-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Lake Forest billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein have contracted the coronavirus, they told employees at their Wisconsin-based shipping and packaging company Wednesday.
Justin Penrod, commander of the Rantoul VFW post, said for some veterans, the canteen being closed means more than just losing a familiar place to have a beer. “There’s no camaraderie. A lot of the older veterans look forward to that trip (to the canteen) every day just to say hi. And that’s being taken away.”
“(A) succession of government programs attempted to lure private investors to this and other disinvested neighborhoods, but commercial development consistently bypassed Madison Street…Today, even Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s signature plan to spur development in disadvantaged communities on the South and West sides doesn’t include East Garfield Park.”
As of the end of October, there were more than 157,000 unpaid pandemic unemployment assistance claims. Of those, over 69,000 were being held up because of identity issues.
“We see a common thread in many of the cost-savings suggestions proposed by this editorial page, the CFL and, to a lesser extent, the Progressive Caucus of the City Council: It’s stuff Chicago should be doing even if there were no pandemic. Put it all on the table. Let the best ideas prevail.”
Said Dr. Lakshmi Halasyamani, chief medical officer at NorthShore University HealthSystem, “I’m very concerned. The numbers we saw in the spring, they look like a little hill compared to the mountain we’re seeing now.”
In total, the department received 520 complaints against officers May 29-Oct. 31 related to protests. Of those, 232 were handled by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and 288 were referred to the Police Department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs.
“Just like anything else, nothing changes on a dime. Officers got extremely used to the rest of the world wearing masks but feel that somehow we are immune and don’t have to,” the lieutenant said. “It’s not that they are being defiant or ‘it’s a hoax’ or anything like that. But while the rest of the world was on quarantine and lockdown and masked up, we weren’t.”
“The goal of this order is to protect Chicago,” Arwady said.
Illinois state Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, has for years filed a bill to allow for proportional allocation of those votes based on the state’s 18 congressional districts. The two at large votes would be weighted to the candidate that won the state’s popular vote.
“It is one of many levers Madigan can pull, and has pulled many times, to one-up the executive branch: Cancel session days, adjourn without doing the hard work or leave it to the governor to make unpopular spending cuts to rightsize budgets.”
“I’ve been assured by the leaders that we’ll get right at it as soon as we can in January,” Pritzker said.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin, representing the State’s Attorneys Association, told lawmakers the fact that officers can leave a department due to misconduct and join a new one makes it difficult for prosecutors to obtain information on that officer’s history in subsequent investigations if the officer engages in further misconduct.
“If the data does not point to and directly connect restaurants and their employees to the spread of the virus, then we’ve got to reassess what we’re doing here in the city of Chicago,” said Roger Romanelli, who heads the Fulton Market Association.
State Sen. Heather Steans said term limits must be included in ethics legislation. “Obviously we have a speaker here who has been the longest speaker of any state in the country in the history of the United States. It leads to a natural consolidation of power that I think is very problematic.”
“Borrowing is already included in the enacted budget, but additional debt without mitigating structural measures could compound pressures on Illinois’ IDR of ’BBB-’ with a Negative Rating Outlook,” Fitch said. “Budget cuts are likely, but the state may also raise revenues, such as choosing to increase the flat income tax rate.”
“I agree with President Harmon and Speaker Madigan that the risk is too high to convene at this time,” said Lightford, chair of the ILBC. “While we will not be able to pass legislation as soon as we hoped, the urgency to bring an end to systemic racism remains.”
Mark Konkol: “His administration treated Chicago as if it were two cities — one for the rich and powerful, another for the poor and forgotten. Chicagoans remember how often Emanuel bragged of attracting an always increasing number of tourists from around the world, while turning a blind eye to the exodus of Black families fleeing neighborhoods neglected by City Hall.”
Samuel D. Brunson, a professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law: “While it may not seem intuitive, a flat tax combined with a flat cash grant effectively creates a progressive income tax and can be designed in a way that roughly mirrors the goals of Fair Tax proponents.”
Many city officials are worried for businesses, like bars and restaurants, that are now forced to only offer take-out because of the cold weather and restrictions to indoor dining.
The poll of 1,317 members, or about 1 percent of the 135,000 educators and staff who make the IEA the state’s largest education union, found that — just when asked about the school environment this year in the pandemic — 22 percent said they are considering quitting, with 12 percent saying they don’t want to be a teacher anymore, and 10 percent saying they’re considering early retirement.
“We ask employers to make accommodation for this,” IDPH said. “Our goal is to reduce transmission as we head into the holidays so businesses and schools can remain open.”
Lost in the attention over Illinois’ massive spike in COVID-19 cases is the collapse in the virus’ case fatality rate, or CFR. The latest COVID data is quickly revealing how less fatal the coronavirus really is, and that has major implications for lockdown policies and, in particular, for school shutdowns.
In a letter sent Tuesday to the CTU’s legal team, board Labor Relations Officer Kaitlyn Girard wrote: “The (Chicago Board of Education) will not engage in mediation over its decision to reopen schools. As you are well aware, decisions to determine the places of instruction, whether remote or in-person, are permissive subjects of bargaining … and the CBE has no obligation to bargain its decision.”
Lightfoot spokesperson Anel Ruiz said that “much of the report reflects efforts that we implemented as part of the 2020 Budget or are included in the 2021 Budget proposal under current consideration by the City Council.”
Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) told Rosa Escareno, commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, during a budget hearing, “If you can continue to keep an open mind about things that we think or hear from businesses, that will help us get through the pandemic. We can be a very regulated city for all the right reasons, but a little flexibility to help businesses survive … is really needed.”
This outbreak could prove even worse than what was seen in the spring because the surge is happening just as winter is hitting, and there might not be enough health care workers to care for all the people who will soon become ill, officials warned Tuesday.
“As of Sept. 30, 2017, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said 6.8% of Illinois’ adult population are veterans, (nationally it’s 6.6%). That worked out to 628,254 people…To serve that population there are four inpatient care sites housing more than 800. You might’ve heard of the Quincy home, source of a persistent Legionnaire’s disease outbreak that stained Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration, or the one in La Salle, where 62 residents (about 34%) and 69 employees had positive COVID-19 tests as of Friday. A 200-bed Chicago facility, started in 2014, is done but unopened because of staffing issues.”
Workers said IDES didn’t choose to close right away. “They haven’t been forthcoming with us regarding information,” the worker said. As more and more people tested positive, the worker said they were told to keep coming to the office. “They only thing we were told is: ‘You must report to work. You’re not affected,’” another worker said.
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