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* ICYMI: Illinois installs supermarket kiosks for license renewals, other DMV transactions. Tribune…
* Related stories…
* Sun-Times | The politics of picking a Madigan jury: Prospects asked how they view ‘politicians for life’: For several days over the past few weeks, dozens of people have been led into a room in Chicago’s Loop, where they’ve been asked whether they opposed people being “politicians for life.” Many of them did. They either raised their hands or argued that career politicians “lose touch with reality” and lack fresh perspectives demanded by changing times. Occasionally, their answers seemed to reference President Joe Biden. At others, the U.S. Supreme Court.
* Tribune | Jury selection for Madigan trial slows further with no one chosen for second straight day: Two days of intensive questioning this week have yielded no new jurors in the corruption trial of Michael Madigan, as the already sluggish pace of jury selection slowed to a crawl Wednesday. Although U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey has been insistent he would not rush the parties though the important process, the judge for the first time suggested time limits for questioning — which he referred to as a “shot clock” — if things don’t improve.
* WMBD | Hauter vs. Gill: 87th District State Rep. candidates share why they should win the candidacy: Independent candidate Dr. David Gill is challenging State Representative Bill Hauter, a Republican. Gill wants to increase ballot access for third-party candidates. “I spent 90 days knocking on 12,000 doors in 30 communities throughout the district, gathering signatures to get myself put onto the ballot so that we could at least have a battle,” Gill said. “I think that most Americans have had enough of these two major parties that make life so difficult.”
* WAND | Pritzker administration improving statewide youth behavioral healthcare services: Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law last year calling for a clear, consistent and comprehensive way for families to find mental and behavioral healthcare options for young children and teens. The law created an inter-agency team to improve service coordination, implement new technology to refer families to resources and increase capacity to meet demand for care.
* SJ-R | Wet soil, dryer pockets: How climate change is impacting Illinois pumpkin farms: As a farmer carrying on a family legacy of over a century on the farm, Jefferies has been facing insecurities about her abilities as a farmer like never before because of climate change. “When you have year after year of crop failure or reduced crop production you start to question your own ability,” Jefferies said. “It’s pretty mentally challenging, the weather is hard on people. Not just financial hardship, but a mental hardship. You feel like a failure even though there was nothing you can do, and that you’ve let people down.”
* Tribune | Pedro Martinez defends CPS work to aldermen in contentious hearing: Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez had the stage to himself Wednesday at City Hall, and used it to go on the offensive in his ongoing fight with Mayor Brandon Johnson over control of the city’s schools. As expected, only Martinez — and none of the Chicago Board of Education nominees Johnson tapped in an apparent bid to get Martinez fired for refusing to borrow money to balance the school budget — showed up to the Education Committee meeting aldermen called to vet the mayor’s picks.
* Block Club | CPS Boss Grilled By Frustrated Alderpeople After School Board Members Skip Special Hearing: A focal point of that tension has been Martinez’s refusal to take out a $300 million high-interest loan to cover pension payments for non-teaching staff and upcoming contract costs. The back-and-forth came to a head Oct. 4, when the entire seven-member school board — six of whom were appointed by Johnson last year — resigned en masse. The school board has the final authority to fire the school district’s chief executive.
* Tribune | CPS marks second consecutive year of increased enrollment and ‘exponential progress’ in staffing: CPS has enrolled more than 325,300 students this school year, officials announced Wednesday, marking the second consecutive year that the district marginally reversed a long-term trend of declining enrollment, common among public schools across the country. As of the fourth week of school, CPS said more than 2,000 students were attending the district than at the same time last school year, an increase of .64%.
* Crain’s | Civic Federation calls on mayor to avoid raising property taxes: Mayor Brandon Johnson should consider every option to avoid raising property taxes to close a $982 million budget gap for 2025, including hiking sin taxes, raising fees on garbage collection, implementing employee furloughs and putting a pause on making an advanced pension payment, according to the Civic Federation.
* Block Club | Chicagoans Can Get Help After July Floods With New FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers: Two newly opened disaster recovery centers in the Chicago area are helping neighbors affected by flooding in July. Homeowners, renters and small business owners can get face-to-face support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration at the disaster recovery centers, which opened Wednesday in Chicago Lawn, 6120 S. Kedzie Ave., and suburban Homewood, 2010 Chestnut Road.
* WTTW | As Chicago clears away its biggest tent city, a former gang leader says he won’t settle for a homeless shelter: City officials say most of the roughly 100 unhoused people in the park will be offered one of those rent-free apartments. Those who don’t get a unit will be given a shelter bed. “The park is being cleared because people are moving into housing,” said Sendy Soto, chief homelessness officer under Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Apartment or not, everyone will have to leave the park by Dec. 1, officials say.
* Block Club | Chicago’s Biggest Halloween Parade Turns 10 Saturday With Its Hugest Event Yet: The free Arts in the Dark celebration — annually pegged to the season of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, channeling the vibe of Carnivale and Mardi Gras — unfurls its 10th iteration at 6 p.m. Saturday, stepping off at the corner of State and Lake. Performers march south for about two hours, wrapping up their procession at State and Van Buren.
* Block Club | See The Year’s Brightest Supermoon Thursday In Chicago: A supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its orbit, according to NASA. It can look up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than when the moon is at its farthest point from Earth. Thursday’s supermoon will be the closest full moon of the year, approximately 222,056 miles from Earth, according to AstroPixels.
* Daily Southtown | Under federal scrutiny, Tiffany Henyard announces reelection bid for Dolton mayor: Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard, the focus of an investigation by federal authorities, said she will seek reelection next year, starting with the February Democratic Primary, and plans to back a slate of Village Board candidates. Elected to her first term in April 2021 as Dolton’s first Black female mayor, Henyard has been the subject of federal subpoenas targeting her and a supposedly philanthropic organization bearing her name meant to help cancer survivors. An attorney representing Henyard has declared she’s done nothing wrong.
* Daily Herald | Commissioner faces ethics violation over leaked Bears tax appeal info: Cook County’s inspector general has recommended that a county board of review member take ethics training over the leaking of confidential information about the Chicago Bears’ property tax appeal at Arlington Park to the Daily Herald and other media outlets. Inspector General Tirrell Paxton’s report doesn’t mention Commissioner Samantha Steele by name, but the facts of the case match previously reported details about the internal squabble at the quasi-judicial county agency, which oversees appeals of property assessments.
* Daily Herald | ‘New, improved, evolved’: Revised plan would keep remainder of Hawthorn mall intact: The next step in a comprehensive transformation of the Hawthorn mall property in Vernon Hills aims to build on the success of initial work and keep what remains of the existing 1970s-era shopping center intact. The revised concept would keep 130,000 square feet of existing space in the mall core that was to have been demolished in previous plans.
* Daily Herald | Officials: Anti-Semitic messages on billboard near Northbrook were ‘unauthorized : A preliminary investigation by officers determined the messages were “unauthorized” and not displayed by the billboard company, Interim Chief John Ustich said in the release. “This disgusting, intimidating display has no place in the 10th District, or anywhere in America,” Rep. Brad Schneider, a Highland Park Democrat, said in a tweet. “It is notable that this sign is located in a community with a large Jewish population, in close proximity to a Jewish day school, at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.”
* WCIA | Sangamon County Recorder candidates split over future of office: A candidate for Sangamon County Recorder announced Wednesday he’s campaigning to allow voters to decide if his job should be dissolved. The official’s job is to “record all documents transferring land in order to establish legal ownership,” according to a fact sheet from the Illinois Association of County Board Members and Commissioners.
* SJ-R | Who is on the Massey Commission? A closer look at the 14 members: The commission, an outgrowth of the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey by a former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy on July 6, recently seated its members and named two new co-chairs, JoAnn Johnson and Shadia Massey, Sonya Massey’s cousin, replacing the Rev. T. Ray McJunkins and Nina Harris after an initial listening session.
* WCIA | U of I professors and students searching for rare comet passing over: Professor Tony Wong said the comet has been so deep in the solar system for so long that it still has ice surrounding it. As it gets closer to the sun it’ll warm and then start to evaporate its gasses. This means it’ll create a bright light to where people can view it. “We are just starting to get a good show now because the comet has already passed the sun. And as it’s moving away from the sun, it’s becoming visible in our night sky. And so that’s why everyone’s looking at it this week, is because it’s becoming visible to our night sky,” U of I Professor Tony Wong said.
* AP | US agency adopts rule to make it easier for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions: The “click-to-cancel” rule will prohibit retailers and other businesses from misleading people about subscriptions and require them to obtain consumers’ consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trial offers. The FTC said businesses must also disclose when free trials or other promotional offers will end and let customers end recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them. Most of the provisions take effect effect 180 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register, the agency said.
posted by Isabel Miller
Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 7:44 am
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Major props to Pedro Martinez for showing up to the Chicago Ciry Council hearing. He answered all questions and I came away even more impressed with his leadership.
Conversely, none of the board members appeared and that was a very bad look which reflects poorly on Mayor Johnson. Clearly he told them not to appear.
Comment by low level Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 8:29 am
It is high time for recorders and auditors to go away as independent elected positions.
Comment by Drifter182 Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 2:00 pm
===It is high time for recorders and auditors to go away as independent elected positions.===
That is a good start … . IMO, Circuit Clerks should be state employees with the entire cost paid by the State.
Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 4:03 pm