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Federal appeals court stays Downstate federal judge’s gun ruling (Updated)

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* News…


* The order…

The district court issued an opinion holding that multiple state laws regulating assault weapons, large-capacity magazines, and associated matters are unconstitutional. The opinion contains some language in the nature of a permanent injunction, but this language does not appear in either an injunction (see Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(d)(1) (”Every order granting an injunction… must: (A) state the reasons why it issued; (B) state its terms specifically; and (C) describe in reasonable detail- and not by referring to the complaint or other document —the act or acts restrained or required. )) or a Rule 58 judgment (which omits the relief to which the prevailing parties are entitled).

Defendants have appealed, and they request a stay pending appeal. Plaintiffs have responded, and defendants have replied. The parties also have filed memoranda addressing the problems created by the district court’s noncompliance with Rules 58 and 65.

Appellate jurisdiction exists, notwithstanding these errors, because it is plain that the district court is done with the case. Compliance with Rules 58 and 65 remains necessary -essential, if any litigant anticipates enforcing the decision through the contempt power —and we trust that the district court will enter appropriate orders promptly without the need for a formal command by this court.

Defendants’ request for a stay rests largely on the fact that this court already has held that the laws in question survive motions seeking preliminary injunctions. Bevis o. Naperville, 85 F.4th 1175 (7th Cir. 2023), cert. denied, 144 S. Ct. 2491 (2024). A decision at the preliminary-injunction stage is not dispositive when the plaintiffs later seek permanent relief; our opinion indicated some matters that needed further exploration. But the analysis in Bevis shows that the laws have enough support to remain in place pending the final resolution of plaintiffs’ suit.

Every other court of appeals that has addressed the validity of similar legislation in the wake of New York State Rifle Association v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), has come out the same way as Bevis. See Ocean State Tactical, LLC v. Rhode Island, 95 F.4th 38 (1st Cir. 2024); Bianchi v. Brown, 111 F.4th 438 (4th Cir. 2024) (en banc); Hanson v. Smith, 120 F .4th 223 (D.C. Cir. 2024). The laws addressed by those decisions differ in some respects from the Illinois statute. Yet the absence of support in other circuits for the district court’s disposition lends strength to a conclusion that the Illinois statutes should remain in force until final appellate resolution.

At least two other essentially identical suits are pending in other district courts within the Seventh Circuit. The three suits were addressed jointly in Bevis, and they must be resolved the same way eventually. (The state laws cannot be valid in some parts of Illinois and invalid elsewhere.) This does not necessarily imply that the three cases will again be consolidated on appeal; we are reluctant to delay disposition of this appeal indefinitely just because similar litigation is pending in other districts. Still, the only way to preserve the status quo statewide is to enter a stay in this suit.

The judgment of the district court accordingly is stayed. The stay will remain in force until this court has issued its mandate.

…Adding… AG Raoul…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul today issued the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit stayed an injunction a district court entered regarding the Protect Illinois Communities Act. The stay will remain in place while the appeal is pending.

“I am pleased the 7th Circuit has stayed the district court’s injunction. My office will continue to prosecute the appeal, and the Protect Illinois Communities Act remains the law of the land as the litigation is pending in the lower courts. The Protect Illinois Communities Act is an important tool to prevent weapons of war from being used in our schools and on our streets, and I am committed to defending its constitutionality.”

* ISRA…

Please attribute the following to the Illinois State Rifle Association

Moments ago, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order extending the stay of Judge McGlynn’s decision finding the Illinois Gun Ban to be unconstitutional. The stay remains in place until the 7th Circuit can hear the case, which means that the unconstitutional gun ban continues to remain in effect.

While we are glad that Federal District Court Judge Stephen McGlynn’s stay would have expired on Sunday, December 8th, we are disappointed – but not surprised – that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has extended that stay. Back in November, we were victorious when Judge McGlynn found the provisions of the Illinois ban on commonly owned firearms and accessories known as “PICA” to be unconstitutional. The State appealed immediately to the Seventh Circuit, so we also know that this battle is far from over.

When this unconstitutional bill was signed by Gov. Pritzker in January 2023, we promised to see the State of Illinois in Court – and we’ve held firm on that promise – and we won’t back down until our 2nd Amendment rights are restored in Illinois.

  5 Comments      


Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Block Club Chicago…

More than two years ago, West Ridge’s state senator helped secure $5 million in funding to add an ambulance to the local fire station.

But the ambulance never arrived.

Frustrated by the delay, neighbors are calling on city officials to use the funds and expand first responder services on the Far North Side.

Currently, the Engine 71 fire station has no space to house an ambulance unit. Ellen Doppelt, executive director of the neighborhood development council, has been advocating for the renovation of the firehouse since 2021. State funding for the project was secured by state Sen. Ram Villivalam the following year, but the city has yet to use the funds.

* Pretty neat…

*** Statehouse News ***

* Press Release | Gov. Pritzker Accepts International Award for Illinois’ Leadership in Innovation: Illinois was one of just 35 organizations worldwide to receive the Startup Ecosystem Star Award. Additionally, Illinois was the only U.S. entity to receive favorable results across all award categories, not only “Outstanding Investment Boost”

*** Statewide ***

* ABC Chicago I-Team | Drug Lab Scandal: After investigating for months, the ABC7 I-Team exposes a statewide scandal at a forensic testing lab. The I-Team has uncovered hundreds of potentially wrongful convictions, testing troubles, and claims of a cover-up. Chuck Goudie and the I-Team investigate, Thursday at 10 p.m.

* NPR Illinois | Illinois’ deceitful path to statehood: Illinois celebrated its 206th birthday this week. When it became a state in 1818, it faced obstacles. Among them, the state lacked the population that was needed. But those determined to become part of the union found a way. “We cooked the books,” said author Tara McClellan McAndrew.

* KFVS | Illinois pork producers group says they suffer because of a California law: Illinois pork farmers say a California law that went into effect in 2023 is hurting business in the Midwest, and are hoping a new national farm bill could help. Proposition 12 went into effect in California in 2023, requiring pregnant pigs to have 24 square feet to themselves per female, and banning all sales from companies that don’t comply with those regulations across the U.S.

*** Chicago ***

* Fox Chicago | Illinois Labor Department files bankruptcy claims against Foxtrot, Dom’s Kitchen to recover unpaid wages: The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) is working to recover more than $3.8 million in unpaid wages and benefits for over 350 employees left jobless after their employers abruptly shut down earlier this year. On Oct. 30, IDOL, through the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, filed federal bankruptcy claims against Outfox Hospitality, LLC; Dom’s Kitchen and Market, LLC; and Foxtrot Market.

* NBC | Beware the fake George McCaskey account on Twitter: The issue came to a head this morning when fake George tweeted the team isn’t for sale. That came in response to a suggestion that Jeff Bezos will buy the Bears. This never happened before Twitter started selling blue check marks. Now that anyone can pay for an account, anyone can set up a phony account that might seem legitimate.

* Tribune | ‘I can smell a sale’: How notable Chicagoans shop for the holidays: Pappas, who has served as Cook County treasurer since 1998, usually finishes her holiday shopping in June. “I can smell a sale,” she said. […] Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, to whom Pappas gave one of her own jackets. (Pappas is known for collecting eclectic jackets that she features in her annual jacket calendar.) Also, Romanian monks she befriended while on a trip to discuss the country’s property tax system with officials there. “The monk in Bucharest wanted a pair of Cole Haans. So I bought the Cole Haans on sale,” she said.

* Sun-Times | Former White Sox star Bill Melton dies: “Bill and I shared many nights in studio talking baseball,” said Sox Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, who worked alongside Melton on TV. “He really knew how to light up a room. I loved his humor and stories. When he dropped ‘Laddy’ on you you knew something funny was coming. God Bless, Rest in peace Bill.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Harvey settles FOIA lawsuit after denying police body-worn footage request related to arrest: Harvey paid $3,750 to settle a lawsuit alleging the city violated the Freedom of Information Act by denying a Harvey man’s request for body-worn camera footage related to his arrest, according to the settlement agreement. City Council members approved the payment to Brandon Collymore at a council meeting Sept. 9, which was set to be paid within 45 days. Part of the agreement also called for the city to give Collymore a copy of the body-worn camera footage. The Daily Southtown requested a copy of the settlement through FOIA after the meeting but did not receive it for more than two months.

* CBS Chicago | Store owners say new State’s Attorney O’Neill Burke’s tightening of felony retail theft rules is much welcome: “It’s going to help all business,” said Dave Garfield of Garfield’s Beverage Warehouse, which has locations in Old Town, Wicker Park/Bucktown, and several suburbs. “Certain products, we only put so much on the shelf—because we know they’re specifically targeted.”

* Tribune | Future of Northbrook’s Metra station coffee shop cast into doubt: After 30 years, the tiny coffee shop inside Northbrook’s Metra train station faces an unclear future, with commuters waiting to see whether they’ll still be able to get their morning java. The Village Board voted unanimously at its Nov. 12 meeting to grant the Grind Cafe a six-month extension of its lease at the current rent of $275 a month, but to end that lease after six months and issue a request for proposals, or RFP, from would-be tenants.

*** Downstate ***

* WTTW | Why There is a Movement in Some Downstate Counties to Split From Illinois: Some supporters said they disagree with a 1960s U.S. Supreme Court decision, Reynolds v. Sims, which established what’s referred to as “one person, one vote.” “Three wolves and a lamb aren’t supposed to decide what they’re having for dinner that night,” [Loret Newlin, advocate for the Illinois Separation Referendum] said. “Because the lamb is going to lose every time.”

* WICS | New details about Boys and Girls Club lost grant: The Illinois State Board of Education said the grant is supposed to be used to fund *new* afterschool programs, and not permanent funding for ongoing programs like the ones The Boys and Girls Club provides. The Boys and Girls Club of Central Illinois was awarded the 5-year grant in 2015. ISBE continued the grant in 2020 for another 5 years. Now ISBE said they can’t have it anymore.

* WCIA | ‘It’s priceless’: Champaign’s Pregnancy Resource Center and other organizations to receive Toys for Tots items: On Thursday, WCIA is bundling up in the back parking lot to collect toys for children across Champaign County. Trucks, dolls, Legos, and games will be distributed to families with kids of all ages, and some non-profits will also benefit. Eight groups in Champaign County will get some of the toys. One of those organizations is the Pregnancy Resource Center located behind the Salvation Army on Market Street.

* WMBD | Finding more affordable housing is a route to help the unhoused in Peoria: Affordable housing has been at the forefront of issues for many in Central Illinois after some municipalities, including Peoria, made public camping illegal. The moves have put the spotlight on the homeless crisis that is plaguing the area. But looking beyond that, there’s a much bigger issue, said Kate Green, who heads Home For All Continuum of Care. The goal, she said, is to get beyond the noise that has occurred in the past few months and focus on the real issue of the people who are living on the streets, in shelters or even staying on someone’s couch.

* WIFR | Household Hazardous Waste site opens in Rockford for Illinois residents: Illinois residents can dispose of common household hazardous waste items like aerosols, corrosives, oxidizers, solvents, oil-based paints, waste oil, pesticides, fertilizers, batteries (no alkaline), and fluorescent lamps. Items can be dropped off for free. “Worst thing people can do it either pour them down the storm sewer or the sanitary sewer,” says Robert Wilhelmi, Brownfields Redevelopment Specialist. “So, ultimately the best thing and most responsible thing for residents to do is bring them down here where products can be safely disposed of or recycled.”

* Illinois Times | Viper Mine announces closure: Operations at the Viper Mine in Elkhart are shutting down after the city of Springfield chose a cheaper coal supplier for its electrical power plant. The mine, which at its peak employed about 300 miners, now is down to a skeleton crew responsible for dismantling equipment, Jim Smith, president of Knight Hawk Coal, told Illinois Times.

*** National ***

* NYT | How One of the World’s Richest Men Is Avoiding $8 Billion in Taxes: It is just one sign of how the estate tax — imposed solely on a sliver of the country’s multimillionaires — has been eviscerated. Revenue from the tax has barely changed since 2000, even as the wealth of the richest Americans has roughly quadrupled. If the estate tax had simply kept pace, it would have raised around $120 billion last year. Instead it brought in about a quarter of that.

* Axios | Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield calls off surgery anesthesia cap: A major health insurance company is backing off of a controversial plan to limit coverage of anesthesia in at least one state, according to Connecticut’s comptroller. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield recently decided to “no longer pay for anesthesia care if the surgery or procedure goes beyond an arbitrary time limit, regardless of how long the surgical procedure takes,” according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, which opposed the decision.

* CNN | California suspends distribution of Raw Farm raw milk products after bird flu detection: “All Raw Farm operations are currently under quarantine, from herds to bottled product, which means that all raw milk product distribution is suspended,” Steve Lyle, director of public affairs for the agency, said in a statement on Monday. “CDFA dairy inspectors sampled milk from bottled products and bulk milk storage at Raw Farm’s bottling facility on Wednesday, Nov 27, and laboratory test results made known on November 28 showed the presence of the bird flu virus. All milk tested by CDFA remained at the Raw Farm plant and was not released to consumers.”

  11 Comments      


Illinois Supreme Court: Raw cannabis smell is enough to trigger warrantless automobile searches

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From back on September 19…

The stench of smoked pot doesn’t give a police officer the right to search an adult’s car without a warrant, according to a new ruling from the Illinois Supreme Court.

The searches were allowed when marijuana was illegal in the state. But in a 6-0 opinion issued Thursday, justices say that changed when it became legal for adults in Illinois to use cannabis due to a change in state law.

“Since Jan 1, 2020, the use and possession of cannabis is presumptively lawful, subject to certain restrictions,” Justice Scott Neville wrote in deciding the case (The People v. Redmond). “We hold that the odor of burnt cannabis, alone, is insufficient to provide probably cause of police officers to perform a warrantless search of a vehicle.”

Still unresolved is how far police can go if they smell raw cannabis, in potential breach of a state law that requires cannabis to be stored in an odorless container when a car is moving. […]

“The odor of burnt cannabis is a fact that should be considered when determining whether police have probably cause to search a vehicle, but the odor of burnt cannabis, standing alone without other inculpatory facts, does not provide probable cause to search a vehicle,” Neville wrote.

The earlier ruling is here.

* Today…

The smell of raw cannabis is grounds for police to search a vehicle, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The decision runs counter to the court’s previous ruling that the smell of burnt cannabis by itself is not sufficient reason for a vehicle search.

The two rulings create a situation in which, though it is illegal to smoke pot in a vehicle, drivers are protected from a search based only on the smell of burnt cannabis, but are not protected from a search based on the smell of raw marijuana. […]

“In short, while cannabis is legal to possess generally, it is illegal to possess in a vehicle on an Illinois highway unless in an odor-proof container,” the court wrote in the Molina case. “The odor of raw cannabis strongly suggests that the cannabis is not being possessed within the parameters of Illinois law. And, unlike the odor of burnt cannabis, the odor of raw cannabis coming from a vehicle reliably points to when, where, and how the cannabis is possessed — namely, currently, in the vehicle, and not in an odor-proof container.”

Today’s ruling is here.

* From the statute in question in both cases…

(625 ILCS 5/11-502.15)
Sec. 11-502.15. Possession of adult use cannabis in a motor vehicle.
(a) No driver may use cannabis within the passenger area of any motor vehicle upon a highway in this State.
(b) No driver may possess cannabis within any area of any motor vehicle upon a highway in this State except in a secured, sealed or resealable, odor-proof, child-resistant cannabis container that is inaccessible.
(c) No passenger may possess cannabis within any passenger area of any motor vehicle upon a highway in this State except in a secured, sealed or resealable, odor-proof, child-resistant cannabis container that is inaccessible.
(d) Any person who knowingly violates subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this Section commits a Class A misdemeanor.

* From the conclusion to today’s ruling…

In sum, we hold that the odor of raw cannabis coming from a vehicle being operated on an Illinois highway, alone, is sufficient to provide police officers, who are trained and experienced in distinguishing between burnt and raw cannabis, with probable cause to perform a warrantless search of a vehicle. See Hill, 2020 IL 124595, ¶ 18 n.2 (“the smell and presence of cannabis undoubtedly remains a factor in a probable cause determination”). Our finding of probable cause is consistent with the Vehicle Code’s odor-proof container requirement. In other words, an officer trained and experienced in distinguishing between burnt and raw cannabis who smells the odor of raw cannabis in a vehicle stopped on the highway would logically suspect that there is cannabis in the vehicle that is not properly contained as required by the Vehicle Code. See 625 ILCS 5/11-502.15(b), (c) (West 2020). Therefore, the circuit court erred when it granted the motion suppressing the raw cannabis confiscated from Molina. Accordingly, we affirm the appellate court’s decision reversing the trial court’s order suppressing the evidence seized in the warrantless search of Molina’s car.

* Justices Mary K. O’Brien and Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis dissented…

We have concluded that neither the odor of alcohol nor the odor of burnt cannabis, absent any other factor, is sufficient to establish probable cause to search a vehicle. We should reach the same conclusion as to raw cannabis: the odor of raw cannabis, absent any other factor, is not a sufficiently inculpatory fact that reliably points to when, where, or how the cannabis was possessed

  27 Comments      


Question of the day: Golden Horseshoe Awards

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The 2024 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Place to Gather for Dinner During Session Weeks is Saputo’s…

Feels like a cliche but even as I’ve pulled away from being as social as I once was during session evenings, I’ll never not walk out of Saputo’s with a new hilarious anecdote after running into someone there. It’s a reminder of the camaraderie that keeps us coming back to Springfield year after year even when things get tough.

Honorable mention goes to Illini Country Club.

* The 2024 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Place to Gather for Drinks, Etc. During Session Weeks goes to JP Kelly’s…

The number of relationships and issues that have been mended and solved at that bar as a result of people just being nice to each other and saying hello regardless of what they’re fighting about under the dome is reason enough to be faithful. But I also really love the folks who work there.

It got a lot of support, but that nomination sealed the deal. Honorable mention to Trish and Mary’s.

* Our two categories today…

    Best Senate Democratic Legislative Assistant/District Office Manager

    Best Senate Republican Legislative Assistant/District Office Manager

I know it’s often difficult to nominate in both categories, but please do your best. Also, please make sure to explain your nominations or they won’t count.

* Meanwhile, I received this very nice email yesterday from Lutheran Social Services of Illinois…

Good afternoon Rich,

My name is Maizee Miller and I am on the Advancement team with Mariah Heinz. I wanted to reach out and thank you for all that you do for LSSI as a whole, as well as for helping us make a difference in the lives of children in care. As a previous caseworker myself, I can attest that there is no better feeling than being able to provide Christmas wishes to children who would likely not receive them otherwise. Thank you for making that feeling a reality and continuously making an impact.

Sincerely,

Maizee Miller, M.A.
Advancement Gift Officer
Lutheran Social Services of Illinois

All I’ve ever tried to do is motivate the people who visit this website to help LSSI buy Christmas presents for foster kids. Without y’all, nothing happens.

Since Tuesday, we’ve raised more than $11,000, which is enough to buy presents for 440 foster kids. That’s 440 happy smiles at Christmastime for kids whose lives haven’t been so good.

But that’s only about 17 percent of the foster kids in LSSI’s care system. We need to do better, so please click here today and give what you can.

Thanks!

  47 Comments      


Carp-e Diem!

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* WTTW in July…

After months of negotiations, Illinois finally signed onto a project partnership agreement this week with the state of Michigan and the Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with construction of what’s largely viewed as the last line of defense against invasive carp entering the Great Lakes.

The best chance to halt the carp’s progress into the lakes — so far the fish has relentlessly moved north up the Mississippi River — is a multi-layered barrier at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, which has been identified as a critical pinch point. […]

But the partnership agreement was needed in order to release those federal dollars and begin the actual construction phase. (Design and pre-construction has been underway since 2020.) Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker balked at signing, as previously reported by WBEZ, due to what he viewed as the state’s disproportionate shouldering — finance-wise — of a Great Lakes region-wide crisis.

“While the federal government has determined this project is of the highest priority, the taxpayers of Illinois and Michigan should not be the only states to carry the burden of the non-federal share of funding when the entire Great Lakes region will certainly experience the devastating impact of inaction,” Pritzker told the Army Corps in documents obtained by WBEZ.

* WTTW today…

On Wednesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the project, announced it had awarded a $15.5 million contract to Miami Marine Services for site preparation and riverbed rock removal. […]

Brandon Road Lock and Dam — situated in the Des Plaines River near Joliet, roughly 30 miles southwest of Chicago — was identified as the critical pinch point where the carp could be stopped from entering the Great Lakes.

The fish have been making their way up the Mississippi into the Illinois River. Fears are that if the carp become established in the Great Lakes, they could outcompete native species, harm the ecosystem and decimate the Great Lakes’ $20 billion fishing and boating industries.

The barrier will use a multi-pronged approach, deploying various technologies to deter the invasive fish from moving closer to Lake Michigan.

* Meanwhile, Sierra Club…

Silver carp particularly represent a huge threat to the fisheries in the Great Lakes. In June 2023, 408 carp were caught in Minnesota, stunning officials. Millions of dollars a year are spent on the construction of electric barriers to keep carp from invading the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River, with a $1 billion development plan in the works from the US Army Corps of Engineers in Illinois, but it still might not be enough. […]

Researchers say just 10 breeding pairs could inundate the ecosystem.

Silver carp are coming. Barriers might slow them down, but stopping them completely may be impossible. Officials and researchers think, however, that the creation of consumer markets for silver carp could work to manage their numbers.

“If you can create a successful market around the fish, then the markets can be a tool to manage them,” said Ben Meadows, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.
[…]

“A rebranding kind of campaign for them could potentially bring their price up, making it more economically viable for people to go fish for them,” he said.

One way to get the silver carp population under control seems relatively simple—eat the carp.

Thoughts?

  15 Comments      


Roundup: Jurors see Madigan’s list of recommended hires for Pritzker administration

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Courthouse News…

Jessica Basham, onetime chief of staff to former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, took the stand Wednesday in Madigan’s ongoing federal corruption trial. Much of her testimony focused on lists of people Madigan’s office recommended for state board and commission positions to the then-nascent office of Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker between 2018 and 2019.

Basham testified she served as Madigan’s chief of staff between June 2018 and August 2021, following the departure of Madigan’s prior chief Tim Mapes — now convicted for perjury — amid sexual misconduct allegations. During that time, she said she communicated on multiple occasions with Pritzker’s staff regarding recommendations for state boards and commissions. Jurors also saw evidence that Madigan, through Basham, often requested updates on how Pritzker was leaning on the recommendations.

Among the Pritzker staffers that Basham kept in contact with regarding the state boards was Nikki Budzinski, previously one of the governor’s top advisors and now a U.S. representative for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District.

Local NPR news outlet WBEZ reported in June 2020 that Pritzker’s administration hired at least 35 of the then-speaker’s recommended personnel. Basham, per a document jurors saw Wednesday morning, found in 2020 that Madigan’s recommendations had a “47% success rate” — that the governor’s office acted on 43 of the 91 people Madigan’s office recommended.

* Tribune…

On further questioning from prosecutors, [ Basham] noted that a handful of those recommendations actually came through Madigan from other legislators, including Emanuel “Chris” Welch, the current House speaker.

Defense attorneys also took the chance to boost Madigan’s image for jurors, eliciting testimony from Basham about his work ethic and values.

“I don’t think anybody works harder than Mike Madigan,” she said.

Jurors also heard evidence Wednesday that from 2019 to 2021, Madigan’s son Andrew earned some $43,000 in commission related to the Resurrection Project, a client of the insurance agency that employed him.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Other evidence shown to Basham on Wednesday included handwritten notes Madigan and Basham took while they met with Pritzker on Dec. 4, 2018.

They discussed several major policy initiatives, according to the meeting notes. At the top of their agenda was a graduated income tax, which Pritzker had made a central campaign promise. Madigan helped push a proposed constitutional amendment to allow the tax change through the General Assembly in May 2019. To take effect, though, voters had to approve the amendment in November 2020.

Voters, however, rejected what Pritzker branded as the “Fair Tax” after opposition groups spent millions tying the idea to Madigan. By then, the speaker had been named “Public Official A” in charging documents in July 2020 alleging ex-lobbyists and executives of electric utility Commonwealth Edison bribed the speaker. One of those ex-lobbyists was McClain, who was indicted in the weeks following the November 2020 election and convicted along with his former colleagues last year.

The second item on the notes from the Madigan-Pritzker meeting was a hike in the state’s minimum wage, which Pritzker secured in February 2019, signing a bill gradually increasing minimum hourly pay to $15, which will take final effect on Jan. 1, 2025. It was the new governor’s first major policy win.

Other discussion items from the meeting – including legalizing recreational cannabis, green-lighting sports betting and authorizing a major infrastructure plan – were enacted during Pritzker’s first legislative session in spring 2019.

* Center Square…

Basham said there were times when state Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, was somewhat inactive, and the speaker wanted Rita to be “more robust” in his discussions about gaming legislation.

Prosecutors played a recording of a conversation between Madigan and Basham on March 25, 2019.

“So, would you talk to Rita again and make sure that he understands that he should be an active participant in the discussion?” Madigan asked. […]

Madigan addressed the issue a second time during the same call.

“So, you see, if we just let Zalewski put on a sports betting show, well, then we’re gonna bring on another problem. All the pro-gaming people are gonna say, ‘What’s this all about?’ So, yeah, have a conversation with Rita and make sure he understands that he just can’t sit there like a bump on a log. OK?” Madigan asked.

* Sun-Times…

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan’s son made $43,000 in three years after his insurance company landed a Pilsen social service agency as a client, jurors were told Wednesday, in a deal federal prosecutors have linked to Madigan’s alleged racketeering conspiracy. […]

During a follow-up conversation about the board seat on Aug. 2, 2018, Solis promised the speaker “I’m gonna help you.” Michael Madigan replied, “don’t worry about it.”

But moments later, Michael Madigan told him, “there’s one thing you can do.” […]

“Just ask him, ‘Give Andrew something … Give him a chance to show what he, what he can do,’” Michael Madigan said. […]

On Wednesday, prosecutors called Alliant Insurance executive Jennifer Gavelek to the witness stand. She testified that she’d attended a meeting with her colleague, Andrew Madigan, and an executive with The Resurrection Project in October 2019.

  16 Comments      


Open thread

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part in Illinois…

(Don’t forget about our LSSI Christmas toys for foster kids fundraiser! Click here to contribute.)

  7 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Our LSSI Christmas toys for foster kids fundraiser reached just over $10,000.

Thank you!

I cannot imagine what it’s like being a foster child, everything these children have known has been turned upside-down and they have no idea if a sense of normalcy in their lives will return.

Luckily we have people that want to help these kids. And a way for everyone to pitch in.

* ICYMI: Illinois organizations decry state’s convoluted process for overdose prevention money. Chicago Reader…

In 2022, the last year for which data is available, 3,261 people in Illinois died from opioid overdose–related deaths. That same year, Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul settled the first of multiple lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, dispensers, and distributors “for their unfair and deceptive practices in the marketing, sale, and distribution of these drugs,” according to the state opioid settlement website. Like the cigarette lawsuits of the 90s, these multistate suits are one attempt to hold large corporations that profited from opioid addiction and death accountable for their role in the crisis. The settlements with drugmakers and pharmacies collectively amount to billions of dollars and are divided between numerous states that were part of the lawsuits. Even so, Illinois is expected to get more than $1.3 billion by 2038. Fifty-five percent of that money will go to the Illinois Opioid Remediation Fund; the remainder is divided between state and local governments.

Most, though not all, decision-making powers for remediation funds are housed within the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and its Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR). A governor-appointed steering committee determines if these funds are distributed via intergovernmental agreements, expansion of existing programs, or competitive awards. The steering committee uses Illinois’s Statewide Overdose Action Plan (SOAP) guidelines, which include five priority recommendation categories: social equity, prevention, treatment and recovery, harm reduction, and “justice-involved populations and public safety.” The goal is to reduce overdose deaths and related harms. But the half-dozen harm-reduction leaders, large nonprofit directors, psychiatrists, state lawmakers, and former IDHS workers who spoke to the Reader for this story describe a confusing and burdensome application process, promises of feedback for rejected applicants that are not delivered on, and a lack of transparency around award allocation. […]

Midway through November, the Reader contacted IDHS for an update; spokesperson Daisy Contreras responded that the report would be out by the end of the month, but, on on December 1, I found an annual report that had been posted to IDHS’s website on November 2. I emailed Contreras to confirm whether this was the report she was referring to but, as of press time, have not received an answer.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Patch | With Mobile Driver’s License Deadline Looming, No Updates From Illinois Secretary Of State: With less than a month before Illinois’ new mobile driver’s license law is set to take effect, state officials have remained silent on how much progress has been made toward implementing it — or when the public can expect to start using the promised digital IDs. […] Giannoulias’s spokespeople have not responded to repeated requests for information about the program’s status or a timeline for its rollout, and public records requests for records and contracts related to the program remain pending.

* Columbia Journalism Review | Should a Student Reporter Face Prosecution for Embedding with Protesters?: Gohill and his editors thought he’d be treated with some deference. “I was told by my editors, ‘When they [deputies] walk in, step to the side and tell the police you’re press. They’ll let you go,’” he told me. “They said, ‘Once the protesters are out of the building, meet up with Greta outside and follow them in the car and take pictures.’ We never thought this would happen.” His editors couldn’t believe it either. He recalls that one of them told him, “It’s okay, Dilan, they have the right to relocate you, they don’t have the right to arrest you.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | High-stakes school board meeting overshadowed by power struggle with CPS CEO Pedro Martinez: The offer, made over the phone earlier this week, came after Martinez retained attorney William J. Quinlan to represent him in an ongoing power struggle with Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union, which has waged a fierce campaign against the chief executive officer as the union negotiates a new contract with the district. Martinez’s contract limits the district’s ability to fire him without cause and could lead to an expensive lawsuit. So far, Martinez has resisted the buyout offer, sources said.

* WGN | ‘Frustrated’ CTU head on contract talks, getting dragged into city hall scandal: October 19th, Mayor Brandon Johnson sent Davis Gates a text message saying: “Ronnie! Call me. Message from the Elders.” The message refers to Ronnie Reese, the mayor’s former communications director who was fired over allegations including sexual harassment, misogyny and abusive behavior. Reese, like Johnson, used to work for the CTU. […] Davis Gates: “I don’t know what that text message means. If you followed the story you would know that I did not respond to the text message. And what I think people need to also understand is that the mayor and I, we have a relationship that goes beyond work and that there are boundaries to the work that I do here and the work that he does there.

* Sun-Times | City Hall braces for Trump assault on its minority set-aside program: At a City Council budget hearing Wednesday, newly-appointed city Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts was asked what she intends to do to Trump-proof a program that Black alderpersons say is not doing nearly enough to share the wealth with companies owned by African Americans. The city spent $273 million on construction contracts this year, but Black-owned companies got just $18 million, or a 7% share. That’s compared to $52 million, or 19%, for Hispanics and $31 million, or 12%, for Asian Americans.

* WTTW | Potential Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Filed by Family of Dexter Reed Over Fatal Police Shooting: Records: That agreement must be approved by the Chicago City Council by Feb. 10, according to a joint filing from the lawyers representing the city and Reed’s mother, Nicole Banks. The exact amount of the settlement was not immediately clear, but the City Council is only required to approve settlements of more than $100,000. The City Council’s Finance Committee is scheduled to meet on Dec. 10, but it is not clear whether this proposal will be considered for approval.

* Sun-Times | First major cold snap of the season to send wind chills plunging to near 0 degrees: Thursday’s temps in Chicago could feel like 0 degrees when combined with wind chills and as cold as minus 10 in the suburbs. A 77-year-old man died from hypothermia in East Garfield Park, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Winds delayed flights at airports.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Illinois AG: Police ticketing at Palatine high schools violated law, unjustly applied to minority students: However, the 29-page report signed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul also found the practice had significantly declined at the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 schools since the study began in late spring 2022. “OAG finds reasonable cause to believe that the district engaged in a pattern and practice of directing Palatine police officers to issue tickets to students in violation of state law, and that this practice imposed an unjustified disparate impact on Black and Hispanic students,” the report reads.

* Daily Herald | Bensenville president could make $135,000 a year if village changes form of government: If the ballot measure fails, Bensenville will revert to a president-trustee form of government, where the elected village president runs the town full-time as the executive and administrator. The board also approved an amendment to an ordinance that would increase the pay for the village president if that happens. DeSimone is set to receive a salary of $33,000 in 2025, according to the village.

* Daily Herald | None hurt in fire at Elgin homeless encampment: Residents should avoid State Street between Kimball and Wing streets, as well as the Kimball bridge, police said. Metra said service on its Milwaukee District West line was disrupted for several hours because the fire was close to the tracks near Big Timber Road. It was not immediately clear how the fire started and no suspects were in custody.

* Beacon-News | Aurora City Council to vote on establishing education savings accounts for kindergarten students: There are 128 similar programs in 38 states across the country, serving about five million children, Aurora officials said. This program would be the first in Illinois. “This is still a new idea; we’re doing a pilot program,” said Mayor Richard Irvin, who announced the program earlier this year. “We start small, and get bigger where we can include every child and every family that wants to participate.”

*** Downstate ***

* Herald-Review | A ‘new day’ in Shelby County as ‘more even’ board sworn in, lone bid for county farm withdrawn: It’s a new day in Shelby County. After years of long, heated Shelby County Board meetings that pitted an arch-conservative board majority against a vocal, bipartisan segment of residents on a number of topics impacting the future of the county, the county turned a new page Monday with the swearing in of a new board. And last week, the lone bid for the county’s publicly owned 240-acre farm was withdrawn, effectively ending an effort by the previous board majority to sell the land on constitutional grounds.

* WCIA | City of Decatur passes property tax levy: DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — The City of Decatur recently passed a new levy that will increase property taxes. But — City officials said this won’t have as big an impact as you might think. The City Council decided to raise the property tax earlier this week. The 6% increase will only apply to 16% of your total property taxes. The other 84% will not be impacted.

* WSIL | One shelter says they are at full capacity ahead of cold weather: Pastor Kent Jackson with the Family Life Church says their shelter on Sparrow Road in Mount Vernon has been at capacity for the last several days. “So we have a certain level of capacity that we could be at,” Pastor Jackson says. “However for people to just have a warm place to go overnight we’re letting a few extra stay just if that’s needed.” Jackson says they can have up to 28 guests that stay at the shelter 24/7 while they need a place to stay.

* SJ-R | Bridgestone grant provides Springfield Boys & Girls Clubs much-needed passenger van: The van from Bridgestone arrived, said club CEO and executive director Tiffany Mathis Posey, right around the time another new passenger van, made possible by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield Foundation, also docked. The vans had been on Mathis Posey’s wish list, so now two-thirds of the club’s aging fleet is brand new.

*** National ***

* Status News | The Times They Are A-Changin’: Patrick Soon-Shiong is tightening his grip over the Los Angeles Times. […] Nevertheless, journalists at the Times respect that Soon-Shiong is entitled to his own political views. What has concerned them is that he has simultaneously started to exert more influence over the broadsheet’s operations, seeking to marry his worrisome views about the news media with how the newspaper carries out its work.

  22 Comments      


Live coverage

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here to help LSSI bring Holiday joy to children in foster care.

You can click here and here to follow the Madigan trial. Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. It’s the best we can do unless or until Twitter gets its act together.

  Comments Off      


Selected press releases (Live updates)

Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Our LSSI fundraiser is active! So far we’ve raised just over $10,000! Thank you to all those who donated! But there’s so much more Holiday joy to spread, so please give if you’re able.

  1 Comment      


Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Daily Southtown…

Police were called to disperse a large crowd Tuesday night at an Orland Township political caucus after several would-be attendees were told to leave.

The caucus was called by the Orland Township Together political organization, headed by township Supervisor Paul O’Grady. He and others on the ticket are seeking election in April.

But a crowd of some 40 township residents were told by Orland Park police to leave the Orland Chateau banquet hall, 14500 S. La Grange Road, Orland Park, saying they were not invited to attend.

Ushered outside in freezing temperature, the group had intended to take part in the caucus, meant to select candidates to run.

State Sen. Michael Hastings, who said he is assisting some candidates, told the crowd outside that O’Grady and the Orland Township Together group were “circumventing the election law.”

*** Madigan Trial ***

* Sun-Times | U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski could be called to testify in Madigan corruption trial: Prosecutors have previously said they plan to call members of Pritzker’s staff to show that Madigan “routinely sought to make recommendations to the governor and his administration concerning appointments” to state boards. One staffer is expected to testify that, after Pritzker took office, he had weekly meetings with Madigan, in which Madigan would take out a list of recommended board appointments and “methodically” work his way through the list. “Certain individuals were not hired despite Madigan’s recommendation for a variety of reasons, including … their dubious backgrounds; others who were recommended by Madigan were hired, but at times someone else had also recommended such individuals,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

* ABC Chicago | Former chief of staff takes stand in ex-Speaker Mike Madigan trial: Jessica Basham worked for the speaker from January 2003 - August 2021. As an analyst for the research and appropriations unit, Basham prepared memos and other documents detailing personnel recommendations, appointments to boards and commissions to Gov. JB Pritzker’s administrations and others.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Daily Herald | McLaughlin retains 52nd District House seat by 47 votes over challenger Peterson: Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin of Barrington Hills has retained his 52nd District seat by a 47-vote margin, according to results certified Monday by the Illinois State Board of Elections. While Democratic challenger Maria Peterson of North Barrington has until Dec. 9 to file for a discovery recount, McLaughlin said he’s received a congratulatory voicemail from her.

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol News Illinois | How RFK Jr.’s health proposals could affect Illinois: Another of Kennedy’s priorities is establishing healthy diets to combat obesity and chronic diseases. He has called for more regulation of food ingredients in a pledge to crack down on ultra-processed foods and ingredients linked to health problems. “Given the current nominee’s interest, it’s likely something like this could be on the docket on the federal level,” University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health Senior Associate Dean and Professor Jamie Chriqui told Capitol News Illinois. “Usually what we see is it gets tested first at the state and local level before it becomes a federal push, unless there is a champion at the federal level who is interested in making changes.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Embattled CPS CEO Pedro Martinez gets buyout offer from law firm tied to Board of Education amid union and mayoral tensions: An attorney representing the Chicago Board of Education offered to buy out Pedro Martinez, the embattled chief of Chicago Public Schools, according to sources close to the conversations. The offer, made over the phone earlier this week, came after Martinez retained attorney William J. Quinlan to represent him in an ongoing power struggle with Mayor Brandon Johnson, the Chicago Teachers Union and the district.

* Hyde Park Herald | For Chicago therapists, offering mental health care services in-network doesn’t always pay: According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Illinois ranks 35th among U.S. states and territories at meeting its residents’ mental health care needs, with only about 21% of needs being met. Jason Best, a mental health professional who runs Best Therapies, which is one of the largest practices in Chicago with a Hyde Park branch at 5113 S. Harper Ave., told the Herald that’s not because of a shortage of practicing therapists in Illinois, a claim advanced by health insurance companies.

* Sun-Times | McCormick Place manager took kickbacks from snowplow firm that racked up bogus charges, feds say: Charges unsealed Wednesday allege McCormick Place operations manager Dominick Gironda, 54, and contractor James Sansone, 38, arranged for other contractors to overcharge for snow removal, with Gironda signing off on the bogus invoices and Sansone serving as an intermediary for kickbacks from the plowing companies.

* Sun-Times | Ex-prosecutor charged with mishandling high-profile murder case had son wipe phone after being fired: Joseph Trutenko recalled the exchange Tuesday during the last day of testimony in his father’s trial on charges tied to the troubled prosecution of Jackie Wilson, whose case was integral in revealing systemic torture within the Chicago Police Department. Jackie Wilson and his brother, Andrew Wilson, were convicted in the 1982 murder of Chicago police officers Richard O’Brien and William Fahey, but they had their convictions overturned based on allegations of torture by detectives working under the notorious Cmdr. Jon Burge. The pair were later convicted again, and Andrew Wilson died in prison in 2007.

* Crain’s | Chicago cannabis giant shuts down Michigan grow operation as workers unionize, prices slump: Chicago-based PharmaCann told employees Monday it would shutter its 207,000-square-foot LivWell Michigan cultivation site in Warren, laying off at least 170. […] “They told us they just can’t be competitive in Michigan …” Lince said. “We knew they were having financial troubles. But this doesn’t have anything to do with us organizing; we didn’t even have a contract yet.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WBEZ | Property taxes in Chicago’s south suburbs soar: The median increase in property bills was 20%, but in the majority Black southern suburbs, bills went up by 30% or more. This left some residents paying more than homeowners in northern suburbs whose homes are valued higher. Reset learns about the factors leading to the increase and what could be done to lower these bills

* Daily Herald | Wheeling’s proposed budget includes funds to finish flood-prevention project: Wheeling’s proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year includes cash for an already-underway flood-prevention project in the South Dunhurst neighborhood and erosion prevention in Buffalo Creek, among other efforts. The estimated $116.5 million spending plan is about $6 million greater than the $110.5 million budget for the current fiscal year, which ends Dec. 31. That’s a roughly 5% increase.

* Tribune | Evanston’s Central Street added 18 businesses, preps for holiday shopping: Holiday shoppers will see many new facades in Evanston’s Central Street Business district, an eclectic mix of local businesses stocked with seasonal items. According to a nonprofit group that manages the area, the business corridor, which runs east and west of the intersection of Central Street and Green Bay Road, saw 18 storefronts open in 2024. According to Central Street Evanston’s Community Director Angela Shaffer, approximately 90% of businesses between the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum, formerly the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, and the Evanston Arts Center on Central Street are independently owned. Shaffer said many of those businesses’ owners live in Evanston.

*** Downstate ***

* Capitol CIty Now | Milhiser seeks Illinois Supreme Court review to keep Grayson detained: Milhiser has filed a petition for leave with the Illinois Supreme Court, asking it to review a November appellate court ruling that ordered a pretrial release hearing for Grayson. The appellate court found the circuit court’s decision to detain Grayson was improper. Grayson’s pretrial release hearing was originally scheduled for Friday, but the appellate court issued a 35-day delay Tuesday providing time for the state’s attorney to pursue a further stay of the mandate directly from the Supreme Court. The hearing is now set for Jan. 2.

* NPR Illinois | Illinois Product Holiday Market returns to downtown Springfield: The Illinois Department of Agriculture has announced the Illinois Product Holiday Market will be held on December 6, 7 and 8 at the “Y Block,” located north of the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield. The market features a wide array of Illinois products. “The Illinois Product Holiday Market gives local entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their goods and helps them grow their business” said IDOA Director Jerry Costello. “This initiative not only helps small businesses thrive but also allows shoppers a way to support local agri-businesses, fostering a stronger, more sustainable community.”

* WCIA | Former DACC president’s wife asks city council to investigate mayor amid ongoing dispute: The controversy between Danville Community College President Stephen Nacco and Mayor Ricky Williams continues. Williams previously accused Nacco of using abusive language toward him, and now Nacco is sharing his side of the story. “I’m tired of being harassed and bullied by the mayor. I’m tired of watching him do it to other people as well. And I needed to speak out,” said Stephen Nacco’s wife, Cindy Nacco.

* News-Gazette | Danville Council approves grocery tax, postpones gas tax vote; bickering continues between Naccos, mayor: One tax won’t start until Jan. 1, 2026, and a vote on a proposed incremental gas tax increase in the city starting next year was postponed by the Danville City Council Tuesday night. The council voted 10-4 to approve a Municipal Grocery Retailers’ Occupation Tax and a Municipal Grocery Service Occupation Tax to replace a 1 percent sales tax on groceries the state will no longer collect on municipalities’ behalf as of Jan. 1, 2026. Those voting against it were aldermen Tricia Teague, Jon Cooper, Ed Butler and Bob Iverson.

* WSIL | SIU launches partnership with Aisin: In the new partnership, AISIN will pay SIUC students to work at the facility while they’re also working on their degree. The students will have the opportunity to train in a variety of fields while there, including industrial management and engineering. The program allows students to get paid for their 5-day work week, while also covering tuition, books, fees, transportation and parking. The students get to work part-time, while getting hands-on experience in their field, and work on their degree. The students are expected to maintain good academic standing while in the program. They’re also asked to commit to work for the company 2 years following graduation.

* WAND | Land Bank working with Macon County to demolish blighted properties: The process is starting with a $337,000 Strong Communities Program grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority. The land bank wrote the grant application and is working with Macon County to administer the grant for Macon County. This is one of three Strong Communities Round 2 IHDA grants, totaling over $1 million, that the land bank is administering.

* WQAD | Local farmers banding together to help victims of Hurricane Helene: Northwestern Illinois farmers and community members sent feed to livestock owners impacted by Hurricane Helen. On Saturday, Nov. 30, 20 producers from six counties dropped of hay bales at the Ogle and Stephenson County Fairgrounds. The six semi-loads of hay arrived at two locations in western North Carolina on Monday, Dec. 3.

* The Daily Egyptian | Southern Illinois charities fight food insecurity: In southern Illinois, Feeding America estimates that 16%, or around 8,520 people, experience food insecurity in Jackson County, and 14%, or around 9,400 in Williamson County. With more than one out of ten people in these two counties experiencing food insecurity, the need for access to food for everyone grows. But for the people in the front lines of this work, things aren’t always easy. Amy Simpson has been working in the field for over 15 years.

* WCIA | WATCH: Mastodon dig in Illinois: Long before there was a Great River Road, about 27,000-and-a-half years ago, a mastodon once stood atop the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Faculty and students at Principia College have discovered the specimen. “It was also smaller than the skull would be,” says Andrew Martin, chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Principia College, pointing to parts of a mastodon skull. “What you have is here one set and another tooth on this side and two teeth on this side. And each tooth weighs about a pound.”

* Smile Politely | Krannert Art Museum promotes the art of slowing down: On a damp, windy day in early November, I stopped by Krannert Art Museum (KAM) on the University of Illinois campus to visit the Rest Lab. This innovative space is designed to provide a respite for students and community members. It is a “pop-up experience” that occupies the spaces between exhibitions, promoting intentional rest — something often overlooked or undervalued in our culture. Rest Lab is the creation of Ishita Dharap and Kamila Glowacki, KAM education coordinators.

*** National ***

* The Atlantic | The Coming Democratic Revolution: Over the past several months, a small coterie of wonks and lawyers—and a few farsighted Democratic governors—have been working in anticipation of this moment. They have prepared measures to insulate states from the Trump administration’s most aggressive impositions. They have constructed plans to preserve abortion protections within blue-state borders and to protect environmental regulations enshrined in their books; they have formulated legal strategies for at least slowing Trump’s intended mass deportations.

* Tribune | ‘Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary’ review: More than an ironic musical pleasure: HBO’s “Yacht Rock: The Dockumentary” isn’t about that low-rent, intentionally amateur-looking web series (with its absurdly funny origin story for the 1978 single “What a Fool Believes”), but its creators are featured prominently, thanks to their thoroughly unironic and thoughtful appreciation for the music itself. The taxonomy of yacht rock, which spans 1976-1984, includes McDonald (with and without The Doobie Brothers), Steely Dan, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross and Toto.

* Reuters | Internal transactions at food giant ADM spark a sprawling criminal probe: Late on Nov 4, American agribusiness giant Archer-Daniels-Midland cut its profit forecast for 2024, delayed a quarterly earnings report and said it would restate other recent financial results, too. The announcement, the second time this year ADM said accounting “issues” were forcing it to restate past earnings, sent shares tumbling. The company’s stock lost $1.6 billion in market value the next day. ADM’s rattled shareholders are asking questions about the mounting accounting troubles – and they aren’t the only ones.

  6 Comments      


Madigan trial roundup: Solis leaves the witness stand

Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Tribune…

After six days of testimony against ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan, [Ex-Ald. Daniel Solis] was off the witness stand and out of the public eye, perhaps this time for good.

His cooperation changed the state’s political trajectory, contributing to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s improbable election, putting former Ald. Edward Burke in prison and helping dethrone Madigan, the longest serving state legislative leader in the country when he resigned in 2021 before being charged.

It also altered Solis’ own place in city history, from once-respected community leader and public servant to another fallen Chicago politician with dark secrets — in his case, bribe-taking, tax malfeasance, extramarital affairs and visits to erotic massage parlors, to name a few.

In all, Solis has been working with the government for eight-and-a-half years, including more than two years wearing a wire for the FBI and recording closed-door meetings in City Hall and elsewhere. He agreed to let the feds listen to every word spoken on his cellphone. He was questioned under oath about some of the most sordid and embarrassing moments of his life.

* Sun-Times…

Solis’ testimony ended similarly to Marquez’s. Prosecutors last month pointed to a “wholesale attack” on Marquez’s credibility and convinced Blakey to let Marquez testify about related criminal charges brought against former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and onetime City Club President Jay Doherty.

Defense attorneys objected, but prosecutors wanted the jury to know that even though Marquez had struck a deal with authorities to avoid prison, his fate did not rest on the outcome of Madigan’s trial.

Solis’ situation is similar, but defense attorneys did not publicly object this time. They might have done so during a private sidebar.

Still, Madigan attorney Dan Collins on Monday actually asked Solis about Burke. He brought up famous quips from the Burke case like, “did we land … the tuna?” Blakey then told jurors to disregard it.

* WGN…

Federal prosecutors highlighted Solis’ remarkable staying power and willingness to wear a wire for the FBI, revealing Solis’ signing of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement in 2016. Defense attorneys on Monday derided that agreement, arguing Solis was trying to save his own skin and City Council pension.

The government pushed back, however.

“In all this time,” asked Assistant US Attorney Diane MacArthur, “did anybody with the federal government talk to you about keeping your (city) pension?”

“No,” Solis answered.

* …Adding… Capitol News Illinois…

Mike Madigan never offered a dime to you, did he?” Collins asked, his voice raised.

MacArthur objected and after a lengthy sidebar, U.S. District Judge John Blakey told the jury to disregard the questions and answers about Burke. But on Tuesday, MacArthur was allowed to bring up Burke in her redirect, though not by name.

“Did you record … a high-ranking official in Chicago?” she asked, which Solis affirmed. “Was that high-ranking official ultimately charged?”

“Yes,” Solis replied.

* ABC Chicago…

Madigan’s defense team did their best to undermine Solis’s credibility, going through his own laundry list of criminal activity during cross-examination.

With Solis now off the stand, prosecutors delved into a series of charges that accuse Madigan of violating interstate commerce laws.

They say he used phone and email communications that crossed state lines to engage in criminal conduct.

* Jon Seidel is in the courtroom this morning…

  16 Comments      


Question of the day: Golden Horseshoe Awards

Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We mark the passage of time in several ways on this ol’ blog: Session starts, budget addresses, session endings, the Illinois State Fair, elections, veto sessions, Alice’s Restaurant, fundraising to buy Christmas presents for foster kids and the Golden Horseshoe Awards.

Our first categories…

    * Best place to gather for dinner during session weeks

    * Best place to gather for drinks, etc. during session weeks

Please nominate in both categories, and make sure to explain your nominations or your votes will not count. This ain’t a poll. It’s all about intensity. Single, well-written nominations have often beaten out organized spam. So, get in there and fight for your preferred winner.

* Also, just another reminder that we’re still raising money to buy Christmas presents for foster kids who are in the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois system.

Unlike the last couple of years, we haven’t yet had any anonymous matching donations, so I suggest we proceed on the assumption that past unknown wealthy benefactors might not come through this year. But that means your contribution is far more important in 2024, so, please, click here and dig deep. Thanks!

  25 Comments      


Appellate court grants 35-day stay in Grayson release hearing

Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Some background is here if you need it. Click here for the appellate order. Springfield Leaks had the scoop. Here’s the SJ-R…

A Friday hearing to set “least restrictive conditions” for the release of a former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy charged with the first-degree murder of Sonya Massey is off.

The Fourth District Appellate court on Tuesday granted a State’s motion to stay an order issued on Nov. 27 directing Sean Grayson be released from custody.

The new hearing date is Jan. 2, 2025, pending further action by the Illinois Supreme Court.

* WCIA…

“This will allow the State to pursue a further stay of the mandate directly from the Supreme Court,” the order reads. “Absent a further stay from the Supreme Court, the mandate will issue 35 days from the judgment.” […]

Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser told WCIA he has not finalized his appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, but plans to do so.

* Springfield Leaks…

[The appellate court] allowed the delay to give the State time to ask the Illinois Supreme Court for further action. The State had requested a longer stay to keep Grayson in custody during the appeal, but the appellate court found that the State did not show compelling reasons to justify holding him beyond the 35-day period.

  18 Comments      


Open thread

Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

After you comment, consider clicking here to help Lutheran Social Services of Illinois buy Christmas presents for children in foster care.

  3 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Our LSSI fundraiser is active! We’re just shy of raising $9,000. Thank you to all those who donated! But there’s so much more Holiday joy to spread, so please give if you’re able.

* ICYMI: In rare caucus, Tiffany Henyard loses Thornton Township nomination. WGN…

    - Tiffany Henyard lost the Democratic nomination for Thornton Township supervisor Tuesday night, paving a path toward losing one of her two political positions.
    - Thornton Township’s Democratic Party held a caucus instead of a primary election for the first time in decades.
    - As Democratic Party committeeman, Sen. Napoleon Harris alone holds the right to decide whether to have a primary election or a caucus.
    - As of now, Sen. Harris will be among five supervisor candidates on the ballot April 1.

* Related stories…

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* STL Today | Illinois among 9 states poised to immediately cut Medicaid rolls if federal funding drops: With Donald Trump’s return to the White House and Republicans taking full control of Congress in 2025, the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion is back on the chopping block. More than 3 million adults in nine states would be at immediate risk of losing their health coverage should the GOP reduce the extra federal Medicaid funding that’s enabled states to widen eligibility, according to KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News, and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. That’s because the states have trigger laws that would swiftly end their Medicaid expansions if federal funding falls.

* A City That Works | Chicago’s state capacity crisis: City government is being slowly strangled by layers of process that have accumulated over decades. Many of these constraints are well intentioned correctives to past misdeeds. Anti-corruption checks are important, affordable housing should be high-quality, and accountable policing is fundamental to long-term public safety. But without any effort to rationalize the constraints we continue to add, we have a crisis of state capacity: a government unable to get things done.

* WBEZ | Chicago is closing its biggest tent city, but comes up short on promised apartments: Homeless advocates are praising Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration and the local City Council member for coming up with the apartments; they’re also urging them to scrap the plan to remove any tent dwellers who remain. Meanwhile, the people who aren’t getting an apartment are wondering why. […] City officials say they found 63 units for people in Humboldt Park’s encampment. They say that’s the most ever for a Chicago tent city. […] Patricia Nix-Hodes, who heads the law project of the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, said there is an issue more basic than who gets offered an apartment.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WGEM | New Illinois law will require employers include salary range on job postings: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed the legislation in 2023 amending the state’s Equal Pay Act of 2003. It will require employers with 15 or more employees to include the job’s pay scale and expected benefits in all postings. “This is kind of making it clear that there is transparency around those things. People are going to work to provide for their families. They have a right to know how they’re going to be making if they get chosen for that position,” said Frances Orenic with the Illinois AFL-CIO.

* STLPR | Illinois warehouses should be built with storm shelters, state task force recommends: The recommendation for storm shelters would require that they be built specifically for tornadoes based on the size and occupancy of a warehouse. It would amend a section of the state’s International Building Code requirements. “I don’t like the idea of encouraging safety. I like the idea of requiring safety,” said state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, who made the storm shelter recommendation. “We’re talking about deaths that happened in my district, and I take that very seriously. So, I think to require safety is something that we should all want to do as a body.”

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | EPA watchdog: Undeserving Florida getting millions for lead pipe replacement while Illinois, other states have bigger needs: During the past two years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave Florida the largest share of funding set aside by Congress to replace lead service lines. The Sunshine State got $483 million, compared with $471 million sent to Illinois, even though several of Florida’s big water utilities told the agency’s inspector general the toxic pipes don’t exist in their service areas. Florida will double its take during the next two years if the EPA fails to fix the problem, the inspector general concluded.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | City Council puts do-not-hire policy under a microscope in wake of mayor’s press office shakeup: Standing before four former employees of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s communications team who were placed on the do-not-hire list after being fired by their former boss, Ronnie Reese, Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, and Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, said during a news conference outside City Hall today that they plan to push for an easier appeal process for those who believe they were unfairly placed on the list.

* Crain’s | CPS needs to plug a huge financial hole — but where will it find the funds?: Chicago Public Schools invested its federal dollars largely in hiring. But while students’ test scores rose, those federal funds are running out. Here’s how the school district got into a financial hole, what its options are and how this impacts an already messy budget.

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson tells City Club he wants Chicago under 500 homicides in 2025: Johnson floated the benchmark — which has not been achieved since 2015 — during a City Club of Chicago speech, after noting this year’s drop in homicides and shootings. The mayor’s remarks to the lunch crowd of business types and politicos also leaned heavily on his racial identity and faith as he sought to recast the narrative on his rocky year-and-a-half leading the nation’s third-largest city.

* WBEZ | Chicago election officials want more voting sites, as alderpersons float agency consolidation: During the board’s annual budget hearing Tuesday, several alderpersons raised the need to consolidate the Chicago Board of Elections with the Cook County Clerk’s Office. The budget watchdog The Civic Federation and a collaborative of county and city officials had previously recommended the move more than a decade ago, with officials estimating annual savings between $5 million and $10 million.

* Tribune | Pennsylvania-based Yuengling, the oldest brewery in America, is bringing its beer to Chicago: Beginning late next month, beer drinkers can be on the lookout for Yuengling at Chicago-area bars, as the historic family-owned East Coast brewery continues its slow expansion westward into the land of Old Style. Yuengling beers will also make their way onto store shelves in the weeks that follow, ending years of waiting for Illinois fans, some of whom take regular interstate journeys to fill their trunks with cases of the stuff.

* Crain’s | Here’s how one of Chicago’s restaurant meat suppliers is using AI: The orders would come in from dining spots throughout the city: Lonesome Rose in Logan Square and The Bellevue in the Gold Coast, as well as catering companies, pizza joints and taverns. An employee at one of those restaurants would place an order with Northwest Meat for their chicken breast or sirloin steak for the next day. Then someone — usually co-owner Andrew Neva, his father or one of their office employees — would plug those orders into their own system, one by one, to be filled by their West Loop warehouse workers. It was tedious. It took hours. It required intimate knowledge of the meat company’s 1,300 different products. And it usually happened in the evening — a time when few employees are keen to sit back down at their computer.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WBEZ | Cook County is launching a free doula program for pregnant patients: Nearly 1,000 mostly Black or Latina patients at Cook County Health are currently pregnant, and they will be offered a choice to have a doula support and advocate for them before, during and after labor. “This program is a direct response to the stark and unacceptable disparities in maternal health that have plagued Black women for far too long,” said County Commissioner Donna Miller, who spearheaded the initiative.

* PJ Star | Illinois is home to the most expensive home in all of Christmas movies: Cinch Home Services used home value data from Zillow to explore the average home prices in neighborhoods that star in some of the top Christmas movies. The McCallister house, located on Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois, and featured in the “Home Alone” franchise, is in a neighborhood where the average home price is $1,565,804. The McCallister house is a spacious residence that often sparks curiosity due to its impressive size. At approximately 4,250 square feet, it is a large Georgian-style home with three floors, a spacious attic, five bedrooms, and four bathrooms. Earlier in 2024, the home actually went on the market for $5.25 million — well above the amount of the average home in the neighborhood.

* Daily Herald | Gould resigns as Rolling Meadows football coach: Gould, who was the Bears’ kicker from 2005 through 2015 while becoming the team’s all-time leading scorer, was named the ninth head football coach in Rolling Meadows history when he was hired in February. Gould inherited a program that failed to reach the playoffs the previous two seasons after going 2-7 in 2023 and 4-5 the year before. The Mustangs had qualified in 17 of the 18 previous seasons.

*** Downstate ***

* PJ Star | More than 500 workers furloughed at Liberty Steel in Peoria, union says: Liberty Steel is temporarily shuttering its Peoria wire mill as the company continues to struggle financially, facing deep debts around the globe amid a challenging steel market. The company has furloughed over 500 employees at its Peoria facility, according to the union representing workers.

* SJ-R | Springfield alderman: Clerk ‘hindering’ city business by not resigning: Gregory, who went through his own close election with Gail Simpson to gain his seat in 2019, told Lesko “the people, county and city, they need 100% of you. They don’t need 50% (on the city side) and 50% on the county side. This is about the city of Springfield continuing on our business and you having to do two jobs at one time.” Frank Lesko is sworn in as Sangamon County Recorder by Circuit Court Presiding Judge Ryan Cadagin at a ceremony at the county complex on Dec. 2, 2024. “We’re about to come up on budget season. We have to do interviews (for your vacancy), figure out that process and you’re hindering us, bro.”

*** National ***

* Nieman Lab | There’s now a way for journalists to verify their Bluesky accounts through their employers (while still keeping control of them): On Bluesky, an account gets verified by connecting it to a web domain under the user’s control. For example, my account there is @joshuabenton.com, because I put a little piece of code on that domain name, which I own. Bluesky checked that little snippet of code and determined that I am me. For news organizations — or any other online publisher or brand — this means it’s easy to skip past the spoofable @mynewsorgname.bsky.social and become @nytimes.com, @cnn.com, @propublica.org, @time.com, or @npr.org. And if you’re a reporter who owns your own domain name — something I’d highly recommend! — the process is fiddly but doable in minutes.

* Fox Chicago | Indiana residents could see sharp increase in electric bills: Residents in Indiana may soon see a sharp increase in their electric bills, with monthly costs expected to rise by an estimated $32 to $45. NIPSCO is seeking approval for a 22% electric rate hike, which would further increase the already highest power costs in the state.

* Sun-Times | Rahm Emanuel ‘not interested’ in DNC chair, but far from done with politics: The former mayor, now U.S. ambassador to Japan, would not rule out another run for elective office — governor, U.S. senator or mayor of Chicago — even though he fully expects Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker to seek a third term. Emanuel plans to support Pritzker “100%” if he runs again.

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Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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* Big Beautiful Bill roundup: Pritzker says special session may not be needed, warns 330,000 Illinoisans could lose Medicaid; Planned Parenthood of Illinois pledges to continue care despite cuts
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