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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

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Mayor Brandon Johnson urged calm today after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability released videos showing police officers killing a man during a traffic stop in Humboldt Park after the man allegedly shot an officer.

The videos show police officers approaching a white SUV driven by Dexter Reed, 26, purportedly because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. The officers gave Reed orders and while directing him to not roll up his windows during the stop, gunfire is heard on the officer body camera footage released today. The officers scramble for cover. One officer, standing next to Reed’s passenger side door, falls back and is seen bleeding.

COPA, the police oversight agency charged with investigating officer misconduct and all police shootings, said the available evidence appears to confirm that Reed fired first at officers before they returned fire. […]

Johnson stressed peace as footage begins to appear on social media and ahead of Reed’s family and attorney holding a press conference today to express their reaction to his death.

* FOP President John Catanzara says it was a legit shooting and that COPA wants to pit the “community against the police department”…

* FYI…

* Press release…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton joined food justice advocates and local stakeholders to announce a new grant program from the Illinois Grocery Initiative. The New Stores in Food Deserts Program will offer competitive grants to encourage the establishment of new grocery stores in USDA-defined food deserts. Paired with the Equipment Upgrades Program, the initiatives are a $20 million effort to address food deserts and prevent grocery store closures in Illinois.

“The truth is: too many people live in food deserts, and it’s contributing to an ongoing public health crisis. As we celebrate the launch of our second Illinois Grocery Initiative grant program today, we aim to support local entrepreneurs and communities as they open new grocery stores in food deserts.” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This is a first-of-its-kind state government investment — and it will have a significant impact on under-served rural towns and urban neighborhoods dealing firsthand with the struggles of food access.”

Awards can range between $160K to $2.4M, with a 1:3 match requirement from businesses.

Requirements for grocery locations include:

- Must be located in a food desert,
- Must earn less than 30% of revenue from alcohol and tobacco sales,
- Must accept SNAP and WIC, and
Must contribute to diversity of fresh foods available in community.

Qualified entities include units of local government and independent grocers or cooperatives with fewer than 500 employees and no more than four grocery locations. New Stores in Food Deserts grants will fund construction and renovation costs for new stores, as well as many first-year operations costs, such as employee wages, utility costs, initial inventory of food, and more.

* Scott Holland…

“It’s nice to know that the state of Illinois is in such GREAT shape that Maurice West only has to worry about school mascots!”

That line opened an email from a regular reader responding to Thursday’s column about House Bill 5617, a plan from state Rep. West, D-Rockford, to functionally prohibit schools from using Native American imagery. […]

My emailer, like all readers, understands West and his General Assembly colleagues can multitask. We all know politicians can talk, while what matters is their action. So what else is on West’s plate? The answers are a few keystrokes away.

Visit ilga.gov. Look under House and click Members. Scroll down to the name Maurice A. West, II. On the next column over, click Bills. This opens up a page showing 268 House and Senate bills and resolutions in the current session (the 103rd, which started in January 2023) including West as a sponsor. Each has a short description and notes the last action and date.

* Here’s the rest…

NBC Chicago | Major changes coming to Illinois DMV location in effort to make center more ‘efficient’:

* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor announces reelection bid; will face at least 3 challengers: With three candidates — former Mayor Sam Cunningham, Miguel Rivera and Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward — having announced their plans to run to be Waukegan’s next chief executive, incumbent Mayor Ann Taylor is making her reelection bid official. […] Proud of increasing the city’s revenue approximately $32 million without hiking property taxes the past three years, Taylor said she wants to continue what she considers a good stewardship of the city. Four years is not sufficient to achieve long-term goals, she said.

* AP | Librarians fear new penalties, even prison, as activists challenge books: When an illustrated edition of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” was released in 2019, educators in Clayton, Missouri needed little debate before deciding to keep copies in high school libraries. The book is widely regarded as a classic work of dystopian literature about the oppression of women, and a graphic novel would help it reach teens who struggle with words alone. But after Missouri legislators passed a law in 2022 subjecting librarians to fines and possible imprisonment for allowing sexually explicit materials on bookshelves, the suburban St. Louis district reconsidered the new Atwood edition, and withdrew it.

* Tribune | Zombie malls and other retail centers getting extreme makeovers to keep up with the times: Builders have built or plan to add hundreds of apartments at malls in Vernon Hills, Skokie and Aurora. The idea is that residents will have an affordable home with quick access to shopping, restaurants, gyms and things to do, while municipalities will get increased property taxes. The target audience for these developments often is young single workers, new families, or older empty nesters who want convenience and flexibility.

* Crain’s | At City Hall, a progressive crusader steps into the chief of staff role: Cristina Pacione-Zayas, or CPZ, as you’ll hear around the fifth floor of City Hall, was appointed as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new chief of staff at the beginning of this month. Before her promotion, she served as Johnson’s deputy chief of staff. In that role, her acronymic moniker became well known in part as she took the helm of the city’s migrant response — a task that raised her profile while also making her a lightning rod as the Johnson administration struggled to deal with the influx of asylum-seekers being bussed in from Texas.

* Crain’s | Workers at a Chicago Trader Joe’s seek union representation: Employees at the 3745 North Lincoln Ave. location filed a petition yesterday to hold an election with the National Labor Relations Board to be represented by Trader Joe’s United, an independent union of Trader Joe’s workers. If the push is successful, the Lincoln Avenue location would be the fifth unionized Trader Joe’s nationwide.

* Sports Media | Men’s Final Four viewership up slightly; both games trail Iowa-UConn women: Saturday’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament national semifinals averaged a combined 6.0 rating and 12.84 million viewers across TBS, TNT and truTV — down 2% in ratings but up 4% in viewership from last year on CBS (6.2, 12.34M). The games averaged a 21 share, tying 2001, 2015 and 2022 as the highest since 1998. … This year marks the first time in recent memory — if not ever — that the men’s Final Four was not the most-watched sporting event of the week in which it took place.

* Crain’s | Art Institute lands another large donation: The John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Family Foundation is donating $25 million to the Art Institute of Chicago to support campus and visitor-center upgrades. Alexandra Nichols, an Art Institute trustee, and her late husband John Nichols, who ran Illinois Tool Works and previously served as chairman of the museum’s board of trustees, have donated nearly $50 million to the Art Institute over time, including funding the Nichols Bridgeway, which connects the Modern Wing of the museum over Monroe Street to Millennium Park.

* Block Club | Northwest Side Job Training Program Helps Students With Developmental Disabilities Succeed After High School: When Gerald Kelleher started interning at Eli’s Cheesecake Company, he was filled with nerves. Now, the 17-year-old is a pro at boxing cheesecakes and was able to land his first job. Kelleher was one of four Project Wright Access graduates honored Thursday during a ceremony at the Eli’s Cheesecake facility. Started in 2022, the Project Wright Access program teaches Chicago teens who have developmental disabilities about the workforce and helps them find jobs.

* SJ-R | 3 a.m. liquor sales coming to an end at Sangamon County bars this summer: Bars operating outside of Springfield in Sangamon County will soon no longer be able to sell alcohol after 1 a.m. In a split vote 21 to 5, the present 26 members of the Sangamon County Board voted to amend the county’s liquor code, eliminating the sale of alcohol after one in the morning for any business operating within the Sangamon County Liquor Ordinance.

posted by Isabel Miller
Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 2:29 pm

Comments

I’m still very sad that Dan Caulkins voted against The New Stores in Food Deserts Program. This program will assist a group working very hard to open a food store in our rural community–one in Caulkin’s district.

Comment by Stix Hix Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 2:56 pm
Alexi, please stop calling it the “DMV”. This is Illinois. There is no such entity here.

Thanks.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:09 pm
Thank you for posting information from both sides concerning the police shooting of the late Dexter Reed.

Comment by Gravitas Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:12 pm
The reason there is such animosity in America between rural and urban, is because the urban continues to attack the rural culture. Especially in states like Illinois where the urban politicos have total control. A perfect example is the mascot bill. No one in DuQuoin, Johnston City, or any of these small towns are calling for these mascots to change. However the State will cram this down. Perhaps that is just “how it is” but it will surely play a role in the continued dividing of people against one another.

Comment by James Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:15 pm
COPA literally comes out and supports the CPD version of events, and Catanzara still comes out immediately crying about the mere existence of oversight. It is impossible to take the FOP seriously.

Comment by Homebody Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:26 pm
James upset rural communities can’t be racist. And here I though the FOP would win the day for most absurd take.

Comment by Hank Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:34 pm
=No one in DuQuoin, Johnston City, or any of these small towns are calling for these mascots to change.=

And I’m guessing that’s because they don’t find it offensive. Bet I’m also getting that few if any of them are native Americans. We typically don’t defer to those making racist or derogatory terms when setting a bar. And just because you’re “rural” doesn’t give you the right to be offensive.

Comment by Pundent Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:50 pm
“No one in DuQuoin, Johnston City, or any of these small towns are calling for these mascots to change.”

I wonder if people who live in cities have ever had to deal with change they didn’t ask for. Must be only small town folk who get ‘victimized’ in that way right?

Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:52 pm
==A perfect example is the mascot bill. No one in DuQuoin, Johnston City, or any of these small towns are calling for these mascots to change. However the State will cram this down.==

James, I’m sure you can find a vintage t-shirt for Pekin High School if you know where to ask in town. I hope this helps you with the monumental obstacles you face in life.

Comment by Roadrager Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:54 pm
Re: Crain’s story on COPA and police shooting

I found this quote on the CNN news page:

“Preliminary reports indicate that this incident began when five Chicago Police officers assigned to an 11th District tactical unit engaged in a traffic stop of Dexter Reed, Jr. for purportedly not wearing a seatbelt,” COPA said.

A tactical unit of five officers convened on the car. The driver rolls the window up. The video evidence (still) does not show who shot first.

There are reports of a gun found in the car, but no mention in the stories about whether the gun was fired, DNA evidence. etc.

Perhaps there is more already known about the story, but as one who does not live in Chicagoland, I can certainly understand why an investigation followed.

In that context, the FOP arguing that investigations into police killings are intended to diminish the police in the eyes of the public, and that the people should just trust the word of the people with the guns, suggests directly why such investigations are necessary. The FOP makes a strong argument for why we some people do not trust the police. When police organizations life the FOP and Illinois Sheriffs’ Association seek to become unregulated militia, oversight is definitely needed.

PS - I am not suggesting the deceased is innocent or guilty. I am only following the evidence presented by the news media that does not allow commentary.

Comment by H-W Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:57 pm
===Alexi, please stop calling it the “DMV”. This is Illinois. There is no such entity here.===

Agreed. Alhtough at this point maybe we should just rename it, since the Secretary of State can’t seem to get it right? /s (or more like exasperation rather than snark)

Comment by Leslie K Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 4:26 pm
@ James

I live in rural Illinois. I have lived here for 20 years now. Before that, I lived in urban Illinois for a good while.

City people are not cramming stuff down our rural throats. City people also do not mock rural people, at least no more than rural people mock city people.

The divisiveness you suggest is artificial and fake. It is perpetuated by commentary (fake news) media outlets. We Illinoisans and Americans have been told for so long now that there are two camps (since Limbaugh?), that some people want to believe there are two camps, and define one as good, the other as evil.

Not true. I have lived in both urban and rural Illinois for 30 years or so. Before that, the urban and rural South.

Illinoisans (people more generally) are not either good or evil. We are always both. It really just depends on the day, the moment and the disposition. This is human nature. But it is simply the premises of some commentary media outlets that we must not trust one another, and must hate others. We do not have to believe them, and we do not have to create the divisiveness you seem to reject.

You suggest Libertarianism in the context that you seem to think rural people ought not even have to hear the beliefs of urban people. You suggest no one has a right to bother and influence others. Not true. Libertarianism (and social life at its core) requires that everyone respect everyone else as equally deserving, not that everyone agree on the same principles. People who disagree with you and me do not belong to oppositional categories of humanity of the animal kingdom. We just disagree on issues that matter to both of us.

If a community chose a mascot in the 1950s or earlier, and later finds that when their teams travel to compete, their mascot demeans and diminishes others, why wouldn’t that community consider the words of others who are just like them - Illinoisans?

If Native people ask that we not mock them, why would we insist on doing so?

Comment by H-W Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 4:32 pm
James, the bill looks dead. Your way of life has been saved - by House Dem leadership no less.

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=5617&GAID=17&GA=103&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=154009&SessionID=112

Comment by low level Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 5:08 pm
That shooting seemed to be one where both sides over-reacted. You don’t shoot at an officer without explanation. Officers (4 of them) don’t shoot at a person without trying to communicate first, asking for the person to lay their weapon down.

Comment by Chris in ChiTown Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 5:19 pm
=Especially in states like Illinois where the urban politicos have total control.=

Not so subtle use of biased code words.

And what H-W said plus 1. Which candidate for governor during the last election was doing the attacking and the us versus them stuff? Oh yeah, Bailey. I am pretty sure he was the “rural” candidate.

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 5:41 pm
Over- reaction ?

Calling it an over- reaction seems to imply his actions were within acceptable norms. Firing at police is never- ever warranted. We should never normalize this type of behavior.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 5:43 pm
===You don’t shoot at an officer without explanation===

Those last two words don’t belong in that sentence.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 6:07 pm
===You don’t shoot at an officer without explanation===

==Those last two words don’t belong in that sentence.==

What Rich said

Comment by Leslie K Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 7:41 pm
I normally defend police and this was a good shoot based on evidence BUT there handling of the situation was abysmal compared to other videos of other police forces in large cities.

Also, since when do plain clothes officers attempt to pull over for seat belt. Clearly there’s more to why they were on this person.

Comment by The Dude Wednesday, Apr 10, 24 @ 5:22 am