The meeting came as workers washed away a painted “defund the police” banner on the street outside the Evanston police department. A freshly painted “black lives matter” banner in front of Evanston Township High School also was partially defaced Saturday morning.

“The Evanston ordinance explicitly recognizes that African Americans, while 16 percent of the population in Evanston, were 71 percent of those arrested for marijuana charges. It is not only disproportionate marijuana arrests that Evanston is beginning to correct.”

“We cannot arrest our way out of this issue, but all aspects of the criminal justice system must be willing to work collaboratively to address the increasing number of violent gun offenders…We cannot expect community members to turn criminals over to the police if they know that our criminal justice system will return most of those criminals right back to the street.”

Comment: Yes, this is satire, for those not familiar with Babylon Bee. And it’s terrific.

One owner feels the local governments, which collect real estate taxes, have to work with local businesses, otherwise more issues may arise: “It’s fair to say our buildings are only worth the occupancy we can put in them. My buildings are essentially worthless if no one can go in them.”

The mayor added that resources need to be funneled into targeting the flow of illegal guns coming into the city. But also programs to help people in crisis. “We simply must fundamentally recommit ourselves to focusing on the root causes of the violence is every bit a public health crisis as COVID-19.”

A test of the program began in April with 3,315 homeowners. If they make payments for the next 12 months, the city will forgive about $2.9 million in debt, Lightfoot said. Approximately 60% of those participants are seniors.

To beat the heat, the city has opened several cooling centers, is rolling out mobile cooling centers and will reopen splash pads in public parks, Lightfoot said.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the city has seen 48 cases per 100,000 residents, more than three times the city’s threshold of the quarantine order, as of June 27. As a state, Illinois would not qualify either, registering 43 cases per 100,000 residents in the same timeframe.

“Are they forgetting that Illinois is all but flat broke? Are they forgetting that the pandemic has made the state’s financial plight even worse? Illinois shouldn’t be musing about ways to ramp up spending — it should be working its tail off to find waste to trim.”

In all, the city conducted 49 investigations of complaints over the holiday weekend, and issued a total of 10 citations to five businesses, each with a fine of up to $10,000.

The Near North tax increment financing district so far captured $331 million in property tax increases from other taxing districts, mainly Chicago Public Schools, and put the money towards economic development of the district.

At least 17 people, including a young girl, are dead and at least 72 others have been wounded in shootings across the city over the long Fourth of July weekend. Twelve of the victims were minors and two of them died from their injuries, according to police.

If you’re caught breaking Chicago’s quarantine, you could face fines of $100-$500 per day, up to $7,000. Illinois has not issued such an order on a statewide basis, and Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said last week that the state does not currently intend to do so