Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Isabel’s morning briefing

Posted in:

Illinois

* Here you go…

STL PR | Missouri lawmakers find uniting bipartisan cause — beating Illinois in softball:

* Capitol News Illinois | Watchdog overseeing abuse, neglect cases at state-run facilities resigns for Chicago post: After serving nearly four years as the watchdog for the Illinois Department of Human Services, Peter Neumer will step down from his role overseeing investigations into the abuse and neglect of some of the state’s most vulnerable people.

* Tribune | Politics quickly rise to the fore during jury selection at perjury trial of Madigan’s former top aide: That became clear even during jury selection: One prospective juror said he is close friends with a former state representative. Two worked for AT&T, a company caught up in the widespread corruption scandal related to powerful former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

* WQRL | Rep. Dave Severin announces re-election campaign: Severin says he is also fighting the leftist progressives’ “Green New Deal” that is hurting working families and driving up electricity bills. Severin noted that his experience in office has allowed him to become the ranking member of the House Energy and Environment Committee.

* Austin Weekly | West Side aldermen to choose State Sen. Patricia Van Pelt’s successor: Democratic ward committeepersons whose wards fall within the state Senate’s 5th District will meet on Aug. 15 at 1 p.m. at Plumbers Local 130 union hall, 1340 W. Washington Blvd., to appoint a replacement for State Sen. Patricia Van Pelt, who resigned in late July.

* The Telegraph | McDonough seeking to challenge Elik: McDonough is seeking to face state Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, in the November 2024 general election. Elik was elected to the post in 2020 and reelected to it in 2022. Last month Nick Raftopoulos of Granite City also announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Elik for Illinois’ 111th House District in 2024.

* WAND | New Illinois laws will cap prices of insulin, EpiPens in 2025: Lawmakers helped cap the price of insulin at $100 in 2019. Although, that law only applies to roughly 15% of people under insurance for Illinois state employees. Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law Friday to require the state to offer a discount program to allow high-risk diabetics to buy insulin for $35 per month.

* WCIA | Thousands lose Medicaid coverage in IL after pandemic provision ends: More than 47,000 people in Illinois have lost their Medicaid coverage after a pandemic-era extension on their eligibility ended last week.

* Tribune | Ex-Northwestern cheerleader who filed suit alleging sexual exploitation calls school’s hazing response ‘a lot of empty platitudes’: “These were things that people knew. We were being sexually objectified in an inappropriate way, and they didn’t care. They actively didn’t care,” Richardson said in a recent interview with the Tribune. “I made a national stance. That was a hard thing to cope with. … I had never had lawyers before. I was really navigating this on my own.”

* NBC Chicago | CDOT’s next leader must ‘enact transformational change’: After Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi announced her resignation earlier this month, advocacy groups have penned an open letter urging Mayor Brandon Johnson to pursue leadership that will “enact transformational change” in the city.

* Week 25 | New ‘Birth to Five’ report highlights gaps in Central Illinois childcare: The report divides the state into 39 regions with Peoria County as its own and Tazewell, Woodford, and Mason counties combined to make up another. Birth to Five regional managers say the biggest gap is in transportation from preschool to aftercare.

* Sun-Times | Northwestern Medicine surgeons perform rare ‘flipped organ’ double lung transplants for 2, including county commissioner: Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer couldn’t breathe easy during last year’s campaign season. Not because his reelection was ever in doubt — he netted 88% of the vote in his Chicago district — but because the West Side official’s lungs were failing, to the point that he ended up taking his third oath of office in a hospital room last December.

* SJ-R | More than $58 million: Where do state fairgrounds renovations stand?: Renovations caused the closure of MPA during last year’s fair, requiring events to be moved to the Coliseum and the Grandstand instead. This year, IDOA Director Jerry Costello II said the arena will reopen Thursday - opening day for the 2023 Illinois State Fair - as host to the Monsters of Destruction tour in addition to several truck and tractor pulls and a rodeo show over the course of the fair.

* CBS Chicago | Chicago native DJ Capser, creator of the “Cha-Cha Slide,” has died: The Chicago native reportedly wrote the song for his nephew, who was a personal trainer, as a step aerobics song before it became famous worldwide. The song was released in 2000 and remains popular at wedding receptions and birthdays.

* Tribune | Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf dons blinders as the Chicago White Sox season sinks into the abyss: “Got a second?” I asked. “No,” Reinsdorf harrumphed as he walked past without glancing up.

* Daily Southtown | Blues Brothers Con at Old Joliet Prison postponed in solidarity with Hollywood strike: “In talking with Jim, in talking with Dan’s publicist and talking with Judy (Belushi Pisano) and our own people, we mutually decided it was the right decision. We did not want to put anyone in a position where they felt uncomfortable attending or felt like they were crossing picket lines.”

posted by Isabel Miller
Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 7:38 am

Comments

That’s not softball.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 8:59 am
Agreed.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:26 am
Re: WQRL

Severin is delusional.

Comment by H-W Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:33 am
Its been 4 years since I went to a White Sox game. I refuse to go as long as Jerry Reinsdorf owns the team. Maybe it will get better when his son takes over.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:44 am
I wonder if Severin knows the Green New Deal is just an idea…..it’s not law…there is no formal policy enacting any of it. Pandering to the base sometimes makes one look very ignorant.

Comment by wondering Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 12:42 pm