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* Click here to help Sen. Bennett’s family…
I’ve ordered flags lowered to honor Senator Bennett and his service to the people of Illinois.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 10, 2022
* Here’s the roundup…
* Tribune | Downstate Sen. Scott Bennett, who played major role in changes to SAFE-T Act, dies at 45: “We remain in complete shock because it was all so sudden and unexpected,” Bennett’s wife, Stacy, said in a statement shared by Bennett’s Senate office. “Scott lived a life full of service and constantly looked for ways to lend his time and energy to helping our community and state. He worked tirelessly to find solutions to society’s most pressing issues by finding common ground and compromise. To say he will be greatly missed is an understatement.”
* Tribune | Republican grassroots activists vent post-election frustration at state GOP: More than a hundred grassroots activists, defeated candidates and party loyalists descended on a meeting of the Illinois Republican Party’s top leaders on Saturday, voicing frustration over last month’s election results that extended the state’s one-party Democratic governance. But after four hours and nearly 60 speakers, Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy survived a sometimes raucous Republican State Central Committee meeting at the Bolingbrook Golf Club to continue as head of the state party after contending some outside the state GOP were stirring dissent and seeking to challenge his leadership in order to try to boost their internet presence.
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois’ high court makes history: For the first time in its history, the state’s high court is made up of a majority of women judges. And it’s by a 5-2 margin.
* Greg Hinz | How the Dems could still screw themselves in Springfield: I suspect it’s the House that’s worth keeping an eye on, both because it’s larger than the Senate with more folks who can stir up mischief and because Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch leads the biggest Democratic House majority in state history, the kind of majority that the indicted but shrewd Mike Madigan never wanted because it made enforcing caucus discipline much harder. Ergo, says one veteran Springfield Dem, keep an eye on pressure to bust the budget and spend money that a state that still has $140 billion in unfunded pension liability really doesn’t have. That pressure will be even more intense now that House Majority Leader Greg Harris, who had a real talent for getting budgets through, is retiring.
* Daily Herald | What’s on the next secretary of state’s agenda: Among his top priorities is eliminating the “time tax” state residents pay to access simple government services, Giannoulias said in an interview last week. His agenda, which is still under review by a transition team, prioritizes developing digital licenses and state IDs that can be accessed by smartphones to cut costs and wait times.
* Sun-Times | Cook County’s chief judge investigating court employees who got COVID-19 relief loans: Four workers in other county departments have quit or been fired this year while under suspicion of defrauding the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
* Illinois Radio Network | Gov. Pritzker anticipates lawsuits over gun ban bills: “Not a constitutional lawyer but I will say that my expectation is that there will be lawsuits because once it’s passed the people who oppose it, that’s really all that’s left for them,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event. “I believe that this is a constitutional proposal.”
* CBS Chicago | Glenwood police bust catalytic converter chop shop: Police said they recovered a total of 128 stolen catalytic converters with a value of around $54,000. Also recovered was a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, which was later stripped for parts. Along with the stolen items, police recovered several reciprocating saws, a loaded .45-caliber handgun and magazines, and cash that has been classified as illicit funds.
* Tribune | White voters helped propel Lori Lightfoot to the mayor’s office in 2019. Will they stick with her in February: Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato, 38th, whose ward includes Portage Park and Dunning, said Wilson’s attempt to make inroads is working. “I’ll tell you who’s gonna do well on the Northwest Side: Willie Wilson. People associate him with them, that he’s a genuine, nice man, hardworking guy, who’s made sacrifices,” Sposato said.
* Daily Herald | Road salt can harm the environment. So is there a better way to treat roads? Experts have ideas.: Kuykendall said one of the best strategies municipalities can adopt is applying a salt brine liquid mixture to roads both before and after icy storms. The mixture typically consists of salt brine, liquid calcium chloride and beet juice, which all work together to use less salt more effectively.
* WJOL | Changes To One Day Rest in Seven Act Take Effect Jan. 1: Illinois officials are informing employers in state about changes to the One Day Rest in Seven Act set to take effect January 1st. The One Day Rest in Seven Act gives workers the right to a day of rest every workweek and breaks for meals or rest during daily work shifts. Changes include giving employees a 20-minute break if working a 12-hour shift or longer, and at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in every consecutive seven-day period. Also, all employers covered by the act must post a notice at the workplace notifying employees of their rights under the Act.
* Ralph Martire | Illinois education funding shows benefits of bipartisanship: The reality is, it’d be in everyone’s interest if bipartisanship did not become a quaint vestige of America’s political past, but rather a rational way to resolve complex, societal problems. For proof, look no further than the great state of Illinois, and its relatively new school funding formula — the “Evidence Based Formula for Student Success” or “EBF.” As its name suggests, the EBF ties education funding to covering what the evidence shows works to enhance student achievement.
* Crain’s | Rivian to be added to Nasdaq 100: Rivian Automotive Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. will be joining the Nasdaq 100 Index as part of its annual rebalancing, which adjusts the tech-heavy benchmark’s composition for changes in market capitalization.
* Sun-Times | Docs to Pritzker: Truck diesel pollution is killing Illinoisans: More than 130 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals are urging Gov. J.B. Pritzker to save Illinoisans’ lives by speeding up the state’s transition to electric trucks that will reduce the amount of diesel fuel air pollution.
* Daily Herald | Children’s Tylenol, Motrin scarce as ‘tridemic’ hits northern Illinois: Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are the two most common medicines for treating babies and children with fevers or other illnesses at home. The Food and Drug Administration has not released an alert of any official shortage or recall.
* Washington Post | The big Republican Latino realignment didn’t happen in 2022. What now?: Leading up to Election Day last month, Republicans were poised to claim major victories, from a red wave in the House to control of the Senate. As part of those grand expectations, they hoped the results would show that Latino voters were continuing to join their ranks. That prediction proved off the mark.
* Crain’s | Latest Fulton Market plans could add 2,100 apartments, office space: On Dec. 14, all three firms will present their plans to the Chicago Committee on Design, which has posted their designs on its website. They’re joining a herd of developers that have stampeded into Fulton Market the past several years, putting up office buildings, hotels and, more recently, lots of apartments.
* Sun-Times | City announces permanent bus lanes on Chicago Avenue; advocates worry about enforcement, frequency: Despite the city making “important changes,” activists worry infrequent service and scofflaw motorists will undermine the changes.
* The Ringer | This Secret Society in Washington, D.C., Has One Agenda: Fly, Eagles, Fly: Washington media outlets, like the city itself, are crawling with fans of every NFL team. But Eagles fans are particularly noisy. The email thread is the place where they ponder the bad things that could happen after they start the season 11-1. As Anne Caprara, an emailer who is chief of staff to Illinois governor JB Pritzker, says, “You stumbled onto the Illuminati of Philly sports.”
* Daily Herald | How families can safely gather during viral season: If families have plans to gather but want to be mindful about potential transmission, Kusma suggests members either do a mini quarantine one week ahead of the event or proactively limit the number of other people they see right before the holiday.
* Crain’s | How City Hall’s World Cup withdrawals proved prescient: But come 2026, the city will miss out on the action because, in 2018, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel withdrew Chicago from the 2026 bid, citing taxpayer risk and demands from FIFA, soccer’s governing body. What’s less well-remembered: In early 2010, Chicago also withdrew from a U.S. World Cup bid (for 2022) citing concerns about the cost to taxpayers and “a tough economy.”
* Daily Star | Earth hit by intense blast of energy that’s ‘unlike any we have seen before’: The event was detected in December 2021 by NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The gamma-ray burst was significantly longer than average, which might normally suggest it had been produced by the collapse of a massive star into a supernova.
* Shelly Palmer | ChatGPT In Its Own Words: ChatGPT has been all over the news. Last week, I asked it to help me write a blog post about Facebook – it did a very good job. Yesterday, just for fun, my son Brent and I asked it for 250 word answers to questions about history and philosophy. ChatGPT returned college-level answers. What exactly is ChatGPT? I asked it. Here’s its answer to the input “a five paragraph essay describing ChatGPT in your own words.”
posted by Isabel Miller
Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 7:50 am
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Interesting read in the Trib with the GOP in disarray.
Like this. This is Republican National Committeeman Richard Porter states how this GOP is seen…
“We have to recognize a lot of people see us as angry white people that cannot be trusted to govern,” Porter said. “Now know that’s not true, but they bought it. All right. We have to recognize the face we present to the public is who we are.”
Yep. It’s who you are. Own it.
Why? Well, let’s revisit how Chairman Tracy wanted/s *HIS* GOP ?
=== So, whatever your political leanings, wherever you live - if you want to fight corruption, restore fiscal sanity, grow our economy, and stand for law and order - you’re on our team. It’s time to suit up, work together, and bring home some wins for the people of Illinois.”===
Here’s the thing… what Tracy thought was a good way to keep the GOP factions… it turns out the ONE faction of, as Porter correctly states…
“… angry white people that cannot be trusted to govern,”
Yeah. You lost a lotta folks, Chairman Tracy… some don’t identify with the GOP you wanted embraced.
Now it’s imploded to…
“… angry white people that cannot be trusted to govern,”
Illinois spoke. They don’t want that.
Evolve or die.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 8:24 am
All the best to Senator Bennett’s family and loved ones. I was 18 when my dad passed, also at 45. Though he’s now been dead longer than years he was alive, it never really goes away. The unexpectedness of it is what you never really get past.
Comment by ddp76 Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 8:31 am
= “Republicans come in many flavors,” Porter said, prompting a man to reply, “No. One-flavor Republicans,” =
And that is exactly the GOP’s problem: a base that refuses to accept those who don’t agree with them 100%. Whatever happened to the “big tent”? It’s gone, and unless and until they get it back, the Republican Party is dead in Illinois.
Comment by JoanP Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 8:33 am
Glad to see Anne Caprara has “outside” interests.
“Caprara, who was also at the game, says: ‘I cried because there was a group of Patriots fans around me who looked like someone had just shot their dog, and it was the happiest I’ve ever been.’ “
Comment by Anyone Remember Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 11:01 am
Any government employee who obtained a fraudulent PPP loan should be discharged (as well as prosecuted).
Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 11:49 am
==The One Day Rest in Seven Act gives workers the right to a day of rest every workweek and breaks for meals or rest during daily work shifts. Changes include giving employees a 20-minute break if working a 12-hour shift or longer, and at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in every consecutive seven-day period==
It’s sad when you have to pass a law like this. I envy other countries who don’t live to work, they work to live. My wife is from another country and work isn’t their life. They work so that they can have money to enjoy their lives. They get mandatory paid time off and it’s almost mandated that you take that time off every year. I wish we could get that mentality in this country.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 1:25 pm
“Also recovered was a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, which was later stripped for parts.”
What’s the point of police even recovering a vehicle if it’s only going to be stripped for parts later??
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Dec 12, 22 @ 4:18 pm