* Tom Balanoff has been president of SEIU’s Illinois State Council since 1995. He’s one of the most powerful union leaders in the state, but his union membership is overwhelmingly non-white…
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Illinois State Council swore in a new president this morning. Greg Kelley, current president of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas is succeeding Tom Balanoff, becoming the first Black president in the Council’s history. The SEIU Illinois State Council represents 150,000 Illinois workers in health care, property services and public sectors through SEIU Local 1, SEIU Local 73 and SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas (SEIU HCIIMK) — the majority of whom are frontline, essential workers.
The historic announcement of Kelley’s leadership comes at an important moment for labor advocacy in Illinois, as workers across the state win higher wages, better conditions and stronger protections.
“It is a great honor to step up, especially at a moment when workers are fighting harder than ever to win racial and economic justice,” Greg Kelley said of the announcement. “We’re at a crossroads: Are we going to keep the status quo, where corporations have all the power and the economy is rigged against working people? Or are we going to build a future where all Illinoisans, no matter where you’re from or what you look like, can thrive? That’s what we’re fighting for as a union of working people, and I couldn’t be prouder to help lead us forward.”
Kelley is president of SEIU HCIIMK, which represents 90,000 healthcare, child care, nursing home and home healthcare workers across the four states. His 20-plus years in the labor movement began when Kelley was a rank-and-file SEIU member at the Cook County Clerk’s office, organizing his colleagues to win better pay and conditions. His organizing work grew from there, and he was named president of the fastest-growing union in the Midwest in 2020.
“Tom Balanoff’s leadership has resulted in political and legislative victories benefiting working families throughout our state,” said Dian Palmer, president of SEIU Local 73. “Local 73 looks forward to working with Greg Kelley to further strengthen all our members through the 2022 elections and beyond.”
“I am privileged and honored to have served the members of SEIU and fought for all workers. SEIU has spoken with one voice, and it’s helped us organize thousands of workers, changing their lives with strong contracts. We have been a strong, independent political force in Chicago and throughout Illinois and never hesitated to fight for social and economic issues that benefit all workers,” said Tom Balanoff. “We have been in the forefront fighting for racial justice, immigration reform, health care for all as well as many other issues of social and human rights. I have a lot of confidence in Greg Kelley’s leadership and his collective leadership of all of SEIU in Illinois. Greg and his team will not only keep Illinois SEIU strong but will take it to the next level.”
Balanoff recently informed SEIU Local 1’s Executive Board that he will be retiring at their March 2022 Membership Meeting. Genie Kastrup, SEIU Local 1’s Executive Vice President, will move up to the position of Vice President of SEIU Illinois State Council.
“Genie Kastrup is a strong and smart addition. She will bring a lot of value to the SEIU Illinois leadership team,” said Balanoff.
“I definitely have big shoes to fill,” said Kelley, “Tom’s track record is unmatched, and his leadership is transformative and inspiring. I look forward to continuing his legacy of empowering the workers of Illinois.”
Props to SEIU’s members, many of whom have helped keep this state functioning during a very long crisis.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is fundraising off a Republican Gov. candidate comparing Chicago to Afghanistan. Did I miss her objections to that when Ken Griffin made the comparison? pic.twitter.com/XBBL0NW3Fk
Also weird that Griffin is focusing all of his Chicago crime ire on the governor, but has yet to say one negative thing about the mayor who, um, directly controls the police department.
Also, too, Griffin will be funding a gubernatorial candidate who is not named Jesse Sullivan but who will presumably have the same opinion about blaming the governor and not the mayor for Chicago crime.
Ex-Democrat Illinois governor turned “Trumpocrat” Rod Blagojevich said he believes current Gov. J.B. Pritzker tried to keep him in jail because the Democrat establishment is “afraid of what he knows” and “what [he] will say soon.” […]
“J.B. called Trump not once, but twice, joining with most Republicans to say, ‘Keep him in, don’t let him out. Keep him in, don’t let him out,’” he told the attendees, his voice echoing and his hands moving excitedly as he recounted the story.
“….Why did he do it? ” he continued, before foreshadowing his willingness to expose the underbelly of his former party:
I truly believe its because J.B. Pritzker, Governor Pritzker and some of the Democratic political establishment is very fearful. They’re very fearful of what I know, and what I can say, and what I’m likely to say, and what I will say soon. That’s why I think that he did that.
This dude has been promising to say what he “knows” for years, but nothing ever happens, not even in his much-anticipated book. Even so, some people still believe him, or want to believe him. He’s a hustler, give him credit. He knows that some of the people can be fooled all of the time.
Later in the above story they have some goof claiming that Blagojevich was very popular when he was governor. Not at the end.
Overall, the survey of 500 registered likely voters conducted at the end of last week showed a mere 10 percent said they wanted Blagojevich re-elected in 2010, while three-fourths said they didn’t want him back for a third term.
The survey also showed only 13 percent approved of Blagojevich’s job performance, while 71 percent disapproved.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers has endorsed former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ bid for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state in next year’s primary, his campaign announced Monday.
“Alexi Giannoulias understands the importance of a strong public education system, spanning from pre-K to higher education, and is committed to supporting Illinois educators,” said Dan Montgomery, president of the organization and its more than 100,000 members.
“The office of the secretary of state oversees libraries and how young people learn to drive. These are critical issues of importance to our membership,” Montgomery said in a statement.
With the IFT’s endorsement, Giannoulias has secured backing from some of the largest members of the Illinois AFL-CIO, giving him an edge in getting support from the state’s largest organized labor group when it convenes next year ahead of the June 28 primary.
He’s got labor just about wrapped up.
* Another one…
Today, the Illinois Federation of Teachers announced their endorsement of Nikki Budzinski in the IL-13 Democratic primary. The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) represent a massive 103,000 members across the state of Illinois. They represent teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, higher education faculty, staff, and graduate employees, and public employees in many Illinois state agencies.
The Illinois Federation of Teacher’s endorsement is the latest in a broad coalition of support that Budzinski is building, including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, EMILY’s List, State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, Rep. Sean Casten, Rep. Cheri Bustos, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, State Senator Christopher Belt, Assistant Majority Leader Jay Hoffman, House Democratic Caucus Chair LaToya Greenwood, State Representative Katie Stuart, UFCW Local 881, United Steelworkers (USW), IBEW Locals 51, 146, 193, 309, 601 and 649, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation Workers’ Union, Heat and Frost Insulators, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois (AFFI), Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) Local 8, Elect Democratic Women, Pastor T. Ray McJunkins, County Chairs Bill Houlihan (Sangamon), Mark Pohlman (Jersey), Paul “Snow” Herkert (Calhoun), Ben Curtin (Christian) and Pam Monetti (Macoupin).
* And another one…
Today, the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) announced the early endorsement for the Illinois Supreme Court (3rd District) judicial race in the June 2022 Primary Election.
The IFT Executive Board unanimously voted to endorse Judge Mary Kay O’Brien for Illinois Supreme Court (3rd District).
Much is at stake in state supreme court elections since justices wield tremendous power to limit our freedoms. Now more than ever, it is crucial to elect justices who will protect collective bargaining, defend public education, and support the rights of working families.
“Since the start of her career, Judge O’Brien has been a strong supporter for Illinois’ working families,” said IFT President Dan Montgomery. “Her deep ties to the community, history of public service, and extensive experience will make her a fair and impartial justice.”
* Meanwhile…
Today, Congresswoman Marie Newman announced that she had received the endorsement of the Amalgamated Transit Union Illinois (ATU), ATU Local 308, and ATU Local 241.
The Amalgamated Transit Union is the largest labor union representing transit and allied workers in the U.S. and Canada. ATU Locals 308 and 241 represent 16,000 active and retired PACE and CTA bus, rail, and transportation workers in Chicago and Cook County.
* December on this blog means two things: Golden Horseshoe Awards and LSSI fundraising. Let’s get to the fundraising first.
Foster care is just one of many programs offered by Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. Mariah Heinz at LSSI explains the importance of the program…
With a history of helping children and families that dates back to 1867, LSSI is the largest provider of foster care services in Illinois. LSSI’s programs include Therapeutic Foster Care which is designed to meet the unique needs of children who have experienced severe trauma and abuse/neglect, providing services such as counseling and specialized training for foster parents, working to keep these children in homes rather than institutional settings.
Working together, LSSI’s staff, foster parents, donors, and volunteers make a difference in the lives of children across our state. LSSI’s Foster Care Services help over 2,700 children every year. These are children and families in communities in 42 counties throughout Illinois. At LSSI, there is no greater role than being entrusted with the care of children. As one of our foster care staff stated so eloquently, “We’re not here to just provide a service, but to give children in foster care their own calling.
Lutheran Social Services of Illinois has been near and dear to my heart and to many of yours for a long time. LSSI not only runs a foster care program, but they also do home care for senior citizens, provide free mental health crisis services, collect Christmas gifts for foster kids and so much more.
This state’s social safety net relies on outstanding groups like LSSI to provide much-needed services. But they can’t do it on government money alone. They need our help, which is why we stand up for them every year.
So, please click here and donate. And to get y’all in the giving spirit, I’ll match the first $2,000 in contributions. Thanks so very much and happy holidays!
* On to the Golden Horseshoe Awards. This year’s award categories will be similar to last year’s, which were a bit slimmer than usual. Our first 2021 categories…
Best legislative assistant/district office manager - House Democrats
Best legislative assistant/district office manager - House Republicans
Please try your best to nominate in both categories. And remember to explain your answer or your vote will not count. This is not a poll. Nomination intensity matters most.
And after you’re finished voting, please click here to donate to LSSI. Their goal is to provide a Christmas gift for each of the 2,530 children served by LSSI.
*** UPDATE *** We’ve reached the $2,000 mark, so I’ve made my matching donation. Thanks! Click here to donate.
Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones, who is also a state representative, tested positive Friday for COVID-19 during a regular test, according to a city spokesman.
Jones has been vaccinated and is in quarantine at home and experiencing “very minimal complications,” according to Sean Howard. His family also has been vaccinated.
Howard said Jones is usually tested every three days and had tested negative as of Tuesday and had not been in City Hall since. Staff members, who have been vaccinated, have been notified of the positive test, according to Howard.
Jones was one of the House Democrats who did not respond to WBEZ’s inquiry about his vax status and he didn’t reach out to me, either. I just updated the post I did about the story, and it looks to me like there may be only one unvaxed House Democrat, not the 11 originally listed.
…Adding… Rep. Rita Mayfield just emailed to say she “never received an inquiry regarding my status but for the record I’m fully vaxed!!” So, yeah, we’re waiting on just one House Democrat at the moment.
* Mary Miller got elected to Congress and immediately began gulping Potomac water by the gallon. She rarely talks about her district. To her, it’s all about the Hollywood stuff. And her Illinois colleagues aren’t exactly feeling sorry for her remap predicament of being mapped in with Mike Bost but right next door to Rodney Davis…
“I do not feel sorry for Mary Miller,” said Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), who represents Chicago and also chairs the state Democratic Party.
“I think Mike Bost is a decent human being. I think Rodney Davis is a decent human being. And I don’t recall them ever speaking lovingly of Adolf Hitler,” said Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.). […]
Bost said he called Miller a month ago, before he announced his campaign. “I asked her to get back with me. She had never got back to me,” he said in a brief interview Thursday on the Capitol steps, where Miller passed by her potential opponent soon after, on her way inside to vote. […]
Throughout her first term, Miller has formed alliances with members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, at times putting herself at odds with the House GOP conference. […]
“If she chooses to run against Bost, he’s going to beat her. If she chooses to run against Davis, Davis is going to beat her,” [Bustos[ said. “Literally, whatever she picks, she’s going to lose.”
* Recent case in point: Eighty House Republicans voted with Democrats last week to pass the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act. Miller voted against it and then told the far-right Breitbart publication why…
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), who was one of the 130 Republicans to vote “no,” told Breitbart News exclusively on Wednesday that the legislation would enable the federal government to “track” unvaccinated Americans who “will be targeted and forced to comply with Biden’s crazy ‘global vaccination’ vision.”
“These systems are designed to allow for the sharing of crucial information and maintenance of records. Do we really trust the government to protect our medical records?” Miller said. “The bill’s author even bragged in her press release that these systems will help the government remind patients when they are due for a recommended vaccine and identify areas with low vaccination rates to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines. This was clearly a legislative tool to enforce vaccine mandates and force their Orwellian rules onto those who do not comply.” […]
Miller noted that the legislation paves the way for the government to give blue states millions in taxpayers funds to enforce vaccine mandates. According to the bill’s text, the government could award grants and cooperative agreements to health departments or other local governmental entities for agreeing to adopt the new data collection guidelines set by the CDC. Any agencies hoping to receive a grant must agree to comply with security standards to protect personal health information.
* Yeah, um, there’s this thing called Obamacare which protects the rights of those with preexisting conditions and those whose health status has changed, regardless of whether those things resulted from self-centered stupidity or partisan derangement syndrome…
Bill to be introduced in IL today by @repjcarroll - those who choose not to be vaccinated pay their own expenses if they get #COVID19 and incur health expenses
(E)mployers like Delta Airlines have announced that unvaccinated employees could face a $200 monthly surcharge on their health insurance.
“Employers, through wellness programs, can impose a higher cost on people who are unvaccinated outside of the health plan. Employers can provide incentives and penalties to their employees,” Amin said.
But can insurance companies charge higher premiums for the unvaccinated like they can for a smoking status?
“The Affordable Care Act and other federal laws prohibit insurers from charging more for people who are not vaccinated. But employers through incentive programs may and can increase people’s cost if they are unvaccinated,” Amin said.
All Marketplace plans cover treatment for pre-existing medical conditions and can’t terminate coverage due to a change in health status, including diagnosis or treatment of COVID-19.
The only reason to hope this bill passes and is signed into law is the potential spectacle of pro-covid lawyers like Tom DeVore defending their clients by citing Obamacare’s protections. 🙃
Employers are taking advantage of the wellness program option in order to incentivize vaccine uptake among their workforces. Companies including Delta Airlines have announced plans to begin charging unvaccinated employees more in health insurance premiums. Delta announced the change in August and began implementing it last month.
Private companies aren’t the only ones trying out the strategy; Nevada could become the first state to add a surcharge to unvaccinated state employees’ premiums after a board that oversees state worker benefits voted last week to charge $55 monthly to unvaccinated workers. The money is meant to offset the cost of COVID testing for those who haven’t gotten their shots.
Wisconsin-based Mercyhealth, which operates three hospitals in northern Illinois, has taken a slightly different tact. Instead of higher insurance premiums, Mercyhealth introduced a $60 monthly “risk pool fee” for unvaccinated employees, which began getting dedicated from their wages in October.
After the new policy’s announcement in September, Mercyhealth told NPR last month that its employee vaccination rate rose from about 70% to 91%, with very few workers quitting in protest.
In other words, there are ways around this without advocating violating federal law with headline bills.
* As we discussed a month ago, the city appeared to be violating state labor laws when it imposed its vax mandate on cops, firefighters and other employees. The Illinois Labor Relations Board noticed the same thing…
The Chicago police unions’ unfair labor practice claims against the city over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate will be heard before a judge, the state’s labor board has determined.
Leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police and other local police unions allege the city failed to bargain in good faith over its vaccine policies, and the Illinois Labor Board said in a newly issued complaint it will hold a hearing on the matter.
The labor board issues a complaint when it finds that an unfair labor practice charge has sufficient merit to warrant a hearing, though it is not a final determination.
Police union leaders argued that the city’s vaccine policies involve “wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment and is a mandatory subject of bargaining.” They also argued that Mayor Lori Lightfoot implemented her rules “without first bargaining the impact of the decision to impasse or agreement.”
And, as we previously discussed, those union leaders were right. They’ll probably lose in arbitration, but they are exercising their rights under state law until then.
One of the things that I most certainly did not have on my 2021 legislative Bingo card last January was that an Oak Park liberal Democratic Senate president and the state’s first Black House speaker would be fighting multiple legal claims that their new state legislative district maps deprive protected minorities of their constitutional rights.
And the ante was upped last month when both men went on record opposing an attempt by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., Chicago Westside Branch NAACP and NAACP Chicago Southside to intervene in the redistricting case.
The brief was filed in U.S. District Court. The groups asked to intervene because, they claim, the reduction of Black-majority legislative districts in the new maps was unconstitutional.
The NAACP hoped to join lawsuits already filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the NAACP of East St. Louis that contend the maps were drawn in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects minority interests. Illinois Republicans have filed another lawsuit on the same grounds.
But attorneys for Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch argued that amicus briefs at the trial level are highly unusual, the motion was untimely (“due to the necessary yet breakneck speed of this case, Defendants are already tasked with responding to three plaintiffs’ submissions and nine expert reports in a matter of twelve days”) and would prejudice the defendants’ case (“by seeking to inject new claims and new relief into the case at this late stage, the NAACP denied Defendants the opportunity to test their claims through motion practice and discovery.”)
You gotta do what you gotta do in cases like these. I’m not trying to imply anything nefarious here, and both leaders have firmly maintained their maps will withstand constitutional scrutiny, but you gotta admit it’s very weird and a little unsettling watching all of it play out.
Meanwhile, the NAACP’s own filing mentioned the group had earlier sent a letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker “expressing concerns over the lack of engagement with the Black community in the redistricting process and the negative impact of S.B. 927 on Black representation in the Illinois General Assembly.”
A letter sent by the NAACP to Pritzker, dated Sept. 22nd, complained the map legislation was “developed in a top-down manner, with little opportunity for actual engagement from community-based groups such as the NAACP.”
The NAACP also complained in the letter that it wasn’t able to adequately assess the impact of the new maps without weeks of work because of the data’s format.
“In short, the process used by the state deprived residents of the opportunity to have their voices heard.”
The organization then asked the governor to delay any action on the remap plan until Oct. 19th.
“This will give the NAACP and other groups a chance to take part in the democratic process and to provide you with maps that we believe are fair and preserve the voting power of Black voters in the state legislature.”
Pritzker, who won the 2018 Democratic primary partly because of strong support in the Black community and who pledged during the campaign to veto a politically partisan redistricting bill, signed the remap legislation two days after the NAACP sent its letter, claiming the maps “align with the landmark Voting Rights Act and will help ensure Illinois’ diversity is reflected in the halls of government.”
Again, weird and unsettling.
Oh, and, by the way, the legal pushback from the two legislative leaders did indeed prevent the NAACP from having a major say in the outcome of the redistricting case.
The three-judge federal panel hearing the case ruled last week they would accept the groups’ proposed amicus brief “for limited purposes.”
The court will consider the insights offered by the civil rights groups “into the history of racially polarized voting in Illinois.”
But, more importantly, the panel decreed the judges won’t allow the organizations to assert any new claims or challenge any districts beyond those already under review by the court.
The judges explained the remap plan has been out there in the open since the end of August, all of the existing complaints were filed by the middle of October, and the litigants “have been proceeding at a greatly accelerated pace” ever since. “That process was fast approaching its conclusion by the time the [NAACP’s] motion was filed, and there is no time for a do-over,” the judges wrote.
So, the super-majority legislative Democrats dodged a potentially harmful legal bullet on timing grounds alone.
…Adding… Just noticed this media advisory…
WHAT: A Federal lawsuit that may decide the future voting rights of thousands of East St. Louis voters for the next decade hangs in the balance as a decision is expected this week. Civil rights groups will hold a news conference on Monday, December 6 to give an update on the lawsuit filed earlier this month in federal court challenging Illinois lawmakers and officials on a state redistricting map (SB 927) that blatantly dilutes the power of Black voters in the East St. Louis area. The case, which has been combined with two other cases also alleging statewide gerrymandering, is expected to be heard in a consolidated hearing by a three-judge panel in federal court sometime next week.
WHO:
Teresa Haley, President, NAACP Illinois State Conference
Rod Wilson Interim Executive Director, United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations (UCCRO)
Faith-Based Leaders from East St. Louis
Residents Impacted by New District Lines from the current House District 114, and future House Districts 112 or 113 will address the impact that the new law will reduce their voting power.
Plaintiffs: NAACP and the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations (UCCRO)
Legal Team: Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Cooley, LLP.
ONLINE: Lawsuit | November Legal Brief
WHERE & WHEN:
3 p.m., Monday, Dec. 6, 2021
600-698 Illinois 15, East Saint Louis
WHY: The NAACP and the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) are challenging Illinois lawmakers in a federal lawsuit that is set to be heard this week for unlawfully drawing racially gerrymandered districts that crack apart the Black community of the East St. Louis area in order to secure the election of a white incumbent in a nearby district.
The lawsuit alleges that race played a decisive role in the redistricting of Illinois House District 114, where one-fifth of the Black voting-age population was moved out of the newly redrawn district and thousands of white voters were added to the district. This was done for the benefit of white Democratic incumbents in neighboring House Districts 112 and 113, while jeopardizing the prospects of the candidates of preference of Black voters in House District 114 — the only Black district in southern Illinois. The complaint alleges that this manipulation violates the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“By substantially increasing the number of white voters and breaking up the historically Black population of House District 114, the Illinois General Assembly has seriously diminished the voting power of the Black community in East St. Louis. They have taken away Black voters’ right to elect the candidate of their choice,” says Rod Wilson, Interim Executive Director, United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) and former resident of East St. Louis.
The civil rights groups are filing the lawsuit on behalf of the East St. Louis Branch of the NAACP, the Illinois State Conference of the NAACP, and the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) against the Illinois State Board of Elections and its members, along with Speaker of the House, Christopher Welch, and President of the Senate, Don Harmon. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division.
The groups are seeking to freeze the redistricting plan and adopt a proposed revised map in order to protect voters’ rights — fixes that would cure the legal violations and keep the geographically compact and politically cohesive Black community of the East St. Louis area together.
After implementation of a streamlined process for FOID renewals and the hiring of additional Firearms Eligibility Analyst Trainees, the Illinois State Police (ISP) would like to announce great progress in the processing of FOID renewals.
The ISP Firearms Services Bureau is currently processing FOID renewal applications in 38 calendar days. Statutory mandate requires FOID renewal applications to be processed within 60 business days. The FOID renewal backlog reached 138,722 in November 2020, 28,648 in September 2021, and is currently down to 7,800.
“The Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau is committed to a firearms background check system focused on safety, not bureaucracy. We want to make it easy on the good guys and hard on the bad guys. We continue to improve our workflow and these updated numbers show we are definitely headed in the right direction” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly.
* It’s December, so our annual charity fundraiser for Lutheran Social Services will begin next week, as will the Golden Horseshoe Awards. And, as always in December, every Friday ends with Christmas holiday music…
* Fran Spielman interviewed retiring Majority Leader Greg Harris, and Harris talked about the hostility he endured from his supposed allies during the push to pass a marriage equality bill…
In May 2013, Harris made the difficult and highly emotional decision to call off the House vote that would have sent the bill to then-Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk amid opposition from Catholic leaders and conservative African American ministers.
“Was that a horrible day on the House floor when I was ready to call it, then realized some of my votes were not gonna be there? Oh, yeah. Hell, it was. That was like a horrible day to be booed. There were people saying, ‘Call the bill. You’ve got to put it up there. You’ve got to make a record,’” said Harris, who choked back tears on that fateful day.
“I thought … to put up peoples’ rights for a vote and have them lose and lock votes in that might be with you on a future roll call would have been a huge mistake. It could have set us back years and years. So, we regrouped. We organized in every community. And in November, it passed. Illinois was the last state that was able to pass marriage equality legislatively.” […]
He’s not interested in Pyrrhic victories. He’s not satisfied to introduce a bill, put out a news release and watch the legislation go down in flames.
* I probably shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s amazing how organized this is. WTTW…
A joint task force this week recovered thousands of pieces of stolen retail items, including men’s and women’s clothing, electronics, high-end food items and beauty supplies, totaling more than $1 million in value from multiple Chicago storage containers this week, law enforcement officials announced Friday.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said members of an Organized Retail Crime Task Force and the Chicago Police Department executed search warrants at eight storage units in two Chicago locations Wednesday night, where they recovered “four semitrailers of merchandise” that had been stolen from major national retailers.
“The actual operation of these organized schemes is a lot more sophisticated than might be reflected in the commonly seen smash-and-grab group thefts,” Raoul said Friday during a press conference in Chicago. “Our goal is to disrupt the criminal enterprises that engage in the overall scheme and send a message to these criminal operations that we will identify them and end the destruction they cause to our communities.”
Though officials were light on some specifics, the seizure apparently stemmed from an unrelated gun arrest. CPD Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said an officer arrested that suspect and discovered stolen items in their car. From there, a Chicago retail crime team was notified, as well as the AG’s task force and the items were eventually recovered.
* Some pics…
BREAKING
In a significant development related to my Organized Retail Crime Task Force, hundreds of thousands of dollars of stolen merchandise has been recovered from several storage units.
It took eight or nine hours to get all of the goods out of the storage units, Raoul said. Pictures of the recovered merchandise don’t do justice to how much was there.
“Fifteen people spending hours unloading stuff, it’s a lot of items that were recovered,” he said.
Raoul launched his task force earlier this fall, and the recovery announced Friday was its first major bust. The task force aims to bring law enforcement officials from multiple jurisdictions and levels together with retailers and internet marketplace operators to reduce such crimes. Though retailers have long dealt with theft, these coordinated, larger incidents have escalated recently.
Nationally, dollars lost to organized retail crime topped $700,000 per $1 billion in sales in 2020, up nearly 60% since 2015, according to a recent National Retail Federation report. In Illinois, shops lost $3.7 billion to $4 billion worth of merchandise to theft last year, according to the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.
The bust comes as a number of smash and gran thefts continue at high-end retailers in the Chicago area.
On Thursday, Chicago police said nine people hit a Neiman Marcus store in the 700-block of North Michigan Avenue. […]
Friday morning, three suspects in a silver sedan approached a store in the Roosevelt Collection in the 1100-block of South Delano Court at about 5:55 a.m., police said. The suspects opened the door of a business and took merchandise and cash boxed before fleeingin the sedan, police said.
On Monday, thieves swarmed the Burberry store just down the street on Michigan Avenue, making off with several expensive designer purses.
* Hospitalizations are up 30 percent compared to Wednesday of last week. ICU usage is up 39 percent, ventilator usage is up 47 percent. Last Wednesday the positivity rates were 3.3 and 4.1 percent respectively, so we’re looking at 42 and 37 percent increases there. Cases are way up and the death rate is also increasing…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 42,559 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 182 additional deaths since November 26, 2021.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,835,076 cases, including 26,535 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Since Friday, November 26, 2021, laboratories have reported 902,840 specimens for a total of 39,650,009. As of last night, 2,582 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 534 patients were in the ICU and 221 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from November 26 – December 2, 2021 is 4.7%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from November 26 – December 2, 2021 is 5.6%.
A total of 17,508,319 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 54,387 doses. Since Friday, November 26, 2021, 380,710 doses were reported administered in Illinois. Of Illinois’ total population, approximately 69% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and more than 61% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Approximately 36% of Illinois’ eligible adults have received a booster dose of vaccine.
All data are provisional and will change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.
Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov.
Get your shots, people. And wear your masks indoors.
In 2018, the 6½ suburban counties around Chicago cast a total of 2.1 million votes; those in the 95 counties “downstate” cast 1.5 million.
Not sure why he didn’t include the city, where Bruce Rauner received 135,028 votes in the general election.
Whatever. The column prompted me to run the 2018 numbers. In the 2018 general election, Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties accounted for 64 percent of the total vote and Downstate made up 36 percent. In the 2018 Republican primary, those counties were 47 percent of the total vote, with Downstate voters comprising 53 percent of the electorate.
This is the basic hurdle that all statewide Republican hopefuls have to overcome. It ain’t easy to do both.
* With that in mind, check out what Sen. Bailey is promoting on social media…
Bailey, who with his wife, Cindy, founded a preschool-through-12th-grade Christian school in southern Illinois, also touched on education during the two-hour rally.
“Public education is under attack,” he said. “My friends, we need to get back to public education.”
Bailey also made a push for people to become election judges.
“Is there election fraud? Yes,” he said. “That’s why everyone of us should be election judges.”
Um, OK.
* Point and counterpoint…
* Now with video…
“Governor of Chicago” JB Pritzker is perfectly content to rule for the wealthy few. Growing up in Central Illinois, I always felt like our politicians never saw the rest of us outside of Chicago. I will be the governor for all Illinoisans.@GovPritzkerpic.twitter.com/51RM939ejL
I think the ideal GOP [gubernatorial] candidate would be a credible, law-and-order prosecutor (think Jim Thompson in the 1970s), because law and order will be a leading issue in 2022. Suburbanites are scared witless by the violence in the city.
Lacking such, or a consolidation of Sullivan, Schimpf, Rabine into one candidacy, Bailey wins the primary, at least as of right now. But in the November general election, Bailey would likely be the darling of downstate, while falling flat in the ’burbs, winning an enthusiastic 40 percent of the total vote.
So, a possible doofus at the top [for US Senate], with Bailey just below, could spell disaster for other races down the long ballot, because of depressed GOP turnout. For example, I have an interest in two, important Illinois Supreme Court races, located in mostly suburban districts. But voters do not go to the polls, or not, because of unknown Supreme Court candidates. Thus, these competitive races, found at the very bottom of the ticket, could be determined at the top of the ballot.
Illinois GOP leaders should get on their knees to top-drawer citizens who might be willing, out of a sense of noblesse oblige, to take on a likely losing U.S. Senate race, and hope that a candidate who can appeal in the suburbs will emerge from the gubernatorial primary.
One thing he’s ignoring is the national mood, which tends to drive turnout more than individual candidates. But his scenario could help undermine any expected GOP midterm wave.
“The real pandemic in Illinois … is the violence that we’re facing here on the streets of Chicago and now spreading all throughout the state,” state Sen. Darren Bailey, a farmer from downstate Xenia and one of four announced GOP candidates for governor, said during a recent stop in Woodlawn on Chicago’s South Side.
Confronting Democrats on crime is a strategy Republicans have employed for decades, notably when George H.W. Bush used the early release of Willie Horton, a Massachusetts murderer who went on to commit other crimes, to paint Michael Dukakis as soft on crime in the 1988 presidential campaign.
But rather than inciting fear to motivate voters as was the case then, Republicans say they are addressing real concerns over rising crime in the city and in the suburbs.
Itasca plan commissioners admitted they underestimated public interest in a proposed addiction treatment center when a crowd representing 16% of the town’s population packed their meeting Wednesday night.
More than 1,300 people jammed the gym and cafeteria at Peacock Junior High School, forcing commissioners to postpone the hearing so village officials can find a venue large enough for an energized opposition group.
Demonstrators marched earlier Wednesday evening through downtown Itasca to pressure a Chicago nonprofit group to abandon plans to convert a hotel into a 200-bed drug and alcohol treatment center.
For months, resistance against the Haymarket Center proposal in the town of 8,700 has taken the form of yard signs, social media outrage, letter campaigns and matching blue T-shirts.
Founded almost 45 years ago, the nonprofit treatment provider is making its second attempt at opening a rehab facility in DuPage County to help meet what advocates say is a rising demand for services. Almost 100 people died from overdoses in DuPage last year. Nearly 2,000 residents from DuPage and other collar counties also were patients at Haymarket clinics from 2017 to 2018.
But Haymarket faced “not in my backyard” protests against a smaller-scale plan to operate a 16-bed satellite program in Wheaton.
More than a year after Wheaton’s city council denied their request, Haymarket leaders told Itasca officials they wanted to buy the Holiday Inn to house hundreds of patients with substance abuse disorders.
Haymarket is now meeting staunch opposition from Itasca residents who maintain their primary concerns have to do with tax revenue loss from a tax-exempt organization replacing the hotel and the potential burden placed on the village’s police and ambulance service.
More than two years after the Haymarket drug treatment center’s initial proposal to build a large rehab in Itasca was greeted with intense protest, the Village Board formally turned down the plan in a unanimous vote Tuesday.
The decision, which drew restrained applause from residents in the meeting room, came as little surprise following steady criticism from officials who say the town of 9,000 can’t afford the projected public safety costs from the 240-bed facility, meant to be housed in a former Holiday Inn hotel. […]
The story is likely not over just yet. Haymarket’s attorney said in an earlier presentation that a rejection would violate federal civil rights laws that protect people recovering from addiction, and president and CEO Dan Lustig suggested after the vote that a legal challenge might be coming.
“These types of issues might have to play (themselves) out in a court of law,” he said. “I think it’s really where important decisions like this really belong.”
We are writing to inform you that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois has initiated an investigation of the Village of Itasca for compliance with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”).1 Among other things, the ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, including individuals with substance use disorder.
Pursuant to our authority under the ADA, the investigation is related to the zoning application of Haymarket DuPage LLC (“Haymarket DuPage”) filed with the Village of Itasca to use property to operate a treatment center for individuals with substance use and behavioral health disorders.
The Haymarket drug treatment center’s more-than-two-year attempt to open a rehab in Itasca took another turn Thursday when officials said U.S. Attorney John Lausch has launched an investigation into whether the village’s rejection of the center was in keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mayor Jeff Pruyn released a letter Lausch sent last week, in which he announced the probe and noted that the ADA protects people with disabilities — including substance use disorder — from discrimination. […]
Lausch asked village officials to produce a raft of documents within the next 30 days, including zoning bylaws, internal emails related to Haymarket and any relevant communications with the local fire protection district and school systems.
When asked for comment, Haymarket leaders released a brief statement and directed any other questions to the U.S. attorney’s office.
“We welcome an investigation,” Haymarket President and CEO Dan Lustig said.
The issue of ADA compliance was raised in a June 2020 letter to village attorneys from Access Living, a Chicago-based advocacy group for people with disabilities.
Two attorneys for the group said Haymarket should have been allowed to seek a special-use permit to operate as a health care facility..
Police and fire pension costs for DeKalb, Illinois, use up about 20% of general fund revenue, up from 10% in 2014, city manager Bill Nicklas said in an interview. The entire property tax levy for the city’s proposed 2022 budget will go toward the two pension funds and some more revenue from sales taxes may be tapped for the retirement system payments, he said.
“Of the options that are out there, consolidation seems to be a good place to begin,” Nicklas said.
But underscoring how difficult this shift is, the DeKalb Police Pension Fund doesn’t agree with city officials and is listed as one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
“I don’t think many of us trust the government of Illinois to handle our money given their history,” said Jim Kayes, president of the DeKalb Police Pension Fund board, in an interview.
Yeah, OK. The reason they’re paying such higher pension costs in DeKalb now is because they let their unfunded liability get to 53 percent.
Also, the above-mentioned lawsuit filed by a handful of local pension fiefdoms against the state’s massive consolidation law seems a bit off…
The lawsuit claims that the law takes away the plaintiffs’ local authority and “diminishes and impairs the pension benefits” to which they are entitled. Illinois’ constitution bans any reduction in worker retirement benefits. […]
The state said in a filing in reply that Illinois’s constitution protects the payments that retirees are entitled to, but that doesn’t extend to areas like choosing the entity that manages the retirement plan.
President Biden on Thursday announced new testing protocols for international travelers and extended masking requirements through March as the U.S. prepares to fight the Omicron variant this winter.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked yesterday if he favored that extension…
We have an indoor mask requirement in the state of Illinois and so we’re not lifting that now. Especially not now. I’ve said all along that when I want it lifted is when we start seeing hospitalizations really plunge. We’re not seeing that, it’s going up, in fact, every day.
In light of the Omicron variant and increasing COVID-19 numbers, Governor JB Pritzker says Illinois’ mask mandate is staying in place for now.
“We have an indoor mask requirement in the state of Illinois and we’re not lifting that, especially not now,” Pritzker said.
As of Thursday, COVID metrics continued to surge across Illinois with over 11,500 cases reported in the last 24 hours. That’s an increase from just over 6,000 the day before.
According to a Chicago Tribune analysis, the surge is predominantly being felt by the unvaccinated.
Because of the vaccine, cases aren’t as important as hospitalizations, which are soaring among the unvaxxed, but that’s beside the point of this particular post.
The office of Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) asked the state health department on Nov. 1 to study how mask mandates affected COVID-19 numbers in the state, and the health department responded Nov. 3 that its analysis found they saved lives and reduced the spread of the coronavirus. But that analysis wasn’t made public until nonprofit news organizations obtained it through a public records request, The New York Times reports.
The Missouri Independent reported Wednesday that the health department’s analysis found lower infection and death rates in the four areas of Missouri with mask mandates — St. Louis, St. Louis County, Kansas City, and Jackson County — from the end of April until the end of October, the peak of the state’s Delta wave.
There are a number of variables that affect infection and death numbers, but “I think we can say with great confidence reviewing the public health literature and then looking at the results in your study that communities where masks were required had a lower positivity rate per 100,000 and experienced lower death rates,” state Health Department director Donald Kauerauf told Parson in a Nov. 3 email obtained by the Independent.
The Independent’s analysis found that the “masked” areas had 15.8 new COVID-19 cases a day for every 100,000 residents, versus 21.7 cases per 100,000 residents in the areas with no mask mandates, and less frequent deaths.
The study looked at the period from April to October, when the Delta variant was driving an increase in coronavirus infections worldwide.
During that time frame, there were 15.8 cases per day for every 100,000 residents, on average, in the areas that required masks, compared with 21.7 cases per 100,000 residents in unmasked communities, according to The Missouri Independent’s analysis of the data. Regions without mask requirements recorded one death per 100,000 residents every 3.5 days, compared with one death per 100,000 residents every five days where masks were required, The Missouri Independent said.
Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, has said he supports wearing masks to slow the spread of Covid-19, but he has repeatedly spoken out against mask requirements. In July, he said on Twitter that issuing mask mandates while a vaccine is available eroded public trust. “The vaccine is how we rid ourselves of COVID-19, not mask mandates that ignore common sense,” Mr. Parson wrote.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday, Mr. Parson reiterated his opposition to mask mandates and said the requirements “infringe on our personal liberties.”
Attorney General Eric Schmitt has gone a step further, suing St. Louis, St. Louis County, Kansas City and Jackson County to block enforcement of their mask mandates.
“Jackson County has imposed an unlawful, arbitrary, and capricious mask mandate that is not supported by the data or the science,” the opening sentence to Schmitt’s lawsuit against Jackson County states.
Schmitt has also sued Columbia Public Schools for instituting mask mandates.
The state’s analysis backs up St. Louis’ push to keep its mask mandate, said Nick Dunne, spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones.
“More than anything it confirms for us what our public health experts have been saying, that masks are an effective tool for reducing community transmission,” Dunne said.
Not supported by data or the science?
* Check out the Missouri death rate comparison between mask-mandated areas (in blue) and no mandate (in orange)…
The BMJ, a global health care publisher, released a massive review Thursday that analyzed 72 studies from around the world to evaluate how non-pharmaceutical health measures reduced cases of COVID-19. Researchers found measures like hand-washing, wearing masks and physical distancing significantly reduced incidences of COVID-19. […]
But public health prevention strategies have also been shown to be beneficial in fighting respiratory infections. Researchers found that wearing a mask could reduce COVID-19 incidence by 53 percent.
One experiment across 200 countries showed 45.7 percent fewer COVID-19 related deaths in countries where mask wearing was mandatory, according to the study. In the U.S., one study reported a 29 percent reduction in COVID-19 transmission in states where mask wearing was required.
I have often described the political process as a series of arbitrary deadlines that unnecessarily drives hysteria. See: remap, may 31… https://t.co/T2FfUIsEfq
