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Isabel’s morning briefing

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Illinois

* Here you go…

Sun-Times | Chicago politics take center stage as feds wind down their corruption case against businessman James Weiss:

* Chicago Defender | State Rep. Lilly Named Assistant Majority Leader in House Democratic Caucus: State Rep. Camille Y. Lilly, a Democrat from Chicago, has been appointed as an assistant majority leader in the House Democratic Caucus. The nomination is in recognition of her extensive experience and effective leadership in addressing family-related matters, particularly in health and human services.

* WGLT | Dan Brady explores a run for Congress or return to the state legislature: Brady, a Republican from Bloomington, said he’s considering running for Congress next year, or for the state legislature where he served for 20 years before a failed bid for Illinois Secretary of State. “Over the next few weeks, I will be meeting and discussing with voters, donors, and my family the options I have to serve the public once again,” Brady said in a statement.

* NBC Chicago | Illinois kids age 5 and under can receive free books thanks to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, state grants: According to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office, the new FY24 budget allocated $1.6 million to participating in the Imagination Library program, meaning that all children in the state that are age five or younger can participate free of charge.

* Block Club | Feds Give Chicago Over $10 Million To Help Asylum Seekers As Humanitarian Crisis Continues: The state of Illinois will also get $19.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support housing and basic services for thousands of Central and South American migrants.

* Sun-Times | After days of delays, city moves migrant families from North Side to Daley College: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chief of staff said families with children needed to move to Daley College so the High Ridge YMCA could be used only for single men, who make up the majority of the 500 or so people still sleeping in Chicago police stations.

* NYT | To Fight Book Bans, Illinois Passes a Ban on Book Bans: The law, which takes effect next year, was the Democratic-controlled state’s response to a sharp rise in book-banning efforts across the country, especially in Republican-led states, where lawmakers have made it easier to remove library books that political groups deemed objectionable.

* CBS | South suburban mayors say their municipalities they need revenue and resources: Curry is in the middle of her first term as mayor of Lynwood. She and some other Southland mayors recently met with Gov. JB Pritzker – on the topic of increasing the percentage of the local government distributive fund, or LGDF. “For a village like Lynwood, when our LGDF percentage was lowered over these past years, we’ve lost roughly $6 million in revenue,” said Mayor Curry. “If you hand me $6 million today, I can do some transformative things in my village.”

* Tribune | Chicago Bears: Breaking down the team’s growing number of options in stadium search: The franchise, a founding member of the league, valued at $5.8 billion by Forbes, is looking for a new home. Team officials hadn’t been planning an immediate move from Chicago’s Soldier Field until Arlington International Racecourse went for sale in 2021. They jumped at the chance and closed the deal to buy the property for $197 million this year.

* Axios | Illinois’ state flag may get a redesign. How would you do it?: Turner wants the new design to be collaborative. “I want people from across the state to feel like they are a part of the process of designing our next official state flag,” Turner said.

* Tribune | Chicago Bears defensive lineman Justin Jones rips Green Bay Packers fans: ‘Half of them don’t even know football’: Jones’ barbs came in response to a question about the seemingly wide-open NFC North picture this year after the Packers traded quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets.

* WTVO | Illinois announces high-speed trains between Chicago, St. Louis: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced on Monday a $1.96 billion high-speed rail project that will allow Amtrak trains to reach 110 mph, according to Fox News. Trains currently reach 90 mph on the route.

* AP | The Beatles are releasing their ‘last’ record. AI helped make it possible: McCartney, 80, told the BBC that the technology was used to separate the Beatles’ voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back.” The “new” song is set to be released later this year, he said.

posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 7:38 am

Comments

Per “Justin’s Thought” in the Axios article on the state flag re-design…

Calling grain bins grain silos is just as annoying as calling a corn crib a barn. It’s not the same thing. And don’t get me started on gilt vs guilt. Those misprints in our local paper were cringe worthy.

https://ilfbpartners.com/farm/the-difference-between-grain-bins-and-silos/

https://grainhandlingdirect.com/blog/the-key-differences-between-grain-bins-and-grain-silos/

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 8:36 am
Yes please to high speed rail.

Comment by Squirrel Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 9:22 am
Turner ought to know that design by committee seldom turns out well. Better to let a professional come up with some alternatives and let the “committee” pick a winner. That way you end up with a decent design and some level of public involvement.

Comment by Sir Reel Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 10:16 am
Not sure how to react to the high speed rail story. We spent $2 billion to save 15 minutes of travel time btw St. Louis and Chicago.

As long as freight trains and passenger trains share tracks, we’ll never truly have high speed passenger rail service.

Comment by Steve Rogers Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 10:22 am
===Not sure how to react to the high speed rail story===

I think your reaction was spot on.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 10:49 am
What is the outcome of a derailment at 90mph vs 110mph? Hope the track is in good shape either way.

Comment by clec dcn Wednesday, Jun 14, 23 @ 10:54 am