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Isabel’s morning briefing

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Illinois

* Here you go…

* The Pantagraph | Illinois ‘most promising state’ for clean energy investments, Pritzker says in Decatur stop: Pritzker emphasized his administration’s dedication to clean energy at the groundbreaking of a new Electric Vehicle Innovation Hub at TCCI Manufacturing. The $45 million project will allow both research for manufacturers and training programs targeting the next generation of EV workers.

* Tribune | More than 47,000 Illinois residents lose Medicaid as state begins asking recipients to prove eligibility: More Illinois residents are expected to lose coverage in coming months. The people who lost it this month were only among the first group asked to prove they still qualified for Medicaid. The state plans to send letters to new groups of Medicaid recipients each month, asking them to prove their eligibility.

* WCBU | State watchdog investigating employees accused of bilking federal pandemic aid program: Neil Olson, general counsel at the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General, confirmed that “OEIG has been investigating allegations of Paycheck Protection Program fraud by state employees under our jurisdiction.” The review, he said, is “systematic,” involving multiple state agencies and the other governing bodies under OEIG’s jurisdiction, which include state universities, boards and commissions, and regional transit boards.

* Illinois Times | Statehouse to decide how to regulate hemp: Growers of hemp have learned how to derive a multitude of marketable compounds from it. The two most commercially important ones are cannabidiol, or CBD, and delta-8 THC. HB 4101 would require that such hemp derivatives be tested for impurities and restricted to buyers who are at least 21 years old. Representatives of the cannabis industry in Illinois oppose the measure, preferring that the sale of all hemp derivatives be banned until their safety has been proven.

* Center Square | Pritzker expected to veto bill giving Ameren rights to build transmission lines: “Competition is important and we want to keep costs down for our customers across the state, the customers of our utilities, and having a competitive environment helps do that,” Pritzker said. “I’m still considering what I will do with the bill but I think you understand at least where my head is at.”

* Crain’s | Pritzker, lawmakers turn up heat on Biden to OK $1.1B Union Station rehab: Officials led by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and Mayor Brandon Johnson are scheduled to appear at a joint press conference later today near the historic but aging facility. They are to say that the project badly needs federal funds and has big local backing, with a decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation expected by the end of the year.

* WBEZ | Federal report details a patient’s death at understaffed Loretto Hospital as workers strike: WBEZ obtained an inspection report about the death from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which funds hospitals and investigates patient safety issues. Loretto Hospital officials acknowledged “staffing challenges” in the report. The waiting area and the triage room within the waiting area, where the patient was found in a bathroom, were both covered by one nurse, the report said.

* NBC Chicago | Pritzker signs new law establishing full-day kindergarten in Illinois: The bill establishes a task force that will conduct a statewide audit to plan out the implementation of full-day kindergarten programs. That group’s work will conclude with a full report due no later than Jan. 2025, according to the text of the bill.

* WSIU | The Illinois Attorney General sues the owner of a southern Illinois coal mine: The suit alleges Williamson Energy has violated permit limits dozens of times, failed to report bypasses, caused numerous violations of water quality standards, and failed to comply with good mining practices at the Pond Creek Mine near Johnston City.

* AP | A Latino player says his Northwestern teammates hazed him by shaving ‘Cinco de Mayo’ onto his head: Diaz said he was the only Latino offensive lineman at a time when the athletic department’s culture allowed racism and sexual abuse to thrive and caused psychological and emotional damage to athletes of color.

* Patch | Wilmette Trustees To Weigh In On Ryan Field Redesign With Resolution: The plan calls for a reduction from the stadium’s current capacity of 47,000 to 35,000 and modifications to Evanston’s zoning code to allow for the commercial use of the site, with up to 10 full-capacity concerts and unlimited events with fewer than 10,000 attendees.

* Block Club | More Pilsen Residents Are Filing — And Winning — Property Tax Assessment Appeals, Officials Say: The Cook County Board of Review, the tax appeals board, said there was a 25 percent increase in individual filings for assessment appeals for the 2022 tax year compared to the last assessment cycle in 2018 — from 9,486 filings to 11,907. This led to a 52 percent increase in appeals granted to Pilsen homeowners in that time period, Board of Review Commissioner George Cardenas said.

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson defends response to teen gatherings, migrant crisis: ‘My administration is different’: In a sprawling, one-hour news conference, Johnson stressed that the Chicago police order to arrest dozens during a large teen gathering last weekend in the South Loop was constitutional and compassionate. It was his first such session with reporters in two weeks, and the new mayor strove to walk a fine line between his campaign ideals of radical change and the reality of assuming the office of chief executive.

* Tribune | Still relegated to the weeds, Chicago cannabis stores gear up for big off-site Lollapalooza sales: “It’s definitely our biggest weekend of the year at any of our Illinois stores for the amount of consumers that we saw, and the new consumers that we got to introduce to recreational cannabis,” said Jason Erkes, a spokesman for Chicago-based Cresco Labs, which owns the Sunnyside dispensary closest to Grant Park.

* Fox 2 | Illinois village keeps flooding and no one knows why: Mayor of Marissa Chad Easton and some of the residents say the area started flooding about five years ago during heavy rain events. […] Mayor Easton said all the village’s water flows are clear and there are no obstructions. “It is a mystery,” Easton said. “This is one of the biggest things that I’d ever have to do in my life is try to figure out a solution to a problem where there isn’t a phone I can pick up and say, ‘Hey, give me the solution.’”

* Salon | Leprosy is probably endemic to central Florida, CDC reports, posing yet another public health threat: Like the landscaper’s case, about one-third of leprosy reports between 2015 and 2020 are thought to have been contracted within the country. “The absence of traditional risk factors in many recent cases of leprosy in Florida, coupled with the high proportion of residents, like our patient, who spend a great deal of time outdoors, supports the investigation into environmental reservoirs as a potential source of transmission,” the report stated.

* Sun-Times | Slow down, Chicago Bears? Johnson won’t be rushed into deal to keep team in the city: ‘We’ll get there’: Mayor Johnson has not yet offered an alternative stadium site to the Bears if the team is determined to leave Soldier Field. He says he’s using this time for relationship building.

posted by Isabel Miller
Thursday, Aug 3, 23 @ 7:36 am

Comments

Racism, hazing, sexualized humiliation.

Patrick Fitzgerald was held up as “The Northwestern Way”, the culture, a coach who was a player, an alum, and now has brought disgrace to the school he “loved”, and bringing on his own persona at best… an out of touch head coach who couldn’t deliver to each and every family he promised to take care of their student…. or worse… a head coach who cultivated a toxic culture that an entire athletic department embraced, where other sports seemed to want to mirror, and a man whose phony persona was unmasked to be a coach with little regard for potential victims he brought to his program.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Aug 3, 23 @ 8:07 am
Good on the local governments for investigating and punishing PPP fraudsters. I have a feeling that if the true extent of PPP fraud is ever revealed not just by those with an incentive to do so, the American public will come away shocked

Comment by Sox Fan Thursday, Aug 3, 23 @ 8:49 am
Tip of the iceberg for PPP fraud. Basically, all state workers need to fill out an accurate secondary employment form every year. Even if it’s to say you do not have secondary employment. If the public PPP data does not match your secondary employment form, you are in a bit of trouble.

Comment by DHS Drone Thursday, Aug 3, 23 @ 9:23 am
Mayor Johnson should just admit what the mob action was. It was a mob of teenagers without parental supervision. Mayor Johnson isn’t the teenagers parents but he had to defend Chicago retail infrastructure .

Comment by Steve Thursday, Aug 3, 23 @ 9:24 am
ESPN has a Rittenberg piece on the latest lawsuit against NU. read it. find it interesting that Diaz called the law firm doing the investigation yet never spoke to Hickey. her report says they talked to 50 people. surely some refused. this one called the firm. you would think that someone alleging that he had something shaved into his hair which was racially abusive would have a chance to talk with the lead investigator. why not?

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Aug 3, 23 @ 9:38 am
People were so frightened regarding their health and losing their homes and businesses during the early years of the pandemic and I’m sure PPP loans were a lifesaver to many. People who took advantage of a national emergency like this to line their pockets are not much better than grave robbers and should be dealt with harshly.

Comment by Big Dipper Thursday, Aug 3, 23 @ 9:53 am
General Motors has done an about-face about the Chevrolet Bolt. They were going to discontinue it after this year in order to change the plant over to electric pick-up trucks. Now they say they have changed their mind and will update and bring back the Bolt due to popular demand. They also said they don’t have a plant available to use to build the new Bolt. Governor Pritzker should get on the line to Mary Berra and point out the advantages of the Belvidere property. GM could buy it and go in and re-tool the plant with less delay than building a new plant. No re-zoning or years-long NIMBY delays, as it is already an existing auto plant. Also, there are still a lot of experienced unemployed auto workers nearby. Our governor needs to all he can to promote this.

Comment by DuPage Thursday, Aug 3, 23 @ 1:47 pm