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Comment: Writer Ameya Pawar, executive director and co-founder of One Illinois, is also a Leadership in Government Fellow with George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. Pawar is funded by OSF to work on national public banking efforts, but writes here about Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said, “Let’s be clear: Just as we have done with our health-care workers, we will fight on all fronts for the safety of our students and their educators.”
Citing their combined 238,000 members, overseeing 2.5 million students, the presidents flexed their union muscle, saying, “Unions were founded on workplace safety. The COVID-19 pandemic brings us back to our roots. This is the power of belonging to a union — to be able to collectively stand to protect those who need it — employees, students and their families.”
“As stupid as it sounds, that bare Snapchat story and absent Fourth of July Instagram post weighs heavily on us restless teens, anxious to maintain our social image through these platforms. This pressure has always been a negative byproduct of social media — silently contributing to mental health problems for years — but it is only in the midst of a global emergency that its truly damaging consequences on our generation come to light.”
“It’s not about what happened at 3 a.m. last Thursday. It’s about what happens next.”
Over 4,000 businesses submitted applications before the June 29 deadline, officials said. After reviewing each application to ensure they qualified, the city awarded the grants through a lottery system. A second round of grants will be awarded at a later date.
Blagojevich said, “He ought to get out there like I did. C’mon Mike. Talk to the media. Fight back. Look what they’re calling you, man. They’re calling you corrupt. If you’re truly innocent, Mike, fight back, man.”
Cass, Champaign, Gallatin, Jackson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Perry, Randolph, Saline, Sangamon, St. Clair, White and Whiteside counties were shown as counties of concern. Those counties each experienced outbreaks associated with business operations and other activities that pose higher risks for spreading the disease such as school graduation ceremonies, parties, social gatherings and people going to bars.
“Think of it this way: no revenue. No revenue, but the bills keep coming. And a lot of us are facing this cliff very quickly,” said Katie Tuten, who is co-owner of the 24-year-old Hideout, as well as a founding member of the Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL). “Most of us are ‘phase five’ businesses.”
“Educating is not just an “essential business”; it is at the top of the list of our nation’s priorities. The long-term cost to a generation of students of school closures, online learning and restrictive school rules is extraordinary. Most economists say that the annual return on one year’s investment in education is no less than 10 percent.”
Experts pointed to property taxes as one key advantage Indiana has over Illinois. He cited the example of a home valued at $205,000. In 2018, that homeowner would have paid $4,700 in Illinois property taxes, while its Indiana property taxes would have been $1,700, or 62% less.
At the first event, Black people were encouraged to forgo spending altogether, or to shop at Black-owned businesses if they needed to buy something. Going forward, organizers want to leverage regular BlackOut Tuesday events to bring Black business owners together to network and advertise their businesses to the greater community, and also create a space where Black people can learn more about starting or expanding a business.
The spreadsheet released this week shows CPS budgeted the annual average salary for each of 192 officers stationed in schools or in roving cars of $87,000 a year, plus $65,000 in benefits. The benefits per officer include $40,000 in contributions for pensions, $13,000 for healthcare and $1,800 for a uniform allowance, among other miscellaneous costs.
Chicago’s school board narrowly voted against terminating a $33 million contract with the police last month, but instead has given the 70-plus schools with police officers on campuses an Aug. 14 deadline to vote.
“(A) grand total of only seven democratic legislators have called for (Madigan) to step down, while the Governor continues to stand by his political ally. We are confident the people of Illinois will not entrust more of their hard-earned money to the Madigan-Pritzker dynamic duo, both of whom are under federal investigation,” Illinois Republican Party spokesman Joe Hackler said.
The state government received $3.5 billion in federal tax money meant from COVID-19 aid packages and has spent $505 million, or 14.4 percent of the federal COVID-19 aid as of June 30.
Lightfoot has a long, complicated history in the local police reform movement. She’s a former federal prosecutor who headed the board that oversees police discipline and chaired the Police Accountability Task Force formed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. But she is often criticized by activists as being pro-police.
“We are trying very hard to employ as many people in Illinois as we can,” Gov. JB Pritzker said on Wednesday.
When asked Wednesday if CTU is open to striking if CPS continues to push forward with reopening, CTU President Jesse Sharkey did not give a direct answer. “The tipping point is the continuing threat to the safety of our students, families and educators who serve them — and right now the mayor’s ‘hybrid’ plan simply lacks the essential guarantees or details to ensure the safety of students, families and educators this fall.”
The public agency that runs Chicago’s convention center expects to hit the market in September with an up to $200 million deal aimed at softening the COVID-19 pandemic’s fiscal blows to its taxes and operations.
Ted was on with Tom Miller of WJPF this week talking about ComEd, Speaker Madigan and the Illinois machine. “If Madigan is gone tomorrow Illinois’ legalized corruption machine is still there. It’s not just Madigan, it’s the machine that must be deconstructed.”
“I understand that the last couple of weeks have been difficult for our caucus and party, and I have had many candid conversations with members of the Democratic caucus on this matter. The feedback is positive and demonstrates continued support for me and my leadership roles,” Madigan said in a statement issued Thursday night.
“Three more members of that caucus called for Madigan to resign this week, at least as House Speaker and chair of the state’s Democratic Party. They join another Democratic representative and three senators—all women—and a number of high-profile Republicans in calling for Madigan’s resignation from at least one of his leadership positions.”
The 7-foot statue was removed from a fountain where it stood for more than 100 years. It was one of the first Columbus statues in the city.
The resolution, called Justice for Black Lives, says the county “should engage in efforts to redirect funds from policing and incarceration to public services not administered by law enforcement that promote community health and safety equitably across the County, but especially in Black and Brown communities most impacted by violence and incarceration.”
“The larger story is about the spreading of false narratives. And to enforce them, to shut people up, there is a tactic. Now we call it cancel culture. It’s happening to professors, people in media, and to millions of Americans out there without a voice.”
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