-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Commercial property owners in Cook County, which includes Chicago, could see a 75 percent hike on their assessments, roughly three times the increase for homeowners, according to preliminary figures.
“I think we share the common view that we need to get a ruling, and either way, the next step is to hear from the appellate court and go from there,” Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday morning.
House Bill 5107 would amend the Illinois School Code and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act to make principals, who are supervisors, eligible for collective bargaining exclusively in Chicago. The bill passed the House Labor and Commerce Committee by an 18-9 vote Wednesday to advance to the full House.
“Based on the current downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases, and what’s going on in states across the country that have dropped their school mask requirements, many school districts believe the school mask mandate is close to coming to an end in Illinois,” said John Burkey, the executive director of the Large Unit District Association. “There has been so much confusion, and everyone has just been trying to navigate all of this,”
Police Supt. David Brown says issues in the juvenile justice system shows no real consequences for children committing these types of crimes.
Former Brennemann principal Sarah Jackson Abedelal was charged last July with 10 counts of wire fraud, among other crimes. Federal prosecutors Wednesday accused tje former assistant principal and former business manager of not only assisting Abedelal with the overtime scheme, but with submitting more than $45,000 worth of false purchase orders and invoices for office and school supplies to conceal the receipt of iPhones, IPads, and approximately $30,000 in gift cards for Abedelal’s personal use.
“African American and Latino communities throughout the city have been disinvested in for a very long time. And it’s important for government, since government was complicit in that disinvestment, that government assists in the redevelopment of our neighborhoods,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.
During Tuesday’s session, House GOP members entered the chamber without wearing masks and released a joint statement saying that the mandates have “gone on long enough” and that it is “time to return to normalcy.”
While there was some support for the mandate during public comments last month, a spokesperson for ISBE said Wednesday that the board will not take action on the rule during Thursday’s meeting.
Jerame Simmons received a pardon from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and went on to become chief of the Prairie Du Pont Fire department in St. Claire last December. Simmons pleaded guilty to arson when he was 18 after setting fire to a vacant house, then another small blaze at a high school.
Gov. Pritzker brushed off concerns over due process rights for healthy individuals being told to follow quarantine measures like masking or exclusion. “The judge’s decision … poorly decided, it leaves out entirely a section of the law that she obviously didn’t read or didn’t want to address, so I think that’s all going to be addressed by the appellate court.”
House Bill 4920 would expand the earned income tax credit eligibility, including a new state child tax credit, and increase the amount of credit available to each low-income applicant.
“The executive order requiring masks is still in place,” Pritzker insisted at a Wednesday morning press conference. “School districts that aren’t part of the lawsuit should follow the executive order.”
A news release from the U.S. Department of Defense shows three companies split the nearly $2 billion the feds shelled out for the tests: iHealthLabs of California; Roche Diagnostics from Indiana; and Abbott Rapid DX North America, whose production is in Florida and whose parent company is based in the northern suburbs.
Indiana, Florida and California top the list.
“Four Illinois governors have gone to prison. But a Chicago mayor has never been indicted. Is this just pure coincidence, or a Chicago Way miracle?”
“Mark Glennon, the founder of Wirepoints, for once and for all gathers what you need to educate yourself about the uselessness of masks and the dangers they pose…Glennon serves up a useful bibliography of studies and reports that apparently have escaped the governor’s office.”
“The record number of shootings in Illinois cities last year, including Champaign-Urbana, Peoria and Chicago, has citizens fearful. Developers in Chicago have said they’re having difficulty marketing properties because of concerns about violence. Anecdotally, we hear from businesses and University of Illinois officials about how street violence blunts recruitment efforts in C-U.”
The list includes only those actually convicted — not those indicted who have not yet gone or never did go to trial — in the interest of keeping it to a manageable number.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has made his first public comments since a group of Illinois lawmakers voted against a new push to extend the school mask mandate. Speaking during an unrelated news conference Wednesday, the governor said, “The executive order requiring masks is still in place. We still have a mask requirement in the state of Illinois for schools.”
“With the other branches of government, as it relates to administrative and personnel matters, there are things that are subject to FOIA and transparency for the public,” said bill sponsor state Rep. Curtis Tarver II. “This would just bring the judiciary in line with that, while still protecting the records that should be protected.”
New data from the Chicago Loop Alliance shows downtown hotels finished last year 30% below 2019 numbers.
When they arrived at Collinsville High School Feb. 7, maskless students were told that in-person learning wouldn’t be allowed, and they had to separate themselves from other students. “Students who showed up to school and refused to wear a mask could choose to go home (policy for violating dress code) or remain at school in an alternate setting to do their school work,” a spokesperson for Collinsville Community Unit School District 10 said.
The district initially launched the program in 2020 with a goal of tripling the number of CPS grads hired as district teachers each year up to 500. In doing so, CPS has sought to have its teacher workforce more accurately represent its student population.
A ruling by the Illinois Labor Relations Board blocked an attempt by firefighters in Carpentersville to leave the union. Paramedics and EMTs in Galesburg are also seeking to exercise their right to vote the local Teamsters union out of power at the workplace.
As the ward remap battle wages on – headed for a possible referendum in June – Ald. Gilbert Villegas points out the Latino Caucus’ proposed map also creates a 50%-plus Asian American ward. “It would be hypocritical of me as the chairman of the Latino Caucus – and a member of a protected class under the Voting Rights Act – to not advocate for another protected class community.”
“The most expensive stadium in the world, the new $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California — the venue where the Super Bowl was played just a few days ago — was built by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke using private funding. Lightfoot — and the residents of Arlington Heights, too, for that matter — should keep that in mind when negotiating with the Bears.”
“The case rates that we see in our schools, whether that’s CPS, whether that’s the Archdiocese, whether that’s day care, they reflect what we see in the city of Chicago,” Dr. Allison Arwady said. “We do not see being in schools adding additional significant risk.”
On Tuesday the Joint Committee of Administrative Rules (JCAR) rejected Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s attempt to re-issue his emergency school mask mandate. As of right now, there is no statewide school mask mandate in Illinois.
Ted Dabrowski was on with Jeff Berkowitz on the Illinois Channel last week. They discussed a variety of topics, from crime to COVID to K-12 education to pensions.
Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski went on on AM560 Chicago’s Morning Answer to talk about the continued protests by parents and students across the state against Illinois’ school mask mandates.
“Open it up now. Let’s not play games with the numbers, and let’s let the economy roll,” said Leonard DeFranco, co-owner of Hawkeye’s Bar And Grill. “Really? We’re talking about a matter of a few days is going to make a difference?”
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER