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Isabel’s morning briefing

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Illinois

* Here you go…

* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls for united front in migrant response after criticizing Biden administration effort: A day after sending President Joe Biden a letter criticizing the White House effort on migrants, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday called for a stronger show of unity among local Democrats in responding to the swelling influx of asylum-seekers arriving in Chicago from the southern border.

* WHBF | Illinois leaders send warnings about book bans: Governor Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton were at the University of Chicago’s Joseph Regenstein Library warning about the dangers of book bans. The free speech group PEN America says attempts to censor books have jumped 33% in the past year. They say a majority are written by people of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community.

* Sun-Times | Temp worker advocates hail Illinois law that promises equal pay: The Temp Worker Fairness and Safety Act aims to prevent ‘permatemping,’ where an employer keeps a temp worker indefinitely, by requiring that employers pay temps similar wages as direct hires after 90 days on the job.

* Sun-Times | Former Cook County employee admits helping businesses cheat on taxes for free golf: Basilio Clausen, 51, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and formally agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Though he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, the feds are likely to ask for a light sentence if Clausen lives up to his end of the deal. The scheme Clausen admitted to Tuesday took place in 2017, when Joseph Berrios served as Cook County assessor. Clausen is not due to be sentenced until his cooperation with prosecutors is complete.

* Daily Herald | District 214 launches ethics probe into employees’ trip paid for by vendor: Former District 214 Director of Operations Jerry Cook and maintenance employee Linas Paul attended the trip paid for by Trane, a Willowbrook-based HVAC contractor that performed more than $1 million in work for the district between 2018 and 2022.

* WAND | Nurses, union leaders push for safe patient limits proposal: The people taking care of your loved ones told a joint committee of lawmakers Tuesday that they are fed up with their working conditions. “Some of these nursing home workers have 20 patients. On third shift, it might be one CNA to one floor,” said Denise Stiger, the union organizer for Teamsters Local 743. “So, that means she is doing the whole floor. Even though they’re saying that the patients are asleep at night, they still have to be changed. They still have to be cleaned.”

* Windy City Times | Former Illinois GOP chair joins Personal PAC board: The move is considered controversial within the Republican Party, putting the moderate and more conservative components at odds. According to a press release Windy City Times received, Brady “has joined the Personal PAC Board because of his belief that the right of women to control their own health care decisions is one of the most important freedoms we as a society should strive to protect.” A decade ago, when he was Illinois GOP chair, Brady defied the party platform by speaking up in support of marriage-equality legislation.

* WTTW | Vote to End Tipped Minimum Wage in Chicago Delayed by City Clerk’s Error: The earliest the Chicago City Council could vote on the compromise crafted by Mayor Brandon Johnson and backed by the Illinois Restaurant association to give restaurants five years to prepare for the end of the tipped minimum wage would be Friday morning, because state law requires the public to be given at least 48 hours’ notice before a legislative body takes final action on a measure.

* Daily Herald | Haymarket sign goes up, but Itasca ’stands by’ decision to reject drug rehab center: After two years and more than 35 public hearings, Itasca trustees in November 2021 unanimously voted against the project. The subsequent lawsuit alleged officials violated the Fair Housing Act and other laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities, including patients in treatment for substance use and mental health disorders.

* Sun-Times | Mayor Brandon Johnson establishes city’s first chief homelessness officer: The move comes a day before a public hearing before the City Council on the mayor’s proposal to raise the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales to create dedicated funding to combat homelessness.

* Tribune | Stalled Justice update: Notoriously slow Cook County courts will begin tracking why cases are delayed: Though attorneys may tell the judge why a case should be delayed, many judges don’t record that information, the Tribune found. Instead, they typically scribble the date of the next hearing on a sheet of paper with the phrase “B/A” — to signify a case was continued “by agreement” of both attorneys.

* Tribune | Ald. Ray Lopez running for Congress, taking on Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ García in Democratic primary: Surrounded by supporters at a restaurant in Berwyn, the Chicago alderman — who has positioned himself as a backer of Chicago police on the City Council — said García is “extreme.” “He has chosen to try to lead from the left of the left, and in the meantime, he has left everyone else out in the cold,” the alderman said.

* Sun-Times | FEMA emergency test alert will send ‘unique tone’ to every U.S. phone Wednesday: “The purpose of the Oct. 4 test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level,” according to a statement from FEMA.

* Sun-Times | Damen Silos demolition delayed by federal review: The city won’t determine next steps in the proposed teardown of the Southwest Side structures until the Army Corps of Engineers does its own assessment.

* Sun-Times | McCarthy ousted as speaker — how House members from Illinois voted: The three Illinois Republicans in the House, Mary Miller, Darin LaHood and Mike Bost, voted to keep McCarthy as speaker. All 14 Democrats from Illinois voted to remove him.

* WLPO | Former State Senator Gary Dahl Passes Away: Following a stint in the United States Army, Dahl eventually became a truck driver and founded Double D Express in 1985. When retiring, Dahl went into politics, getting elected to the Illinois Senate in 2005. He resigned in late 2010 to spend more time with his family. While in Springfield, Dahl lived in an RV and donated his salary to charity.

posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 7:37 am

Comments

Here’s the thing;

Pat Brady as part of Personal PAC is not in line with the GOP, it’s not even part of a “Reagan Rule” give, given that in primaries the missing pro-choice candidates are glaring.

I guess I’d like to hear in real time today if Brady sees himself as a Republican, and how does he reconcile that given his new position on the board and what the state party now might see in that move, let alone how the overall party nationally approaches abortion and choice.

The thing is… the reconciling… what exactly is keeping Brady part of the GOP?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 8:40 am
“As the overdose crisis has worsened, advocates say the facility would make treatment more accessible in DuPage County. Last year, 150 people died from overdoses in DuPage, compared to 137 in 2021, according to the county coroner’s office.”

When even *treatment* of substance use disorder is stigmatized, we have truly lost our way.

Comment by charles in charge Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 9:05 am
Can’t wait to see what happens with the FEMA phone test this afternoon. It’s supposed to activate my vaccine microchip.

Will I start to glow in the dark? Will I get better gas mileage? Will I play for the Bears? Will I become Speaker of the House? Inquiring minds want to know…

Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 10:15 am
Made a mistake yesterday in assuming the national Freedom Caucus would vote to remove the US Speaker. They mostly didn’t, but there’s a small group of GOP legislators even more far right than them who did vote to remove.

Comment by Grandson of Man Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 10:54 am
= Will I play for the Bears? Will I become Speaker of the House? =

I have a feeling that you would be a step up from whoever else would fill those roles.

That’s only half-snark regarding the Bears, and no snark about the Speaker.

Comment by cover Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:07 am
@- charles in charge - Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 9:05 am:

===“Last year, 150 people died from overdoses in DuPage, compared to 137 in 2021, according to the county coroner’s office.”===

Fentanyl is pouring in worse than ever partly due to open border policies. All first responders need to be trained to give Narcan right away. Family members should also be supplied with and trained to use Narcan as well.

Comment by DuPage Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:30 am
Hope the temp worker legislation can accomplish what it sets out to fix. In my younger days I worked two different lengthy stints as a “temporary” worker for captive contractors working inside a major Illinois corporation. It was demeaning and bad for morale working alongside people doing the same job as you for less pay and less benefits just because the employer had enough market power to get away with treating their workforce that way.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:54 pm
That story about Basilio Clausen reminded me of the scene in “Casablanca” where Rick tells Ugarte, “I don’t mind a parasite. I object to a cut-rate one.”

Because risking 5 years in prison for a couple of golf games? Really?

Comment by JoanP Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 1:09 pm