran for four seats on the school board. Eight candidates sought three 4-year seats on the board. They are incumbents Dornetria Hemphill and Marc A. Falk, Micheline Welch, Graciela Martinez, PK Parekh, Roumiana McMahon, Scott Mrkvicka, and Ryan Wasson. Unofficial, early totals from precincts in Kane and DeKalb counties show Wasson leading with 1,721 votes, followed by Welch with 1,613 votes, Mrkvicka with 1,110 votes and Parekh with 1,014 votes. Incumbents Hemphill and Falk trailed with 972 and 821 votes, respectively. * BND | Belleville has a new mayor. ‘Just call me Jenny,’ she said from her victory party: Belleville City Clerk Jenny Gain Meyer has defeated Mayor Patty Gregory, who became the city’s first female mayor four years ago by successfully challenging a longtime incumbent. Belleville voters in Tuesday’s consolidated election cast 3,399 votes (63%) for Meyer, 1,972 votes (36%) for Gregory and 17 votes (less than 1%) for write-in candidate Ryan Musick, according to unofficial results released by St. Clair County Clerk Tom Holbrook’s office. * WGLT | Voters in Normal retain Mayor Chris Koos for a 6th term: Mayor Chris Koos of Normal has won a 6th full term in office, defeating challengers Kathleen Lorenz and Chemberly Harris. Though both those candidates have been on the town council for years, they called for change. Koos has been mayor since 2003. “I think the takeaway is I had a great campaign team. We did what I call a classic campaign. We did it right and built broad support in the community. I was worried because it was a three-way race, and it’s very hard to predict what’s going to come of that,” Koos told WGLT after the result became clear. * PJ Star | Rita Ali soundly defeats John Kelly in fierce race for Peoria’s mayoral office: Peoria Mayor Rita Ali comfortably defeated city councilman John Kelly Tuesday night securing herself another four-year term as Peoria’s mayor. Ali defeated Kelly by a margin of 9,950 votes to 6,753 votes with 100% of precincts reporting in Peoria as of 9:30 p.m. Kelly told the Journal Star Tuesday night he was “disappointed” with the outcome of the election but said “the people have spoken.” * PJ Star | Incumbent Alex Sierra defeats former trustee in Peoria Park District board race: Incumbent Alex Sierra retained his seat Peoria Park District Board of Trustees for the Southern District in an election Tuesday that pitted him against former Park District trustee Joseph Cassidy. Sierra ran unopposed for his seat in 2023. Cassidy was elected to the Park District board in 2021 and stepped down in 2023 when he relocated to Atlanta. With 100% of the precincts reporting, unofficial results show Sierra collected 621 votes (53.40%) to Cassidy’s 542 (46.60%). * PJ Star | ‘Deeply honored’: Two challengers and incumbent win seats on Dunlap school board: Incumbent Tom Feldman successfully defended his seat, while challengers Youssef Boudjarane and Mick Hall defeated incumbents Abby Humbles and Steven Hodel. Key subplots in the race were a campaign by a group of parents calling for the removal of current school board president Humbles and the circulation of mailers by a political action committee targeting Hall that highlighted a three-year suspension of his law license in 2012. * Fox 2 Now | Election results: Key Illinois municipal races take shape: Illinois Election results are coming in for several key municipal races across Illinois, including the high-profile mayoral contests in Belleville and Alton. Incumbent Mayor Patty Gregory, seeking a second term, lost to City Clerk Jennifer Gain Meyer in a competitive showdown. Gain Meyer received 2,118 votes, while Gregory had 1,268. For the Edwardsville School District School Board, Scott Ahart leads the race. * QC Times | Unofficial results show Ashley Harris elected as Rock Island mayor: Current Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms was defeated by challenger Ashley Harris, according to the unofficial election night results. As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, all 120 precincts had reported. Thoms received 2,661, or 48.6% of the votes compared to Harris’ 2,811 or 51.3%. Thoms was first elected in 2017. * Rockford Register Star | Election: Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara wins third term: Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara won re-election to a third term on Tuesday, easily defeating a challenge from Rockford real estate agent Derrick Kunz, according to unofficial election results. McNamara, a Democrat, won 12,969 votes or 78% of the vote. Kunz, a businessman who campaigned as an independent, had 3,583 votes or 22% of votes cast, unofficial results from the Rockford Board of Elections showed. * WAND | Sangamon County voters overwhelmingly decide to dissolve Recorder’s Office: With 100 percent of precincts reporting the vote was 67 percent in favor of eliminating the office. With the approval, the county office will close Dec. 1, 2026. Operations will be moved to the Sangamon County Clerk’s Office. * WAND | Voters in Chatham approve tax hike for library repairs: The referendum passed 55 percent to 45 percent and was separated by 247 votes, 1,327-1,125. The Chatham Area Public Library posted on its website that the tax increase will cover three areas: much needed infrastructure repairs, provide long-term financial stability, and expanded materials, services, and technology. The library said the increase would add $26.95 a year to a home valued at $200,000. * BND | Final unofficial results: Southwest Illinois boards of education and school referenda * Pantagraph | 1% School Facility Occupation Tax passes in McLean County: With 100% of votes counted, the proposed 1% County School Facility Occupation Tax has passed in McLean County. According to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election, the measure passed with 17,415 votes for and 15,427 votes against the measure. * WGEM | Hancock County voters turn down school sales tax: On Tuesday, Hancock County residents denied a sales tax that would have been used exclusively for county schools. The rate of the tax would have been 1% and was planned to go towards school facility purposes, school resource officers and mental health professionals. * WAND | Decatur city council sees 2 win re-election and 1 newcomer, while DPS61 school board gets 4 fresh faces: Unofficial votes in Macon County saw council incumbents David Horn and Ed Culp win re-election and Consuelo Cruz win a four-year term. The five-way race saw Horn get the most votes followed by Culp and Cruz who were separated by 20 votes. James Wrigley was fourth and Micah Ray was fifth.
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Healing Communities: Illinois Hospitals Support Individual And Community Health And Well-being
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Every hour of every day, Illinois hospitals provide lifesaving care to the communities they serve. Care delivery within their facilities is at the core of what hospitals do—but it’s not all they do. Illinois hospitals earn their role as indispensable to communities by looking at healthcare, health and well-being from several vantage points. There’s the health of the individual. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals put their skills toward helping individuals achieve optimal health. There’s also the health of the community. Illinois hospitals are committed to and working hard to help strengthen the health and well-being of communities. They do this by:
• Diving local economies • Providing accessible care • Training future clinicians These four pillars reflect the longstanding and ongoing efforts of hospitals across Illinois to meet community needs; contribute significantly to the state and local economy; overcome hurdles patients experience with accessing care; and fortify Illinois’ healthcare workforce. Most people don’t see the critical care hospitals provide 24/7 or how hospitals are partnering with local organizations and investing in communities. Yet their benefit to the community is everywhere. Learn more about how Illinois hospitals are healing communities.
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Open thread
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * What’s going on?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Raoul says ‘I do not want to go to Washington,’ rules out bid for U.S. Senate. Capitol News Illinois…
- “I do not want to go to Washington. I want to stay here,” Raoul told a luncheon audience at the City Club of Chicago. “And this is no knock on Sen. Durbin or Sen. [Tammy] Duckworth. I truly believe what I do on a day-to-day basis [as attorney general] has more impact than what I could do as U.S. senator.” * Related stories…
∙ ABC Chicago: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul files lawsuit against HHS, RFK Jr. for cutting $12B in grants No need to worry about the lack of election stories—I’ll have a campaign roundup ready later this morning! * BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here. * Sun-Times | Sentencing dates set for ComEd officials convicted of plot to influence Madigan: Summer sentencing dates have been scheduled for four former ComEd officials and lobbyists convicted of conspiring to illegally influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan. […] Hooker is set to be sentenced on July 14, Pramaggiore on July 21, McClain on July 24, and Doherty on Aug. 5. * University of Illinois System | March Illinois Flash Index increased slightly: In Illinois, inflation-adjusted individual income tax receipts increased by more than 10 percent compared to the same month last year, while corporate receipts declined slightly after a period of underperformance. Sales tax receipts fell by 2.7 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point to 4.8 percent, while the national rate rose slightly to 4.1 percent. Similar to the Flash Index, the Illinois unemployment rate has remained stable over the past year. * Sen. Robert Martwick | Tier Two pensions are a crisis of our own making. Here’s a viable fix: So, what is the solution? The state’s public sector unions have put forth a proposal that seeks to balance fiscal responsibility with fairness. They are not asking for a return to the pre-2011 Tier One system, but rather a reasonable middle ground — what one might call “Tier One Light.” Their proposal is not extravagant; it simply aims to provide a pension that meets the basic standard of retirement security. As an employer, the state should see this as the bare minimum responsibility to its workforce. * Pantagraph | Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton stresses progressive record amid Senate speculation: Stratton said she has not yet identified candidates or causes to support through Level Up. And with the Senate race frozen until Durbin makes his decision, she said she is planning on having events through the PAC that facilitate “dialogs across the state where we’re doing more listening.” * Brownfield Ag News | IL Farmers Union takes priorities to Springfield: Cheyanne Bristol says recent visits to Springfield have been highlighted by discussions on the need for strong conservation programs. “In our meeting with Representative Harper, who is the Chair of the Agriculture Committee, we had talked about good stewardship of the land.” She says, “We believe in climate smart practices, and of course she was very for that.” * WCIA | Pritzker signs trade agreement between Illinois and Mexico: The MOU comes at the start of a delegation trip from Illinois to Mexico City with the purpose of deepening economic cooperation and opportunities between the state and country. This specific agreement emphasizes the strong ties between Mexico and Illinois with a specific focus on bilateral trade in industries including manufacturing, agriculture and finance, according to a media release from Pritzker’s office. * Center Square | Illinois gun rights group asks U.S. Attorney General to review state’s gun laws: Illinois State Rifle Association’s Ed Sullivan said they’ve been in talks with the Trump administration. “I think it’s timely that Attorney General Bondi would want to come in and talk to us,” Sullivan told The Center Square. “She should tackle kind of the most onerous states in the nation when it comes to anti-gun laws and so we certainly welcome anything that they want to do to kind of look at this process.” * WBEZ | Chicago’s murder drop ‘mirrors a lot of big cities,’ a leading crime data analyst says: Chicago finished the year’s first quarter this week with 96 murders, a drop of more than 15% from the first three months of last year. New Orleans-based data analyst Jeff Asher closely follows crime numbers in Chicago and other U.S. cities and spoke with WBEZ. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. * Sun-Times | Johnson calls special City Council meeting next week to confirm new 35th Ward alderperson: During his weekly City Hall news conference, Johnson said he has “not made any announcement on who” will replace Ramirez-Rosa. However, City Hall sources say Quezada is Johnson’s choice for the job, and that the appointment will be announced Wednesday. The announcement will come as no surprise. Quezada spent six years as Ramirez-Rosa’s neighborhood services director and was Ramirez-Rosa’s choice. * Tribune | Lawsuit claims Chicago approval for cannabis store in Streeterville was illegal: The suit, filed last week by a neighborhood resident, Beth Padera, claims that the city Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) improperly approved a special use permit for G.P. Green House, doing business as Guaranteed Dispensary, at 620 N. Fairbanks Court. The complaint notes that the city zoning administrator had recommended denial of the application because the dispensary would be slightly within 500 feet of Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile, at 226 E. Illinois St., in violation of Chicago zoning law. * Tribune | Debate resumes over 8 p.m. curfew for teens downtown after boy is shot during ‘teen takeover’ in Streeterville: Johnson has resisted calls in the past for an earlier curfew, including last summer after a group of teens attacked a couple in Streeterville. On Tuesday he told reporters he was more interested in how to “invest in young people and create more healthy safe spaces for them.” * Block Club | City Opens Applications For More Than 400 Vacant Properties To Boost Redevelopment: The city began accepting redevelopment applications Tuesday for more than 400 land parcels, including 54 “Missing Middle” lots. Those lots are being offered through a program from the city’s Department of Planning and Development launched last fall to help revitalize the city’s middle class through affordable home ownership. * Tribune | George Freeman, a trailblazing jazz guitarist who enjoyed a late-career renaissance, dies at 97: That was typical for the ever-adventurous Freeman, who died in Chicago on April 1. He was 97 years old. His death was confirmed by his nephew, Mark Freeman. While still in his teens, Freeman was among the first musicians in Chicago, and one of the first jazz guitarists anywhere, to champion the bleeding-edge bebop of his idol, Charlie Parker. He eventually got to play with Parker, in now-lauded performances at the Pershing Ballroom in the early 1950s. * WBEZ | Chief judge takes over electronic monitoring for Cook County, but questions remain about staffing: The Cook County sheriff’s office is ending its decades-old electronic monitoring program, handing it over to the chief judge amid questions about who will arrest violators and how extra staff will be funded. Beginning Tuesday, anyone placed on electronic monitoring after being found to be a flight risk or a danger to the public will be overseen by the Adult Probation Department, administered by Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans. * Daily Southtown | Orland Park comedian Tim Cavanagh back to laughing after pancreatic cancer nearly took his life: Cavanaugh, 71, is a nationally known comedian from Orland Park who at one time was backed up by Drew Carey, co-headlined with Dennis Miller and backed up Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld among others. He opened 2021, however, being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Jan. 2. He went through hell, having a bunch of internal organs taken out and spending 26 days in a hospital. But he survived a disease that, according to pancan.com, carries a survival rate of 13%. * Daily Herald | COD history professor explores DeKalb County’s role in Underground Railroad April 17: On Thursday, April 17, join College of DuPage Associate Professor of History John Paris for “Never Pursued: J.F. Glidden and the Underground Railroad.” The presentation, held in honor of former COD History Professor Carter D. Carroll, is free and open to the public. Paris will explore the significant role DeKalb County played in the Underground Railroad, highlighting the actions of J.F. Glidden, inventor of barbed wire, and DeKalb County sheriff during the network’s most active period. * Daily Herald | Severe weather expected to develop overnight, continue throughout Wednesday: Thunderstorms are expected to develop late Tuesday night with the potential for hail stones up to 1 inch in diameter, gusty winds, frequent lightning and heavy downpours at times. Additional severe weather is likely to continue through most of the night and continue throughout Wednesday for most of the suburbs, according to forecasts from the National Weather Service bureau in Romeoville. * WCIA | Two people arrested by ICE at Champaign Co. Courthouse: Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman confirmed the arrests with WCIA Tuesday afternoon. Champaign County Public Defender Elisabeth Pollock identified the two arrested as Fernando Lorenzo-Raymundo and Carlos Gomez. Both have pending court cases. Heuerman said he spoke with the ICE agent in charge when he heard that officials were in the courthouse. The agent told him that they were there with administrative warrants for two men who had court. Those warrants are administrative rather than criminal, and allow federal immigration officials to detain people pending deportation hearings. * SJ-R | Springfield alderwoman has a new gig: lobbying for Chicago mayor: Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase has been a registered state lobbyist since 2023. Purchase said she will remain on the city council. “This is helpful to Chicago having someone here in Springfield,” Purchase told The State Journal Register March 29. * Press Release | Woodward Communications, Inc. Expands Springfield Footprint with Acquisition of Four More Radio Stations: Woodward Communications, Inc. (WCI) is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of four radio stations (WNNS-FM, WQLZ-FM, WMAY-FM, and WMAY-AM) from Mid-West Family, serving the Springfield, IL marketplace. This acquisition follows WCI’s recent purchase of four Springfield, IL radio stations (WXAJ-FM, WFMB-FM, WCVS-FM, and WFMB-AM) from Neuhoff Media completed in October of last year. * SJ-R | ‘He knew everything.’ Renowned Lincoln scholar and author dead at 101: Wayne C. “Doc” Temple, the indefatigable Abraham Lincoln scholar who wrote more than 20 books and hundreds of articles and book reviews, died in Chatham on March 31. Temple was 101 and still writing and reviewing manuscripts towards the end of his life, said his friend and historian, James Cornelius. * Nature | ‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs: The layoffs will challenge the longstanding status that the NIH’s institutes and centres have had within the agency — as semi-autonomous entities. Legislative, communications, IT and other administrative workers within each institute received termination notices early on 1 April, a move designed to consolidate power under the NIH director. “NIH will cease to function after the RIFs [reductions in force]; it will take months to get things back online administratively,” says another NIH official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the press. * Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Elon Musk group removes video from $1M winner after she says she got money to ‘vote’: “My name’s Ekaterina Deistler, and I’m from Green Bay, Wisconsin,” she said in the new video. “I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, and now I have a million dollars.” It’s almost exactly the same, except the word “vote” has been removed. She is no longer saying she was paid, in part, to vote in the Supreme Court race. * Columbia Journalism Review | Center for Public Integrity Is Shutting Down: The Center for Public Integrity, a thirty-six-year-old nonprofit newsroom in Washington, DC, that won acclaim for its investigations but has endured financial and organizational turmoil for much of the past decade, has ceased publishing and is in talks to turn over its archives to the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), an anti-corruption watchdog group.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.
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