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Isabel’s morning briefing

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Illinois

* Here you go…

* ADDED: ABC Chicago | AG Kwame Raoul to give update on Catholic Church priest sex abuse investigation: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is expected to update his investigation into sex abuse allegations in the Catholic Church Tuesday. His office says he’ll provide a “significant update” on the investigation.

* WTTW | Illinois Lawmakers Set to Return Wednesday In Push to Pass a Budget: Passing a budget is arguably the single must-happen task for lawmakers and it was supposed to have been done by Friday, but that self-imposed deadline came and went without any budget action. Democrats, who control the General Assembly, say continued negotiations are coming along, but they’re not at the point of full agreement.

* Crain’s | Final Chicago school board map still a work in progress in Springfield: “I think we will get it done,” says state Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago. “I anticipate we’ll have it done by the end of the week,” by which time lawmakers are hoping to wrap up their spring session.

* Scott Holland | Hoping for a productive, substantial General Assembly week: New members from Democratic strongholds have their own learning curves, but Democrats who might have won seats from Republicans are likely to be advocating for constituents trying to make newer voices heard. Add in this being the first budgeting process following the decennial redistricting as well as the fact House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is relatively fresh in his role, compared to the lengthy shadow of predecessor Michael Madigan, and it seems clear getting anything done early was always fairly ambitious.

* Patch | For $1, Tinley Park District Could Soon Own Mental Health Center Land: Backed by Sen. Mike Hastings (D-Frankfort), House Bill 3743 would grant ownership of the 280-acre campus and adjacent Howe Development Center to the park district, as written into an amendment to the bill declaring September as Alopecia Awareness Month.

* Daily Herald | Deal would allow Schaumburg police to access school cameras in emergencies: The Schaumburg Police Department’s 18-month-old Real-Time Information Center is expanding its capabilities through a recent $175,000 grant. It was created with the help of an earlier $552,000 federal grant. Though the information center’s operators can routinely monitor municipal cameras throughout the village, they won’t have the same freedom with those in District 211’s schools.

* Sun-Times | Dozens of new immigrants joining Chicago Public Schools as school year nears end: As many as 50 immigrant children staying temporarily at Piotrowski Park joined Zapata Academy in South Lawndale, and about a dozen youths may enroll in Little Village Lawndale High School, the Sun-Times has learned.

* Chicago Defender | Hunter Celebrates Resolution Creating Task Force on Black Immigrants: House Joint Resolution 18 creates the Task Force on Black Immigrants to study the economic, social and legal status of Black immigrants and provide recommendations for how to better support them — whether through state resources, programs or funding. The task force will consist of 16 members, serving without compensation, with the Illinois Department of Human Rights providing administrative support.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s top cop ends training agreement with Texas firm with ties to ex-police superintendent: Chicago’s acting top cop is ending the department’s relationship with a Texas firm that has been paid more than $1.3 million to train officers and is owned by a colleague of the city’s former police superintendent. The firm, Professional Law Enforcement Training, is led by Byron Boston, who served in the Dallas Police Department with Fred Waller’s predecessor, David Brown.

* WTTW | Indicted Former Ald. Carrie Austin Collecting More Than $114K Annual City Pension, Records Show: When she stepped down, Austin was the second-longest serving member of the City Council, earning more than $142,000 annually. In July 2021, Austin was charged with accepting bribes from a developer, including bathroom tile and a sump pump, and lying to FBI agents.

* Tribune | Developer transforming Northwest Side’s Marshall Field’s complex into Chicago’s latest film studio: Knickpoint Ventures held a topping-off ceremony Monday for The Fields Studios, what the company bills as Chicago’s first purpose-built film studio, at the former Marshall Field’s warehouse campus on the Northwest Side. The developer bought the site in 2018 and plans to complete construction and open nine soundstages, along with creative and production offices, by early next year.

* Daily Herald | Bloomingdale mayor leads effort to go big in remaking Stratford Square: Bloomingdale has been buying mall real estate to facilitate a full-scale redevelopment of Stratford Square. The village paid $2.4 million for the vacant Carson’s department store, $2.15 million for the former Burlington building and $1.1 million for a vacant parcel east of the mall, between townhouses to the north and medical offices to the south.

* Sun-Times | Millennium Park fox family is the latest Chicago wildlife to go viral: The viral fox family joins other recent animals to gain fame, including giant turtle ‘Chonkosaurus,’ piping plover couple Monty and Rose, and alligator ‘Chance the Snapper.’

posted by Isabel Miller
Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 7:34 am

Comments

Back in the day the annual clearance sale at the Marshall Fields warehouse was a really big deal. Huge crowds trying to save a buck. Good to know they are putting the property to use and not just blowing it up.

Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 8:14 am
oh Friendly Bob Adams, you are bringing back memories. great finds that exist in my dining room. they even sold baked goods. it was really something.

Comment by Amalia Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 9:29 am
Judging by the recent revelations out of Baltimore and Boston, I’m thinking we will get some really awful information from the AG update.

Comment by Squirrel Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 9:47 am
I seem to recall a smoking area behind Schaumburg High School back in the day. I guess that was better than “Smokin’ in the Boys Room”.

Comment by Jerry Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 10:12 am