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* ICYMI: What will Johnson’s CPS power play mean in Springfield? More state funding — or more headaches for mayor. Sun-Times…
State Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, said the political turmoil would undermine the case Johnson hopes to make for additional state funding for CPS.
Johnson has argued repeatedly and emphatically that the state “owes” CPS more than $1.1 billion.
“Everyone wants to help children, but I don’t think anyone wants to help him — given his lack of leadership,” Tarver said. “I don’t believe he has four city legislators that are willing to give him, give CPS any money, and I doubt that he has anybody outside of the city of Chicago who wanted to do so, and primarily because there’s been no plan put forth about what they would do with the money.”
* Related stories…
* Sun-Times | Madigan judge has experience with Shakespeare, Michael Jordan — and law used to target ex-House speaker: Judge John Blakey’s father wrote the federal racketeering law that has famously been used to take down organized crime figures. But Blakey also established himself as an authority on the subject long before Madigan’s historic trial.
* Jill Jaworski | Opinion: The city’s $1.5B bond refinancing plan is a no-brainer. Here’s why: Mendoza’s entire argument against the refinancing rests upon an egregiously repeated false claim that there is some kind of shadowy “additional borrowing” outside of the “cost-saving refinancing component.” Mendoza’s op-ed repeats misinformation, stating that the bond offering would “create a slush fund for operating expenses.” In fact, the authorizing ordinance specifically stipulates that the entire $1.5 billion transaction can only be legally used for cost-saving refinancing purposes. Any other use of proceeds from the sale of the bonds would require another amendment passed by the City Council. Mendoza’s op-ed seems to have been written without any consultation or understanding of the ordinance in question.
* PJ Star | ‘More than a sports writer’: Retired Peoria Journal Star columnist dies at age 83: Theobald had a personality as enormous as his talent, handling the biggest stories, standing up to the biggest challenges. He was terrifying in the newsroom when he was irritated, an irascible character who’d strip down to his classic old man undershirt, cigarette between his lips, spoiling for a clash.
* KMOX | Illinois State Rep. Jay Hoffman discusses amendment to raise income tax on state wealthiest: In November, Illinois voters will be asked if they would support an additional 3% income tax on those making more than $1 million a year. Illinois State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D) says the trade off would be property tax relief.
* Daily Herald | House 51st candidates discuss Democratic control of Springfield: Incumbent Nabeela Syed said she consistently works across the aisle, but defended the record of state Democrats. The Palatine Democrat highlighted the accomplishments of her party by invoking the legacy of former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. “I probably think about Bruce Rauner more often than I would like to, because I hear about the horror stories from when social services all across our state were about to shut their doors,” Syed said. “They were about to stop their services because Gov. Rauner was cutting funding.”
* SJ-R | Job postings will look different in Illinois next year. Here’s what you need to know: Employers with more than 15 employees are required to share pay scale and benefits in job postings. In the case that these postings show up on a third-party job site like LinkedIn or Indeed, they would be required to either to show on that site or have that information linked. The Illinois Department of Labor will be receiving complaints of job postings not including this now-required information. From there, the department will notify the employer and give a set date for when it must be remedied.
* SJ-R | Frozen food delivery service announces closure, 119 Illinois employees to be laid off: Yelloh, formerly known as Schwan’s Home Delivery, announced last month it’s closing its delivery service this November. The company cited multiple insurmountable business challenges for the decision, including economic and market forces, as well as changing consumer lifestyles. In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN act, filed to the state of Illinois on Sept. 30 by parent group Cygnus Home Service, LLC, 119 Illinoisians will be affected across the state from the layoff. The final day of work for employees will be Nov. 22 of this year.
* WGN | City of Chicago shells out millions in overtime pay while CFD needs new ambulances, contract: CFU: Members of the Chicago Firefighters Union (CFU) spoke out Monday, saying the City of Chicago is spending millions on overtime pay for paramedics — money, they say is needed for new ambulances, on top of a new contract. The Chicago Fire Department has been operating for more than three years without a contract, which has capped the department’s expansion of its ambulance fleet. CFD currently has 80 ambulances, but ideally, they would like to have 127, which would move the department in line with the national average when it comes to the residents-to-ambulance ratio in major cities — 21,000-to-1.
* FOX Chicago | Chicago Fire Department adopts new cleaning tech to fight cancer risks: “Furniture is no longer made of wood. Carpet is no longer made of typical textiles,” said Mark Smith of Alliance Safety Solutions. “Everything is now petroleum-based. So that petroleum base burns hotter. It burns quicker. And it has more polyaromatic hydrocarbons.” Which is where a new massive machine comes in. It’s called a high-pressure liquid carbon dioxide cleaner.
* Tribune | Biden EPA requires Chicago to dramatically speed up replacement of toxic lead pipes: Chicago must replace every toxic lead pipe connecting homes to water mains within two decades — an aggressive deadline imposed this week by President Joe Biden after his administration initially proposed giving city officials twice as long to complete the job. The more stringent requirement is part of a broader package of changes in federal regulations intended to protect Americans from a metal so dangerous it is unsafe at any level of exposure.
* Tribune | Lurie, Comer and Advocate Children’s named best children’s hospitals in Illinois by U.S. News: “We’re obviously very proud to be ranked No. 1,” said Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, chief medical officer at Lurie. “I think the rankings are an important tool and guide for families when they might have a complex child and they’re trying to figure out what works best for their families and the specific conditions they might have.” He said he’s confident Lurie will be back in the top 10 nationwide “in the near future.” While it’s important to Lurie to focus on clinical outcomes, the hospital also prioritizes “holistic comprehensive care that really extends beyond the areas that are being ranked,” he said, which includes family support, community outreach and cutting edge treatments.
* Block Club | Trump To Address The Economic Club Of Chicago Next Week: The interview, co-hosted by the Economic Club and Bloomberg News, will take place next Tuesday, Oct. 15. Trump’s visit marks his first return to the city since a contentious July interview with members of the National Association of Black Journalists.
* Sun-Times | After 23 years behind bars, Chicago man set free as he appeals murder conviction: A Cook County judge on Monday appeared reluctant to release a man from prison while he continues to fight his murder conviction, but did anyway at the order of a state appellate court. Judge Angela Petrone ordered Kevin Jackson, 43, released on electronic monitoring while he appeals her ruling earlier this summer that denied his bid to vacate his conviction in a 2001 gas station shooting on the South Side.
* Chicago Mag | Why Is the Chicago Marathon So Fast?: Olympic marathon champion Frank Shorter once said, “There are three reasons Chicago is fast: It’s flat, it’s flat, it’s flat.” (“The only hill is with 400 meters left,” says Rupp.) Knowing they won’t face uphill stretches, runners display “a kind of fearlessness,” says Pinkowski. But flatness is not the only factor: Because of Chicago’s grid system, the course has few twists and turns, with some straightaways going for miles, allowing runners to build up a head of steam.
* Daily Herald | Lockport woman sentenced to jail for role in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot: A federal judge sentenced a Lockport woman to serve time in jail for her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol but not her husband, who instead must serve probation, court records show. On Oct. 1, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Kelly Lynn Fontaine, 54, to serve 21 days in jail for engaging in “disorderly or disruptive conduct.”
* Crain’s | Hyzon in race against time as it revs up new hydrogen fuel cells in Bolingbrook: Hyzon Motors, a small clean-tech company that came to Bolingbrook three years ago, is about to find out whether its big bet on hydrogen-powered trucks is going to pay off before it runs out of cash. The company is set to begin commercial production of new, larger fuel cells that turn hydrogen into electrical power for semitrucks. Hyzon developed a 200-kilowatt fuel cell to replace a 110-kilowatt model, giving it an edge. The company says the new fuel cells are 30% lighter and smaller and 25% more cost-efficient than using two smaller systems.
* Daily Herald | Underwood, Marter blame each other for cancellation of congressional candidate forum: In an email to the Daily Herald on Monday afternoon, league co-presidents Tania Traverso and Nadia Kanhai said the forum was canceled because both candidates wouldn’t agree to a virtual forum. “This decision was made by the LWV Aurora Area alone without any input from either candidate,” Traverso and Kanhai said. The group’s statement didn’t explain why the league moved away from an in-person discussion, as both Underwood and Marter had agreed to such a program.
* ABC Chicago | Video shows driver running tanker off road, causing deadly leak in central Illinois: investigators: Investigators showed the girl dashcam video from the tanker. She acknowledged she was at the wheel when her minivan passed the tanker then cut it off to avoid a collision with oncoming traffic. The tanker hit a trailer on the side of the highway.
* WSIL | Federal Grant to Address Nursing Education Shortage in Rural, Underserved Areas in Southern Illinois: McKendree University’s Division of Nursing was recently awarded $980,000 from Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS), which Senator Dick Durbin secured as part of the 2024 fiscal year’s Consolidated Appropriations Act. This grant pays the tuition cost for 60 students who have been enrolled in McKendree’s MSN nurse educator program.
* Chicago Reader | Champaign-born phenom Somi brings her African immigrant heritage to her vocal jazz: Jazz singer Somi Kakoma is a multihyphenate talent—she’s also a composer, actor, and writer—but she’s best known for her rich, soaring voice. Born in Champaign to parents who’d come to the U.S. from Rwanda and Uganda, Somi split her childhood between Zambia and Illinois. Her father worked as a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where in the early 2000s she earned a dual degree in cultural anthropology and African studies; she then pursued a master’s in performance at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her work is informed by her multinational upbringing and activist spirit, honoring the distinctive traits that make cultures and communities precious while celebrating the universals that connect them—and condemning forces of division such as racism, xenophobia, and misogyny.
* Daniel Kaplan | Political ads dominating sports telecasts with seemingly no end in sight: It’s not just you if it seems the commercial breaks of sporting events are inundated with political advertising. Listen to a political podcast, and invariably the host or guests will note they were watching say the LSU game one Saturday and the tsunami of political ads was inescapable (that one comes from The Bulwark podcast). I have even noticed them in solid blue New York, dashing my boast that I live in a city that political advertising avoids.
posted by Isabel Miller
Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 7:50 am
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I watched the entirety of Johnson’s presser yesterday. Instead of a political appointment ceremony, it more closely resembled a Baptist Fire & Brimstone sermon led by a fervent pastor.
Agree or disagree, this is BJ’s personal crusade (pun very much intended). It will take a massive, coordinated effort to prevent him from financially crippling the city in the long-term.
Comment by LPDad Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 8:27 am
==I don’t believe he has four city legislators that are willing to give him, give CPS any money==
That sums it up for me. Johnson is so distrusted in Springfield that there are only a handful of legislators willing to go to bat for him, according to Rep. Tarver.
Comment by low level Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 8:33 am
As a downstater who gets the majority of his Chicago coverage from this site I am curious. Do people feel Lightfoot would have been the better choice now or are they still glad that she lost to Johnson? I don’t intend any snark or sarcasm, I’m genuinely curious.
Comment by Grimlock Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 8:39 am
I watched some of the clips from Johnson’s event yesterday. His anger at being asked normal questions from the press does not reflect well on him. If he doesn’t want to answer a question, that’s fine, just don’t try to demean or question the motives of the person asking the question.
This guy has declared war on the head of CPS, the governor, the state legislature and now the media. It’s hard to detect a winning strategy so far.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 8:57 am
==Do people feel Lightfoot would have been the better choice now or are they still glad that she lost to Johnson? ==
Lightfoot would be chosen in my neighborhood over Johnson certainly and I suspect in the city as a whole. That is my sense of
It.
Comment by low level Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 8:57 am
==Everyone wants to help children, but I don’t think anyone wants to help him==
perfectly stated
Comment by snave Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 9:00 am
Johnson lied so often in that presser. His body language is schizophrenic going from harshly biting his lower lip as if ready to fight to puffing out his chest to waving fingers to deflection through based humor.
It was a cringeworthy SNL theatric performance not worthy of the mayor of third largest city in the country.
It was as if his panic attack actually hit him during the presser then some slipped him something so he could call himself essentially “Chicago’s lover” not even sure what that meant?
Comment by Frida’s boss Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 9:13 am
== Do people feel Lightfoot would have been the better choice now or are they still glad that she lost to Johnson? ==
I would take Lightfoot back in a heartbeat.
Comment by Northsider Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 9:39 am
The subtext here, from a raw politics perspective, is also, “Nobody in Springfield believes this guy is still gonna be Mayor come 2027, so why should we stick our neck out to help a guy who’s gonna be gone in a few years, and will repay no favors?”
That’s not the only issue, but Johnson is looking so much like a lame duck right now, his long-term bargaining position is really weak.
What I wonder about is if CTU has done the same math, and that’s part of their impetus to try and pressure Johnson to push through a big contract asap.
Comment by ZC Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 9:46 am
Is there a stronger indication that Johnson is run by CTU than the fact that the CFD union has no contract, has not had one for 3 years, and does not look like there is any progress in that area?
I am all about schools given what I do for a living, but people literally depend on the CFD for their lives. WHy has he not made that a priority and been more open about it.
Johnson is a daily confirmation the CTU is in charge right now.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 9:53 am
I finally watched the entire Johnson press conference, and I can actually see his point on lots of things - the terrible Valas bond deals, redirection of CPS/CTPF funding, under-resourcing of schools in need (libraries, nurses, etc., etc.)
The problem isn’t the message - it’s the messenger. Never saw a politician treat the press/public so disrespectfully.
He’s gotta go.
Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 10:23 am
===help a guy who’s gonna be gone===
Maybe. Everyone knew George Ryan was gonna be a one and done, but people flocked to help him. He knew how to help back (which is what got him in trouble).
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 10:31 am
The Mayor never respected the media, ever. None of this is surprising to anyone paying attention. This is his character and fixed beliefs.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 10:46 am
If CTU/CPS had been the main issue in the campaign Lightfoot would have done much better, having forced CTU to back down after its strike. She also handled the budget responsibly (in large part by not squandering federal COVID aid) and saw the city through the Covid era. People over-focused on the CTA and her management style (though it’s funny how one of the criticisms was that her office was secretive - compared to this admin hers was an open book)
Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 10:47 am
I remember in the first few weeks of the Johnson administration, the city gave CPS employees 12 weeks of paid parental leave. That had been a long-term demand by CTU that Lightfoot refused to give; Johnson himself in January 2023 said on Twitter that “Paid leave is recognition of a fundamental human right to child and family care at a crucial time.”
It was not a surprise that Johnson threw this bone to CPS (instead of making it part of the bargaining process). What I noticed what that Johnson didn’t, at the time, extend the same “fundamental human right” to other unions (police, fire, City Colleges workers, etc). That would have struck me as a very small way for Johnson to show that he was fighting for labor and wanted to have a big tent. The fact that he didn’t do that told me his priorities; nothing has really changed since then.
Comment by Garfield Ridge Guy Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 10:50 am
==Political ads dominating sports telecasts with seemingly no end in sight==
Allow me to help the author. The end, which is very much in sight, will be November 6th.
Then we can get back to those wholesome, heart-warming gambling ads full-time.
Comment by Alton Sinkhole Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 10:58 am
If his goal was to blow the whistle on a reverend who states that he lives in Cal City and sends his kid to a CPS school, this could just all be an elaborate ploy to bring that reverend to justice. /s
Comment by Jurist Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 10:59 am
The talk of, “I came here to make transformational change” is very Rauner-like when demands are made that can’t easily be met. Mayor Johnson has to work within the confines of what is politically possible. Some of his allies may refuse to understand or accept this, but they’re not mayor.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Oct 8, 24 @ 12:35 pm