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“It’s no longer credible to claim Chicago can work its way out of the huge hole it has dug for its pension plans over the past 20 years…. If Chicago’s employees wish to receive their pensions, and if Chicago’s residents wish to avoid being milked dry, the status quo is not the answer…. Chapter 9 of the U.S.
The Strategic Operations Center of the Cook County Sheriff’s has distributed a warning to Chicago area police of a possible alliance among area gangs to shoot officers making arrests.
“I will also tell you that more drastic actions or options may be the only course for future budgets,” said Debra Carey, the system’s interim CEO, noting that some would “suggest that we look elsewhere for expense reductions.”
Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said layoffs and furloughs are the last thing she wants to consider, but may have to. Her central Illinois city is facing a $5.5 million revenue shortfall. “If we don’t get help in a major way, I don’t know how we recover. I can’t tax my citizens more. There’s just no more money to come back to us.”
Jewelry store owner Paul Cha said criminals spent hours in his store Aug. 10 and got away with more than $100,000 in jewelry and damage. As for what could happen this weekend: “Praying and hopefully it’s just gonna be peaceful marching and protesting…“There are great people in Chicago, not only looters.”
A series of universities have announced that they’re moving to remote learning, closing residence halls or scaling back on in-person classes because of a surge of COVID-19 cases on campus.
State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, said the mitigations don’t make sense.“We have to have a more comprehensive plan rather than shutting things down, open things up, shutting things down, open things up.”
Bruce Sommer, professor of Economic Development and Innovation, said the pandemic will affect wages. “We are going to see a shift in labor markets. We are going to see some depression in wages with this high unemployment rate, and as that rebounds and as wages get higher, we think we are going to see some automation occurring.”
“St. Clair County homeowners should be concerned that scarce resources are flowing to a project unable to turn a profit. They should also ask how bailing out the airport is affecting their property taxes and home values, especially the value of a rural home where they rarely see a sheriff’s deputy on patrol because that money is keeping an airport staffed.”
“It’s been a source of frustration for cities around the state,” said Carbondale City Manager Gary Williams… “(A)s the state, through DCEO, developed guidelines on what it could be used for, and the restrictions placed on it, essentially, are going to make most of that money inaccessible to us,” he said.
The average American household spends $2,375 on property taxes for their homes each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and residents of the 27 states with vehicle property taxes shell out another $441.
“Hundreds of thousands of people who should be getting these weekly checks aren’t,” he said. Michigan has more than 680,000 people already receiving those benefits, while Illinois has less than 120,000.
Since March, 150 McCormick Place trade shows have been scrapped because of the coronavirus. Those shows were expected to generate more than $2 billion, including spending at hotels, restaurants, transportation options and entertainment.
“Every cop is not bad, and they don’t always have bad intentions,” said Meya Garrett, one of the teen guides. “The police that we take around, we want them to get a good view of our neighborhood and see how it really is.”
When split by county, Illinoisans in suburban Chicago pay much more in annual property taxes than elsewhere in the state.
The union tweeted a video of the guillotine and wrote, “We are completely frightened by, completely impressed by and completely in support of wherever this is headed.” The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund owned 45,754 shares of Amazon stock worth $86,641,147 at the end of fiscal year 2019
To date, $236 million has been awarded to all 102 counties for the program and that more than 1,600 tracers have been hired statewide. The state is also offering up $60 million in grants for subcontractors to be pandemic health navigators, assisting with COVID-19 education efforts.
It is not a ruling on the merits. It leaves a number of options for further prolonging the lawsuit going forward, including a convenient way to simply file a more comprehensive amended Complaint and, in effect, start all over.
Pragmatically, it is arguably not a loss for Protect Our Parks but a win, because it will delay for another year or two any attempt to start construction of the OPC in Jackson Park.
“What we’re going to do is have actionable tests so that we quickly squelch down the outbreak,” University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “Once you know where the virus is, you can deal with it. If you don’t know where it is, it’s very tricky. It will develop.”
“I’m glad to see that they’re now taking it seriously, and they’re starting to deploy resources to address the issue,” said Scott Shapiro. He owns the Syd Jerome clothing store in the Loop that was hit by both rounds of looting. His store windows are still covered up.
The $120,000 feasibility study conducted by on outside firm and commissioned by the city last October found that the process known as municipalization would be an expensive, but not impossible endeavor. But the study also said the process likely would not lead to lower electricity rates for customers.
“[Teaching] feels so undervalued,” said Jessica Lapkus, who recently resigned as a teacher in Glenview School District 34. “Nobody goes into teaching to make money. Nobody goes into teaching to hurt kids or to deny them of the things that they need.”
Attorney Dan Webb made the argument that releasing the full report is in the best interest of restoring public confidence in the criminal justice system. However, the judge raised concerns about preserving the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.
As of Friday, the counties now on the warning list include Bureau, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Cook, Cumberland, Effingham, Fayette, Greene, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Jasper, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Madison, Monroe, Morgan, Perry, Pike, Randolph, Sangamon, Shelby, St. Clair, Union, Warren, White, Will and Williamson.
Aistrope, the CEO of Chicago-based Meeting Tomorrow and a campaign contributor to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, reached out to her office in late March. The next day, he said, he was on a video call with top Chicago school district officials — the first step before sealing a more than $1.6 million deal to buy used laptops and older-model iPads from Aistrope’s firm.
“When it comes to finances, there are no controls on the decisions made by the mayor. As a result, Chicago has the highest debt per person of the top 15 cities and carries a junk bond rating. The debt level and rating are even worse for the Chicago Public Schools. A big part of this is pension debt, which totals $42 billion for the city and the agencies it controls.”
“These three problems – high taxes and debt combined with low levels of public trust resulting from corruption – have in turn resulted in consistently poor economic performance and an exodus of Illinois residents to better-run states.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized the new guidelines as well as President Donald Trump: “I know the President doesn’t believe in science and would like to ignore this pandemic, but it’s the job of our medical institutions to uphold science and provide straightforward public health guidance, not bow to political pressure.”
According to a criminal information filed Thursday, Soto provided non-public information to a lobbyist representing one of the bidders on the custodial services contract, a deal that was expected to “receive total payments exceeding approximately $1 billion.”
“(Indiana Commerce Secretary Jim) Schellinger tells me that some 70 businesses recently have moved from Illinois to Indiana, citing stability and lower costs. Business owners don’t worry about political rhetoric. They worry about the numbers. That’s how they feed their families and keep their employees working.”
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