The following statement is from Congresswoman Robin Kelly, Chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, on the passing of Don Johnston, Democratic State Central Committee member representing the 17th Congressional District:
“I am deeply saddened by Don Johnston’s passing over the weekend. Don spent his entire life dedicated to furthering Democratic ideals - helping those in need, supporting our families, workers and veterans and working to achieve equality for those often left behind.
“Public service was a central theme throughout Don’s life, from service as a Vietnam War-era veteran to Moline Township Supervisor and Rock Island County Board member. Don was well known for hosting an annual military surplus blanket giveaway to benefit Quad Cities residents and social service organizations in need. He had a long career working alongside organized labor, including serving as former U.S. Senator Paul Simon’s statewide labor director.
“Don was always quick to volunteer his time or advice and was a trusted partner in many projects that encouraged people to vote and become more involved in their communities. His legacy of service will be felt in the Quad Cities and across Illinois for a long time to come.
“My thoughts and prayers are with Don and his loved ones. He was a wonderful man, friend, and Democrat, and he will be greatly missed.”
* Press release…
The entire Illinois AFL-CIO officers, staff and board mourn the recent passing of former president of the Illinois AFL-CIO Robert Gibson.
Gibson was the influential head of the state’s largest labor organization from 1979 to 1989, ushering in the state’s collective bargaining law for public sector workers and negotiating major reforms to the unemployment insurance law.
After serving in the Coast Guard during World War II, Gibson went to work as a Steelworker at Granite City Steel. He was named the Illinois AFL-CIO’S first community services director in 1958 and was elected secretary-treasurer in 1963. The Illinois AFL-CIO named its annual Community Services Award after Gibson. The Gibson Award annually honors a rank-and-file member who goes above and beyond in their communities.
“Bob Gibson never forgot where he came from,” said Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea. “He helped build the labor movement in Illinois into what it is today. His charisma and personality are legendary, and his contributions to making people’s lives better are undisputed. His legacy of focusing on service to our communities lives on.”
Visitation will be held on Thursday from 4:00-7:00 pm at Sunset Hill Funeral Home, 50 Fountain Drive, Glen Carbon, Illinois, 62034. Interment will be at Sunset Hill at 10:00 am Friday. He will be laid to rest next to his wife of many years, Martha.
Reporter: What are school districts supposed to do when kids show up and, maybe they’re vaccinated maybe they’re not, and they don’t wear a mask? What are they supposed to do?
Pritzker: School districts have been enforcing dress codes for many, many years. And so they’re expected simply to do the same thing they’ve been doing literally for decades. And, you know, I expect that people will do the right thing nonetheless, and not put their school district in a difficult situation of having to tell somebody ‘follow the rules.’
* And, by the way, I have a strong suspicion that at least some of the same people protesting the loudest about masks are also the types who strongly support bans like this…
Schools “can’t enforce masks” but sure did enforce not letting us wear shorts or spaghetti straps.
Most schools already have rules on skirt lengths, shoulder, neckline, midriff exposure and more. Let’s be real, requiring kids to cover their nose and mouth in a pandemic isn’t a “freedom” issue.
Exactly! They had no problem calling me at work and pulling me away from my job to bring my son a belt because, according to their “uniform code,” he couldn’t stay at school without one.🤬
I think I’ve told you that my grade school lunch ladies refused to serve me because of the length of my hair. I had bangs.
* There’s also this…
My argument also. There's one child in my kids ' school of over 1700 students with a severe peanut allergy and no one has a problem with protecting that child, bc it is the right thing to do!!
* The Mahomet-Seymour and Monticello school district superintendents penned an op-ed for the Champaign News-Gazette. Here’s the end…
We don’t like government mandates, either — trust us: There are plenty sent our way every year — and we believe that our school boards and local communities trust us enough to make the right calls for our local districts when it comes to school (not medical or political) decisions.
Ignoring the requirement for universal masking puts our teachers and building administrators in extremely difficult positions. The continued debate is a distraction from the critically important goal of getting our kids back in school. The “fight,” if you will, is no longer at the local level, since local control has been taken away.
We are looking forward to seeing our students and teachers back in our buildings for full school days, sporting and music events, drama productions, regular recess and lunch times and social opportunities.
They showed us last year that masking was not a big deal — if that’s what it takes right now, then so be it. It’s time to move forward with the 2021-22 school year and to focus on what public schools do best — educate students.
For Marlena and Ben McCoy in Marion, they had their children politely refuse to wear masks Monday, saying it’s not healthy for them to breathe their own air for eight hours a day.
They said at first, administrators at Crab Orchard in Williamson County said to just take the kids home, but the McCoys insisted that if they’re not being disciplined, their children must be in class. The administrators eventually suspended the three children.
An administrator from the district didn’t return messages seeking comment.
Marlena said they couldn’t stand by anymore without fighting back.
“It’s time to stand up and it’s time to fight against what is not the government’s to take,” Marlena said. “The Bible teaches us to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and they are clearly asking something that is not Caesar’s and we’re not going to be willing to give it anymore.”
It was tough to “walk into the fire,” but Marlena said her children understood.
“They’re excited to be part of whatever this movement is going to be,” she said. “My husband made kind of a silly comment, he said ‘your blood bleeds a little bit more red than most Americans right now,’ because they’re fighting what most won’t.” […]
“He’s putting everything on the line, his sports, his academics,” Phillips said, noting her son is a leader on the middle-school baseball team and a good student. “Suspensions are supposed to be for bad things like fights, not for good students.”
Phillips said her son may go back to school Wednesday with a mask in order to be eligible for a Thursday baseball game, but she also has her eye on a national day of action called “Walkout Wednesday.” She said that could have students across the country walking out of schools at noon to protest COVID-19 mitigation protocols.
“Breathe their own air.” A mask ain’t a diving bell.
Illinois jumped from 13th [30th] to 15th among top states for business in CNBC’s annual study of America’s Top States for Business [released July 13th], but some of the state’s metrics still don’t look so good.
The study used 85 different metrics to determine the rankings including infrastructure and access to capital, in which Illinois ranked first and third, respectively.
Todd Maisch, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, says while this looks good, a deeper dive into the methodology is telling.
“The categories they use for infrastructure, in which Illinois is ranked number one, and access to capital, we’re ranked number three – if those were not where they are, we would not be anywhere close to 15, I don’t think,” Maisch said.
Some people just can’t stop bashing their own state. Take the W, for crying out loud. There’s plenty of time and room for other criticism. Plenty. Plus, by not trying to grab a share of the credit, the naysayers are allowing Democrats to take it all for themselves. “And we are going to do it,” promised one top Dem today after I sent over the link.
Governor Pritzker remains focused on guiding the state through COVID-19 by following the science, listening to medical experts, and is proud of all the Illinoisans who have been working together to fight the pandemic—his campaign message continues to reflect that.
This would be the first ad released under the campaign’s new management.
Pritzker: We’re ready to put the full weight of the state behind a full fledged response.
I’m gonna fight like hell for you in the weeks ahead.
We need the federal government to lead, follow or get out of the way.
Announcer: Staying focused on the job at hand.
Pritzker: This is not a time for politics. We have too much to do to save people’s lives.
Announcer: Never giving up.
Pritzker: We can defeat this thing in Illinois or do better than the other states because our people are just better at this. We’ve proven that.
Announcer: Never giving in.
Pritzker: We’ve been operating on facts and data and science from the very beginning.
I reject the premise of the question. The idea that this is a complete trade-off between keeping you healthy and making sure that we have an economy that’s moving forward.
Announcer: And always working to keep Illinoisans safe.
Pritzker: We want to make sure we get every dose into every arm that we possibly can across the state as quickly as possible.
Announcer: JB Pritzker. Strong leadership in tough times.
A growing number of companies are pushing their return to the office back to October and beyond, as the COVID-19 delta variant fuels a pandemic resurgence across the country. Some companies are also mandating unvaccinated employees either get jabbed before they come back or get a new job.
From Northbrook-based pizza chain Lou Malnati’s to online retail giant Amazon, many Chicago-area employees are getting the same message: Stay home, at least for now.
That was not the plan for many businesses, which until recently targeted September as the consensus point of return to the office for at least some of their remote workforce. But the rise of the more transmissible delta variant has changed those plans, with companies large and small moving the office return date back to the fall, and in some cases, next year.
In late July, tech giants Google and Apple told employees they were pushing back the office returns from September to October. Microsoft soon followed suit, and Amazon upped the ante, delaying its office return until January 2022.
Illinois lifted all capacity limits and social distancing requirements for private businesses two months ago, ‘fully reopening’ from the restrictive pandemic protocols that confined public life for nearly a year-and-a-half. Yet, months after the state entered the new ‘Phase 5’ of Governor Pritzker’s plan to rebuild from the Coronavirus, approximately four in ten state workers are still working remotely.
A Pritzker administration memo says 40% of state workers in executive agencies are not reporting to work every day in the office, though several agency heads said their workers are still able to be effective and productive by working from home or by visiting the office on rotation in a hybrid manner.
The internal document, which was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, charts out how many workers from each agency are working from the office every day compared to how many are working virtually or “on rotation.” Out of 48,480 state workers in those agencies, 19,190 were listed as remote or on rotation at the time the July 9th memo was prepared. The figures merely represented a snapshot in time, and have likely fluctuated over the last few weeks as several agencies have ramped up efforts to negotiate a gradual return to government offices.
Nearly a third of those remote or hybrid workers were from the Department of Human Services, which had reported 55% of its workforce back in the office full-time. However, the agency said their productivity actually increased after they sent more than half of their workers home when the pandemic hit.
There are so many distractions in an office, so I can see why productivity might actually increase.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Human Services is responding to outbreaks in care facilities. DHS Senior Policy Advisor Dana Kelly says 10 of the state’s 14 facilities have an “outbreak status.” Kelly noted there are very few breakthrough cases, but you can see several facilities had fully vaccinated staff and residents contract COVID.
The department also reported 155 full-time staff tested positive between April 24 and July 23. Although, only 21 of those employees had vaccinations.
“We continue to promote strict adherence to safety protocols and long-term care guidelines according to IDPH guidance,” Kelly said.
IDHS has provided 28,276 vaccinations at facilities across the state since January. Kelly explained 82% of those, 5,270 shots, went to residents and patients. She also noted 53% of the doses, 6,290 shots, went to IDHS facility staff. 11,179 community members and 5,290 SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid clients also received vaccines.
82% of all patients in DHS facilities have received at least one dose. Kelly explained 79% of patients have received both doses. However, only 53% of DHS staff are vaccinated. Kelly said 45% of employees at developmental centers have received at least one dose. Meanwhile, 67% of staff at psychiatric hospitals received vaccines.
Public health officials from across the state spoke during a House healthcare committee hearing Monday morning. State experts stressed Illinois continues to see increasing transmission, hospitalization, and preventable deaths among unvaccinated people.
IDPH notes the Delta variant is still the most dominant strain of COVID-19 in the state. Contrary to statements by some Republican lawmakers, the variant has spread quickly among people of all ages. The state’s leading epidemiologist says cases of COVID for 5 to 11-year-olds went up 788% over the past month.
“Our 12 to 17-year-olds had an increase in their case counts of 704%,” said Dr. Sarah Patrick. “And the 18 to 22-year-olds had an 1345% increase.”
Patrick says IDPH linked the significant increase in cases to COVID outbreaks at summer camps, sporting events in other states, and community spread. She also explained that just under 1,500 of the new COVID-19 cases in July were children under 18.
Prolific anti-COVID mitigation attorney Tom DeVore on Monday filed suit over Gov. JB Pritzker’s mandate requiring all students, faculty and staff at Illinois schools wear masks in the face of the coronavirus’ more contagious Delta variant spreading across the state.
DeVore filed the suit on behalf of a father of a student in Breese School District 12 in Clinton County, about 40 miles east of St. Louis. The complaint, filed in local district court, alleges Pritzker overstepped his authority in signing an executive order last week mandating masks in all preschools, elementary and secondary schools in Illinois.
“While Pritzker will spill gallons on ink on the history of the COVID pandemic and how his administration has worked to keep people ‘safe,’ none of this obfuscation is relevant to the precise question of what is the extent of his delegated power by the legislature under the [Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act],” DeVote wrote in the 11-page complaint. […]
Unlike most of the suits filed by DeVore and others in the last 18 months, Monday’s lawsuit does not challenge Pritzker’s ability to issue continuous disaster declarations beyond the 30-day period provided for in the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, or IEMAA. While the courts have settled that question in Pritzker’s favor, DeVore’s suit over the school mask mandate alleges the IEMAA doesn’t allow a governor to usurp the authority of school districts.
Hannah has done her usual good job at explaining this, so go read the rest if you’re interested in the details. The lawsuit is here. The EO is here. The Revised Public Health Guidance for Schools is here. And the IEMAA is here.
As a last resort, the Illinois State Board of Education can also remove a school’s “recognition status,” he said. That could mean a loss of state funding, said Jackie Matthews, executive director of communications for the board.
The state board has authority under state law to reduce the recognition status of any school district exhibiting “deficiencies that present a health hazard or a danger to students or staff.”
DeVore announced he was seeking a seat on the state’s appellate court in late July. Prior to his announcement, Pritzker said the lawyer offered a “bounty” for photos of him out celebrating Thanksgiving at the height of the pandemic, even bothering his children.
The lawyer referenced these images in the lawsuit, stating that the governor doesn’t follow the restrictions he put in place.
“While this federal guidance is not binding authority on any party involved, It bears mentioning to the Court that Pritzker constantly gaslights the public by stating he’s following the facts and science until times like this,” DeVore wrote. “When local governing bodies exercise their own informed discretion consistent with the facts and science of the federal government, but seemingly in a manner of which he disagrees.”
The peak hospitalization for those under 12 statewide was Nov. 1, 2020, with 105 hospitalized across the state. That dropped in the months after to 31 on Feb. 1, 2021, 58 on March 1, 2021, 58 on April 1, 2021, 55 on May 1, 2021, and 29 on June 1, 2021. For July 1, 2021, IDPH says there were 57 children under 12 hospitalized, or half of the peak in November.
There were fewer 12- to 17-year-olds hospitalized during that same time frame, from August 2020 to July 2021. That category peaked at 72 hospitalized statewide on Nov. 1, 2020. For July 1, 2021, there were 21 children 12- to 17-year-olds hospitalized with COVID, according to data provided by IDPH.
Um, our current overall hospitalization numbers are just 22 percent of what they were at their peak in November. Our current statewide positivity rate is about half what it is in Texas and Florida. But it does appear to be moving this way.
* Related…
* Manito superintendent clarifies position on masking in schools: In specific, Hellrigel’s [Facebook] letter bashes how the order takes away local control from districts. He also criticizes Governor Pritzker, saying he “repeadedly lied” to the public and encourages people to call the Governor and other state officials with their concerns. … “My intention was not to make a political statement but to provide our families with the contacts they needed to express their opinions to those that can make a change,” Hellrigel said.
* Lambasting Gov. Pritzker’s ‘tyrannical mandates,’ Morton school board member protests masks: “If you are from a surrounding school district, I want you to courageously go to your school board and tell them you will not tolerate the governor’s tyrannical mandates,” he said [on Facebook] . “If you will stand up for your children’s individual rights, we can win this battle for freedom and choice. But we must all courageously stand together.”
* Parents speak out against mandatory masks in schools: “I’m not against anybody who wants the vaccine and I’m not against anybody who wants their kid to wear a mask. But that’s because that’s their choice for their child and my choice and what’s best for my family is for my kids to not wear a mask and have in-person learning,” said Rebecca Flanary, from the Facebook Group Unmask Massac.
Democratic state Rep. La Shawn Ford agreed Monday that there needs to be a unified message. He acknowledged political tensions.
“What you have in Chicago, the mayor fighting with the governor, and the judges fighting with the police, and the mayor fighting with the prosecutors and the judges,” Ford told WMAY. “There’s a gang war between politicians. And so I don’t know how we’re going to be able to deal with the crisis at hand when politicians don’t come together and deal with the problems…”
Also, take some time today to read Evan Moore’s tweet thread, either here or here. It’s not what you’ll usually find and the longtime reporter is quite experienced in this topic.
* Illinois Opportunity Project President Mark Cavers is right about the suburbs being the battleground for Gov. JB Pritzker in 2022 because the suburbs are always the biggest battleground…
In 2018, 38 percent of the overall vote came out of Cook County. However, this Democratic stronghold can be balanced out by the 96 downstate counties, where 37 percent of the vote is located. So, rather than a state dominated by Chicago, if Republicans can drive turnout among their voters, they can cancel out Democratic margins in Cook County.
If Republicans can successfully neutralize Cook County by turning out downstate voters, the election will be decided in the suburbs, where the remaining 25 percent of voters live.
And we just saw that there are voters who can be moved by the right message. In 2020, there were 681,000 voters statewide who voted against Pritzker’s tax-hike amendment but not for Trump.
These voters, predominantly located in the suburbs, have rejected Pritzker’s cornerstone issue, but they evaluate candidates individually. In that same 1892 Polling survey, 10 percent of those who said they voted for President Joe Biden had an unfavorable view of Pritzker, and 22 percent had no opinion. They are with Republicans on the message; Republicans just need the right messenger.
It remains an open question which Republican candidates up and down the ballot can successfully prosecute the case against Pritzker and the Democrats while clearing a competence and character bar that Trump struggled to clear in the minds of many voters.
The hard truth is the Republican Party has been scaring away suburban voters in droves for 20 years in Illinois (with some exceptions) with the issues they choose to run on and the types of people they nominate. Also, the sort of person who can gin up a ton of Downstate turnout is not generally the type who can play well in the suburbs. Bruce Rauner did it (barely winning the primary) and eventually brought peace to the party in 2018, but then eventually created loads of chaos.
