But with Illinois not yet luring big facilities such as those recently announced in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and other states, Illinois could use a big deal-closing fund, Pritzker said—essentially a pot of money the governor is empowered to dip into to sweeten economic development deals when the competition with other states is tight. “Michigan has, I believe, a $1 billion fund. They can just write a check,” he said. “It would be great if we had a closing fund in Illinois.”
Pritzker’s apparent reference was to Michigan’s Strategic Outreach & Attraction Reserve Fund, which can provide grants or loans for “infrastructure improvements, capital investments, acquisition of machinery and job training.” Officials there say the fund has been a major success.
Asked if he’ll ask Illinois lawmakers to authorize such a fund—Texas created such a program decades ago—Pritzker suggested it would depend on whether the state has an available budget surplus.
State law has long provided that when a constitutional amendment is on the ballot, the secretary of state is to send out a pamphlet explaining the proposal. This is the Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act (5 ILCS 20/0.01).
Among the requirements under the law are that the Secretary of State publish a pamphlet with the proposal along with an explanation of the amendment. Important, too, is a requirement that the pamphlet include arguments both for and against the amendment to better inform voters.
State law also requires the Secretary of State to mail the pamphlet to every mailing address in the state. Yes, the official pamphlet itself. […]
Illinois law was amended (5 ILCS 20/2(f)) to provide that for any proposed constitutional amendment appearing on the Nov. 8 ballot that the pamphlet would not be sent out. Instead, the Secretary of State was directed to instead mail a postcard advising that “a proposed constitutional amendment” will be considered. A URL (or for the non-techie, a Uniform Resource Locator) to a state website then is provided to access the pamphlet.
This special provision was tucked in the FY2023 Budget Implementation Act (Public Act 102-699). The bill was 544 pages long. This only applies to the upcoming election. […]
The postcard doesn’t even say that the amendment relates to our Bill of Rights. It only says “a proposed constitutional amendment” will be voted upon.
With a hat tip to a reader, the person on the left is Grundy County Sheriff Kenneth Briley. The Anti-Defamation League analyzed a large list of Oath Keepers members and Briley turned up on that list. From the Rockford Register-Star…
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “the Oath Keepers are a large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some of whom are associated with militias. Though the Oath Keepers will accept anyone as members, they explicitly focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement and first-responder personnel.”
Oath Keepers were among the individuals and groups who forcibly entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. […]
For the time being, the ADL is only releasing the names of public officials. Other public Illinois officials named include Lewistown Mayor Doug Lafary and Grundy County Sheriff Kenneth Briley.
Data compiled by the ADL showed Illinois has 883 Oath Keeper members.
* Statewide vote by mail totals…
The @illinoissbe has updated early vote totals (10/12/22): Total VBM requested: 684,021 Total VBM returned: 64,363 Total VBM outstanding: 619,658 Return Rate: 9% Total Early Vote: 24,773 Total Grace Period: 6 Total Already Voted: 89,142https://t.co/44ga6AOUdY
Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Tuesday, October 11, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 1,050 ballots cast.
Additionally, 3,712 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 166,151.
The grand total is 4,762 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
That means Chicago VBM is just 5.8 percent of the statewide total. Not a great start.
* We already knew the Gannett thing, but James Norman comes up with another tidbit…
Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the United States, has taken on as a client a group of controversial conservative publications run by Republican insider Dan Proft, a few weeks after the publications lost their previous printing deal. […]
Postage permits printed on some recent LGIS publications also show The Mail House Inc., out of Mount Prospect, sent some out, a USPS spokesman wrote in an email. An official with The Mail House Inc. on Tuesday said they had no comment.
The last thing the news industry needs is to have its biggest print publisher, Gannett, participate in the actual production of fake news. In Illinois, Gannett is accepting money to publish fake newspapers that manufacture coverage helping GOP candidates. The fake newspapers carry names like the “West Cook News” and “Chicago City Wire.” They appear to be the handiwork of a Florida-based right-wing activist, Dan Proft, who has taken particular aim at incumbent Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Proft was an Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2010 and has a current talk show on a conservative radio network. […]
Gannett, which also publishes the non-trustworthy Epoch Times, remains silent about such printing contracts. Profiting off operations that help undermine real journalism is abhorrent, no matter how much Gannett needs the money.
* The Republican nominee for DuPage County Board Chair on abortion, via WBBM Radio…
Greg Hart, the Republican candidate for DuPage County Board, said there’s very little the board can do involving abortions, and he downplayed the issue. Democratic rival and state Rep. Deb Conroy, though, said the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade has driven many people to the polls.
“[Roe v. Wade] being overturned by the federal Supreme Court has really triggered people in DuPage County because in Illinois, we are a bastion for being able to trust women to make their own health care decisions,” [The Democratic nominee Rep. Deb Conroy] said.
Still, she agreed the county doesn’t directly drive policy on abortion.
Hart, a current board member, refused to let himself be lumped together with the more conservative members of his party on this issue. He said as the father of a daughter, he has concerns about rolling back any rights, and added that he would not stand in the way of women’s health care.
“There is nothing I will do as county board chairman to restrict a woman’s right to choose, and I’ll always support women’s health initiatives,” Hart said.
But, as the far-right Illinois Family Action points out, this has not always been the case…
In fact, as recently as 2018, chameleon Hart responded to a survey from Illinois Right to Life Action that he opposed the legal right of women to choose to have their sons and daughters killed in their wombs. Was Hart lying then, or has he devolved?
Hart, meanwhile, is sending out campaign text messages from his spouse…
Q: I want to pin you down on this business about you can’t, you’re not even allowed to look at somebody’s history in terms of whether they actually show up when they’re supposed to be at a court hearing. … You’re not allowed to look at that when determining whether they’re a flight risk…
(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 101-652)
Sec. 110-5. Determining the amount of bail and conditions of release.
(a) In determining which conditions of pretrial release, if any, will reasonably assure the appearance of a defendant as required or the safety of any other person or the community and the likelihood of compliance by the defendant with all the conditions of pretrial release, the court shall, on the basis of available information, take into account such matters as: […]
(3) the history and characteristics of the eligible defendant, including:
(A) the eligible defendant’s character, physical and mental condition, family ties, employment, financial resources, length of residence in the community, community ties, past relating to drug or alcohol abuse, conduct, history criminal history, and record concerning appearance at court proceedings;
…Adding… But there is this part of the statute that the questioner was trying to get at…
“Willful flight” means planning or attempting to intentionally evade prosecution by concealing oneself. Simple past non-appearance in court alone is not evidence of future intent to evade prosecution.
* More state’s attorneys and sheriffs are suing over the SAFE-T Act. WICS…
This time it is Douglas County State’s Attorney Kate Watson and Douglas County Sheriff Nathan Chaplin. […]
In their statement, they argue that the lawsuit seeks injunctive relief based upon the act violating the Illinois Constitution; violating the single-subject law; violating the separation of powers; being unconstitutionally vague, and violating the three-readings requirement.
“Risk to innocent civilians would no longer be a reason for a judge to detain someone who’s charged for the first time offense of kidnapping, or for the first time offense of burglary; even second degree murder, arson,” said Watson.
“It is my sworn duty as Douglas County Sheriff to protect the people of Douglas County,“ said Chaplin. “Criminal justice reform should not be at the expense of public safety. The SAFE T Act was forced through at the 11th hour in a lame duck session (in January 2021). Police and prosecutors were excluded from any type of negotiations. They forced this thing through and now we’re left with the fallout.”
Several state’s attorneys in Illinois have filed lawsuits against the controversial SAFE-T Act, Including those in Mercer, Knox and Jo Daviess Counties. […]
Jo Daviess County State’s Attorney Chris Allendorf said cash bail is ingrained in the Illinois Constitution. […]
On the federal level, Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin said it could violate the 14th Amendment. […]
Meanwhile, Karlin agrees that cash bail should be eliminated, but he disagrees with the SAFE-T Act’s implementation. He said the way it is currently written, it restricts his office’s ability to get defendants treatment prior to their trial.
Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright and Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell are filing a lawsuit over the SAFE-T Act.
The two are suing over the elimination of cash bail, also known as the Pre-Trial Fairness Act.
The lawsuit names Governor JB Pritzker, House Speaker Chris Welch, and Senate President Don Harmon as defendants.
“Litigation of good faith constitutional questions raised by the Act as written, while absolutely necessary to support and defend the Illinois Constitution, does not indicate categorical rebuke of criminal justice reform and many of the public policy objectives underlying the Act,” Wright wrote in a release. “To the contrary, as I have previously stated, the Act includes many provisions that will bring positive reform. The need for meaningful legislative changes to achieve a responsible balance between the rights of criminal defendants and the safety of law-abiding citizens should not continue to be an entrenched “us vs. them” issue hijacked by social media hysteria and election season posturing. Getting criminal justice reform right for all citizens of Illinois is too important to allow our public discourse to devolve into hyperbole divorced from the plain language of the Act, our Constitution, and common sense.”
Add Tazewell County’s top prosecutor and sheriff to a growing list of law enforcement officials around Illinois suing to block full implementation and ultimately overturn a criminal justice reform bill signed into law nearly two years ago.
Tazewell County State’s Attorney Kevin Johnson and Sheriff Jeff Lower filed suit Wednesday in Tazewell County Circuit Court arguing the law is unconstitutional on several levels. They’re also seeking a preliminary injunction on the law’s implementation pending an outcome in the suit.
The two officials are Republicans. They are suing Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, House Speaker Chris Welch, and Senate President Don Harmon - all Democrats. […]
Johnson and Lower argue the law will lead to increased staff workloads, delays in court cases, and make it harder to compel a defendant’s appearance in court.
McLean County State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds and Sheriff Jon Sandage are the latest law enforcement officials to go to court in an effort to stop a major criminal justice reform bill from being implemented next year.
They filed a lawsuit in McLean County civil court asks the court to declare the SAFE-T Act unconstitutional. […]
Reynolds and Sandage, both Republicans, said law enforcement officials want to help negotiate changes to the measure they claim will threaten public safety.
They argue a judge’s ability to hold a defendant based on a “high likelihood of willful flight” for an array of violent offenses is too narrowly defined under the law, and makes it unlikely those defendants would be detained. They cite aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated drunk driving, concealment of a death and certain hate crimes as examples of offenses in which a state’s attorney could not petition the court to hold the defendant in custody prior to trial.
WGN News invited two top prosecutors who belong to the same political party but have vastly different views of the SAFE-T Act for a discussion. Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser and Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart joined the WGN Evening News Tuesday.
In the regular [Peoria] city meeting, there was a presentation on the SAFE-T Act to offer clarity for council members about the act. Some council members had questions about how the SAFE-T Act will affect the operation of the Peoria Police Department. Chief Eric Echevarria said he believes major changes will impact state’s attorneys as opposed to local law enforcement.
“Quite frankly, this doesn’t change how we’re procedurally going to do our job. We are going to continue to follow the law. We’re going to continue to make the arrests we need to make,” said Echevarria.
Republican candidate Paul Santucci and Democratic state Sen. Linda Holmes, who are running for the 42nd state Senate District seat, agree the controversial SAFE-T Act criminal-justice reform law needs fixing. […]
“Quite frankly, it is a complicated piece of legislation,” Holmes said. There are aspects of it police and prosecutors support, she added, such as the body cameras and the idea that people accused of violent crimes should not be able to be freed pretrial just because they can afford to post bond.
“If I was in office I would have voted ‘no,’” Santucci said. “I feel that the form it is in now needs to be repealed.” But, he added, there were parts of it he does support, including provisions addressing police abuse of power.
“I would not say, ‘All of it is garbage and must go,’ but there are issues that must be addressed before we are comfortable with the law,” Santucci said.
* Related…
* BND: No, the jail doors won’t open Jan. 1. Here’s what to know about end of cash bail in IL
Today, the independent expenditure committee All for Justice (AFJ) placed its second buy for the General Election Cycle with the ad “Oath.”
The ad highlights the risk Republican Supreme Court candidates Justice Michael Burke and Mark Curran’s pose to all Illinoisians from a doctor’s perspective. This buy builds off the previous ad, “One Seat,” highlighting the horrific records of Burke and Curran on abortion.
“Rochford and O’Brien are right for Illinois. It is the goal of All for Justice to ensure that voters know the distinct differences between them and these two men. We have the resources to set the record straight in both districts and intend to over the final weeks,” said Luke Casson, Chairman of All for Justice.
Justice Michael Burke faces Justice Mary Kay O’Brien in the 3rd District, which includes DuPage, Will, Grundy, LaSalle, Bureau, Livingston, Iroquois, and Kankakee Counties. Mark Curran faces Judge Elizabeth Rochford in the 2nd District, which includes Lake, McHenry, Kane, Kendall, and DeKalb counties.
Pregnancies are complicated and every situation is different. My job is to do what’s best for my patients.
But Mark Curran and Michael Burke want to criminalize abortion in Illinois, and they’ll get that chance if they’re elected to the State Supreme Court.
Criminalizing abortion will put women’s lives at risk. To think that I could be put in jail, that women could be put in jail for making their own medical decisions. Where does this end? Mark Curran and Michael Burke are too extreme for the Illinois Supreme Court.
…Adding… We’ll just have to wait and see if they file suit. ILGOP…
Statement from ILGOP Executive Director Shaun McCabe on false and defamatory “All for Justice” TV Ad:
“The latest false TV ad from ‘All for Justice’ is even more defamatory than their first false ad. This Madigan Machine-backed group is lying about Michael Burke and Mark Curran because they’re attempting to cover up Mary K. O’Brien’s and Elizabeth Rochford’s ties to the Madigan Machine. Don’t be fooled, Illinois voters. If elected to the Supreme Court, Madigan Machine judges O’Brien and Rochford will put their political cronies before the people of Illinois.”
Former state legislator Jim Nowlan is part of the Judicial Fairness Project, and was involved with the effort to oust Kilbride after he and “his fellow Democrats sullied their robes in 2016 with a preposterous decision that knocked off the ballot a citizen’s initiative to put an independent mapping question before the voters.”
Nowlan said Democrats drew the judicial map to favor their party back in the ’60s.
“Since then, continuously, Democrats have had a majority on the Illinois Supreme Court and they have used that majority reliably to back the positions of (Chicago Ald.) Ed Burke and (former Illinois House Speaker) Mike Madigan on redistricting, term limits, pensions,” Nowlan said. “And so, it’s time for a change.”
For the first time, Illinois’ Democratic-controlled legislature and Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker last year redrew the Illinois Supreme Court districts, in a manner that Nowlan said will make it more difficult — but not impossible — for Republicans to win them.
He adds that the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade has changed the landscape and made it more difficult for the GOP judicial candidates.
Some Republican groups and donors that had been expected to come through with heavy funding backed away after Curran, who has never been a judge, won the primary instead of the party’s establishment-backed Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes.
They didn’t back away because he’s never been a judge, but whatevs.
Officials from different Illinois judiciary groups across the state have introduced a Declaration of Judicial Independence to inform the public of the threat of misinformation before the election.
The Illinois Judges Association, representing 1,250 sitting and retired judges in Illinois, introduced the declaration on Tuesday during a virtual meeting about the document.
The document’s purpose is to provide voters with accurate information on judicial candidates ahead of the November election.
Chicago Bar Association President Timothy Tomasik said it is an issue that has been going on for years.
“We are so concerned about the reckless and sometimes ruthless number of politically motivated attacks that have been occurring on our judiciary over the past several years,” Tomasik said.
The Chicago and Illinois Bar Associations are urging voters to consult their evaluations of the candidates, which claim to be non-partisan.
“They are not asked are you Republican or Democrat, do you like the current president or the past president, do you believe in the death penalty or not believe in the death penalty — there is nothing political about the judicial evaluation process,” Tomasik said.
A leader of the pro-abortion rights group, Personal PAC, pushed back. Terry Cosgrove said television advertising focused on what a judge has said or done about the abortion issue, including outside the courtroom, is appropriate.
* Related…
* Illinois Chief Justice Anne Burke Discusses 40-Year Legal Career as She Nears Retirement: Burke also addressed controversy surrounding her husband, Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, who is facing a federal corruption trial next year. She says that the trial “absolutely did not” influence her decision to retire. “My decision was my decision,” she says. “We’ve been married for 54 years and as I always said, for better or worse, but not for lunch. We have to figure out how to do lunch now!” When asked about how well she did in fulfilling her promise to keep her work separate from her husband’s, Burke says “perfectly. Well, not perfectly, but the best I could.”
Most registered voters no longer have traditional television subscriptions, prompting a need for campaigns to increasingly shift advertising to streaming, according to a new Samba TV-HarrisX survey.
The poll found that only 49 percent of registered voters nationwide have traditional TV subscriptions, and the figure falls to 39 percent in 10 key battleground states.
But more than 80 percent of registered voters nationally and in key battleground states indicated they stream television. […]
“The data points very clearly that the future king of political ad spending will be streaming. Voter eyeballs are more likely to be present there by a factor of almost two to one,” said Dritan Nesho, founder and CEO of HarrisX.
* The Question: Where do you generally see the most political advertising? Explain.
* A whole lot of folks need to read this, not because it’s full of scary right-wing stuff, but because it’s chock full of very practical information for candidates…
Seems legit. Either way, there’s a lot of good, basic stuff in there for all candidates. Looks like pretty effective how-to training https://t.co/tXi9BGYu2O
The other side better be prepared, because the Awake IL types are getting some decent training for school board elections. And Dan Proft, who is sitting on a giant mound of money, has said he wants to get involved in school board races. From July…
Following the end of his congressional campaign in Illinois’ 14th congressional district, Mike Koolidge has been hired as the Communications Director and Chief Spokesman for People Who Play By The Rules PAC, effective immediately. The “PBR” PAC is a political action committee whose mission is to support gubernatorial candidates and candidates for local offices, particularly school boards, committed to ending the fleecing of people who play by the rules and are gamed by a political system they finance.
Proft was reportedly at that Awake IL training session. Again, go read it.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul accused his Republican challenger Thomas DeVore of making “dangerous” remarks, while DeVore accused the Democratic incumbent of failing the state’s school students by not challenging Gov. JB Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigations.
The charges and countercharges came during a nearly hourlong debate organized by the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors and Capitol News Illinois that was conducted Monday via Zoom. […]
“I think one of the things we’ve learned over the course of the last couple of years is that there was a fair question to be asked about the extent of the governor’s ability to issue some of those mandates,” DeVore said. “You know, you have some on one side of the conversation say he could absolutely do it. You had some that said he absolutely couldn’t. But I think we would all agree as intellectual people there was a fair question.”
Raoul, however, defended his decisions, and his support for Pritzker’s executive orders, saying the state was in the midst of a deadly pandemic and that he, himself, lost friends to the disease.
“I will agree with Mr. DeVore. It was a fair question to ask,” Raoul said. “But how many times you ask it is a fair question too. It was asked and answered multiple times in multiple lawsuits. And the courts’ resources should not have been abused as they were.”
Q: The Attorney General said that some of these [”stop the steal”] lawsuits, challenges we’ve seen in other states undermine democracy. Do you agree with that?
DeVore: I’m willing to go that far because again,we’re not dealing with propaganda here to create fodder for to me what doesn’t matter, which is our state. You know, if there’s people filing lawsuits and other states, I’ve heard about them, are they trying to undermine democracy or whether they have specific articulable facts? I don’t know. Maybe Mr. Raoul knows, but I’m certainly not going to discredit people bringing forth causes of action trying to make a point in a court of law if it’s not a meritorious case, the courts will dispose of those in short order.
Q: Okay, Mr. Devore. On the topic of lawsuits, what happens to your private practice if you are elected Attorney General? Do you completely step aside? I’m not even sure if there’s prohibitions on maintaining that office while serving as AG. But also on the topic of lawsuits, you sued the governor for calling you a grifter. You sued the mother of your girlfriend for allegedly criticizing you. And then about five years ago, you sued a special education teacher for criticizing your characterization of some students as window lickers, alleged characterization maybe. So is the lawsuit a tool you’re using to maybe quash public criticisms and should we expect that level of private litigation from you if you are elected Attorney General?
DeVore: A lot of different questions in one statement there and I’m not sure which ones to deal with. But look, let’s talk about the governor’s comments. He never at one time said that what he called me, which is a fee for all intents and purposes, wasn’t defamatory. He raised the argument that as the governor he can defame people all at once and go about saying whatever he likes, and he has that immunity. That was his argument. As to these other causes of action, those are personal issues. To the extent those persons are trying to say those things, but in general, I’ll say merely because you know how many people are stifled to run for office because they’re scared that they’re going to be absolutely taken to task on their whole manner of things that exceed the office a lot. You know what? Governor Pritzker just sent a letter through his law firm to a news organization in the north saying that what you’re doing is defamatory to me, please stop. So when it rises to the level of it’s not just political talk, and it’s accusing people of committing crimes, and saying other things that impugn their ability to do their job, they have an absolute right to defend themselves. Me, the governor, Mr. Raoul and anybody, and to suggest that it has some ulterior motives other than defending your character I take issue with that, because that’s what it’s about. The governor had the right to send that letter when he sent it. Just as much as I have the right to defend myself. And if someone says something like that to Mr. Raoul, I would hope he would do the same thing.
Q: What do you do with your private practice if you become elected Attorney General?
DeVore: There’s a lot of other lawyers in our office that are already handling most of those cases, and would continue to handle those cases as well.
Q: Would you accept any income from that?
DeVore: I will not be, whether I would or wouldn’t I can tell you the answer is no. I’ve already made that clear to them that it’s again, I’ve not even looked into the details of that Mr. Raoul may know. But I know my decision that I made is not something that has to be vetted because I won’t get any income from it. I won’t be a part of it. I’ll be completely disconnected and have nothing to do with the financial part of it.
Q: And should we expect these level of private lawsuits from you to continue if you’re elected Attorney General?
DeVore: You mean you’re asking me if somebody is going to defame me in the future?
Q: Are you going to plan on suing people who speak ill of you as attorney general?
DeVore: You know, whoever asked that question, I put them in the category of people that need to stick to reporting. If someone defamed me anytime in the future, am I going to defend myself? Absolutely. But to suggest that that means you’re going to go out and just start filing lawsuits against people at will it’s a poor choice of words and completely irresponsible for whoever asked that question. Of course, I’m going to defend myself if I need to no more than Attorney General Raoul would defend himself and Governor Pritzker currently defends himself, so it’s not unique to me.
Raoul: I think a lot of questions speak to something that we as lawyers and certainly as attorney general, have to have respect for, is and that’s of course resources. You know, lawyers, whether they’re attorney general or independently, can be sanctioned for abuse of filing non-meritorious lawsuits. As we talk about the defamation lawsuits that were referenced before, including one against a special ed teacher for objecting to Mr. DeVore referring to some kids as window lickers. First off, I don’t think we want the courts to be used to stop teachers from being protective of students when somebody’s gonna do something that I think is just unconscionable. And then, the other thing that’s important to look at is the outcome of those lawsuits. That lawsuit was eventually dismissed, right? And so, it’s one thing to file a lawsuit if you really try to follow a meritorious lawsuit, carry it out to the point where you know it has merit and you can prevail. The number one defense to defamation is truth.
DeVore: Yeah, Attorney General Raoul, well, let me just say what you just said on this camera is defamatory because you weren’t there. You don’t know anything about it. It was not anything to do with special needs kids. It didn’t have anything to do with a special ed teacher. None of that.
Raoul: I didn’t say anything about special needs kids.
DeVore: Yes you did.
Raoul: I said kids.
DeVore: You said, disabled kid. But I dropped the case because the young man who made those defamatory statements was scared to death. And so why should I put him through more than I already went through. So don’t talk about things you don’t know what you’re talking about. I mean, how many special needs kids have suffered tremendously for your failure to defend them against the governor’s tyrannical behavior? Thousands and thousands of special needs kids have lost their learning that they’ll never recover in their lifetime. That’s true. And that’s on you, sir. So please don’t talk to me about some alleged defamatory issue from five years ago, when the kids of this state will never recover from your failure to defend them against the governor. Please don’t go there with me sir.
Raoul: Thank you for your comments, Mr. Devore. If you take time to re-watch the tape you will find out that I did not say special. I said kids, and I think what you said about kids whether special needs or not is despicable.
1) DeVore would certainly know about courts tossing out lawsuits.
2) DeVore implies he sued the governor because too many people are scared of being “taken to task” when they contemplate running for office, and then said he dropped his window lickers lawsuit “because the young man who made those defamatory statements was scared to death.” OK.
3) Raoul did not say “disabled kid” despite DeVore’s instance. So, is that defamatory? /s
All right, happy Columbus Day. Yes, Columbus Day, not indigenous people day. Coming to you from the site of the former Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park. That should be backed up there. That’s a whole story in and of itself, that some civic leaders and some political leaders in this city are going to have to answer for in the coming months during election season. For their decision naively to believe the mayor that this was a temporary thing. Because here we are, two years later, still gone. Disgusting. But they allowed it. She should pay the price for having it done to begin with.
You notice they’ve never, ever hijacked any other ethnic holiday. It’s for some other purposes. Why Christopher Columbus Day? Why don’t they just create a new day for indigenous people? Christopher Columbus is supposedly responsible for the slaughter of thousands, if not more, Indians. Because he came to America, while coming to America definitely resulted in some bloodshed, no doubt. But why does Columbus get the blame for all of that? It’s ridiculous. Number one.
Number two, Christopher Columbus brought Christianity to United States. There’s no disputing that he did. Where are the religious leaders sticking up for civil and religious liberties thanks to Christopher Columbus? Nowhere to be found.
Or the Christian leaders. Where is the Cardinal? Where’s the Pope? Nowhere to be found. They’re all hypocrites. Just like the mayor and political leaders who thought it was a good idea to take these statues down. The same people who blamed Christopher Columbus for all these atrocities that were supposedly committed on behalf of modernization are the same ones that enjoy these newfound freedoms with modern civilized society.
I don’t see any of these politicians selling their houses to live in teepees, hunt buffalo or raise crops in their back yards like the Indians did. But they all want to say ‘Oh, the poor Indians.’ Okay, great. Create a day separately. You don’t have to steal someone else’s holiday to create another one. But that’s just the sad reality we’re living in today.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t be getting the freedoms, like shopping in a 24-hour Walgreens, or buying cases of Modelo in the middle of the night. But those are freedoms afforded to you, in part thanks to the civilization that Christopher Columbus helped bring to this country. Shame on you all. There will be repercussions in the elections coming forth. These hypocrites need to be accounted for and basically removed from office.
* Republican Darren Bailey’s first TV ad of general election campaign focuses on crime: While other TV ads critical of Pritzker have been airing since Bailey won the six-man GOP primary race, those ads were paid for by a political action committee aligned with Bailey’s campaign. The new TV ad is the first to be broadcast and paid for by Bailey’s campaign. … The ad buy for the 30-second spot totals $534,000, campaign spokesman Joe DeBose said, and will include being broadcast in the expensive Chicago-area TV market. DeBose said the ad is slated to debut Wednesday or Thursday.
* Darren Bailey’s gubernatorial party nomination signals a rightward shift in Illinois GOP, experts say: Bailey has built his political platform around criticizing Pritzker’s COVID-19 response, making headlines in 2020 for refusing to wear a mask during a legislative session and suing the governor over his stay-at-home order. Chicago crime has also been a focus of Bailey’s gubernatorial campaign. In 2019, he co-sponsored a resolution in the Illinois House to separate Chicago from the rest of the state and has frequently referred to the city as a “hellhole.”
* With Jesse White off statewide ballot for first time in nearly a quarter century, voters faced with fresh choices for Illinois secretary of state: Republican Dan Brady, 61, of Bloomington, is a veteran state legislator who touts his record of bipartisanship and promises to expand staffing to reduce wait times at secretary of state facilities. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, 46, is attempting a political comeback after losing a 2010 U.S. Senate race following a single term as state treasurer. He says that if elected he will lean heavily on technology to make the office more consumer-friendly.
* Illinois attorney general race: Raoul, DeVore interview with IAPME: A joint interview with candidates for Illinois attorney general, Democratic incumbent Kwame Raoul and Republican Tom DeVore, conducted by the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors Association.
* State Senate 26th District candidates differ on variety of issues: State Sen. Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods, who serves as the Senate minority leader, said as he talks to voters this election season he hears concerns about inflation more than any other topic. […] Maria Peterson, a North Barrington resident and McConchie’s Democratic challenger in this fall’s election, said as she communicates with people while she campaigns, concerns about gun violence are a frequent topic.
* Former corrections officer running for Illinois’ 72nd House District: A lifelong resident of Rock Island County, Johnson says his life experience has prepared him well for this position. After working for the Illinois Department of Corrections, Johnson says he has firsthand experience advocating for various issues in Springfield. And if elected, he would focus on improving mental health care in Illinois and encouraging young people and families to continue living in the state.
* Martens running for Illinois’ 72nd House District: A Rock Island native and mechanic at Rock Island Electric Motor Repair, Martens says working full-time helps him understand his constituents better than his oponents. And if elected, Martens would focus on voting security and cutting taxes. Martens says if Illinois doesn’t cut spending it will become bankrupt. Because of this, he believes a change of leadership is needed in Illinois.
…Adding… Pritzker campaign…
After months of being propped up by notorious grifter Dan Proft, Darren Bailey is finally up with his first TV ad of the general election and, as expected, it is full of misleading information.
Darren Bailey’s newest ad falsely claims he supports investments in police retention efforts, when his actual voting record shows he voted against millions of dollars for local law enforcement retention grants.
At every opportunity, Bailey voted against bolstering funding to support law enforcement and improve public safety. The governor’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget, which Bailey voted NO on, included the single largest dollar investment to expand cadet classes in Illinois history, $10 million for local law enforcement retention grants, and $8 million for equipment replacements and upgrades at the Illinois State Police.
Additionally, Bailey voted against:
-Providing tens of millions of dollars for police body cameras, retention grants, and mental health screenings
-Strengthening the Illinois State Police Division of Forensic Services
-Strengthening safety for first responders on state highways
-Installing hundreds of highway cameras and doubling state police presence on Chicago-area interstates in response to on-road violence
-Building new, state-of-the-art forensics labs to provide law enforcement with the resources to solve crimes
-Pumping $30 million into multi-jurisdictional task forces to catch and crack down on carjackers
“No amount of false advertising can paint a rosy picture of Darren Bailey’s disastrous voting record thwarting public safety,” said JB for Governor Press Secretary Eliza Glezer. “Bailey had his chance to vote for police recruitment and retention efforts and, instead, voted NO.”
Dan Brady, the Republican nominee for Illinois Secretary of State, has released a summary of his tax returns for calendar years 2020 and 2021 and has called on his opponent to do the same.
“The Secretary of State’s office regulates the offer and sale of securities and the people who provide those services, so it’s crucial that voters know if candidates for the office have any potential conflicts of interest,” Brady said. “That’s why I’m releasing this summary of my tax returns so voters can see for themselves that I have no such conflicts. I call on my opponent to do the same thing, but so far he has steadfastly refused to do so. I wonder why.”
According to the Secretary of State’s website, the Illinois Securities Department regulates the offer and sale of securities pursuant to the Illinois Securities Law of 1953. The department registers securities offerings, broker-dealers, investment advisers and their sales-persons and representatives, loan brokers, business brokers and those who offer and sell business opportunities.
Brady is an Associate Director at the firm of Kibler Brady Ruestman Memorial Home and a part-time legislator. He submitted his Statement of Economic Interest form as required by law on March 7, 2022. Brady’s opponent, Alexi Giannoulias, filed the same form on March 14, 2022 with numerous attachments. To date, Giannoulias has refused to follow Brady’s lead and release his income tax information as well.
Brady’s tax summary reflects the fact that his wife Teri was without work for a period of time following a corporate layoff and drew the unemployment benefits to which she was entitled.
During a recent interview with the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors, Giannoulias blamed his wife for not disclosing their taxes. “My wife and I have some…ah…some things that she wants to keep…ah…private,” Giannoulias said. This is not the first time Giannoulias has refused to release his taxes.
The link to the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors interview is here: https://youtu.be/egv-XE-d_uo.
In a news segment posted on Facebook on May 19, 2022 by ABC 7 Chicago, Giannoulias refused to release his taxes. While being questioned in the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors interview about conflict of interests in investments Giannoulias said, “I think the only investments I have are just passive.”
The link to the ABC 7 interview is here: https://www.facebook.com/abc7chicago/videos/2935946843369210/.
Giannoulias has a history of questionable financial actions. Broadway Bank gave approximately $20 million to Russian mobsters while Giannoulias was a senior loan officer, and the bank was later seized by federal regulators. As Illinois State Treasurer, Giannoulias’ college savings fund, Bright Start, lost $150 million.
“The Secretary of State has a fiduciary duty to manage the state’s security division without impropriety,” Brady said. “Giannoulias can’t have it both ways. He needs to be truthful with voters.”
* Brady’s income summary is just that, and it’s sparse…
* The Question: Should the state mandate that all candidates, state and local, disclose at least part of their income tax returns? Explain.
He’s running for the highest seat in Illinois government, but Republican candidate Darren Bailey says he’d be powerless to change abortion laws if elected.
“Nothing’s going to change when I’m governor. I couldn’t change them if I could [sic],” Bailey said at the debate Thursday night.
Anti-abortion groups have backed Bailey since the primary. His apparent side step of the issue Thursday did not shake their faith in their candidate.
“Bailey is unapologetically pro-life and he will work to undo some of the extremism that we have in our state right now.” Amy Gehrke, the executive director of Illinois Right to Life said. […]
“If elected, I’m going to work to make sure abortion becomes unnecessary day one,” he said at a campaign event the day before the primary.
…Adding… Bailey’s running mate is not so reserved…
Vowing that this is just the beginning, about 100 anti-abortion activists gathered outside a planned abortion clinic at 611 Auburn St. on Monday to pray and hear from Stephanie Trussell, the former conservative radio personality turned Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. […]
“They talk about the violence in some of these communities but more violence is happening right there in an abortion clinic,” Trussell said. “We expect people to value life, but we’re not valuing babies.”
Stumping for votes in conservative southern Illinois, Republican governor hopeful Darren Bailey took the same stage as Donald Trump Jr. on Saturday night, with the former president’s son encouraging those in attendance to back Bailey while Bailey stuck to his campaign speech and didn’t publicly acknowledge the younger Trump’s presence.
The scene was markedly different from the one that unfolded in the waning days of the GOP primary this summer, when former President Donald Trump endorsed Bailey. Since that endorsement, however, Bailey has slowly tried to distance himself from Trump as Bailey faces a general electorate in Illinois that twice rejected the former president by a 17% margin.
(I)n the 2022 general election at least 22 Illinoisans of Asian descent are running for office in November, from county commissioner to state representative to U.S. senator.
That could herald the state’s largest Asian American caucus ever and reflects a national trend of Asian Americans getting elected to public office. […]
Jue has also consulted for Hoan Huynh, who’s running to represent portions of the North Side in the Illinois House and who would be the legislature’s first Vietnamese American representative if elected.
Jue and others who spoke with the Tribune said the current wave of Asian Americans engaged in politics is decades in the making and speaks to the organizing prowess of their community leaders. They also noted recent topics in the news — such as the rise in anti-Asian attacks and 2020 U.S. census figures showing Asians are the fastest-growing racial group in Chicago, Illinois and the country — demonstrate the urgency for more political representation. […]
[Hoan Huynh’s] Democratic primary opponents included Eileen Dordek, the former board chair of the pro-abortion rights Personal PAC who was endorsed by heavy hitters such as Gov. J.B. Pritzker, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and a slew of other Democrats. The only elected official willing to support Huynh back then was state Rep. Theresa Mah, the first Asian American elected to the General Assembly in 2016. […]
Down in the slower paced, more homogenous towns of central Illinois, Sharon Chung didn’t plan on drawing attention to her Korean ancestry when she took office in 2018 as the first Asian American elected to the McLean County Board. In some ways, that’s still the case when she’s campaigning as the Democratic nominee for the Illinois House’s new 91st District, an open seat that was redrawn this year to bring together more Democratic-leaning voters.
* On a somewhat related note, WGN TV’s Lourdes Duarte has a good piece on the growing influence of Latinas in Illinois politics. Take some time to watch it…
* Clem Balanoff was very involved in campaigns during the 1994 GOP landslide. He has seen the wild swings in off-year elections up close and personal, so when he talks about the open-seat races in the 13th and 17th congressional districts with Politico, you should listen…
Balanoff, the Illinois operative, expects voter interest to continue shifting before November.
“If the election were held today, I think Democrats would win both seats. But it’s two more months, and that’s an eternity,” he said at the time, adding what would be a prescient comment. “One bad break and things change dramatically. What if OPEC said they were to cut production and prices go up? You just never know.”
Kwame Raoul is pandering for votes talking about his futile efforts to try and pass a 50-year old amendment to the constitution regarding equal women’s rights that none of you have likely ever heard about. A lot has changed since 1972 such as biological males trying to take over women’s sports & tampon dispensers in boys locker rooms. The list goes on. I have two 19-year old daughters whose rights I’ll fight for at every step and if Kwame really cared about my daughters rights, he’d address these real issues facing women today and not an out of date constitutional amendment that has little practical relevance five decades after the fact.
Also from DeVore…
.@RealCandaceO PayPal took $15,000 from me and won’t return it. I’m the Attorney General candidate in Illinois so just think how they treat everyday people. This company is so corrupt I have to sue them to get my money back.
New voters have until today, Oct. 11, to postmark their mail-in application to register to vote in the Nov. 8 midterm election.
Should Illinois voters submit their application online, they have until Sunday, Oct. 23 at midnight. Additionally, Illinoisans should double-check their voter registration in order to update or correct any appropriate information, said Jay Young, Common Cause Illinois’ executive director.
“The right to vote is the foundation of our government, and elections — both generals and primaries — are a key element of that foundation,” Young said. “Please encourage your friends, family, and community to spend a few minutes ensuring their right to vote is intact and ready for Nov. 8 by registering to vote.”
Illinoisans can register to vote online and make any needed changes to existing voter registrations at https://ova.elections.il.gov/.
If Illinoisans miss the Oct. 11 or 23 deadline, they can still register through Same Day registration on Election Day at designated voter locations.
Other important election-related dates for voters:
• Now - Nov. 7: Voters can request absentee or vote-by-mail ballots. If they request by mail, the request must be received by Nov. 3.
• Now - Nov. 7: Early voting period. Check with your election authority for details.
• Nov. 8: Absentee/mail-in ballots must be returned, either in person or by mail and postmarked by Nov. 8.
• Nov. 8, Election Day: Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
* Roundup from Isabel…
* ADDED: Press release: After closely aligning himself with Awake Illinois—named a “hate group” by Equality Illinois—anti-choice Republican Keith Pekau has announced plans to campaign with election-denying Congressman Jack Bergman (R-MI), a far-right Republican best known for supporting legislation to ban abortions in every case, with no exceptions for rape, incest or life of the mother. Bergman wants to go even further and create a criminal penalty for doctors who perform an abortion. Bergman is a former lobbyist for a non-profit that was forced to pay nearly one hundred million dollars to the Department of Justice for scamming veterans. He also voted against certifying the 2020 election and coordinated with local officials to attempt to overturn the results. “From accepting an award from Awake Illinois to jeopardizing the health of his constituents for cheap political points to campaigning with a radical, anti-choice insurrectionist who helped scam veterans, Keith Pekau has shown us who he is,” says Trevor Nyland, spokesperson for Casten for Congress. “It’s time that the voters of IL-06 believe him.”
* Lawsuits looking to block SAFE-T Act stacking up as Pritzker signals changes ahead: Last week, Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright filed a lawsuit challenging the act’s constitutionality for various reasons. Wright said in a statement the law set to take effect Jan. 1 “contains confusing and inconsistent provisions likely resulting in divergent interpretations and disparate outcomes” across the state. Other measures are clear, but raise “sincerely-held public safety concerns,” Wright said.
* Gun violence is dropping in Chicago as police credit new tactics, community investment: While shootings like those that killed Zastro and wounded Barr continue, the violence does seem to be ebbing: An ABC News/Gun Violence Archives analysis of the nation’s 50 largest cities shows homicides are down nearly 5% from last year after two years of pandemic-era increases.
* Candidates for Illinois governor offer ideas for gun control: There are several pending lawsuits in state and federal courts challenging a variety of Illinois’ gun laws, including the Firearm Owner’s Identification Card Act. During the first gubernatorial debate last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker defended the FOID card system and an option to submit fingerprints.
* Illinois political expert weighs in on first gubernatorial debate: Springfield political observer Kent Redfield said Monday that the debate likely didn’t help people who are undecided between Gov. JB Pritzker and Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia). The professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois-Springfield said Pritzker and Bailey were able to use their greatest hits with talking points about abortion, crime and the state’s economy.
* Political expert: first governor’s debate won’t sway many voters: “There was nothing there that was a huge gaffe, a huge breakout,” Kent Redfield, political science professor emeritus of University of Illinois Springfield, said. “There’s nothing that’s going to be, you know, in the history books about what you should do right, or should do wrong in a debate.”
* Pritzker, Bailey refuse to get specific in some important areas: For the governor, that was when he wouldn’t say what changes he’d make to the Pretrial Fairness Act provision of the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform that will end cash bail on Jan. 1. For the governor, that was when he wouldn’t say what changes he’d make to the Pretrial Fairness Act provision of the SAFE-T Act criminal justice reform that will end cash bail on Jan. 1.
* Supreme Court 3rd District: Burke, O’Brien vie for open seat: If Burke wins his race and Republicans also claim the newly redrawn 2nd District, the court’s majority would flip to the GOP. But Burke and O’Brien each downplayed the role partisanship plays on the court.
* Daily Herald: Giannoulias endorsed for Secretary of State: Brady has a similar approach to providing tech upgrades, but we’re impressed by how well Giannoulias has laid his out. Giannoulias’ experience on the Chicago Public Library board — at a time when book banning is all the rage, is important as well. Giannoulias is endorsed.
* Daily Herald Endorsement: Mendoza for Illinois comptroller: Mendoza’s record, her previous experience as a Chicago city clerk and Illinois state legislator and her seemingly boundless energy make her an exceptional fit for state comptroller. She easily wins our endorsement.
* Illinois FOP State Lodge endorses Deering: “Regan Deering has earned our endorsement because she steadfastly supports the law enforcement officers who protect our communities, unlike many politicians, including her opponent, who favor anti-police and pro-criminal laws,” said Illinois FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood. “Regan will be the strong voice we need in Congress to return sanity to our government and safety to our neighborhoods.”
* Budzinski endorsement by AFFI: Today, Nikki Budzinski, candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, highlighted her endorsement from the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois (AFFI). The AFFI organizes, supports, advocates, and promotes the interests of professional union firefighters and EMS providers in Illinois. … “Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fire fighters are on-call to keep us safe. And when emergencies arise, they risk their lives to protect us. I was proud to advocate for firefighters and EMS workers at the International Association of Fire Fighters – and I’m proud to have the endorsement of Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois as I run to serve Central and Southern Illinois in Congress. I’ll always work to ensure our first responders have the resources they need to stay safe as they serve our communities.”
* Illinois Black Caucus director stands at the forefront of change: The Illinois Black Legislative Caucus Foundation is dedicated to advancing the lives of Black citizens in the state. The foundation has opened doors to opportunities for many families through student scholarship funding, weekly forums on how to become politically engaged, and securing a seat at the table to facilitate change. The executive director of the Illinois Black Legislative Caucus Foundation, Tiffany Hightower, takes pride in ensuring that African American citizens are equally represented in legislative processes.
* Opinion | More or Les: An open letter to secretary of state candidates: I think most of the time being secretary of state is a pretty good and non-controversial role: overseeing everything from what most of the rest of the world calls the department of motor vehicles to organ donor registries and working with non-profits. However, I have a couple of beefs with the last few incumbents of Illinois’ secretary of state office.
* Mike Matejka: Amendment acts on basic protections: By voting yes, these fundamental workplace rights become more than law in Illinois, they are constitutionally protecting. Workers’ Rights Amendment opponents have raised the weak and false issue of increased taxes. There is nothing in this amendment that impacts taxes directly. This is a long-used fear tactic to evade the real issue, which is giving average working people a voice.
TV shows like ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘iZombie’ have shown us that although it’s unlikely, you should always consider the possibility of a zombie apocalypse. […]
Estimations for this study are based on a sample of 369,240 globally geolocated cemeteries and graves acquired from an established public database of cemetery records. The total number of zombies is synonymous to the number of graves in the area.
With a whopping 12,691,919 potential living dead roaming the streets, New York is the worst US state to be in, should a zombie apocalypse occur. The Big Apple is also home to 9,730 cemeteries, which we recommend avoiding!
The second most dangerous state to live in during a zombie apocalypse is Pennsylvania, with 12,505,514 potential walking dead.
In third place is Ohio, with the chance to host 10,361,999 zombies during doomsday - 15% more walking dead than California which comes in fourth place with 8,732,358.
Texas comes in fifth place (8,624,922 potential zombies), followed by Illinois (8,235,259), Indiana (5,979,766) and Missouri (5,970,345). […]
Residents in Alaska might not notice there is a zombie apocalypse, with just 72,849 potential creatures roaming the streets during doomsday. The same can be said for Wyoming, the second least affected state, with only 295,117 potential zombies roaming the streets.
The third least dangerous place to live during a zombie apocalypse is Nevada (333,326 potential zombies), followed by Hawaii (343,193) and Delaware (446,313).
If you fear the walking dead, then your best strategy for avoiding getting bit would be to shelter in place.
Surprisingly, the Midwest is the smart choice for a hideout. The Kansas City metro area, the Twin Cities, and Chicago suburb Naperville, Illinois, are all good places to invest in a home before the apocalypse. Properties in the Midwest region are not only generous in square footage, but they also commonly come with basements that you can convert into bunkers.
* If you want to look at the rankings, here you go
* Related…
* From 2017, Being prepared for zombies is now a real thing in Illinois: The legislature has declared October “Zombie Preparedness Month.” Why? Because, as House ResoIution 0030 says, “If the citizens of Illinois are prepared for zombies, than [sic] they are prepared for any natural disaster.”
* The Pentagon has an actual plan for the zombie apocalypse: The strategy, known as “CONPLAN 8888,” is an unclassified document that lays out how the military would best respond to a potential zombie apocalypse. The plan’s overall purpose is for the military to undertake operations to “preserve ‘non-zombie’ humans from the threats posed by a zombie horde.”
[Note from Rich: This post mysteriously disappeared from the site, so I put it back. Not sure what happened there.]
* Photo taken today by a Democratic state legislator in Lisle, across the street from a high school. “Paid for” just says “Sponsored Backspace,” and, no, I don’t know what that means…
Under JB Pritzker and Lori Lightfoot, crime is out of control. I’m Darren Bailey. I’ll end Pritzker’s no cash bail policy that’s putting violent criminals back on our streets. I’ll increase police recruitment and retention to put more officers in our neighborhoods. I’m Darren Bailey and your safety will always be my priority.
*** UPDATE 1 *** $355K would be a small broadcast buy…
#ILPol: Darren Bailey has just placed his first ad buy for the #ILGov general. So far we've seen him spend $355K.
*** UPDATE 2 *** A half mil still ain’t much. Tribune…
The ad buy for the 30-second spot totals $534,000, campaign spokesman Joe DeBose said, and will include being broadcast in the expensive Chicago-area TV market. DeBose said the ad is slated to debut Wednesday or Thursday.
The city of Chicago marked both Indigenous Peoples Day and held its 70th annual Columbus Day parade Monday. But the controversy over Christopher Columbus’ legacy kept some elected leaders away.
He didn’t actually attend any events, but did have “a full day of meetings and interviews,” according to his campaign. Pritzker didn’t post anything on Twitter except that he was “celebrating”…
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we recognize and honor the history, culture, and traditions of Indigenous communities in Illinois among us and before us.
I’m celebrating their strength and resilience today and recommitting to a brighter future for us all.
For parade organizers, there was a sense of disappointment with those politicians who were not there - particularly if it’s out of concern about the controversy.
“Any elected official who’s not here today, I feel bad for them because they’re not really standing up for people they’re standing up for themselves,” said Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans.
“If that’s why they’re staying away, then they’re cowards, that’s what I would say,” 38th Ward Ald. Nick Sposato said. […]
“I think it’s an absolute shame that Governor Pritzker and Lori Lightfoot choose to diminish the accomplishments that Italians have made to our society,” Bailey said. “So no, I want to celebrate this, this is what America is about right here.”
The powers that be should figure something out. We ought to be honoring Italian-Americans.
* I reached out to the governor’s office about this topic and here’s what I was sent…
Our strength as a country and state come from our diversity – and no matter where we came from, our contributions have made America the greatest nation in the world. But we are also strong because of our willingness to confront the ugly sins of our past; and the genocide and abuse of Native Americans is a stain upon our collective conscience. It is appropriate for us as a state to recognize both the good and the bad, and I am committed to working with all people of goodwill to continue to recognize the contributions of Italian Americans while also telling honest stories about the lives, history and contributions of our nation’s Native Americans.
Maybe something can be done.
Your thoughts?
* More…
* Native Americans want recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day as Columbus Day celebration parades downtown: “Why can we have Juneteenth, but we can’t get Indigenous Peoples Day?” [Ald. Maria Hadden] said. … “We’re not going anywhere,” Onesti told the Tribune. “There’s over 500,000 of us in the Chicagoland area, and we’re here celebrating and flying the green, white and red of our flag today.” … “We want the Indigenous people to have their day,” Onesti said. “We want to celebrate with them. But there’s 364 other opportunities. Let us have our day.”
* Chicago’s Columbus statues remain hidden as another Columbus Day arrives: But Onesti said Italian Americans are “very hurt, very furious” that Lightfoot ignored the demand to return the Columbus statues to their pedestals in time for Monday’s celebration of the Columbus Day holiday that his community holds dear. “If this was any other ethnic group involved, this would have been taken care of a long time ago. For some reason, she feels that Italian Americans are easy to push around and easy to manhandle,” Onesti said. … “If you read history and you read his own journals, you’ll see how he abused Native women and girls … and the cruelties and atrocities that he committed against Native people. He … took them back to Europe as slaves,” [Les Begay, one of the founders of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Coalition of Illinois] said. “It’s very much like keeping Confederate statues up. There’s no difference between the two. Columbus triggers Native people just like Confederate statues trigger other groups.”
The disturbing 911 call began with sounds of a struggle, then a voice that sounded like a child’s cried out, “Let me go.” When the police dispatcher in the rural southern Illinois community announced herself, no one responded.
She heard other voices, laughing and taunting, then a female voice said, “You want me to break your other finger?” […]
With the audio recording in hand, the Illinois State Police launched an investigation. They learned that the call was made as Choate employees attempted to restrain a patient: A smart watch jostled in the struggle had accidentally dialed emergency services. They discovered that the voice heard pleading for help belonged to Alijah Luellen, who has Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic condition that can cause severe childhood obesity, intellectual disability and behavioral problems. They also discovered that the other voices belonged to the employees paid to care for him.
Nonetheless, such incriminating evidence was not enough to hold anyone accountable.
Some more background on Choate’s timeline of abuse is here.
Reporting by Lee Enterprises Midwest, Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica reveals a culture of cover-ups that makes it harder to reform the 270-bed developmental center for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. In dozens of cases, records show that Choate employees have lied to state police and to investigators with IDHS’ Office of the Inspector General; walked out of interviews, plotted to cover up or obfuscate alleged abuse and neglect; and failed to follow policies intended to protect the integrity of investigations. […]
Yet they all claimed they couldn’t recognize the voice of the worker who threatened the patient on the 911 call.
In addition, two employees cut their interviews with investigators short and walked out. (Law enforcement cannot compel employees to answer questions, according to state police; IDHS said that employees’ participation in criminal investigations is not mandated as a condition of employment.) Another employee, in internal paperwork, initially stated he assisted in the restraint. He later told police he had falsified the paperwork and wasn’t actually in the room, according to the police report.
Between 2015 and 2021, the Office of the Inspector General for the Illinois Department of Human Services received 1,180 allegations of abuse and neglect at Choate. But late reporting, uncooperative employees, lack of video evidence, conflicting witness accounts and other investigatory missteps can result in the OIG being unable to obtain enough evidence to substantiate an allegation — even when there are unexplained patient injuries.
We requested these records, but OIG refused to send them all, citing state law that prohibits the release of details from unsubstantiated cases. They did send a stack of information from that same time period regarding substantiated cases, along with records from 184 cases in which the OIG identified problems and asked Choate administrators to respond with their plans for remedying the situation. These are cases in which OIG flagged serious issues, although they may not have had enough evidence to support the allegation.
The files they sent are a record of Choate’s required responses. Most of them were heavily redacted, but they offered a window into some of the problems OIG investigators face at Choate:
• In 29 cases, Choate administrators acknowledged that employees failed to follow department policy concerning the reporting and investigation of abuse and neglect.
• In 11 instances, Choate employees failed to report an allegation of abuse or neglect within four hours of discovery, as the law requires.
• In nine cases, the OIG found that employees lied or provided false statements to investigators.
• In more than one-third of the 184 cases where the OIG asked for a response, the only recommendation from Choate officials was to “retrain” employees.
• In 14 cases, employees were discharged, terminated or suspended.
People Who Play By The Rules PAC has launched a new ad, “Born On Third” featuring former ABC 7 political reporter Charles Thomas. It is available on YouTube, the PBR PAC Facebook Page and will run on statewide media this week.
For 25 years, ABC 7 political reporter Charles Thomas gave you the straight news. Now he’s giving you real talk on the governor’s race.
Charles Thomas: JB Pritzker? What’s he ever done outside of being born on third base and telling the world he hit a triple? JB Pritzker and his people called Darren Bailey an extremist. He’s an expert at growing food. What’s JB Pritzker an expert at doing?
Say whatever you want about him, but Pritzker was central to kickstarting the tech industry in Chicago via the 1871 incubator…
The efforts to create 1871 began with J.B Pritzker. He forged a partnership between the public and private sector and was able to get the State of Illinois to provide $2.5 M to fund the construction.
That incubator has so far created about 14,500 jobs and raised $3.5 billion in venture capital.
With voting already started, Republican megadonor Richard Uihlein poured another $13.9 million into his quest to defeat Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, with the cash to the anti-Pritzker People Who Play By the Rules PAC coming as state campaign finance records show lackluster fundraising by GOP nominee Darren Bailey.
Uihlein inherited part of the Schlitz beer fortune.
Since the 2020 general election, Uihlein has made more than $57.5 million in donations to GOP candidates and causes. Besides his contributions to the Proft PAC and Bailey, he has given more than $2.6 million to Illinois Senate Republican leader Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods, records show.
Uihlein also has given $1 million to a group opposing a proposed state constitutional amendment on the ballot that is backed by unions and would enshrine collective bargaining rights in the state’s governing document.
“If we didn’t pass something, we wouldn’t have gotten anything from law enforcement. We wouldn’t have gotten a serious conversation,” claimed state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, recently about why the SAFE-T Act was originally written and passed the way it was.
Ford was speaking about the cash bail provisions within the SAFE-T Act during a public event in suburban Forest Park, according to the Forest Park Review.
Lots of folks on the other side of the negotiations were taking a hard “no” position, so a decision was essentially made to jam the bill through to eventually force the other side to the bargaining table.
The cash bail provision is the most discussed aspect of the law. But the original legislation also prevented police officers from using their body camera footage to write reports. The provision wasn’t designed to be permanent but was specifically inserted to make the other side adopt a good faith position at the bargaining table. It worked, and the provision was removed in a subsequent trailer bill.
The difference between these two topics, of course, is the end of cash bail has caused big public relations headaches for the Democratic Party in the lead-up to the general election, as state’s attorneys, sheriffs, police chiefs and others have denounced the law in a way that has put the majority party on the defensive.
But the Democrats have such large supermajorities with a new and more favorable legislative district map they apparently believed they could assume the risk.
Ford and others have said privately and publicly that some components of the law will have to be changed. But they are sticking with the overall concepts. And with less than three months before the elimination of cash bail and other provisions of the law take effect, maybe the gambit will work.
But it hasn’t come without political trouble for people like Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
I saw Pritzker at an event not long after he refused to answer a question from my associate Isabel Miller about what specific changes he would like to make to the SAFE-T Act. I warned him that, since he agreed the law needed to be changed, Isabel’s question wasn’t going away.
Well, the governor dodged the same question again and again during and after last week’s televised gubernatorial debate, saying only he wants unspecified “clarifications” to the law.
The governor likely didn’t want to insult the Black Caucus or have any sort of negative impact on the trailer bill discussions by publicly negotiating against his own side. He probably also didn’t want to cave to pressure from disingenuous actors and instead wanted to tough it out through the election and then deal with the issue in the post-election veto session.
Even so, campaigns ought to be about the exchange of ideas, and the governor’s refusal to engage deserved to be called out.
Besides, this shouldn’t be that difficult. For example, some are making wild claims about the law’s trespassing language.
Hinsdale Village President Tom Cauley recently said, according to the Hinsdale Patch, “I guarantee you that we’re going to find ourselves with people just camped out in parks, and we cannot ask them to leave. They may be in your backyard or in your shed living there.”
Nonsense.
The Illinois Supreme Court’s Implementation Task Force has officially advised law enforcement they “do have discretion to remove the person from the location of the alleged criminal activity, and then cite and release the person from another location.” Repeated refusals to comply could then easily be interpreted as being a threat, which would allow an arrest.
It just seems to me that tightening up the law’s language to fully reflect the task force’s guidance and resulting inference about arrests would be a no-brainer response to the question about changes he wants to make.
The list of forcible felonies that trigger provisions to hold people without bail could and should also be expanded, which even some proponents are saying behind the scenes.
And so, not long after I challenged Pritzker in my subscriber newsletter to step up, he did finally tell reporters on Friday he thought former prosecutor and now-state Sen. Scott Bennett’s, D-Champaign, proposed changes were worth a look but stopped short of endorsing any specifics in the Downstate Democrat’s bill.
Baby steps, I guess.
*** UPDATE *** Pritzker was asked again on KMOV what he’d like to see changed…
Some of the Republicans and the State’s Attorneys are misinforming people, I think for political reasons. And as a result I think we need to clarify in the law so that those State’s Attorneys don’t let people out of jail. That in fact, they should be kept in jail. And that there are no such things as non-detainable offenses. That’s just not a thing. It’s not accurate to say that it is in the SAFE-T Act. It’s not. But I think we can clarify it more so that the State’s Attorneys aren’t using this as a political ploy, and instead it’s just plain English for people to understand.
When he was elected governor of Illinois in 2018, J.B. Pritzker was blissfully unaware of the COVID-19 crisis that would dominate his first term. As anyone with a loved one in a retirement home knows, the state’s response was far from perfect, and history will judge that Illinois public schools were kept closed for too long, given the impact on learning.
But those issues were pervasive across the country and Pritzker worked hard in the heat of the crisis to keep Illinois humming, to clearly communicate his policy decisions and intentions, and to keep its residents safe. […]
Those who do not support Pritzker, such as his nemesis Ken Griffin, argue in general that he has a blind spot on crime and its impact on so many Illinoisans. They say his national ambitions mean that he is unwilling to take any stand against union excesses, socialist-influenced legislation cloaked with words like “equity of outcomes” (as distinct from equality of opportunity) and other third rails of national Democratic Party policies, including, in Illinois, the notorious Amendment One, which we do not support. […]
And we note a certain ruthless political tinge to some of his actions on the campaign trail, including a refusal to meet with us (he complained of consistently unfair treatment, the Tribune reported, which is absurd) and, more importantly, a truly cynical decision earlier this year to use his resources to quietly fund ads supporting the Darren Bailey campaign because his operatives decided he would be easier to beat than Bailey’s rival in the Republican primary, Richard Irvin. That was pure old-school sleaze from a candidate who claims to stand above such tactics.
They actually gave both candidates some TV ad fodder there.
