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Afternoon roundup

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* More back and forth…

* Speaking of Congress…

Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin is running for Congress against longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis while she continues to face fallout from recently revealed allegations of unethical conduct in her administration from two former top aides.

A former state representative first elected city treasurer in 2019, Conyears-Ervin was a prominent Davis supporter in 2022 when the incumbent faced a strong challenge from anti-violence activist Kina Collins. This time, Conyears-Ervin is challenging Davis, currently in his 14th term in Congress, and Collins, who is running again. […]

In a letter to the city from the former employees’ lawyers, the two alleged Conyears-Ervin had used government workers to plan her daughter’s birthday party, repeatedly misused taxpayer resources and attempted to force BMO Harris — one of the banks where city money is deposited — to issue a mortgage tied to the building that houses the aldermanic office for the treasurer’s husband, Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th.

Investigators with Chicago’s inspector general last month seized computers from the treasurer’s City Hall offices. The move by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s staff came after the release of the letter. It also came after the head of the Chicago Board of Ethics said the agency referred the letter to the inspector general’s office years ago but said the board couldn’t do more unless it received detailed findings from the IG.

* Press release…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) launched $2.5 million in funding for the new Illinois Economic Empowerment Centers Program (EEC). Eligible career education agencies and non-profit organizations can now apply to serve as EECs to provide entrepreneurship training to prepare individuals from historically marginalized communities to pursue business opportunities in a more inclusive business ecosystem. EECs will be selected through a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) process. […]

EECs will provide business advice, technical assistance, education, and cohort training, including resources and training tailored toward start-ups, existing businesses, and dislocated workers. Selected EECs will provide a variety of services, including management analysis and counseling, business planning and financial planning assistance, market analysis, referrals to educational programs and more.

* I asked Mark Denzler with the IMA if he rode the bus for this entire 8-day, 2,000-mile trip. Yep, he said. Mad props to him and everyone else…

* Hope this doesn’t happen in Illinois with the dreaded Copi…

* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…

* ABC Chicago | AJ Freund case LIVE: Judge makes decision in ex-DCFS workers’ child endangerment trial: UPDATE: A judge found found one of two former DCFS employees guilty of ignoring warning signs in the child abuse case of 5-year-old A.J. Freund on Friday. … During the trial, witnesses testified they believed A.J. would still be alive if the employees, Carlos Acosta and Andrew Polovin, had done their jobs properly. The judge found former DCFS case worker Acosta guilty, but found ex-supervisor Polovin not guilty. The judge said he could not determine what Polovin knew and when he knew it.

* WTWO | How a rural Illinois town is growing through diversity: “When we moved in years ago from Mexico, [it was for] only one reason, to bring family and get a better life and we make it, we [made] it happen,” Jesus Garza, Mayor of Arcola, said. Garza has been the Mayor of Arcola for 2 1/2 years and is the first immigrant to lead the city.

* Daily Herald | How Kane County is helping the public track cashless bail: The circuit court this month debuted a daily updated dashboard, showing how many cases police departments have sent to first-appearance court, the charges involved, how many petitions for pretrial detention prosecutors have filed, and whether those petitions were granted or denied.

* WCBU | ‘How can I tell if these books are good or bad?’: New Moms for Liberty chapter starts in Tazewell County: Virg Cihla, Dee Fogal and Suzette Swift make up the board of the new chapter in Central Illinois. […] None of them have children currently in school, though Cihla does have a granddaughter in a Tazewell County district and Fogal grew up in Pekin.

* WTVO | Illinois State Police releases response to homelessness guidebook: “Law enforcement officers respond to all types of emergencies and social-service related calls among all populations, including people experiencing homelessness,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “Because of these interactions, officers are in a position to provide information about resources and programs available in communities, and help connect individuals to longer-term solutions to prevent and end homelessness.”

* Shaw Local | La Salle County Jail to house Cook County inmates for $70 per inmate per day: Thursday, the La Salle County Board approved an intergovernmental agreement with Cook County that permits inmate transfers (no more than 50) from Chicago to be housed at the jail in Ottawa. Cook County will pay $70 per inmate per day. Worried about the county taking high-risk transfers from Chicago? Sheriff Adam Diss said there is no cause for concern.

* WCIA | Flex-N-Gate workers stunned as Effingham plant lays off employees: The company announced it is shutting its doors in Effingham because of the United Auto Workers strike in Kentucky. Nearly 9,000 employees left their jobs at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant in Louisville Wednesday night. The news came nearly four weeks after the union began walkouts against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis on Sept. 15.

* WTTW | Chicago Police Officer Who Threatened to Kill Romantic Partner and Their Family Won’t Be Fired: Watchdog: Instead, the officer, who was not identified in the report released by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg in keeping with the city’s rules, was suspended for two months, according to the watchdog’s quarterly report.

* Tribune | Chicago Fire Department’s 2nd-ranking official gets mild punishment after sexual harassment violations: In addition to violating sexual harassment policies, Sheridan failed to cooperate with the investigation, according to the memo. It stated that Sheridan refused to sign a document prepared by human resources summarizing their interview and instead submitted her own statement. She also left a second interview with her lawyer and declined to answer more questions.

* Les Winkeler | IDNR deserves increased funding: As a young adult, I was vaguely aware of what was then the Illinois Department of Conservation. I knew the agency had game wardens to enforce hunting and fishing regulations. I knew the department was responsible for the operation of state parks. However, until I assumed the role as the outdoors writer for The Southern Illinoisan in the late 1980s, I was woefully under-informed about the breadth and scope of the agency.

* NBC Chicago | Synagogues, schools, daycares increase security Friday in Chicago area as precautions: Synagogues, schools and daycares in parts of the Chicago area increased security measures Friday amid reports of “increased threats of violence,” and though officials said no credible threats have been identified, authorities are paying “special attention.”

* Daily Herald | Two years after public uproar, Mount Prospect police choose new patch: The village board voted 4-3 in August 2021 the remove the previous patch over its “thin blue line” imagery. During several board meetings and hours of public comment, along with protests and counter-protests outside village hall, critics of the patch said the imagery had been co-opted by extremist groups and its use was intimidating to people of color.

* Sun-Times | More than 1,000 COVID relief loans went to city of Chicago employees — and many look fraudulent, watchdog says: Deborah Witzburg, inspector general for the city, said her office examined more than 350,000 federal COVID loans approved in the Chicago area. Of them, she found more than 1,000 loans that city employees got from the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

* Daily Southtown | Spiders get some love and a temporary zoo at Will County program designed to demystify arachnids: A group of youngsters ages 3 to 5 used headlamps and flashlights one evening last week during a free Nature Play Day After Hours to spot the reflections from spiders’ eyes on the grounds outside of the nature center in Crete Township. Occasionally, a parent offered a caution not to get so close, but most simply embraced the excitement instilled by Heather Van Zyl, an interpretive naturalist for the Forest Preserve District of Will County, who enjoyed the outing just as much as the kids.

* WCIA | A brief history of Champaign on its birthday: Champaign was founded in 1855 when the Illinois Central Railroad placed its tracks two miles west of downtown Urbana. The town was initially named “West Urbana” before adopting its permanent name five years later with the acquisition of a city charter. The document provided rights and privileges to create a new governance system.

* Crain’s | Professional cricket has come to the U.S. and Chicago is ready to host a team: “There are definitely some really strong markets for cricket in the U.S. that we don’t currently have a team for, and Chicago is certainly high on that list given the size of the market and the demographics,” said Tom Dunmore, MLC’s vice president of marketing. “Chicago certainly has a lot of the strong characteristics for a major-league cricket team in the future. It’s a really good potential market; all the metrics support it.”

* Block Club | Could The Douglas Neighborhood Get A New Name — Douglass?: The area is named for Democratic senator Stephen Douglas, who had a complicated stance on slavery. Ald. Lamont Robinson wants to rename it in honor of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 2:11 pm

Comments

1. Day of Rage visits Chicago City Hall.

   Mayor Brandon Johnson has warned protesters in the Chicago City Council gallery that if order and decorum cannot be maintained that he will clear the Council Chambers. PLO activists and Hamas supporters are shouting in an effort to halt a resolution in support of Israel sponsored by Ald. Silverstein (50th).

   Comment by Gravitas Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 2:20 pm

2. Why, oh why, did Darren Bailey leave the Illinois Senate to run for governor? If Bailey wanted to hold office and have a voice in his home state of Illinois, he could have easily campaigned for another term.

   Bailey, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, disparaged the city of Chicago repeatedly during his campaign for governor. Who does that? What rational person in a statewide campaign criticizes the economic engine in the state?

   Bailey’s sycophantic remarks toward the indicted former president continue to this day. Bailey’s blathering and serial candidacy would not serve the district only Bailey’s ego.

   Comment by Rudy’s teeth Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 2:45 pm

3. Imagine fighting over who endorsed an alleged insurrectionist first.

   Comment by Politix Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:03 pm

4. Mayor Johnson has tried to preside over the meeting with dignity, patience and restraint. Despite his repeated warnings, the mob erupted and Johnson had to direct the Sergeant at Arms to clear those in the gallery immediately behind the City Council.

   The vote on the resolution condemning terrorism has been delayed, but it seems likely that a vote will occur today.

   Comment by Gravitas Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:15 pm

5. =What rational person in a statewide campaign criticizes the economic engine in the state?=

   A realist who sees that he has no chance of winning but sees the race as a springboard to other things. That’s been Bailey’s M.O. since he was elected state rep. Few if any accomplishments all merely leading to his next opportunity. Bailey’s “victory” was obtaining 56% in the GOP governor’s primary and establishing himself as the de facto leader of the state party.

   Comment by Pundent Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:16 pm

6. Bost v. Bailey

   If you think about it too hard you’ll lose the ability to perform basic math.

   Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:18 pm

7. That DCFS case is gonna have significant ramifications. The investigator gets convicted but supervisor is not. Good luck having any chance at recruiting for the astounding numbers of investigators needed… the workload is just inhumanely untenable. I’m surprised he didn’t plead guilty but mentally ill.

   Comment by CentralILCentrist Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:26 pm

8. If Bailey thinks Scalise is establishment he’s deluded.

   Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:32 pm

9. Bost and Bailey are in “personal preservation” mode.

   It’s about them, they either keeping a job or trying to win a job while grifting as a televangelist politician.

   They both aren’t about the job or serving our country.

   My evidence can start with these social media signals to the worst elements that the GOP now calls its base.

   Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:35 pm

10. I’m just glad someone finally found a way to improve the Almond Joy….

    Comment by Ducky LaMoore Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:47 pm

11. Who knew Oklahoma has a sense of humor.

    Comment by New Day Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:53 pm

12. Hey, sometimes you feel like a carp, sometimes you dont.

    Comment by West Side the Best Side Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:56 pm

13. How many bills has Jim Jordan passed in his time in Congress…? What is it, exactly, that he’s done, Darren?

    Comment by Ryan Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 3:58 pm

14. Looks like Jordan can’t get to 217 either. Who’s next?

    Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 4:06 pm

15. Is this the same Jim Jordan who had a little of what we like to call a Dennis Hastert problem with wrestlers or is there another one?

    Comment by Annonin' Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 4:16 pm

16. Fact is that Darren Bailey is not tethered to anything other than his own ego. He isn’t loyal, hence this primary campaign. Mike Bost voted for Darren Bailey, and campaigned for him. Darren Bailey rewards him with this non-sense.

    Comment by James Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 4:24 pm

17. = ‘How can I tell if these books are good or bad?’ =

    Read them?

    Comment by JoanP Friday, Oct 13, 23 @ 5:29 pm

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Previous Post: Illinois a ‘key player’ in $1 billion federal project to develop hydrogen energy hubs
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