-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
“Universities took such a stand against South Africa during apartheid, though calls to boycott Israel has led to deep and ongoing divisions on our campuses.”
“When we look at enrollment patterns at these schools, we see that communities with fewer resources are underrepresented,” CEO Pedro Martinez said in a video discussing the proposed changes. “With equity as a core value, our district feels strongly about adjusting this process,” said Sherly Chavarria, chief of teaching and learning, in the same video to parents.
Lightfoot said she is also targeting what she called the “new frontier” — the role social media plays in fanning the flames of insults and feuds between young people that start with an online put-down and end up settled in the streets with a gun.
For the second straight year, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority doesn’t have enough money to repay $415 million in outstanding debt, most of it tied to the Soldier Field renovation completed long before the Bears agreed to purchase the shuttered site of Arlington International Racecourse. The reason for the $29 million shortfall is simple: Occupancy and room rates at Chicago hotels haven’t come close to pre-pandemic levels and are not expected to fully rebound until 2024.
It’s not clear how many Illinois bettors actually were wagering on Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League or other Moscow-adjacent events, anyway. The Gaming Board tracks bets placed by sport, but not by league. It’s safe to say gamblers in the state will make do. Illinois gamblers have plunked down almost $10 billion on sports since the legitimate industry launched in March of 2020.
“The city’s financial situation was tenuous prior to Lightfoot’s tenure, but the policies enacted by her administration have only worsened our economic outlook, guaranteeing that it will continue to be a challenge long after she has vacated City Hall. No amount of financial support or tax and fee restraint will revive Chicago’s on-the-brink economy unless the city can instill confidence that it can keep residents, visitors and businesses safe.”
Applicants who have at least three years of professional experience in the social services, health care, education or trade industries would not have to show any college credit, as well as those who have worked as private security guards, correctional officers or for other law enforcement agencies. “Life experience makes a very big difference,” said Deputy Chief Antoinette Ursitti.
Along with the 150 days in jail, Smollett was also sentenced to 30 months of probation. He also must pay the city just over $120,000 in restitution for the overtime spent by Chicago police officers who investigated his initial hate crime claim. Additionally, Judge James Linn imposed a $25,000 fine.
In addition to a bill that sets a timeframe for the Illinois Department of Public Health to respond to an outbreak, another measure would give the Legislative Inspector General subpoena powers when investigating problems.
With the continued rise in energy prices, some see an open door for fracking to begin in Illinois, but any such moves could be a year out because of strict regulations. It’s possible the Illinois Department of Natural Resources could revisit the rules and regulations to encourage development, but Mark Denzler of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association isn’t optimistic about any changes.
The law currently requires Illinois wineries to go through a wholesale supplier while selling their product. Senate Bill 2976 would change that, and would also reduce a 60% increase in licensing fees for Illinois wineries that went into effect last year.
“I think one of the first things we have to ask those parents and politicians is, ‘what do they think CRT is?’ I am going to speculate that most Americans did not even hear about critical race theory until it became political, because it really is at the collegiate level. It is not something that we teach in our k-12 schools,” said Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin.
In addition, residents who participated in the poll indicated teachers and parents should have the greatest influence over how Illinois schools are being run, with more say than politicians or school administrators.
Mark Konkol: “What Illinois voters are witnessing in the wake of (Michael) Madigan’s indictment is the latest in a series of moves by a governor who appears to be trying to distance himself from connections to the indicted power broker largely responsible for successfully pushing (JB) Pritzker’s legislative agenda.”
In 2002, lawmakers committed $225 million to the fund with money from the state’s share of a national tobacco lawsuit settlement. Another one-time deposit of $50 million was made in 2004, Mendoza said. The fund balance then remained unchanged until it was depleted in 2017 during the two-year budget impasse under former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
State Sen. Dave Syverson said governor’s plan could save taxpayers about $135 million while the GOP plan could save taxpayers around $1 billion. “The money that he was talking about is coming directly out of roads, which again potentially cost jobs and delay crucial road work that needs to be done. Ours was money that was never obligated. So, a big difference.”
House Bill 4365 would require school districts to provide funding for a student’s placement if their Individual Education Program (IEP) determines their current district is unfit to meet the student’s needs. The program would be funded by school districts, with funds from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grant.
Mailee Smith, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “(D)ubbed a ‘workers’ rights amendment’ by proponents, Amendment 1 would actually place multiple provisions into the Illinois Constitution allowing government unions to demand virtually anything during negotiations. If voters agree, it would prohibit anyone, including lawmakers, from ever limiting what unions could demand or when they could strike.”
For example, the words “invalid” and “incompetent” to describe village residents in need of additional assistance were replaced with “disabled.” The section prohibiting discrimination in appointments already mentioned the categories of race, sex, religion and national origin, but the approved revision adds sexual orientation and disability.
The Illinois Education Association is looking for new ways to accommodate staff members. During a meeting Wednesday morning, they shared poll numbers that show 1 in 3 teachers are ready to quit the profession.
The statue is weathered, and the original material now turning green. The bill would require a new statue to be built and installed by 2025.
Antisemitic flyers were left across the University of Illinois’s campus last month, prompting U of I Chancellor Robert Jones to send a mass email criticizing the flyers. “What you see playing out in Urbana-Champaign, in Chicago, is kind of a microcosm of what’s going on across this nation of ours in this climate of intolerance where it just seems to be growing exponentially,” Jones said.
Illinois in 2009, while Michael Madigan was speaker, set caps on campaign contributions, but Reform for Illinois director Alisa Kaplan says the system is weak and rife with loopholes that allow the legislatures’ top leaders to effectively skirt limits. That allows them to exercise a level of control over other lawmakers that she said is “unusual and dangerous.”
Many of these businesses reportedly rely on baseball for up to 70% of their annual revenue.
Dick Durbin, a big Cubs fan who’s served as an Illinois senator since 1997, also pledged to reconsider MLB’s anti-trust exemption. “Fans across America deserve better,” Durbin’s tweet also reads.
The Illinois Treasurer’s Office is defending its requirements, saying it has to employ rigorous standards to combat fraud.
“If we see the risk levels go up, this is in consultation with CDPH and we’ll also watch the CDC, if our community goes into a higher risk, we will we reinstate masking,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said. “And so we’re not going to be mask-optional forever.”
If enacted, the bill would make Illinois the first state to regulate that segment of the e-commerce industry, but a broader bill is also pending in Congress where it appears to have bipartisan support.
Overall, 49% of age eligible CPS students are fully vaccinated. But that number is driven up by schools, many on the North Side, with high rates. “The city has done a terrible job of engaging all communities in an equitable manner to make sure that they have education,” CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said.
After the mayor talked about the unacceptable level of crime on Chicago’s public transit for a half-hour, CPS Supt. David Brown fired up CPD’s tried-and-true talking point for all occasions: Crime is down! There were 172 fewer criminal damage (graffiti) reports taken, 88 fewer trespassing arrests, 62 fewer narcotics arrests, and 31 fewer deceptive practice cases (mostly turnstile jumpers).
HB 4410, which passed the Illinois House on March 4 and will now go before the Senate, would create a “real estate evaluation task force” that should investigate whether there is a pattern of racial bias in appraisals and recommend ways to correct it. It would also try to determine whether there are barriers to entry for people of color in the appraisal industry, which would be helping to perpetuate unconscious bias among appraisers.
Ted was on with Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson this week discussing how politicians want everyone to ignore their COVID mistakes of the past two years, the legal corruption infecting CPS and Illinois, and how educators across the state continue to double-dip by getting both a salary and a pension.
“Friends and family members talk,” CTU vice president Stacy Davis Gates says, “but labor and management negotiate…They privileged that freak show Tom Devore and a handful of Mount Greenwood parents and ignored the humanity of Black and brown families in the city.”
When Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan promised to help Ald. Danny Solis obtain a state board appointment, he followed up with a request of his own, federal prosecutors alleged last week in his indictment. The indictment accuses neither Andrew Madigan nor The Resurrection Project of any wrongdoing, but it suggests that the speaker’s request to Solis to help his son was part of a corrupt exchange of favors between the two politicians.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER