Those who lost shot at Illinois marijuana licenses want investigation of lottery winners with political connections, industry ties – The Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale)

Among the lottery winners was a team that included Bridget Degnen, former deputy director of the state medical cannabis program and current Cook County Commissioner. Another winning group included Alex Acevedo, a former aldermanic candidate who — along with his father, former Chicago police officer and former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo — was charged with tax evasion in connection with the ComEd bribery probe.
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Lawmakers call for hearings after investigation of doctor’s stance on mask mandate – Center Square

State Rep. Tim Butler said the tone of the investigation was heavy handed and lawmakers need to know more through public hearings. “I’d love to know the conversation that possibly took place with the governor’s office…Obviously, this is something that’s been high on the agenda with the mask mandate and I think all of this needs to come to light.”

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Op-ed: The ‘whole-of-government’ tack for the pandemic found success. Will it work against Chicago violence? – Chicago Tribune*

David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “It is perhaps a bit too tidy to assume the lessons from vaccines can directly be applied to fighting violent crime. The virus is full of surprises, but let’s not forget it is a biological phenomenon, and the challenge is different when trying to stop people from shooting each other. A vaccine lacks knowledge and will. It does not hold grudges or follow a gang leader’s orders. It has no access to handguns.”

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Chicago Police To Expand Carjacking Task Force, Expecting Possible Spike In Attacks This Fall – CBS2 (Chicago)

Supt. David Brown said, so far this year, Chicago Police have arrested 895 people in connection to carjackings, including 215 arrests for vehicular hijacking charges, 251 arrests for possession of a stolen vehicle charges, and 429 arrests for criminal trespass to a vehicle charges. The superintendent said the 215 vehicular hijacking arrests are a 79% increase over 2020.

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Chicago Teachers Union calls on mayor to ‘get serious’ about an agreement to reopen schools with students due back in a week – Chicago Tribune*

“We’ve made some progress. We have. We think we’re close to an agreement on safety committees, which are the committees in each individual school that allow people to enforce building conditions to keep us safe in our schools,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said. “But there are a number of broader issues that have to be addressed by the mayor. Local schools cannot address a citywide metric, for example.”

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In West Garfield Park, activists hope community involvement leads to safety and revitalization – Chicago Tribune*

Residents say the area was once the business hub for the West Side; Walgreens, Goldblatt’s and Madigan’s, as well as plenty of fast-food restaurants, used to line the streets. “Right now Madison is an open market for drugs. Prostitution, drug abuse, gang activity,” said Michael Rembert, owner of Madison Pulaski Mall and a lifelong Garfield Park resident. “Man, it’s out of control.”

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Fascinating development on South Side lakefront – Crain’s*

What was really eye-catching in census numbers are gains on South Side neighborhoods along or close to the lakefront. All the way from the Loop down to Woodlawn, their population grew a lot, in some cases more than 10 percent. Who are these people? According to Chicago demographer Ed Zotti, who first tipped me several years ago that interesting things were starting to happen on the South Shore, it’s mostly affluent, middle-class Black people with college degrees, many of them working in the same kind of high-end service jobs downtown that power North Side neighborhoods.

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