-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Lightfoot should be calling the CTU’s bluff. Call it a strike. Dock their pay. Start the layoffs. But its twice now this week she’s let the union off the hook. That’s how you enable bad behavior.
“My concern about the effect on the shopping and tourist jewel of our city really hasn’t changed one wit since the fall of 2019 when we first started wrestling with this issue,” the mayor said.
The council approved the revamped law by a 41-8 vote, closing loopholes that had allowed for the Chicago Police Department to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in some scenarios.
One of the three men now charged federally is considered an armed habitual offender in the Cook County Court system. The carjacking and attempted carjacking counts are each punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison.
“Unfortunately, that formula that they used did not take into account both the high percentage of health care workers that we have in our jurisdiction, as well as just the population density in and of itself and our disproportionate burden,” Dr. Marielle Fricchione of the city’s Health Department told the Board of Education.
“The extra frustration for the rank-and-file, no-clout vaccine-hopefuls is that the state and federal governments had months to plan. The pharmaceutical companies did their jobs developing vaccines at record speed. The medical professionals learned quickly how to keep the vials fresh at just the right temperature and for how long. But the Trump administration’s leave-it-to-the-states approach, combined with poor communication about supply, hampered the rollout.”
All athletes in indoor sports, with the exception of gymnastics and swimming, will be required to wear masks during competition. All officials in all sports, including outdoor sports, will also be required to wear masks.
Just one of the sticking points for CTU is that CPS has not agreed to allow staff be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before requiring them to appear in-person.
“A 16 percent increase (in vaccine dose delivery) isn’t enough, but it’s a lot better than we were getting from the previous administration and it’s an indicator that this administration really is listening to the governors and understanding that there aren’t enough vaccine doses for people who need them and want them right now,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.
Approximately 2,200 employees are currently based at the Thompson Center, with an additional 1,300 working in other leased facilities. According to a news release, the state currently leases office space in seven different locations around downtown Chicago at a cost of $21.3 million in base rent and operating costs.
“There are some of them that are hundreds of pages, we’re reviewing all the provisions in those pieces of legislation and I’ll be announcing decisions about them over the coming month or two,” Pritzker said. As of Wednesday, the measure still had not been sent to the governor’s desk. Once it is, he’ll have up to two months to act one way or another.
The cancelations follow the trend from last year where legislative leaders canceled 70 percent of their days last year. Lawmakers received their full pay during that time, minus the travel and food stipend they get if they attend session in Springfield.
State Rep. Blaine Wilhour’s bill would require the State Board of Education to issue vouchers to the family of a student who was taken out of a public school because of a lack of in-person instruction. “There’s absolutely no reason that these public education institutions aren’t providing the option of full-time in-person learning.”
Many long-term care facilities may have scheduled vaccination dates in the next few weeks, but that’s not soon enough for many people the CDC deemed to be among the most vulnerable for severe cases. “In the spring it was (a shortage of) supplies and protective gear and now we see there’s a big delay in getting the vaccine,” said Paul Gaynor, a spokesman for the group Illinois Healthcare Heroes, a coalition of nursing homes across the state.
Supt. David Brown has filed charges with the board alleging multiple rule violations stemming from statements on social media and other delineated acts. The charges recommend that John Catanzara be discharged from the Chicago Police Department.
While the Illinois Retail Merchants Association did not oppose the bill, president and CEO Rob Karr had questions about the workability of its provisions. “No one can show that (a similar offense could recur). If you were convicted of embezzlement, I can’t predict that is ever going to happen again, but I probably should be careful about keeping you in a bookkeeping role.”
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said the state’s all-too-often taken the “easy way out…They put all of these burdens, in the form of unfunded mandates like choosing pension benefits, and then tell us we have to cash the checks that they wrote. They cut our funding through the Local Government Distributive Fund and then say ‘I don’t know why our local governments have such high property taxes.’”
Mark Zivin also got appointments for both himself and his wife, but he said they were not given appointments for the second dose, so he is searching for available vaccine again. “They have to have a system where if you get the first shot, you can get the second shot because otherwise where are we? And, it’s probably only going to get worse as more and more people do get their first dose.”
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh maintained the pharmacies were in charge of the scheduling, and an Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman last week also said it was Walgreens and CVS who set the timing: “If they could have made it through the (skilled nursing facilities) sooner, they could begin vaccination clinics at other (long-term care) facilities sooner.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the federal government is to blame for its partnership with two pharmacies, Walgreens and CVS Health. “All the vaccinations that are necessary for that entire group have been taken out already of our allotment, and they sit on shelves because that federal pharmacy partnership is so slow at the job.”
Mark Konkol: “On the way to picket lines, Chicago teachers should probably stop by the grocery store to pick up some protest snacks stocked and sold by essential employees who have braved the unwashed masses stalking indoor aisles without missing a day of work since day one of the pandemic.”
In Illinois, state Education Superintendent Carmen Ayala urged administrators to consider longer school years and summer learning opportunities with their share of more than $2 billion in stimulus funding. “Begin planning now to reimagine the school calendar and expand the school day to ensure students receive every opportunity to grow,” she wrote to school leaders this month.
The CTU now wants a mediator to resolve the remaining issues. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot agreed to that.
After the Spring 2020 session was muted by the onset of COVID-19, both legislative chambers were set to meet often this spring. The House was scheduled to hold 58 session days with the Senate meeting for 55 days. Matters surrounding the pandemic and state’s budget will be the legislature’s main focus this spring; Problems with unemployment assistance, relief to businesses, and revenue losses will dominate debate.
Turner was Logan County Clerk from 1994 to 2018 and became the longest-serving female elected official in county history, according to The Lincoln Courier. She was the unanimous choice of party leaders out of nine applicants to serve out the remaining two years left in Bill Brady’s term.
Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, the community group’s co-founder, said its campaign has been called “naive” and “unfortunate” by local politicians who gained their offices through this system. But, she argues, the last Far North Side state senator who was fairly chosen by the voters was Arthur Berman. That was in 1976.
Even parents who feel resolute in their decisions describe little peace in this moment, as flux in family choices and teachers seeking accommodations has prompted classroom shuffling mid-year at some campuses. “It’s a complete crapshoot right now; it’s complete uncertainty,” one mother said.
Most of the stores on State Street’s shopping district remain open, and museums are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks. But the Loop ecosystem – in which one industry’s success or failure feeds right into another – is still struggling. “Nobody thinks the Loop can fail, it’s so big, it’s filled with big corporations with lots of people with lots of money. But what really makes downtown go in many ways is the storefront economy,” said Michael Edwards, president and CEO of the Chicago Loop Alliance.
“I get up in the middle of the night to see if there’s any appointments,” said Linda Trilling of Buffalo Grove, whose husband, Steve, 68, had a kidney transplant in October. “I fought hard for him to get to this point, I just want to see him healthy and COVID-free.”
The attorneys said they are “seeking to end CPD’s long-term failure to curtail the widespread violence that police have inflicted on Chicagoans, which especially impacts people of color and people with disabilities,” according to Wednesday’s filing.
An IDES spokesperson offered this statement: “…The federal guidance does require states to review each overpayment on a case-by-case basis, and IDES is committed to doing this in a way that provides the least amount of disruption for claimants seeking a waiver. Please keep in mind the haphazard way in which the Trump administration rolled-out the PUA program resulted in states being required to verify all claimants’ wages after some payments were received, resulting in the issuance of overpayments.”
The Women’s Caucus nearly unanimously stood behind Welch despite the 11th hour reports of old allegations of his mistreatment of women, with only one woman voting present on the nomination. “Speaker Welch addressed the allegations and addressed them to several of us in private as well,” Rep. Stephanie Kifowit said. “I respect Rep. (Kelly) Cassidy for calling for that inquiry and I will look to see what that entails as well. So, I’ll just let that run its course.”
Ted Dabrowski was on AM 560’s The Morning Answer talking about how Illinois’ job losses compound on themselves, what the failure of the progressive tax amendment says about voters, why Illinois’ wealthiest school districts remain closed to in-class learning, and why the proposed proposed progressive requirements are so dangerous for education.
“It would be one thing if the institutions were crumbling and the people still had enough faith in their political leadership to remain. But that seems to be gone. The quarter of a million people who’ve left Illinois over the past decade understood that political and other institutions were wavering. Last year, some 79,000 moved off.”
No arrests have been made.
No one was taken into custody in any of the incidents.
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