Editorial: CTU allies bellyache as Catholic schools open – Chicago Tribune

“Siobhan Haugh, a parent and school board member at St. Paul of the Cross School in Park Ridge, says she ‘is not worried’ about sending her three boys back to school. ‘There are risks with everything, and this is worth trying,’ she says. ‘Lockdown was one thing, but once things started to open up, I had to get more comfortable with them doing things. We have to figure out how to live until there’s a vaccine.'”

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Column: As political-ad blitz gears up, voters should hunker down – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “(T)he ads in support of the progressive tax plan couldn’t be more misleading in their references to states with progressive-income-tax systems like Iowa and Wisconsin. The clear message of the ad is that in those states — unlike in Illinois — lower- and middle-income taxpayers pay income taxes at lower rates, apparently all the way up to $250,000. But the ads don’t explicitly say so, and Pritzker’s ad team is depending on people not to look too closely to those states’ rates.”

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Coronavirus Hospitalization Rates In Chicago On The Rise – Patch Chicago

As of Thursday night, there were 1,526 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across Illinois, according to the state health department. That is 86 fewer people than were hospitalized with the virus a week earlier. But in Chicago, a daily average of 18 people were newly hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms, two more people a day admitted to hospitals than a week earlier.

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Senate GOP demands governor open IDES offices – Capitol News IL

“Surely in 6 months, couldn’t we have installed plexiglass barriers and outside air ventilation systems in the IDES offices by now,” they asked in their letter. “Limit the number of people in the offices, socially distance, mask, all that, hell, we don’t care, put a tent up outside and buy laptops for the staff — but get these offices back open. People are hurting.”

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Downstate lawmaker questions public health officials as one in five Illinois counties on COVID-19 warning list – Center Square

State Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, represents parts of Clinton, Madison and St. Clair counties, all of which are included in the latest list: “We had the state police at a wedding trying to shut it down [last] Saturday night in my district…She said, ‘just write me the ticket, I am not stopping this reception….it’s bad that it’s come to this.”

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‘To call me an agitator just flips all of the narrative on its head,’ says protester accused of hitting Chicago cop with skateboard – Chicago Tribune

“When Johnson was released from Cook County Jail — it took days to get him fitted with an electronic monitoring device — he tweeted to his followers: ‘I have two neck tattoos and I have now been to jail. Will y’all please go listen to my music now?’ He then posted a new song titled, ‘Blacked out, Pissed Off.'”

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After string of safety problems at Chicago early childhood centers, feds take notice – Chalkbeat Chicago

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified the city that it will rebid $176 million in grants that previously went straight to City Hall. “These are pretty serious issues,” said Lauri Morrison-Frichtl, the executive director of the Illinois Head Start Association. “The city based its new structure on Head Start funding and now they are going to lose some of those dollars and some of those children. It now throws a wrench in their planning.”

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Editorial: Pritzker’s graduated tax follies: He opened his wallet but closed his ears – Chicago Tribune

“If Springfield is freed from the constitutional constraints of a flat tax rate, soon enough middle-class earners also will get hit with a rate increase. That’s because lawmakers find it easier to hike taxes than cut spending, reduce regulatory burdens or take other actions to encourage employers to stay in Illinois, invest and grow the economy.”

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