Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Addition to today’s edition
Next Post: Open thread
Posted in:
* Chalkbeat Chicago | In wake of Trump win, Chicago Board of Education moves to reaffirm protections for immigrants: The resolution, approved unanimously by the school board during a special board meeting, acknowledged that the results of the election “may have caused fear, concern, confusion, sadness, anger, or anxiety in CPS staff, students, and their families.” “We stand very steadfast to these principles and we will defend every student here,” said board member Olga Bautista. She added that it’s “unconscionable” to see anyone “emboldened” to call immigration officials on “our people at work or at schools.”
* Sun-Times | ComEd lured TikTok historian out of safe union job, then fired him: Then Thomas met Gov. J.B. Pritzker, which really caught the attention of the utility. If you’re following the Michael Madigan trial, you know ComEd has been accused of putting its thumb on the scales of government. “The VP of communications said it would be cool if Gil heard about you — maybe a good idea to take him to meet Gov. Pritzker,” said Thomas. “So I did.” That would be ComEd President and CEO Gil Quiniones. Suddenly, the CEO and the night shift worker were pals. “He would text me, ‘Hey Dilla, retweet this,’” said Thomas. “‘Hey Dilla, we’re going to do this ribbon cutting, can you show up? Dilla, we’re graduating this class at training; can you show up?’”
* Fortune | Red Lobster CEO says endless shrimp is never coming back because ‘I know how to do math’: Since taking the helm at Red Lobster, Adamolekun has committed to controlling the crustacean chaos caused by the endless shrimp fiasco by doing exactly what he referred to: going back to what made the company successful in the first place. “This is, without exaggeration, one of the most important companies in American history,” Adamolekun told CNN. “There were certainly big mistakes made over the last few years.”
* At 10 am Governor Pritzker will announce new clean energy grant awards. Click here to watch.
* A quick moment of zen…
Baby goats meeting their livestock guardian dogs for the first timepic.twitter.com/XrYL7zZF25
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) November 15, 2024
* WTTW | Illinois House Speaker on Protecting Reproductive Rights, Balancing the State Budget: Though Illinois Democrats all won reelection in the state, the outcome for the presidential race was less successful. Welch said although it’s bittersweet to see Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign end, as a state, Illinois has planned ahead. “We have said every time we stand up on the floor and fight for certain bills, that we couldn’t predict what was going to happen in 2024,” Welch said. “We needed to make sure that we protected the values of Illinois. And so we’ve done that when it comes to workers’ rights and women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights and the climate. We’ve done a lot of work on some very important things, and what we do know is what Donald Trump has said he will do.”
* Tribune | More Illinois hospitals get A grades for safety; a dozen get D’s: In Illinois, 32 hospitals have notched A grades, up from 24 hospitals in the spring, according to the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit founded by large employers and other organizations that buy health insurance. Illinois now ranks 23rd in the nation for patient safety — up from 30th in the spring. Illinois hospitals that earned top marks this fall include University of Chicago Medical Center; Rush University Medical Center; six Endeavor Health hospitals in Evanston, Highland Park, Glenview, Elmhurst, Naperville and Arlington Heights; and seven Northwestern Medicine hospitals in Huntley, DeKalb, Chicago, Winfield, Geneva, Lake Forest and McHenry.
* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson makes no promises after warnings over proposed police reform cuts: Asked to respond Thursday, the mayor defended his record on the consent decree but did not otherwise indicate what’s next for the hundreds of proposed cuts across the offices of constitutional policing, community policing and more, beyond calling “for us all to look at it and reflect on it.” “What we said we were not going to do is lay off police officers and firefighters,” Johnson said at an unrelated news conference on the West Side. “We’ve made a commitment — I did — to hire more detectives, to create better supervision. These are all elements within the consent decree that we have to adhere to. That’s what my administration has done.”
* Sun-Times | CPS board presses Acero officials for plan to keep charter schools open: Johnson’s newly appointed board members — who replaced the previous board that resigned en masse in October — held a special meeting Thursday to pass the resolution demanding Acero officials come before them at a Dec. 4 meeting. The board also passed a resolution reaffirming CPS as a welcoming district that will protect students from President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration mandates.
* Tribune | School board pushes to keep Acero schools open, as CPS Chief Pedro Martinez’ job status remains unclear: Some Acero parents who recently heard their children’s schools were closing blame CPS Chief Executive Officer Pedro Martinez and said he should have done more to help them, though the district leader said he has followed regular procedures. Martinez, who prepared a presentation obtained by the Tribune to address the charter schools closures, did not speak during Thursday’s special board meeting.
* CBS Chicago | Family of man who died of asthma attack in Illinois prison sues state for wrongful death: Michael Broadway, who was 51, died on June 19 after suffering an asthma attack amid excessive heat inside the prison. His family claimed his death was entirely preventable if prison guards and medical staff had made sure he received immediate care after he started struggling to breathe inside his cell. “Instead of helping him, Defendants watched Michael slowly perish while gasping for breath,” the family’s lawsuit states.
* WBEZ | Billy Lawless Sr., pub owner, immigration activist, dies at 73: Mr. Lawless poured himself into advocating for immigration reform as he realized the scope of the problem for thousands of Irish in Chicago and countless others from around the world who were part of the broader immigration crisis in the U.S. He was a co-founder of Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform.
* Tribune | State rests case against 2 former Cook County assistant state’s attorneys accused of wrongdoing: Special prosecutors on Thursday rested their case against two former Cook County assistant state’s attorneys standing trial on accusations of wrongdoing in connection with an infamous wrongful conviction case. The end of the state’s case moves the at-times contentious trial into a new phase, after it resumed in October following an 11-month break due to a rare midtrial appeal. Moments after prosecutors wrapped up, defense attorneys for Nicholas Trutenko, 69, and Andrew Horvat, 49, vigorously argued to Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes — who is hearing the matter instead of conflicted Cook County judges — that the state failed to prove its allegations.
* Daily Herald | Defense wants Highland Park shooting suspect’s statements to police barred from trial: Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti will rule on the defense request Dec. 18, about two months before the defendant is scheduled to face trial on 21 counts of first-degree murder and dozens of others charges. During Thursday’s court hearing, prosecutors played video clips from the interrogation showing officers informing the defendant that a lawyer was present and willing to talk with him. They also offered the defendant the lawyer’s business card on several occasions, as well as opportunities to make a phone call, which he declined.
* First Alert 4 | Gov. Pritzker visits Alton talks Trump, abortion & Madison County advisory question vote: Pritzker made this stop in Madison County, which last week voted in favor of a symbolic referendum declaring it wants to secede from Illinois. Pritzker did not sound very concerned. “I know that Madison County didn’t vote for my candidate for president, so I’m not surprised it voted the way it did on the referendum,” said Pritzker.
* KSDK | Illinois Governor tours new development in Alton: On Thursday Illinois Governor JB Pritzker toured a new innovation center in Alton. The Wedge Innovation Center is a 55,000-square-foot facility that will be the new home for the Midwest AI Network, some Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville educational programs, tech start-ups and local entrepreneurs.
* BND | Commissioner, cop fired for blowing whistle on East St. Louis Housing Board, lawsuit says: A former East St. Louis police officer and his wife, a member of the housing board, filed a civil rights and defamation lawsuit in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois claiming they were wrongfully terminated by City Manager Robert Betts. In the four-count lawsuit, Shonte and Nicholas Mueller say they were fired in retaliation for reporting problems with the East St. Louis Housing Authority and its interim executive director.
* WCIA | Movie shot in Champaign and Piatt Counties premiering in theaters nationwide: The film is called Albany Road, and you might not know all the actors, but you will recognize where they’re standing. Director Christine Swanson said she wanted to film in Illinois because she needed snow, and the tax incentives were better than in Georgia. A good friend of hers, who has a production company in Champaign, pitched the idea of doing most of the filming in Central Illinois.
* Columbia Journalism Review | Trump Threatens New York Times, Penguin Random House over Critical Coverage: The letter, addressed to lawyers at the New York Times and Penguin Random House, arrived a week before the election. Attached was a discursive ten-page legal threat from an attorney for Donald Trump that demanded $10 billion in damages over “false and defamatory statements” contained in articles by Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt, Susanne Craig, and Russ Buettner. t singles out two stories coauthored by Buettner and Craig that related to their book on Trump and his financial dealings, Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, released on September 17.
* Reuters | Trump’s transition team aims to kill Biden EV tax credit: President-elect Donald Trump‘s transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. […] Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of Trump’s biggest backers and the world’s richest person, said in July that killing the subsidy might slightly hurt Tesla sales but would be “devastating” to its U.S. EV competitors, which include legacy automakers such as General Motors (GM.N).
* Tribune | Fighting conspiracy theories with comedy? That’s what the Onion hopes after its purchase of Infowars.: On Thursday, The Onion immediately shut down Infowars and said it plans to relaunch it in January as a parody of conspiracy theorists. “Our goal in a couple of years is for people to think of Infowars as the funniest and dumbest website that exists,” said Ben Collins, the Onion’s CEO. “It was previously the dumbest website that exists.”
posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 7:35 am
Previous Post: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Addition to today’s edition
Next Post: Open thread
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Endless shrimp wasn’t a good idea, but it’s not even close to why Red Lobster went bankrupt. That would be the bad deals its owners forced on it, forcing it to buy their seafood at simply stupid prices, as well as many other factors.
Comment by Perrid Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 7:38 am
CPS prepared a presentation about options regarding the Acero school, but the Board did not want to discuss it. The Mayor’s CPS Board rather preen for the media than work on the issues facing their constituents.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 8:17 am
The NYT getting hit with a massive lawsuit from Trump after they spent the past four years both-sidesing Dem molehills with GOP mountains is pretty much the epitome the “leopards eating my face party” meme. But hey, at least now instead of dealing with a president that politely won’t have a sit-down interview with them, they’ll instead be dealing with a president actively trying to utterly destroy them as part of a larger means to enrich himself while silencing media opposition. Hope it was worth it.
Comment by TJ Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 8:36 am
Good work, Onion!
Comment by Siualum Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 8:56 am
Those dogs are really chill.
Comment by JoanP Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 9:29 am
The media coverage of the Acero school situation has danced around what is really happening. CTU is usually fine with charters closing and their students being absorbed by other schools in the system. It has happened many times before. What’s different here is Acero schools are staffed by CTU members, so CTU is fighting to keep them open.
Comment by Frank Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 10:02 am
==Good work, Onion==
I hope the Onion trolls the heck out of the infowars audience.
Comment by Demoralized Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 10:02 am
Yet another article about Red Lobster and ‘endless shrimp’ without mentioning that private equity group Golden Gate Capital bought them in 2014 and set them on a path to destruction by selling off the land assets and charging the franchisees ridiculous rents afterwards. Not a single word in the article about it. Funny how that works.
Comment by Benniefly2 Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 10:21 am
The Onion story has been updated. The “auction” of InfoWars is on hold.
“During an emergency hearing on Thursday just hours after MSM pushed headlines about The Onion’s acquisition of InfoWars, Federal Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Lopez expressed his concerns over the transparency of the auction process. Lopez set a subsequent hearing for next week to examine questions over whether the auction was conducted fairly, transparently, and most importantly; legally. Lopez said the upcoming hearing will determine whether bankruptcy trustees running the auction executed “a full and fair process” and will ultimately determine whether or not the sale of InfoWars to The Onion will be approved.”
Word on the webs is that the currency used for the purchase was literally a non-existent credit line from a non-existent lender. But, we will have to wait to find out until after the Judge Lopez audits the situation because the supposed purchaser and bankruptcy trustee refused to provide facts in yesterday’s court hearing.
Comment by Upgrade and Not Sure Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 10:22 am
Another heartwarming story out of the big brains at ComEd. Exactly how dumb do you have to be to become an executive at a utility?
Comment by Excitable Boy Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 11:52 am
ComEd done Dilla dirty.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 11:53 am
Updated,
You didn’t cite the source of your quotation so I searched for it on Google — and now I see why.
A anonymous Twitter user named “BlueApples,” who’s post to “ZeroHedge” dot com not “selected, edited or screened by Zero Hedge editors.”
“BlueApples” also asserted that “questions about the legality of the auction process of InfoWars proved that the overzealous celebration was not just premature but the epitome of everything Jones was warned against for over 25 years.”
Perhaps not the highest of high-quality news sources.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2024-11-14/infowars-sale-onion-halted-after-tainted-auction-process-revealed
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 12:09 pm
ComEd is the absolute worst
Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 12:35 pm
= Perhaps not the highest of high-quality news sources. =
But The Guardian is: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/15/the-onion-infowars-bankruptcy
However, the “word on the webs” is apparently wrong about the reason for the hearing.
Comment by JoanP Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 12:36 pm
“That’s what my administration has done.” in the past
“proposed cuts across the offices of constitutional policing, community policing and more” is what the mayor plans to do in the future.
Comment by Steve Polite Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 12:56 pm
The only other bidder for Jones’ assets was a shadow company owned by Jones and his family. How is that even legal.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 2:26 pm
I wonder, maybe dealmaker GuvJBP can trade the seceding counties, the White Sox, and the Bears to MO for St Louis and a new pro rugby team. Maybe even throw in Quincy too. And we get cash too.
Then we can rename the Cardinals the St Louis Browns.
Possibilities.
Comment by ItsJustMe Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 2:52 pm
“Only god can save us.”
What if that god people look to as savior is … Loki?
Comment by ItsJustMe (again) Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 3:07 pm
More on The Onion/Infowars situation from the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/business/media/alex-jones-infowars-the-onion.html
Comment by JoanP Friday, Nov 15, 24 @ 3:30 pm