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“Among the biggest losers this year, in terms of total population loss, were New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and the District of Columbia. New York lost at least 300,000 residents this year…Los Angeles recorded more than 25,000 moves out of the city while Chicago logged over 20,000.”
Most vaccine doses are expected to be administered at hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and drive-up COVID-19 testing sites. But the aldermen, along with other activists, argue that millions of African American, Latino and Indigenous peoples will be left out or delayed from receiving the vaccine without an extensive outreach program, including the use armories and other state and city buildings as vaccine distribution sites.
“Pritzker’s decision to distance himself from Madigan’s surprising statement is not a surprise, just as Madigan’s pledge to House Democratic Black Caucus members also was not a surprise…So everyone will get to endure a bit of kabuki theater on taxes before Pritzker announces in the months ahead that, yes, he considers an income-tax increase necessary to support his spending plans.”
Jim Dey: “The duties of the secretary of state’s office are administrative and hardly glamorous…But the office is considered attractive because it is relatively high profile, controls hundreds of jobs and can be effective in attracting campaign contributions. That makes it a useful launching pad for ambitious pols intent on moving up.”
Illinoisans have been flocking across the border to Northwest Indiana, particularly moving from the south suburbs to the Tri-Town area. The Region has been actively courting them, such as with the South Shore Convention and Visitor Authority’s Move to Indiana campaign that touts lower property taxes, more house for one’s dollar and shorter commute times to Chicago.
State Rep. Tom Demmer said Friday, in advance of Monday’s hearing, that members are tasked with investigating and they have to hear from more witnesses. “And I think it’s critical that in order to conduct an investigation we hear from more than just one witness, so that’s why we’ve been focused on calling the speaker to come testify himself.”
These measures come a week after hundreds of teens came down to Millennium Park and spilled onto streets downtown causing a huge commotion.
They keep adding to the nearly 100 video clips they’ve posted online in the hopes someone might identify suspects. And they monitor online sales sites to see if someone suddenly has some Gucci bags or electronics for sale. It all has added up to the arrests of more than 100 people, one as recently as Wednesday, on various felony charges, including burglary, looting, theft, gun charges, selling stolen property online, and the seizure of 26 vehicles.
City manager Patrick Urich said the city has been using money from its operating budget to pay for police and fire pensions and they were looking for alternative ways to fund them. He said police and fire budgets are 54% of their General Fund Operating Budget.
On the surface, a new report on Illinois’ state-level pensions is bad enough: The official unfunded liability of the five state pensions grew to $144 billion in 2020 – a record high, and a $7 billion increase in just one year. But it gets worse.
On Nov. 9, Angela Mehlbrech, who was the LaSalle VA home’s administrator, referred to the number of staff members who had become infected in an email to the state agency’s chief of staff and spokeswoman. Mehlbrech wrote that “the main theme of questions from family right now is, how are we continuing to take care of our residents when we have lost so many staff members?”
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