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Chief Circuit Court Judge Tim Evans said, “In our justice system, the accuser is not the adjudicator. A judge — not a prosecutor or law enforcement official — must decide whether an individual shall be deprived of his or her liberty.”
The new proposal, which is the first under current CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, will increase school-level funding to $4.6 billion — a jump of more than $240 million over the current budget — and add more than 1,600 new full-time positions across the city in the 2023 fiscal year.
Political analyst Charles Thomas says it’s no accident Lightfoot begins the race asking for money. “That she’s an incumbent doing it this long before the election is an indication to me that she’s desperate for money. She wants to put the arm on donors now while she’s mayor, make some promises, make some deals to raise some money.”
“We looked at each state through about 30 different metrics, including economic growth, and economic strengths and that ranges from GDP growth to startup activity, things that show that your economy is moving along, ” Analyst Jill Gonzalez said. “Illinois needs improvement.”
“It is important to be clear that Ameren Illinois does not generate energy and does not profit from electric supply charges. Electricity is procured by an Illinois state agency and the costs are passed directly to customers, dollar-for-dollar. Customers pay Ameren Illinois a delivery charge for maintaining the electric grid and distributing reliable power to homes and businesses. Delivery and supply are separate charges on the monthly bill.”
The new study by the political science department of the University of Illinois at Chicago draws no conclusion about why the City Council has stopped providing knee-jerk support from the mayor. It simply documents that the unanimous votes that were routine under former Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel are a thing of the past under Lightfoot.
Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit against Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE) after three no-contact orders allegedly chilled a student’s First Amendment rights. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of SIUE student Maggie DeJong, who received the orders after allegedly offending a student with Christian rhetoric.
In both instances, the horrible death tolls at LaSalle and Quincy were shocking, and families suffered. Both tragedies unfolded in state-run facilities for veterans, with poor decision-making by state officials in charge of the homes. Audits bore that out, and litigation arose in both cases.
“The judge has not ordered them held. The judge has ordered them released,” the the chief of the public defender’s juvenile division said. “These are children. They’ve been taken away from their families and suffered trauma. They’ve been placed with a new guardian, the state, and the state is not … picking them up from the detention center.”
Under HB 4201, each institution will be tasked to assign a benefits navigator to guide students to seek and apply for any federal, state, or local program that provides assistance or benefits for which they are eligible. Senate Bill 3991 amends the Illinois Higher Education Savings Program, also known as the Children’s Savings Program, which was established to start each baby born or adopted in Illinois with a $50 college savings deposit in the Treasurer’s 529 fund.
Pritzker focused his remarks on the state’s economy and infrastructure, referencing several moves within the government as it relates to Illinois’ debt and capital projects. He also discussed future projects and efforts such as making the state electric vehicle friendly.
In Springfield, Budget Director Bill McCarty said they tried to budget ahead, expecting gas prices to increase. “Now I’ll be honest with you, none of us saw gas prices going up to the degree that they’ve gone up and it is a bit alarming to us,” McCarty said.
Fiscal watchdog Truth in Accounting reports every Chicagoan is on the hook for $135,700 when combining city and state debt. The cost of union benefits is driving that burden, with 69% of the city’s nearly $98 billion debt total owed to pensions and another 6.7% owed to other post-employment benefits like retiree health insurance.
The building at 300 W, Adams St. and a block of offices above the JW Marriott Chicago are both expected to fetch bids below the value of the debt on the properties as the pandemic clouds the outlook for the office sector. The Adams and LaSalle Street buildings show different examples of pandemic-era stress. They also set up properties to get new life from buyers that could pick them up at relatively low prices, allowing them to invest heavily in reviving them as offices or something else.
Froylan Jimenez, a civics teacher and Chicago Teachers Union member: “Our elected officials are wishing for the best while they implement a poverty experiment with taxpayer dollars.”
Illinois’ Biometric Privacy Act prohibits private sector companies and institutions from collecting biometric data from unsuspecting citizens in the state or online, no matter where the business is based. Data cannot be sold, transferred or traded. Unlike any other state, citizens can sue for alleged violations, which has sparked hundreds of David-and-Goliath legal battles against some of the world’s most powerful companies.
It’s a program that the federal government started during the pandemic as a way to help hospitals free up space, but Illinois hospital leaders hope to see it continue long term as a way to make patients more comfortable, keep hospital beds open for others and save money.
Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson spent half an hour reviewing Wirepoints’ latest education report. Proft pointed out that the bureaucrats running the education system aren’t interested in improving standards. Instead, they’re more interested in making excuses and rationalizing the poor results that already exist.
The mayor accused Cook County criminal courts of failing to do their jobs and failing to consider the danger to the community when a violent criminal is let out on bail.
Options on the table include a fee based on vehicle miles traveled, tolling, and congestion pricing, officials said. Another idea might be to increase vehicle registration fees EV owners pay, which are $251 annually compared to $151 for conventional cars.
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