* This one is for my mom, who loved Helen Reddy when I was a kid and she definitely loved this song. Mom tried to raise us right. It didn’t always work, unfortunately, but RIP, Ms. Reddy…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 28 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
Twenty-eight counties are currently reported at a warning level – Bond, Boone, Brown, Calhoun, Christian, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, DeKalb, DeWitt, Fayette, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Lee, Livingston, Macon, Massac, Monroe, Morgan, Pulaski, Putnam, Richland, Saline, St. Clair, Wabash, Washington, and Winnebago.
Although the reasons for counties reaching a warning level varies, some of the common factors for an increase in cases and outbreaks are associated with university and college parties as well as college sports teams, large gatherings and events, bars and clubs, weddings and funerals, family gatherings, long-term care facilities, correctional centers, schools, and cases among the community at large, especially people in their 20s.
Public health officials are observing businesses blatantly disregarding mitigation measures, people not social distancing, gathering in large groups, and not using face coverings. Mayors, local law enforcement, state’s attorneys, and other community leaders can be influential in ensuring citizens and businesses follow best practices.
Several counties are taking swift action to help slow spread of the virus, including increasing testing opportunities, stressing the importance of testing to providers, hiring additional contact tracers, working with schools, meeting with local leaders, educating businesses and large venues about the importance of mitigation measures, and distributing donated masks.
IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county. A county is considered at the warning level when at least two of the following metrics triggers a warning.
• New cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
• Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
• ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
• Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Tests performed. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
• Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases.
These metrics are intended to be used for local level awareness to help local leaders, businesses, local health departments, and the public make informed decisions about personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do. The metrics are updated weekly, from the Sunday-Saturday of the prior week.
A map and information of each county’s status can be found on the IDPH website at https://www.dph.illinois.gov/countymetrics.
Weiss mailed a package containing a $2,500 bribe payment to the senator Oct. 22, 2019, according to the indictment. That was two days before the original complaint against Arroyo was filed. pic.twitter.com/fQuRWF4YaH
Five years ago, Weiss got married to former state Rep. Toni Berrios, whose father ran the Cook Democratic Party while serving as Cook County assessor ruling on property tax appeals filed by clout-heavy lawyers, including Madigan and Ald. Edward M. Burke.
The former assessor is also a lobbyist in Springfield, who clients have included the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators who oppose efforts to legalize sweepstakes machines, like those owned by Weiss.
Weiss is a close friend of Madigan’s only son, Andrew, an executive at Alliant/Mesirow Insurance Services which sells insurance to various government agencies.
Weiss and his mother, Mary C. Murray, have run two Bridgeport-based charities aided by powerful political allies such as Cook County Commissioner John Daley and his nephew Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th). One of the charities, the Benton House, is a former settlement house operating an emergency food pantry on South Gratten, and the other is a scholarship fund.
* Michael Hawthorne at the Tribune takes a look at the Pritzker administration’s actions on Illinois coal…
Illinois already is a major supplier of coal, the chief source of heat-trapping gases warming the planet. After Pritzker took office in early 2019, his administration began clearing the way for a new coal mine, despite a sharp fall in demand for the fossil fuel as electric utilities shift to cheaper, cleaner sources of energy.
Pritzker appointees also tentatively approved a 12-mile pipeline that every day would dump millions of gallons of toxic waste into a Mississippi River tributary, making it easier for a recently bankrupt company to continue digging coal out of the state’s second-largest mine.
The governor’s aides said their reviews of the projects are far from over. “We don’t agree that the administration’s decisions are locking Illinois into a coal-dependent future,” Jordan Abudayyeh, Pritzker’s spokeswoman, said in an email response to questions from the Chicago Tribune.
Abudayyeh said the governor made his intentions clear with a list of principles for a clean-energy future. But Pritzker’s “Putting Customers & Climate First” agenda does not address the impacts of coal mining.
Go read the whole thing. IDNR appears to be at the root of much of this. But the governor is the governor. And governors own.
* I’d heard that Michael McHaney, the Clay County judge who had given the state fits with his multiple rulings in favor of Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), had been transferred.
So, I checked with Clay County Circuit Clerk Crystal Ballard, who said judges in the circuit are on a 6-month rotation and McHaney was rotated to Effingham County.
The Effingham County Circuit Clerk’s office confirmed to me today that McHaney is now there and is handling criminal cases.
Darren Bailey and Thomas DeVore respond to a question from a CNN reporter following their victory against Governor J.B. Pritzker in the Clay County Circuit Court Thursday afternoon.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 2,206 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 47 additional confirmed deaths.
• Bond County: 1 female 80s
• Bureau County: 1 male 70s
• Champaign County: 1 female 90s
• Christian County: 1 male 60s
• Coles County: 1 female 70s
• Cook County: 1 male 40s, 2 females 60s, 3 males 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
• DuPage County: 1 male 60s
• Fayette County: 1 male 90s
• Jersey County: 1 female 90s
• Kane County: 1 male 80s
• Kankakee County: 1 male 90s
• Lake County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
• Lawrence County: 1 female 60s, 2 females 90s
• Livingston County: 1 female 60s
• Macoupin County: 1 female 70s
• Madison County: 1 male 70s
• Monroe County: 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
• Peoria County: 1 female 40s
• Randolph County: 1 male 80s
• Richland County: 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
• Rock Island County: 1 male 80s
• Sangamon County: 1 male 50s
• St. Clair County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
• Stephenson County: 1 male 60s
• Warren County: 1 female 90s
• White County: 1 male 50s
• Will County: 1 male 60s
• Williamson County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
• Woodford County: 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 297,646 cases, including 8,743 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from September 25 – October 1 is 3.4%. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 72,691 specimens for a total of 5,763,128. As of last night, 1,678 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 373 patients were in the ICU and 162 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting separately both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
More than 100 people packed into a banquet room at Giovanni’s Thursday for what was billed as an informational meeting for Rockford area bars and restaurants whose businesses are being threatened by new COVID-19 mitigation rules that go into effect Saturday.
What they got was an hour and a half presentation by attorney Thomas DeVore of Sorento, Illinois, advising bars and restaurants that they are under no legal obligation to cease indoor and food and beverage sales, as ordered by Gov. JB Pritzker, and that they can and should stay open.
Several local leaders and elected officials attended the meeting including state Rep. John Cabello, state Sen. Dave Syverson, Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana and Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury — all of whom assured attendees that they would not enforce or support the state’s additional COVID-19 mitigation strategies for northwest Illinois.
“I pretty much though speak for any law enforcement agency in this county,” Caruana said, adding that he had close relationships with the Illinois State Police director and local captain. “Pretty much though we’re all on the same page. (Rockford Police Chief Dan) O’Shea and I are on the same page. We are not going to go into your bars and stalk you or do anything like this. No fear.”
Winnebago County Public Health Administrator Dr. Sandra Martell also weighed in saying:
“The Winnebago County Health Department has worked with bars and restaurants in our community throughout the pandemic. Despite the financial challenges to their businesses and the greater community, they adapted and implemented the strategies to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. We trust that they will thoughtfully consider all the impacts and will continue to follow the guidelines to protect the community. These are challenging times for all. We ask our community to rally and support them by ordering curbside and enjoying their outside venues.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Another day, another lawsuit. DeKalb Daily Chronicle…
Seven DeKalb County restaurant owners on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health seeking a temporary restraining order to stop state officials from forcing them to shut down indoor dining beginning Saturday.
Bradley Melzer, of Sycamore-based Cronauer Law, is representing the owners of Fatty’s Pub & Grill in DeKalb, Remington Gastropub in Malta, The Lincoln Inn and Faranda’s Banquet Center in DeKalb, Ellwood Steak & Fish House in DeKalb, The Junction Eating Place in DeKalb, MVP Sports Bar in Sycamore and El Jimador Mexican Grill, which opened in downtown DeKalb on Tuesday. […]
The lawsuit – which names Pritzker and IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike – claims the governor’s actions during the pandemic have been “unlawful and unconstitutional in that it defies the County’s Emergency Management Act,” unfairly punishing DeKalb County businesses for positivity rate and resurgences outside of the county.
Mitigations for Region 1 – which includes Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties – were put into place this week effective Saturday due to high positivity rates of the viral respiratory disease in the region as a whole. At the time of the governor’s announcement Tuesday, positivity rate breakdowns for counties included in the region showed Winnebago County with the highest. […]
“DeKalb County is under the Governor’s 8% positivity rate and is being arbitrarily lumped together in a “region” where only 3 of the 8 counties currently exceed that threshold,” he said. “Our clients in DeKalb County have taken this pandemic seriously and have been following all the appropriate guidelines. To now be punished for another counties’ spike in COVID-19 cases is not only unjust, but could result in closing these businesses forever and the loss of additional jobs.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Jordan Abudayyeh…
Packing more than 100 people indoors for a meeting without masks or distance is irresponsible and dangerous. Every single time Tom DeVore has taken his reckless roadshow outside Clay County he has lost because the courts have repeatedly sided with public health experts and supported guidance that keeps people healthy and safe amidst a pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 8600 Illinoisans. The people of Region 1 would be better served by following the mitigations and working together to bring down their positivity rates so their businesses can operate safely instead of allowing themselves to fall victim to DeVore’s self-promoting schemes.
I was also told that the Illinois State Police will be in Region 1 enforcing the public health emergency rules.
A DeKalb County Judge on Friday afternoon denied a petition by seven DeKalb County restaurant and bar owners to delay COVID-19 resurgence mitigations expected to begin Saturday.
Elected officials in Michigan and Illinois say a racially charged robocall has been targeting voters this week with misinformation about mail-in balloting.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson tweeted out a recording of the call on Thursday. The call falsely claims that mail-in voters will have their personal information shared with law enforcement “to track down old warrants” and that they could be added to a list for “mandatory vaccines.” […]
The robocalls hitting Detroit also targeted voters in Chicago, according to Alderman Pat Dowell, a Democrat, who posted on Facebook that she personally got a call at home Wednesday night. Dowell told CNN on Thursday that she informed the Chicago Board of Elections about the robocalls and would be warning her constituents about the misinformation.
“This was an attempt to suppress, in my case, my community, an African American community, solidly Democratic, suppress voter turnout in this upcoming general election,” Dowell said.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Thursday warned residents to be on alert for robocalls with false claims about voting by mail in the upcoming election, advising anyone with questions about voting by mail to contact election authorities.
Voters have reported receiving calls with an automated recording falsely claiming that voting by mail could result in their private information being given to third parties like “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track people for mandatory vaccines, police departments and law enforcement in order to locate individuals who have outstanding warrants, and creditors to help find people who owe outstanding debt,” Raoul said in a statement.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed charges today against two political operatives for allegedly orchestrating a series of robocalls aimed at suppressing the vote in the November general election.
Jack Burkman, 54, and Jacob Wohl, 22, are each charged with:
• One count of election law – intimidating voters, a five-year felony;
• One count of conspiracy to commit an election law violation, a five-year felony;
• One count of using a computer to commit the crime of election law – intimidating voters, a seven-year felony; and
• Using a computer to commit the crime of conspiracy, a seven-year felony.
The charges were filed today in the 36th District Court in Detroit. Arraignment is pending for the defendants. The Attorney General’s office will be working – with local law enforcement if necessary – to secure the appearance of each defendant in Michigan. It’s too early to say if formal extradition will be necessary or if they will present themselves here voluntarily in the very near future.
Burkman, an Arlington, Virginia resident, and Wohl, a Los Angeles, California resident, allegedly attempted to discourage voters from participating in the general election by creating and funding a robocall targeted at certain urban areas, including Detroit. The calls were made in late August and went out to nearly 12,000 residents with phone numbers from the 313 area code.
During its investigation, Nessel’s office communicated with attorneys general offices in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, all of which reported similar robocalls being made to residents in their states who live in urban areas with significant minority populations. It’s believed around 85,000 calls were made nationally, though an exact breakdown of the numbers of calls to each city or state are not available.
Famed for conspiracy theories and slapdash media briefings in Burkman’s driveway, Wohl and Burkman have been booted from social media sites including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for their outlandish claims, including bogus sexual assault accusations against special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.
The Bloomington Election Commission said Thursday it has suspended early voting after learning of a “glitch” with its ballots.
Commission chair Denise Williams confirmed the problem was related to two Eleventh Judicial Circuit judges, Jennifer Bauknecht and Matthew Fitton. Their retention was included on ballots prepared by the McLean County Clerk’s office. But they were inadvertantly missing from Bloomington Election Commission (BEC) ballots.
Early voting began Sept. 24. That’s also when vote-by-mail ballots were mailed out. […]
“We are just brainstorming trying to figure out the best thing for the voter,” she said, adding the BEC is working with its vendors to get corrected ballots printed and hopes to get those mailed by late next week.
Late next week. Wonderful. Great job, BEC.
My own opinion is we have way too many election commissions in this state. They need to be consolidated into regional systems with experienced, full-time folks in charge. If nothing else, force cities to merge with their county clerks like Springfield did. Suburban Cook County, for example, does a pretty darned good job handling elections. Chicago does not.
Equality Illinois applauds the Pritzker Administration’s efforts in FY20 to appoint more LGBTQ, women, and BIPOC leaders to state boards and commissions. On Thursday, the Governor’s Office released the Administration’s FY20 Boards and Commissions Act Report that details the demographic data of gubernatorial appointments to state boards and commissions, including the voluntarily disclosed LGBTQ identities of appointees.
“We thank Gov. Pritzker and his Administration for their work to ensure our state boards and commissions better reflect the diversity of the people and communities they serve,” said Brian C. Johnson, CEO of Equality Illinois. “While there is more work to do to ensure representation of LGBTQ, women, and BIPOC leaders in public service, the governor’s new report shows the results of the Administration’s diligence and partnership with community organizations like Equality Illinois. This report reflects the governor’s ongoing commitment to making sure Illinois is a state where all people are inspired to lend their talents to public service.”
According to the FY20 report, Governor Pritzker has nearly quadrupled the appointment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) people to state boards and commissions compared to appointments made in FY19.
Also, unlike in previous years, appointees in FY20 were able to self-report if they are trans; if they are asexual, pansexual, or queer for their sexual orientation; and if they are intersex or non-binary/genderqueer for their gender.
* More…
• Regarding sexual orientation:
• 3.7% of the governor’s appointees in FY 20 identified as LGBQ (up from 1% in FY19).
• 4% of the applicants in FY20 identified as LGBQ (roughly the same as in FY19).
• Also, FY20 appointees who declined to state or did not respond to the inquiry about their sexual orientation dropped significantly compared to FY19 (30% in FY20 but 52% in FY19). This could mean more appointees are comfortable living authentically and publicly.
• Regarding gender identity (which were new questions added in FY20):
• 1.17% of the governor’s appointees in FY 20 identified as genderqueer or non-binary.
• 1.36% of the governor’s appointees in FY 20 identified as trans.
• The result is that 0.5% of those currently serving identified as trans and 0.4% identify as genderqueer or non-binary.
* More…
• The percent of Black, indigenous, and people of color appointees by the governor in FY20 was 37.6% (up from 32.8% in FY19).
• The percent of appointments who identified as women in FY20 was 48.3% (up from 39.4% in FY19).
* Posted in the order they were received. Press release…
[Yesterday], Rodney Davis’ campaign for Congress released a new ad titled “Lying Londrigan,” which highlights Betsy Londrigan’s lies to voters concerning financial support her campaign has received from the Mike Madigan-chaired Democratic Party of Illinois and corporate lobbyists and special interests.
The truth is Madigan spent nearly $300,000 to elect Londrigan.
Londrigan also takes money from corporate lobbyists, even Big Pharma, breaking her promise not to accept corporate dollars.
And those negative ads against Rodney Davis? Paid for by corporate cash.
A Madigan Machine politician, Betsy Londrigan is lying to get elected.
* Press release…
Today, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan’s campaign released its sixth television ad, “Jayne,” which tells the story of a stage IV lung cancer survivor and how she relied upon the protections of the Affordable Care Act that Congressman Rodney Davis repeatedly voted to cut. Davis voted 11 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no replacement, which would have stripped health care coverage from millions, including more than 31,000 in the 13th District, and removed protections from the more than 282,500 13th District residents with pre-existing conditions.
The 30-second ad will air in the Champaign-Springfield-Decatur and St. Louis media markets as part of a districtwide buy that includes broadcast, cable, and digital platforms.
”Without the Affordable Care Act I wouldn’t have had health care. Rodney Davis doesn’t agree,” said Jayne. “He voted 11 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would strip protections from people like me with pre-existing conditions. After staring death in the face not much scares me, but Rodney Davis in Congress does.”
“Each of the 11 times Rodney Davis voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no replacement he was voting to strip protections for people with pre-existing conditions, ” said campaign spokeswoman Eliza Glezer. “Unlike Davis, Betsy is running to protect and expand upon the Affordable Care Act and will fight to ensure access to quality, affordable health care for Central Illinois families.”
Betsy: I’m Betsy Dirksen Londrigan and I approve this message.
Jayne: I feel so blessed to be a lung cancer survivor for six years now.
Without the Affordable Care Act I wouldn’t have had health care. Rodney Davis doesn’t agree.
He voted 11 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act which would strip protections from people like me with pre-existing conditions.
After staring death in the face not much scares me, but Rodney Davis in Congress does.
* Press release…
Today, the DCCC released “Secret,” a new TV ad hitting Congressman Rodney Davis for prioritizing himself and his family ahead of local businesses in Central Illinois. During the pandemic when small businesses in Central Illinois were struggling to stay open, Davis twice voted against transparency for the federal loan program meant to help – just days after his own family took more than $1 million in loans.
“Secret” is the DCCC’s third TV ad in the 13th District, following “Working For” and “Perfect Match,” which highlight how Davis takes millions in contributions from special interests and votes their way in Washington.
* Was tracking down some quotes this morning and got one back just as I finished up the subscriber edition. So, I’m busily rewriting. Keep it local and keep it polite, please. Find somewhere else to talk about national politics. Thanks.
