* Have a wonderful, joyful and healthy Fathers’ Day! My dad turned me on to the Stones way back in the day. I found Bob Dylan on my own. From a recent NY Times interview of Mr. Zimmerman…
A reference to the Rolling Stones makes it into “I Contain Multitudes.” Just as a lark, which Stones songs do you wish you could’ve written?
Oh, I don’t know, maybe “Angie,” “Ventilator Blues” and what else, let me see. Oh yeah, “Wild Horses.”
The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) State Lodge and Labor Council have issued the following statements after police officers in Atlanta, Georgia began walking off the job when an officer was charged with murder in the death of a suspect who fought with police:
“The politicians who have once again caved in to the loudest, most divisive voices in our society may soon realize their vision of a nation without police officers, and that is a horrific vision of uncontrolled violence and mayhem,” said FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood. “When people are dying and businesses are burning in the very neighborhoods they claim to represent, will those politicians wade into the danger and protect those vulnerable citizens? I think we know the answer to that question.”
“While the union would never endorse or condone any work stoppage, you have to ask this question – what profession is there on earth, other than the U.S. military and intelligence services, where you now face the death penalty for doing your job as you were trained, a job for which you risk your life protecting others?” said FOP Labor Council Executive Director Shawn Roselieb. “Who are you going to call when citizens are being bloodied and burned out by the lawless mobs that are emboldened by this disgusting political charade?”
The Fraternal Order of Police, founded in 1915, is the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. With a proud tradition of officers representing officers, the FOP is the most respected and most recognized police organization in the country. The Illinois FOP State Lodge, chartered in 1963, is the second largest State Lodge, proudly representing more than 34,000 active duty and retired police officers - more than 10 percent of all FOP members nationwide. Visit www.ilfop.org for more information.
The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council is a law enforcement union representing more than 12,000 professionals in more than 517 bargaining units who work in the criminal justice system. The Labor Council negotiates and enforces contracts and improves salaries, working conditions, and benefits for law enforcement professionals throughout Illinois. Its members include police officers who work for municipalities, universities, and elected Constitutional officials; county sheriff’s deputies, correctional and court security officers; probation officers; 911 telecommunicators; law enforcement records personnel; and some related support staff. Visit www.fop.org for more information.
* The Question: Do you agree or disagree with the sentiment expressed above? Explain.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 692 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 44 additional confirmed deaths.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 135,470 cases, including 6,580 deaths, in 101 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 27,171 specimens for a total of 1,311,003. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from June 12–June 18 is 3%.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. See CDC definition of a probable case on its website. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted.
Hospitalization numbers continue to improve. Don’t mess it up by listening to the crackpots. Wear a mask in public when you can’t social distance and wash your hands.
* First she declared that indoor restaurant dining couldn’t return until July 1, then she complained about the governor not allowing indoor dining until June 26th, and now…
Chicago restaurants can open for indoor dining with the rest of the state starting June 26, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday, an about-face from her plan to allow them to reopen July 1. […]
Restaurants will be restricted to 25% capacity, with a maximum of 50 people per room or floor, and tables must be at least 6 feet apart, with 10 people or fewer per table.
On Friday, the governor’s office said they “are pleased to see that the Mayor has aligned the timing of the city’s plan with the state’s plan, allowing restaurants in Chicago to open indoor dining a week from today.”
According to an email obtained by the Sun-Times, the Illinois Restaurant Association has been pushing for 50% occupancy for indoor restaurants, and the state’s safety guidance is likely to include that rate. That would also include gatherings of less than 50 people with social distancing and other safety provisions.
* Being outside and mostly wearing masks appears to have avoided a problem…
The first protests against George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis began on May 26, the day after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes and killed the 46-year-old. By the next night, protesters were filling the streets in cities across the country despite concerns over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
As the protests went on, worries over a spike in the coronavirus grew. Last week, members of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force warned governors of a protest-related increase in cases. Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force’s coordinator, said on a call last week that yelling from protesters could present a particular problem and potentially cancel the positive benefits of wearing masks.
But given the virus’s incubation period, it was always going to take time to find out if the protests would lead to a spike in cases. That time has come, and three weeks after the protests began, cities across the country where some of the biggest demonstrations took place are reporting no surge in COVID-19 cases.
Northwestern University researchers have discovered Chicago has a unique COVID-19 virus strain that appears to be directly linked from the early outbreak in China, the university said in a news release Thursday.
Another variant discovered in Chicago COVID-19 patients, which happens to be the predominant variant worldwide, and in the U.S. is centered in New York, generates more of the virus in the upper airways than the Chicago version. […]
“These differences might help us understand where a vaccine might be most effective, because they show where these proteins are under selective pressure,” [Dr. Egon Ozer, an assistant professor in infectious diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician] said. “That could indicate where you might get the most bang for your buck in the potential vaccine.”
Ozer said that because Chicago is a transportation hub, the city is a melting pot for different variants of the virus.
Illinois is now set to enter the next phase of the governor’s reopening plan as early as next week, which includes allowing even more businesses to open their doors.
Illinois lawmakers have now created a new working group to help with the process.
Lawmakers created the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission during this year’s special session. Gov. JB Pritzker signed it into law last week.
Their goal is to give Pritzker guidance on reopening the state’s economy.
Illinois has closed the driver’s license facility on Golf Road in Schaumburg. Officials said it’s because an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
The Secretary of State’s Office said the Illinois Department of Public Health has been consulted and that the public is not directly impacted. Employees who work at the facility are quarantining for 14 days.
…Adding… I meant to post this Greg Hinz piece and forgot…
Government leaders and industry officials haven’t been the only ones at the table as the city and state this spring have rolled out a mass of often highly controversial rules as to which businesses can reopen when amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a little-noticed development, consultants from Boston Consulting Group and Bain, working through a Chicago civic organization, have effectively staffed working groups that draft proposed rules and submit them to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot for final approval.
Those rules cover everything from when inside dining will be allowed to how many people can shop at a store, when movie theaters might reopen and how late in the evening drinks-to-go should be allowed.
The pro bono work is defended as proper and a good deal for taxpayers by the two key officials involved—Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes and Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar. The Civic Consulting Alliance, a business-backed government aid group, has provided such help for years, and is particularly of use now with government officials all but overwhelmed, they say.
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart does not have to comply — at least for now — with a portion of a preliminary injunction precluding group housing or double-celling at the county jail due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Eager to head back to the lakefront? A rising Lake Michigan — near the historic high water mark — awaits.
CTA and Pace buses will begin collecting fares again, as riders slowly return to public transit
Four Illinois governors owned slaves: Shadrach Bond, the first Illinois governor (1818-1822) had two women indentured to him in 1807, Hannah and Prudence Hansberry, both aged 16. According to the 1820 census, Bond owned 14 slaves. When he died in 1832, he bequeathed 9 slaves to his wife and daughters.
Illinois’ second governor, Edward Coles (1822-1826), inherited 20 slaves from his father prior to living in Illinois. To the shock of family, Coles freed his slaves, came West, and eventually bought 6,000 acres near Edwardsville, hiring some of his freed slaves to work his farm. In Coles’ inaugural address, he asked for the abolishment of the indenture system and black codes; called for the kidnapping of freed blacks to stop; and supported emancipation for descendants of slaves brought to Illinois during the French period. His speech openly accused lllinoisans of practicing a system of slavery that many refused to admit. Two years later, the Illinois legislature had an anti-slavery majority, but little changed.
Illinois’ third governor, Ninian Edwards (1826-1830), bought and sold indentured servants, rented them out for forced labor, and did not free his slaves, who worked on his Kentucky plantation. In fact, in an 1832 register of Blacks, Edwards lists his slave, Charles, as “my property.”
Illinois’ fourth governor, John Reynolds (1830-1834), owned seven slaves and emancipated them over a period of 20 years.
The last emancipation documented in the Archives’ Illinois Servitude Index did not occur until 1863, when Marva Reed was legally freed from Aaron Shook in St. Clair County. That same year the Illinois legislature proposed a resolution objecting to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, but then-Governor Richard Yates dismissed the General Assembly before such resolutions could be enacted. It wasn’t until 1865 that Illinois and the rest of the country ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery in the nation.
Illinois is what I would call a quasi-slave state. And what’s surprising to people is that it existed here within the law. It begins with the colonial slave laws that came from France (because Illinois was a French territory). And so slavery, at least the enslavement of Africans and then later African American people, started in the French settlements, at least as early as 1720, maybe even before that. And then the Northwest Ordinance (an act that provided a path for much of the Great Lakes region to be admitted to the Union) stated that there shall be neither slavery nor indentured servitude, nor involuntary servitude, except as the punishment of crime. And so people seem to think, “Well, that does it for slavery.” But people still brought slaves in, in violation of the law.
But then as early as 1803, a loophole was created that [essentially] said: “Bring your slaves to Illinois. It’s fine. Just go through the formality of an indenture contract.” Some contracts were for 99 years.
But most indentured people really weren’t given a choice. If your master, or someone who’s claimed to be your master, or has told you they were your master for, you know, 20, 30, 40 years, tells you to put your mark [signature] on a paper that says you’re willing to continue as my indentured servant, it’s not likely that someone would refuse. […]
(W)hat really surprised me as I began researching slavery in Illinois was there weren’t the big cotton plantations, but at the same time there was slavery. And so our image of slavery is not necessarily wrong, but it’s a lot more complicated. It’s a lot broader. I think that what we tend to do oftentimes is think of slavery and racism as something they have down South and kind of with a judgmental attitude: “You know, we’re not like that [in Illinois]. We don’t have slavery here. We didn’t have slaves.” Actually, we did. It was just a different form that was adapted to meet the needs that we had for enslaved people. […]
Here in Union County, although it’s not officially documented, when our first log cabin courthouse was built on the square in Jonesboro, the person that received the contract to build that log cabin was a slaveholder named Thomas Cox. He would have sent enslaved people to work, cutting the trees and building the cabin. Slaves can work in cornfields just as well as they can work in cotton fields. […]
1848 was the year that the [state] Constitution was passed in Illinois. That was truly our first “free” constitution. The 1818 Constitution was called a “free” constitution, but it allowed indentured servitude. The 1848 Constitution ended that and made Illinois a free state that did not permit slavery.
But then in 1853, the state legislature passed a law which made the settlement of African Americans in Illinois a crime. If African Americans remained in Illinois beyond 10 days, they could be arrested and fined. If they couldn’t pay the fines, they were to be auctioned off. It only lasted five years that we were truly a free state. […]
In the 1820s, Illinois had a state law that said all white men are required to stop any black person and have them prove that they were free. I can remember a woman asking me once if I thought this was the beginning of policing of black communities, and I never really saw the connection before she mentioned that. But every white man was required to do it. If people could not prove their freedom documentation, they were placed under arrest — basically a citizen’s arrest — taken to a justice of the peace, put on trial, advertised in the newspapers as a runaway, and then the white person would receive a reward.
in 1853, under the leadership of southern Illinois Democrat John A. Logan, the General Assembly adopted the draconian “Black Law” of 1853. For the most part, the law simply brought together in one place several existing laws. Under this law, no black from another state could remain within the Illinois borders for more than ten days. Beyond ten days and he or she was subject to arrest, confinement in jail, and a $50 fine and removal from the state. If unable to pay the fine, the law directed the sheriff to auction the offending African-American to the bidder willing to pay the costs and the tine and to work the “guilty” party the fewest number of days. If the convicted man or woman did not leave within ten days after completing the required service, the process resumed, but the fine was increased $50 for each additional infraction. Although most newspapers opposed the measure, there is but little doubt that it reflected the views of much of the state’s population.
For the next twelve years, Illinois African-Americans labored under one of the harshest laws in the nation. […]
The Illinois Black Laws continued in force until the end of the Civil War. Indeed, in the midst of the Civil War, Illinois held a constitutional convention and a new constitution was submitted to the people of the state for ratification. One of the most remarkable features of that document were three provisions that wrote the Black Laws into the proposed constitution. Although Illinois voters rejected the constitution, they overwhelmingly approved the anti-black provisions. Eventually, however, with prodding from John Jones and the logic propelled by the results of the Civil War, the Illinois General Assembly repealed the Black Laws in early 1865. The repeal, however, did not confer suffrage or civil rights on the state’s African-Americans; they had to await the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 1885.
In 1819, the Gallatin County salines at Equality, using over 1,000 slaves, produced nearly 300,000 bushels of salt. The Great Half Moon salt lick was one of the largest in the United States and covered about 13 acres. This was a crescent-shaped depression in the earth that was caused by numerous animals over the years coming to the spot and licking away at the earth to gain access to the salt it contained.
Landowner and illegal slave trader John Hart Crenshaw leased the state-owned salt works located at the Illinois Salines, two saline springs along the Saline River near Equality that were important sources of salt since prehistory. Salt was vital to the early American frontier economy, both as a nutrient and as a means to preserve food. Illinois was a free state, and the Illinois State Constitution bans slavery. However, the law permitted the use of slaves at the salt works since the labor was so arduous that no free men could be found to do it. As the lessee of the salt works, Crenshaw was one of a small minority of Illinois residents legally entitled to keep slaves, and Crenshaw became remarkably wealthy. At one point, Crenshaw’s taxes amounted to one-seventh of the revenue of the entire state.
The slave-mined salt works were, at one time, the state government’s largest revenue source.
Crenshaw was widely believed to be involved in the kidnapping and sale of free black citizens in free states as slaves in the south, an enormously profitable trade later known as the Reverse Underground Railroad. Crenshaw was twice prosecuted for kidnapping, but never convicted.
Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCF) may allow outdoor visitation for residents when certain conditions are met. Visitations must be limited to two visitors at a time per resident. The maximum number of residents and visitors in the outdoors space at one time is predicated on the size of the outdoor space. The LTCF must ensure that a minimum distancing of six feet is achievable in the outdoor space when determining the maximum number of residents and visitors who can simultaneously occupy that outdoor space. The LTCF must clearly communicate and enforce social distancing of six feet between the resident and all visitors. The facility must set the maximum number of visitors allowed in a single day.
Visitors must schedule an appointment with the facility to visit a resident. The LTCF must prescreen visitors via phone with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) symptom checklist not more than 24 hours in advance. The facility must also screen visitors on arrival with the CDC symptom checklist and a temperature check. Residents with active COVID-19 infection, either laboratory confirmed or symptomatic, are not allowed to participate in outdoor visits. Residents receiving visitors should also be screened with the CDC symptom checklist prior to visitor’s arrival. Visitors displaying symptoms should not visit the facility.
Visits must be limited to outdoor areas only. However, they may take place under a canopy or tent without walls. Outdoor spaces must have separate ingress and egress which does not require the visitor to enter the LTCF building. Visitors must not enter the facility at any time during their visit. For the duration of each visit, the resident and visitor must wear a face covering. The facility may set the time duration of each visit.
The facility should have staff supervision during each visit to ensure the use of face coverings and social distancing. The facility may determine whether supervision is continuous or intermittent.
Four of the five new cases of COVID-19 reported in Piatt County this week have been tentatively tied to a gathering held at an assisted living facility in Savoy.
“We looked at it again, and our (health department) contact tracing person found that four of five were associated with a birthday party at an assisted living facility in Savoy,” said DeWitt/Piatt Bi-County Health Department Administrator David Remmert.
And while he understands the strain of not being able to see loved ones during the current pandemic, he added, “I don’t know why an assisted living facility would have outside people come into the facility.”
First time I’ve agreed with Remmert.
*** UPDATE *** Health Care Council of Illinois…
Guidance on open-air visitations at long term care facilities was released yesterday by Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office and the Illinois Department of Public Health. Long-awaited reunions for nursing home residents and their loved ones may begin once facilities assess their current status and implement the requirements determined by the state, according to the Health Care Council of Illinois (HCCI), a non-profit member association representing more than 300 licensed skilled nursing facilities.
“This is a positive step in the recovery process for nursing homes. After many months of virtual contact with their spouses, children and other loved ones, we know our residents will have many joyful reunions in the days ahead,” said Pat Comstock, Director of COVID Response for HCCI.
Under the Illinois Department of Public Health’s current COVID-19 regulations, all nursing homes must create a written plan prior to any visitation at their facility. Families will be able to see their loved ones by appointment in a supervised outdoor setting that ensures a minimum distance of six feet between residents and visitors, with one or two visitors per resident at a time or as determined by the nursing home. The number of visits allowed per day and the duration of the visit will be determined on an individual basis by each facility based on occupancy and space availability.
Visitors will be prescreened via phone with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) symptom checklist no more than 24 hours in advance of their visit, as well as undergo an additional screening and temperature check upon arrival at the facility. Residents receiving visitors should also be screened with the CDC symptom checklist prior to visitor’s arrival.
“We understand that families are eager to see their loved ones after months apart, and our members are working tirelessly to create a framework for visitation that keeps their residents, staff and families safe,” said Comstock. “Our members have taken positive steps toward recovery status in the past several weeks, and we cannot afford to compromise this progress and the health of our most vulnerable population.”
Visits must be supervised by staff and follow the strict infection control procedures already in place, including requiring face coverings at all times and prohibiting visitors inside the facility. Visits will be allowed only for residents without a current case of COVID-19. Full visitation guidelines can be found of the IDPH website.
* Restore Justice took a look at Illinois’ early release program during the pandemic…
As the global COVID-19 pandemic caused Illinois to shut down, Governor JB Pritzker acknowledged the dangers of our state’s over-crowded prison system. He encouraged Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) facilities to release incarcerated people in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
Analysis of prison population and release datasets shows IDOC is not actually releasing many people early, and, of those released, there are startling racial inequities. […]
While 54 percent of the people incarcerated in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) are Black, only 46 percent of those released early are Black. White people comprise just 32 percent of the Illinois prison population but 43 percent of early releases.
White people released early had 80 days cut from their sentences, based on the median. Latino people released early had 60.5 days, and Black people had 49 days.
Latino people account for 13 percent of the IDOC population and 10 percent of those released early. Non-Latino and Non-Black people of color make up one percent of releases.
Just 31 percent of those released early through [Earned Discretionary Sentence Credits] are Black. That discrepancy grows when looking at people who had substantial time, more than three months, cut from their sentences. […]
Between March 1 and June 4, 74 percent of the people released early were convicted of Class 4, 3, and 2 felonies. One possible explanation for this is that some research indicates that Black people are often overcharged and over-sentenced, which makes consideration of “low-level offenders” a de facto review of predominantly white people in prison.
* I asked the governor’s office for a response. Pritzker press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh essentially agreed with the group’s analysis about the possible cause of the racial imbalance…
As this report and many others before it proves, the criminal justice system results in inequitable outcomes for black and brown people. That’s why the Governor supports comprehensive criminal justice reform. The Department of Corrections has used the powers given to the director under statute to grant early release to inmates at the end of their sentences. We know that black and brown people disproportionately face longer sentences and we will work to address this issue as we move forward with advocates on criminal justice reform.
What is less certain — but should not be — is that union contracts for public employees will have to be reopened to reduce costs. Every possible solution to the current crisis must be on the table, including a reconsideration of a host of contract provisions.
Union should take the lead
It is, as we see it, wholly in the interest of the unions to join in this effort. The finances of the state and city were unsustainable even before the pandemic. Now they are close to collapsing, threatening the very existence of those good union jobs and pensions.
By joining in this effort, the unions would be in a position to shape negotiations in ways that work best for their members. They might reasonably insist, for example, that a big portion of any savings from contract changes be put toward paying down pension obligations.
And while we’ve heard the argument that reworking union contracts wouldn’t make a dent in the financial problems of the state and the city, we’re not so sure. Let’s see how scalpel-like revisions in dozens of contracts add up.
The editorial board then goes on to make suggestions for over $100 million in cuts for the city, plus doing away with all state and local government pay raises for a year.
* Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter responded…
The Sun-Times is just as wrong in its divisive attempt to frame the issue as “union versus non-union” We need to come together to combat COVID-19, not be pitted against one another. And workers need a strong voice through their unions now, when workplace health and safety is literally a matter of life and death.
Instead of standing up for working people at this crucial moment, the Sun-Times board presents this crisis as an opportunity for employers to unilaterally reopen contracts and impose changes. This could set a dangerous precedent that may erode workers’ rights in countless ways, even after the pandemic passes.
The labor movement, especially public sector unions, have worked closely with the city, county, and state for years to recommend and implement cost-saving measures. We will continue to find ways to provide the services the public needs as efficiently as possible.
But this isn’t the time for cuts that prolong the crisis and degrade the services we all depend on. Instead, let’s work together to ensure passage of the HEROES Act, and take the necessary steps to protect and strengthen our city, county, and state for the long term.
According to a Crusader analysis, the positivity rate remains under 10 percent in 16 [Chicago] zip codes of predominately Black neighborhoods, or communities with large Black populations. In eight of those zip codes, the positivity rate is less than five percent; another eight zip codes have a positivity rate between five and 10 percent.
However, in four zip codes, the percentage of new cases remain above 10 percent. They include South Shore, Roseland/West Pullman, South and North Lawndale and South Deering.
As businesses reopen across the city and state and COVID-19 infection rates have slowed, new cases in Illinois’ Latino communities have continued to climb. In fact, the total number of infections among Latino residents in Illinois is on track to comprise half of all COVID-19 cases in the state, according to the Latino Policy Forum.
To date, more than 44,000 cases labeled “Hispanic” on the Illinois Department of Public Health dashboard account for about 33% of all cases of the virus in Illinois. Hispanics and Latinos represent about 17% of the state’s population. In Chicago, Latinos represent about 29% of the population, but account for 44% of cases per the city’s data portal.
Now, as Latino communities scramble to understand why the coronavirus has hit them so hard, they’re calling upon elected officials to do more to help reverse the trend of rising infection rates.
And there is concern that the often-incomplete racial and ethnicity data being used to track these cases is masking even greater numbers of Latino cases of infection.
According to IDPH data, as of June 18, cases in which ethnicity data was “left blank” account for more than 31,000, or about 23%, of all confirmed cases in Illinois.
Illinois regained 62,200 jobs from mid-April to mid-May, but they were unevenly distributed and minority workers were suffering the most.
White workers during that time recovered 13% of the jobs lost, but black workers recovered only 2% and Hispanic workers only 1%, according to data released June 18 by the Illinois Department of Employment Security in conjunction with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rebound has been similar for male and female workers.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike didn’t let her kids see their friends until this week.
And that was a carefully supervised backyard get-together — with masks.
She’s all for outdoor dining with the safety guidance she helped craft. And she got a manicure behind plexiglass from a woman who has done her nails for 15 years.
But handshakes?
“Not now. Between a year and never again,” the head of the Illinois Department of Public Health told the Sun-Times in a wide-ranging interview about her personal do’s and don’ts as she helps Illinois navigate through the pandemic. […]
She’s OK with outdoor restaurants, with guidance she helped to craft. But she said she’d wait at least three months to feel safe in any indoor restaurants.
It started late Saturday night with sweating, shivering, teeth-chattering and feet that felt like they were on fire. That was followed by a cough that wouldn’t quit and a sore throat Kwame Raoul described as “out of this world.”
Raoul, Illinois attorney general, said Thursday he’s now “stuck in solitary confinement in my bedroom” as the highest-ranking Illinois politician known to have tested positive for the coronavirus.
He’s feeling “a little bit better” since he was tested late Monday. The results came Tuesday morning. His fever, which spiked at 101.4 degrees, has come down. But after a “meeting or two” on Zoom, he feels “exhausted afterwards, as if I played a football game.”
“I tire very easily. But overall, I have not had any breathing difficulties, which is a plus because I’ve heard of others having such breathing difficulties. Just feeling beat down, though,” he said. […]
The attorney general said he has no idea where he might have contracted the virus. He noted having “stopped by to support a couple of restaurants” in recent weeks. But, he refused to identify them for fear of discouraging sorely-needed business at a time when restaurants are fighting for survival and have reopened to outdoor dining.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 593 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 55 additional confirmed deaths.
- Cook County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 30s, 2 males 40s, 1 female 50s, 3 females 50s, 2 males 60s, 3 females 70s, 2 males 70s, 6 females 80s, 4 males 80s, 3 females 90s, 1 male 90s, 1 unknown 90s, 1 female 100+
- DeKalb County; 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s
- DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
- Grundy County: 1 male 90s
- Kane County: 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 2 females 80s, 2 females 90s
- Kankakee County: 1 female 90s
- Lake County: 1 female 70s, 2 males 80s
- McHenry County: 1 male 50s
- St. Clair County: 1 male 70s
- Will County: 1 female 60s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 134,778 cases, including 6,537 deaths, in 101 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 25,504 specimens for a total of 1,283,832. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from June 11–June 17 is 3%.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. See CDC definition of a probable case on its website. IDPH will update these data once a week.
A data breach that exposed Social Security numbers and other private information of 32,483 Illinois unemployment applicants resulted in at least one case of identity theft, according to a class-action federal lawsuit.
Briana Julius is suing Deloitte Consulting, alleging the contractor failed to secure personally identifying information which led to fraudulent charges on her bank account and her debit card being shut off. Deloitte was paid $22 million to build and manage the system for the Illinois Department of Employment Security to handle claims from self-employed and gig workers, but soon after the system went online May 11 it was found to be publicly exposing private applicant information.
Julius is from St. Clair County. She is suing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, with St. Louis attorney Tiffany Yiatras representing her, according to the Madison-St. Clair Record. The class-action suit on behalf of Julius is the third lawsuit against Deloitte for the May data breach. Two groups of Ohio residents also filed lawsuits.
Colorado also experienced a data breach, officials there said.
All three breaches happened around the same time. Click here for more on the Ohio lawsuits.
Julius alleges Deloitte failed to properly secure and safeguard personally identifying information. As a result of the data breach, her bank notified her of fraudulent charges on her bank account that she did not make.
There’s no proof offered in the suit that the two things were related. The state maintains that the only person who saw the data was the person who reported the problem. I guess we’ll find out.
May’s jobs report should be encouraging to American workers, as it shows that the U.S. actually gained 2.5 million nonfarm payroll jobs. This demonstrates that the process of beginning to reopen states has gone smoothly, and businesses are rehiring employees that they temporarily laid off while their buildings remained closed. There are still 21 million Americans unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though, which hopefully will be reduced as states proceed to open more in the coming months. Last week, there were 1.5 million new unemployment claims nationwide, compared to 6.9 million during the peak of the pandemic (a 78% reduction).
To identify which states’ workforces are experiencing the quickest recovery from COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three metrics based on changes in unemployment claims.
Illinois was the 9th most-recovered state since the start of the crisis. Georgia, which reopened before just about every other state, finished dead last.
The Arizona health department reported a new single-day high of 2,519 coronavirus cases and 32 additional deaths Thursday morning. […]
Of the PCR samples collected this week that have been processed, 15% have come back positive, matching last week’s mark, which was a pandemic high.
The weekly PCR positive rate has risen every week since the week starting May 10, when it was 5%. […]
Overall hospital bed usage remained at a pandemic high of 85% on Wednesday for the second consecutive day, and the percentage of ICU beds in use reached a high point of 84%.
On May 15, inpatient bed usage was at 74% and ICU bed usage was at 72%.
By comparison, Illinois’ total (COVID and non-COVID) hospital bed usage is 59 percent and total ICU bed usage is at 55 percent. Occupancy has been falling for weeks. The protests started almost three weeks ago, so you’d think we’d be seeing an overall uptick in hospitalization numbers by now. So far, that’s not the case.
Also, Illinois’ positivity rate for June 10–16 is 3 percent.
At his regular coronavirus press conferences, Gov. Pete Ricketts makes a point of urging Nebraskans to wear a mask when they go to a store.
But when it comes to the state’s 93 courthouses and other local government offices, he doesn’t want local officials to require masks. In fact, he’s told local governments that they won’t receive any of the $100 million in federal COVID-19 money if their “customers” are required to wear masks.
In Illinois, the governor caught heat when he threatened to withhold CARES Act funding from local governments if they defied his stay at home/reopening orders.
A new coalition of health, labor, aging and public interest organizations launched “Open Safe Illinois” on Thursday to amplify the voices of Illinois residents, the majority of whom support public health-driven decision making by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and local leaders.
While a small, vocal minority has pushed to rapidly reopen businesses and recreational activities across the state, polls show that the majority of the public remain very concerned about the coronavirus, are taking precautions, and support policy informed by the most up-to-date and relevant medical science. While many states are experiencing surges in new infections, Illinois recently had the greatest two-week decline in new cases across the country. According to data compiled by ProPublica, Illinois is the first state to meet all five of the metrics the White House suggested should be required to safely reopen.
“Gov. Pritzker’s measured, public health-driven approach has slowed the spread of COVID-19 and saved lives,” said Tom Hughes, Illinois Public Health Association executive director. “It’s critical that we stay the course and continue to make decisions based on the best available data and public health analysis.”
Illinois can look to other states, many of which just now are reaching their highest rates of infections and deaths, to see what happens if we don’t remain vigilant. Illinoisans, especially frontline workers, older adults, people with existing health conditions, and Latino and African American communities who face disproportionate risks, can’t afford a surge of infection.
The coalition boasts 25 members, including AgeOptions, AIDS Foundation Chicago, Alzheimer’s Association - Illinois Chapter, Business and Professional People in the Public Interest, Chicago Federation of Labor, Chicago Jobs Council, Citizen Action Illinois, Coalition for the Homeless, Common Cause Illinois, Elevate Energy, Everthrive Illinois, Friends of the Forest Preserves, Heartland Alliance, Illinois AFL-CIO, Illinois Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Illinois Environmental Council, Illinois PIRG, Illinois Public Health Association, Prairie Rivers Network, Rainbow Push Coalition, Respiratory Health Association, SEIU HealthCare, Sierra Club Illinois, and United Food and Commercial Workers 881.
“We have not defeated the coronavirus, only slowed its spread,” said Abe Scarr, Illinois PIRG director and coalition coordinator. “Until we have an effective vaccine or treatment for COVID-19, which could take years, it’s critical that decision makers stay the course to protect the health and well-being of Illinoisans.”
Chicagoans won’t be willing to return to the office until they feel it’s safe, something that will require not only widespread, subsidized testing for COVID-19 but also flexible hours, discounted parking, investments in public transit and “clear guidelines” from the government.
Limits on corporate liability, extra help for emerging minority-owned businesses, buying local and “fair property tax reform” would help, too.
That’s the formula for reopening Chicago’s economy that the city’s largest business group laid out today in a report that has its share of flowery verbiage but also is surprisingly provocative in some ways.
As new Gov. J.B Pritzker prepared to take office in January 2019, there was a feeding frenzy among aspiring politicos for jobs in his administration.
Many of them were looking for an inside track to get on Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s list of “recommendations for the new administration.”
An examination of that list by Chicago public radio station WBEZ shows that 37 people of the all-powerful Madigan’s list of 76 choices were accepted by Pritzker. […]
The record shows that Cullerton, Brady and Durkin made little effort to influence Pritzker’s personnel choices and had even less success.
Of Cullerton’s three recommendations, just one was appointed to a nonpaying post. Two of Brady’s 11 recommendations were accepted. Durkin’s sole recommendation was rejected. Meanwhile, nearly half of Madigan’s recommendations were accepted.
1) If he’s so “all-powerful,” then how come he batted below .500?
2) If you believe that John Cullerton only asked for three jobs, I have a bridge to sell you.
The original story generated a ton of social media push-back from the administration. Click here for Jordan Abudayyeh’s take.
* The ILGOP’s response…
Yesterday, it was revealed that upon winning the gubernatorial election in 2017 [sic], Speaker Madigan sent Governor Pritzker a list of individuals he wanted hired in state government. Pritzker complied with the Speaker’s wishes and hired 35 of them.
WBEZ: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker Hired 35 People From House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Clout List - “Despite repeatedly promising to be “independent” of longtime Democratic boss Michael Madigan, first-term Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker filled many prominent roles in his administration with people recommended by the state House speaker and party chairman, a WBEZ investigation has revealed.
As Pritzker won the election in 2018 and was sworn into office last year, Madigan’s office sent him the names of scores of job seekers and the positions in state government they desired. Madigan’s successful recommendations far outnumbered those from other legislative leaders, with records showing the new governor made nearly three dozen hires and board appointments off the speaker’s clout list.
Illinois taxpayers are paying those Madigan-endorsed public officials a total of more than $2.5 million a year, WBEZ’s investigation found.”
ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider responded to the news by releasing the following statement:
“It was obvious long before Governor Pritzker was elected that he would do Speaker Madigan’s bidding. Now we have proof. When Madigan asked, Governor Pritzker delivered for him. Just as they have been for decades, the taxpayers of Illinois were left out of that equation.
The only appropriate response for when Madigan’s chief emailed his clout list was for Pritzker’s chief to email back, ‘no thanks.’ Instead, the Governor hired half of them, gave them cushy jobs as department heads and board commissioners, and is paying them $2.5 million in taxpayer funds annually. All 35 Madigan Patronage hires should resign immediately.”
To my eyes, most of these folks were no-brainers. Jim Edgar, Shirley Madigan and David Harris stand out in that regard. And quite a few were actually supported by Madigan’s members. Also, Tiffany Newbern-Johnson spent two years on Madigan’s legal staff, but she really made her name at Mayor Emanuel’s office.
* But Pritzker was super reluctant to appoint Local 150’s Jim Sweeney to the Toll Highway Authority. The governor wanted more diversity at the tollway. Madigan had to intervene…
Chairman Evans and Davis are African-Americans. But except for Santoy, the rest are Anglos. Also, two women, seven men.
Normally, I wouldn’t do a count like that, and I don’t have a problem with any of these members, but the governor is the one who made such a big deal about diversity. Also too, Local 150 wins again.
So, yeah, there’s some fire with all that smoke. And I would assume there’s more.
By the way, Cesar Santoy, who was backed by then-Sen. Marty Sandoval and others, eventually had to step down. The tollway board is more white now than it was back then.
In the midst of an almost deafening national and local outcry over police abuses, the Illinois Supreme Court may order the city of Chicago to destroy all records of complaints against police officers that are more than five years old, potentially undermining attempts to identify problematic officers
A decision is scheduled to be issued Thursday in a legal challenge brought by the union representing Chicago police officers, asserting that their contract with the city requires the destruction of old complaints.
University of Chicago Law Professor Craig Futterman said the case is fundamentally about a question being asked all over the country, whether police unions and city governments should be able to bargain away the rights of the public to have effective oversight of police officers.
“If the Fraternal Order of Police has its way, hundreds of thousands of Chicago police misconduct records will go up in smoke like a great bonfire, destroying the very information that’s needed to identify and stop police officers who’ve been engaged in patterns of abuse,” Futterman said. “And this reality should be particularly unthinkable and appalling to everyone in this moment where we have people in Chicago and around the world raising their voices to affirm that Black Lives Matter. … What’s at stake is the reality that the very records that we need right now to … prevent more black pain and deaths at the hands of the police could disappear.”
* Today…
NEWS: The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled against the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, finding that its contract provision requiring the destruction of police disciplinary records after five years violates public records law.
While parties are generally free to make their own contracts, this court has long held that when a conflict exists between a contract provision and state law, as it clearly does in this case, state law prevails.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 44,639 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of June 8 in Illinois, according to the DOL’s weekly claims report released Thursday.
While this number is based on advanced estimates, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) will be releasing a final number later Thursday.
There were 1,508,000 new claims filed across the country last week, a decrease of 58,000from the previous week.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 44,814 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of June 1 in Illinois.
Mayor Lightfoot has made this claim before. Yet the state is allowing all regions to reopen for indoor dining on June 26 when we reach Phase 4. The city says indoor restaurants can open July 1. So how is this Pritzker's fault? https://t.co/K2FuRUHrny
* Illinois Chamber CEO Todd Maisch and Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs spoke at the Mid-Year Economic Summit hosted by the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce yesterday. From the Daily Herald’s coverage…
Both Maisch and Frerichs talked about the progressive tax referendum that will be on the Nov. 3 ballot. Maisch said the state chamber is against the change from the current flat tax because the top 20% of taxpayers already pay two-thirds of all taxes. In addition, he noted the current system provides “treatments,” such as the earned income tax credit, that favor low- and middle-income earners.
“Even though the rate is flat, you can actually graduate your system if you give some people tax treatments and not give others those treatments,” he said.
Frerichs added one argument for the progressive tax is the consideration of taxing retirement income of those who can afford it. He said he knows people who receive 6-figure yearly pensions and do not pay income taxes, but the current system doesn’t differentiate between them and retirees who barely get by on their savings or pensions.
“One thing a progressive tax would do is make clear you can have graduated rates when you are taxing retirement income,” he said. “And, I think that’s something that’s worth discussion.”
The “fair tax” is being sold as a tax on the wealthy, but if voters on Nov. 3 remove the Illinois constitution’s flat tax protection they will be granting state lawmakers broad new taxing power that would make it easier to go after seniors and their retirement income.
Illinois lawmakers in 2019 approved a defining feature of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s policy agenda by agreeing to ask voters to amend the Illinois Constitution and remove its flat tax protection. They also set introductory rates that start hiking taxes on residents making over $250,000.
Among several other negative policy outcomes, the adoption of a progressive income tax would make it significantly more likely that Illinois will adopt a retirement income tax in the future. That’s because removing the flat income tax protection also removes a key political barrier to imposing a tax on retirement income. […]
Public opposition has historically killed proposals to tax retirement income in the Prairie State. A 2019 poll from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute found 73% of Illinoisans somewhat or strongly opposed eliminating the retirement exemption, while only 23% somewhat or strongly supported the change.
Would you favor or oppose applying the state income tax to retirement income if it exempted from taxes the first $100,000 earned per year?
Favor 36%
Oppose 34%
Other/don’t know 3%
That adds up to only 73 percent.
…Adding… From comments…
Rich, the Paul Simon poll only added up to 73% because it was only asked of the 73% of respondents “who had indicated they were opposed to taxing retirement income in the previous question.” So the poll assumed that 59% of Illinois adults supported taxing retirement income over $100,000: the 36% yes to the specific question plus the 23% who were in favor of taxing all retirement income. Totals on that question are 59% in favor vs. 34% oppose vs. 7% other/don’t know.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Quentin Fulks, Chairman of Vote Yes For Fairness…
Vote Yes For Fairness believes all seniors should have the opportunity to retire with dignity after years of hard work, and opposes any tax on retirement income. That’s why we are dedicated to passing the Fair Tax, which does not tax retirement income or make it any easier to implement a tax on retirement income. The Fair Tax is about fixing our broken tax system that allows millionaires and billionaires to pay the same rate as our working families, while updating it to the one used by a majority of states and the federal government that works for all Illinoisans.
*** UPDATE 2 *** AARP Illinois…
AARP Illinois supports the current graduated income tax proposal which, in no way, taxes retirement income or makes it any easier to implement a tax on retirement income.
Illinois state law continues to protect retirement income from taxation , including Social Security, pensions, 401(k)s, and IRAs.
In AARP Illinois surveys, 89 percent of older adults said they opposed taxing retirement income, and 71 percent of voters 25 and older were also against it.
With this in mind, AARP Illinois supports a graduated income tax as a step in the right direction toward addressing our state’s budget crisis.
A graduated income tax protects lower and moderate income taxpayers and their families by giving them a tax break. It also ensures that only those who can afford it – the wealthiest 3% — will pay more under this plan.
AARP Illinois continues to oppose taxing retirement income and will fight any efforts to do so.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasts this tweet: “If that kind of tweet, which is clearly racist, had been put forward by a right-wing group, we would rightly be denouncing them. I think our scorn should be no less because it was put out by the CTU." https://t.co/VLYlwkwrXl
The Illinois Nurses Association and the State of Illinois have agreed on a series of COVID-19 related compensation and safety measures for registered nurses who work in state mental health facilities, correctional centers, Illinois Youth Centers, veteran’s administration homes, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and Department of Public Health.
“These are incredibly challenging times for nurses and INA’s negotiating team has been working hard to win safety measures and other benefits to address working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic,“ said Victorian Dameron, RN, one of the lead nurse negotiators.
The team was able to successfully negotiate important safety provisions for all nurses, as well as premium pandemic pay for nurses not covered under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, she said.
INA and the State agreed on a 12% increase to an employee’s base salary for days worked between April 16th, 2020, and June 30th, 2020.
In addition to the pandemic pay, nurses excluded from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act who worked the full time from May 1st through May 31st, 2020 will be granted an additional personal business day; this will be added to their accrued benefit time January 1st, 2021. To be eligible for this benefit, nurses must have worked the full time and not taken days off during this period.
This is the second group of nurses for which INA has negotiated enhanced pandemic pay. In early April, INA and the University of Illinois Hospital agreed on a premium pay scale to reward nurses who were working through the pandemic at the hospital.
More than 100 nurses have tested positive for COVID-19 and two have died since the pandemic began earlier this year.
New criminal charges related to the bribery case against former state Rep. Luis Arroyo are expected “in the near future,” lawyers told a federal judge Tuesday.
That brief disclosure appeared in a one-page status report filed jointly by prosecutors and Arroyo’s defense attorney. Chicago’s federal court is trying to get back to business after months of delays during the coronavirus pandemic, and U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger asked for the report earlier this month.
The report offers no hint at who might be charged — or what accusations might be made. But the lawyers told the judge they hoped for a status hearing around August 10.
“The parties anticipate that additional, related charges will be brought in the near future and request a status hearing on or after August 10, 2020, with defendant’s presence waived,” it said.
