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* Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias…
For the second time in recent weeks, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has uncovered that Illinois license plate camera data has been shared with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and has ordered that access be shut off.
In its continued effort to expand the auditing process for automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems, Giannoulias’ office discovered that the Motorola Solutions technology was being utilized by the Village of Forest Park’s Police Department to give CBP access to its license plate camera data. Motorola has since worked with Forest Park to shut off and disable the data sharing capabilities with CBP and other federal agencies at the direction of the Secretary of State’s office.
This comes off the heels of last week’s announcement where the audit conducted by Giannoulias’ office uncovered that Flock Safety, operator of the largest automated license plate reader system in the nation, had allowed CBP to access Illinois license plate cameras. Following the discovery, Giannoulias ordered the company to shut off access to CBP immediately. In addition, Flock has since paused a nationwide pilot project and data sharing with CBP and other federal agencies.
* Sun-Times…
Deploying National Guard troops to Chicago could cost taxpayers nearly $1.6 million per day, according to a nonpartisan federal budget research organization.
The estimate is based on 3,000 troops potentially being sent to Chicago, though no official number has been made public.
The National Priorities Project, a research group that’s part of the progressive nonprofit Institute for Policy Studies, used a figure of $530 per Guard member per day, which was the estimated cost in 2020 when National Guard members were deployed to Washington, D.C., during protests following the death of George Floyd.
The ultimate price tag for a Chicago deployment would be affected by factors such as the pay scale of individual National Guard members and whether the government provides them with housing, said Hanna Homestead, a research analyst with the National Priorities Project.
* Tribune | Security fencing at Chicago’s federal courthouse an early sign of Trump immigration push: The fencing, which surrounds the high-rise courthouse at 219 S. Dearborn St. and is buttressed by concrete barriers, offers added protection should protests break out across the street at Federal Plaza, officials said. The block has been the site of numerous rallies challenging Trump administration initiatives, particularly immigration. Anyone seeking to enter the courthouse Friday morning was being directed to a single entrance through the fence on the northeast corner of Dearborn and Monroe streets. Once past it, however, there was no additional visible security inside the building.
* Sun-Times | Volunteers on ICE patrol in Pilsen, looking for agents: Cepeda and the other patrollers are among the many residents and advocates hoping to prevent or stop federal officials from making arrests by warning families of ICE sightings. Cepeda says they scout alleyways, parking lots and the main streets around the schools while parents are dropping off or waiting for their kids. The idea is to sound the alarm if they spot ICE or other federal agents before they can start making arrests. Their main focus now is around Pilsen schools, but Cepeda says they also want to help protect churches, community organizations and businesses, like restaurants and car washes.
* WTTW | CPS Rebuffs Remote Learning Calls, Says School Remains ‘Best and Safest’ Place for Students Amid ICE and National Guard Fears: “Our students are finalizing their third week of the school year, and our focus remains on teaching and learning,” a CPS spokesperson said in a statement. “Schools are consistently following established procedures to welcome students, provide in-person instruction, and keep families informed of any updates. We remain committed to making sure every CPS school is a safe and supportive place for students each day.”
* Tribune | With Chicago under a microscope, anti-violence group responds to mass shootings in Bronzeville: “I can tell you we’re going to continue to do our job,” said Bamani Obadele, community engagement director for Acclivus, Inc., a community organization that provides violence intervention programs to help people in Chicago’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. “We’re not taking any days off.” City violence data reviewed by the Tribune found that, after last weekend, 10 mass shootings have occurred in Bronzeville since the start of 2019. Cook County court records indicate charges have not been filed in any.
* Crain’s | Free health care clinic moves to shield patients from ICE ahead of surge: CEO Stephanie Wilding said today Community Health’s strategy to ensure patients get access to health care, and stay safe doing it, includes encouraging telehealth visits, using its partnership with Uber Health to transport patients to its flagship clinic, coordinating access to medications and “having someone at the door of our facility to ensure only patients, their companions and those with appointments” are the only ones let in.
* Sun-Times | Chicago’s invisible property owners: Like many tenants, Carter knew the name of his property management company. But he didn’t know the names of the people who hired them: the investors ultimately accountable for the caved-in bathroom ceiling, the recurring heat shut-offs and litany of other building code violations he had endured in the past two years. […] In some cases, the anonymity that LLCs provide makes it next to impossible to find out what other buildings a landlord owns, impeding the city’s ability to go after neglectful property owners in a systematic way.
* Crain’s | Re/Max stakes claim in North Shore turf war: The acquisition of one real estate mega-brokerage by another created an opportunity for a third brokerage to dive into the lucrative North Shore market. Compass, the national powerhouse that acquired Chicago market leader @properties Christie’s International Real Estate in December, is selling offices that were made redundant in five North Shore towns. Janice Corley, who owns five Re/Max brokerages in Chicago and the suburbs, is doubling that number by buying the Compass offices in Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forest and Glenview, she announced Sept. 3.
* Block Club | Harvest Moon Walk Aims To Shine A Light On Avondale’s Forgotten Riverfront History: “As a city of industry, before there were rails, it was water. That was the transportation network and a vital link between the nation, connecting the Great Lakes Basin all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in New Orleans,” Pogorzelski said. “It played such a pivotal role — but what made it so attractive to industry kept residents away.” The free walk will begin 7 p.m. Sunday at Burning Bush Brewery, 4014 N. Rockwell St., and organizers ask that those interested RSVP on Facebook for a headcount. The walk should last 70-90 minutes, but participants can leave whenever they want, organizers said.
* NBC Chicago | Nearly 100 cars found in Chicago River amid search for missing couple: A crew of divers from downstate Illinois were searching for a missing couple from the 1970s when they uncovered something else beneath the water’s surface. The search efforts, which had been ongoing for at least a week, saw divers come across nearly 100 cars in the river. […] As of Thursday afternoon, the group said it had discovered 97 vehicles, though it anticipates topping 100 shortly. Crews had been in the water searching for Edward and Stefanie Andrews, a married couple who went missing on May 15, 1970. The couple disappeared after leaving a dinner party and crews were searching the water to see if their vehicle may have gone into the River that night. “We’ve searched extensively downtown, as well as other teams throughout the years. Unfortunately, they’ve never been found,” Bussick said. “But we wanted to expand our search in the event that he was confused that night.”
* Daily Herald | ‘You are not alone’: Suburban communities try to reassure residents ahead of threatened immigration raids: Mundelein, North Chicago and Lake County officials have issued online statements emphasizing their law enforcement officers won’t participate in federal immigration activities. The statements also stress that anyone living in the U.S. has legal rights regardless of citizenship status, and they provided links to groups that can provide information or assistance regarding immigration issues. Aurora officials on Friday emphasized their commitment to the city’s immigrant population ahead of a Mexican historical and cultural celebration scheduled for this weekend.
* Daily Herald | Trump’s National Guard threats upend Mexican parade plans in Waukegan, Chicago: One Mexican Independence Day parade in the Chicago area is postponed. Another doubled its volunteer staff to ensure celebrators’ safety. A third parade’s organizers are watching closely, poised to pivot if the political climate worsens. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he plans to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, casting a shadow over the region’s upcoming Mexican Independence Day festivities. The Sept. 16 holiday is usually a time of joy in the Chicago area, where more than 20% of the city’s population is Mexican. Now, community leaders are trying to balance residents’ safety and their cultural celebration.
* Daily Herald | Fox River Grove adds sales tax, plans to lower other fees and taxes: Fox River Grove will add a 1% sales tax starting next year, with officials planning to reduce other taxes and fees for residents to offset the new tax. Board trustees agreed in a 5-1 vote Tuesday to enact a 1% non-home-rule sales tax, with Trustee David Joseph being the sole no vote. At the same meeting, trustees also unanimously approved substantial cuts to a telecommunications tax imposed on residents and businesses.
* Daily Southtown | Lansing District 171 teachers’ union to pay custodian $110,000 in racial discrimination lawsuit settlement: The Sunnybrook Educational Association agreed to pay District 171 custodian Eugene Johnson $110,000 after Johnson alleged the union discriminated against him when it contested his promotion to head custodian in November 2018. […] District 171 Superintendent Erika Millhouse-Pettis said, as of Friday, the union had not made the district aware of the consent decree reached with the EEOC. She confirmed Johnson was not promoted since the union grieved his promotion to head janitor in 2018.
* Evanston Roundtable | Evanston on track to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals: The task force and city staff members agreed in July to put together a presentation that would focus on goals Evanston was supposed to meet in 2025 and earlier, as well as some goals that don’t have a firm timeline. As the RoundTable previously reported, the city has a mixed record of meeting CARP goals. It did not fully meet most of them for 2025, though it saw more progress on some than others, according to a presentation at the June 12 Environmental Board meeting.
* ProPublica | The Floods Kept Coming. He Needed to Grow a Crop That Would Thrive in Water — or to Quit: Corn, soy and wheat were the crops Gerard, now 55, was growing in the early 1990s when he took over his family farm near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. By then, the floods were already coming more often. Gerard’s grandfather remembered them in 1943 and 1973, but as Gerard began farming, they came every two years — in ’93, ’95 and ’97. […] “I could grow something that would grow in water,” he said. Or quit. But for many farmers, making the transition to a new crop is nearly impossible, as ProPublica and Capitol News Illinois reported this week. Although rice is a commodity crop and Gerard receives insurance subsidies and commodity supports, corn and soybeans dominate U.S. agriculture, especially in the Midwest, and that’s what federal subsidies are set up to support.
* Manufacturing Dive | Boeing begins hiring to replace striking workers at Missouri, Illinois plants: Boeing has begun the hiring process to replace workers on strike at its fighter jet and weapon systems plants in St. Louis and St. Charles, Missouri, and Mascoutah, Illinois. It’s been a month since more than 3,200 Boeing workers, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837, went on strike at the planemaker’s defense facilities after they voted to reject the company’s second contract offer. Boeing’s “last, best and final offer” withdrew alternative workweek schedules, added a reward for good attendance at $0.50 per hour, and a $5,000 bonus, contingent upon the contract being ratified by the end of the day of Aug. 3. Since the union voted to reject the offer, Boeing said it withdrew the $5,000 ratification bonus.
* WJBD | Centralia Sentinel, Salem Times-Commoner, 13 Other Papers to be sold to Kentucky based group: The family that owns the Centralia Sentinel, Salem Times Commoner, Carlyle Union Banner, Washington County News in Nashville, and the Greenville Advocate has sold the newspapers and 11 others to the Paxton Media Group based in Paducah, Kentucky. The Hoskins family, who owned Better Newspapers, Inc., is selling the newspapers according to a news release from John Cribb of Cribb and Associates, who represented the Hoskins family in the transaction. The terms were not disclosed.
* WCIA | Champaign’s culinary scene getting a new flavor: Bezza Ayalew, the owner of the new restaurant, said that his original plan was to open before the pandemic, but is he grateful that it’s coming now instead. Ayalew is from Ethiopia, but has lived in Champaign for almost twenty years. The closest authentic Ethiopian restaurant is in Chicago or Indianapolis.
* Muddy River News | Old Adams County Courthouse brought back to life in miniature form: Todorov said it was his brother who inspired him to get into doing scale models. Todorov is especially interested in buildings that are of historic significance. While there are still many historic structures standing, he says he was drawn to the buildings that are no longer here. So based on old photos, he began to create. His first choice was the third Adams County Courthouse. It was built in 1876 but was damaged by a tornado in 1945 and then demolished four years later.
* AP | Gregory Bovino, head of Los Angeles campaign, shows how immigration agents rack up arrests: While Trump’s aggressive deportation plans accelerate, Bovino carefully hones his image, both his own and the one projected to the country that shows well-armed officers moving swiftly into place to make arrests. […] Undeterred by court orders over racial profiling, Bovino also revels in breaking norms. Agents have smashed car windows, blown open a door to a house and patrolled the fabled MacArthur Park on horseback. Bovino often appears in tactical gear, as he did outside Gov. Gavin Newsom’s news conference on congressional redistricting on Aug. 14.
* CBS | Appeals court rules Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site can stay open: But on Thursday, the panel of appellate court judges froze that ruling. The court concluded that state and federal officials are likely to succeed in showing that the site isn’t subject to the National Environmental Policy Act, because it is a state-operated facility and Florida has not yet received any federal reimbursement for the cost of running the site.
* AP | US hiring stalls with employers reluctant to expand in an economy grown increasingly erratic: The Labor Department reported Friday that U.S. employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — added just 22,000 jobs last month, down from 79,000 in July and well below the 80,000 that economists had expected. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3% last month, also worse than expected and the highest since 2021.
posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Sep 5, 25 @ 2:32 pm
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Lucky you, Champaign (banned punctuation mark). Ethiopian food is superb, and it’s very easy to get the hang of eating with injera (especially the ones on the bottom of the serving tray, they’ve spent the entire meal soaking up the flavors and sauces).
Bon appetit.
Comment by Northsider Friday, Sep 5, 25 @ 3:20 pm
$1,600,000 per day at a time when crime is the lowest its been in Chicago in years. MAGA really cares about the national debt I see.
A more cost effective solution would be to use that money as grants and hire more CPD officers who actually know the streets of the city.
Comment by low level Friday, Sep 5, 25 @ 3:42 pm
I have no idea what the cost of a deployment would be. However, I do question the “non-partisan” status of the progressive nonprofit Institute for Policy Studies mentioned. Sounds like the group might lean a bit to the left.
Comment by The Magnificent Purple Walnut Friday, Sep 5, 25 @ 4:48 pm
Brandon complains everyday about business as usual and how he is a savant at implementing new ways- explain appointing an alderman solely because his dad retired and is a close ally?
Comment by Sue Friday, Sep 5, 25 @ 4:54 pm