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The Supreme Court Police Parity Act passed the Senate on a 100-0 vote last month.
The Jesse Sullivan for Governor campaign reportedly obtained Facebook messages from a whistleblower from CTU’s private Facebook group from the past two years that, according to the campaign, violate the prohibition of using taxpayer funds for political activities, outlined by the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act & State Employees Ethics Act.
“In state capitols and think tank meeting rooms, a rosy picture has often been painted of the ‘just transition,’ in which workers laid off from coal mines or power plants are retrained to install solar panels or tighten building envelopes. In Southern Illinois, this scenario seldom actually plays out…(T)he idea of a just transition looks different in communities that never benefited from fossil fuels in the first place… To them, it doesn’t necessarily mean funneling coal workers directly into clean energy jobs, but rather bolstering an entire region’s economy and providing opportunities for those who never had a chance to
Politicos will be paying attention to Pritzker’s visit, said Chris Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. “You go to New Hampshire at this time to say, ‘I’m interested (in being president). That’s an absolute message that is intentionally being sent, I would suggest, by the Pritzker campaign because what they have to do is start feeling out and this is what this is a process of. It’s what happens all the time. It’s the most cliché first step in a presidential campaign.”
Speaking in New Hampshire is a highly unusual move just a week-and-a-half before Illinois’ own primary election. Pritzker himself does not face a primary opponent June 28, but the half-dozen Republicans vying to face him in the fall are having fun with his impending visit to a state important to candidates for president.
“We have a remarkable success rate at stopping the vehicle, recovering the vehicle and then securing some sort of charge,” Brendan Deenihan, chief of detectives, said of the helicopters. The officers who fly them are able to keep their eyes on a fleeing car when cops on the street aren’t available to follow or when they’ve been ordered to end a chase because it’s too dangerous.
The list released by the River North Residents Association is divided into eight categories ranging from environment, infrastructure and security to quality of life and gambling addiction, prevention and treatment. Association president Brian Israel made no apologies for the most costly item: entrance and exit ramps off the Ontario-Ohio feeder to handle “enormous volume of traffic” that would otherwise be diverted to local streets.
While it would be about $17 million higher than the refund ComEd proposed in December, a utility watchdog estimated a typical residential customer would save “less than $5″ in the form of a credit on bills.
The new flag is meant to reflect the diversity, industry and beauty of Cook County. The blue symbolizes the county waterways, green for preserved land and riverbanks.
“Caterpillar’s decision to leave Illinois after calling it home for many decades is a devastating loss to Illinois’ business community,” House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said. “The reasons for this decision could not have been more clear – Illinois’ business climate no longer works for this company.”
It’s the second major employer moving out of the state in a month. Illinois recently ranked 48th in the nation in a survey of CEO’s and business owners conducted by Chief Executive Magazine ranking the best states in which to do business.
It’s not quite time for rolling blackouts, but an alert issued Tuesday by the Midcontinent Independent System Operators, which serves much of Illinois, could be the first step in preparing for such actions. “The reason for the Event is because of Forced Generation Outages, Above Normal Temps, High Congestion,” the alert notification said Tuesday.
The study of economic inequality found Black Illinoisans experienced unemployment, homelessness and exclusion from the labor force at the nation’s most disproportionate rates compared to its white residents. Illinois was worst among states, but the District of Columbia’s Black residents faced greater inequality.
As public safety reform is set to take hold, complaints continue about Gov. JB Pritzker’s choice to commute sentences of violent criminals.
As for the potential of brownouts or blackouts, Justice said they are currently unlikely. “I’m not saying it won’t happen, I’m not saying it can’t happen but at this point, we’re not forecasting any of that,” Justice said. While conditions are tight, Justice said the reliability of the power grid is currently not at risk.
A national republication of our Wirepoints column.
“The wealthy, powerful, and sometimes very weird Pritzker cousins have set their sights on a new God-like goal: using gender ideology to remake human biology.”
The study, by ATTOM, said the average effective tax rate on a single-family home was 0.9% nationwide in 2021. Rockford metro residents pay an effective property tax of 2.16%, second only to the Rochester, New York metro (2.22%).
The trend toward remote work has not been a friend to the Chicago office market, with companies continuing to shed space as long-term leases come up for renewal. For the first quarter, the central business district had an 18.9% vacancy rate, while Chicago metro was at 21.3%, both records, according to a Newmark report.
Aritzia, a Canadian women’s apparel chain, will be taking the spot vacated by The Gap, 555 N. Michigan Ave. and leasing 46,000 square feet. It’s the biggest retail lease on the Magnificent Mile since 2015, says Alby Gallun, of Crain’s Chicago Business.
Jim Dey: “…a study by Wirepoints analysts Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner…found thousands of young people graduate each year from Illinois high schools unequipped for either higher education or a good job…What they say is not a problem is as interesting as what they say is. ‘Illinois education doesn’t need more money,’ Dabrowski and Klingner contend.”
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, Democrats created a culture of idleness and dependency, as evidenced by the 11.4 million jobs open in this country, 11 million work ready adults that could fill those jobs, and billions of dollars in increased spending,” said Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis. “If families have any chance at keeping up with skyrocketing inflation, which is raging above 8 percent, we have to incentivize work – and that starts with requiring able-bodied SNAP and Medicaid recipients to join, or rejoin, the workforce.”
“We want to make sure that our spaces are accessible to all Illinoisans—including those with latex allergies,” said Governor JB Pritzker.
The measure’s prospects for approval — and what could be officials’ last shot at ethics reform before the 2023 municipal election — appear uncertain at best after Lightfoot instructed her allies on the City Council to use a parliamentary maneuver during the May 25 City Council meeting to prevent a hearing on the proposal this month.
Mayor Daniel Biss acknowledged that cannabis taxes are not generating as much as expected. “We would much prefer to do it significantly faster than the resources are arriving. There [are] things that we’re going to think about internally, but there’s also room for the community to step up and be a part of supporting this effort.”
Researchers compared all 50 states across 26 factors that are indicative of a good time, including number of attractions, restaurants per capita, access to national parks, and even ideal weather.
Caterpillar Inc. said Tuesday it will move its global headquarters from Illinois to an existing divisional office in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, in another blow to the Chicago area, which last month lost the Boeing Co. headquarters. The move is “in the best strategic interest of the company,” Chief Executive Jim Umpleby said in a statement. The heavy-machinery maker has had a presence
Sources close to the governor confirm he will be in New Hampshire this Saturday to speak at the annual convention of that state’s Democratic party in Manchester. New Hampshire is scheduled to hold the first primary of the 2024 presidential season; along with the Iowa caucuses, it kicks off the official part if the presidential race every four years. Visits there by politicians invariably are seen as an effort to draw attention to potential candidates.
Critics of Illinois’ aggressive effort to shift to renewable sources for making electricity have long said it’s like flying an airplane while trying to build it. It crashed faster than even they expected. The risk of brownouts and electricity cost are jumping quickly in Illinois, and it’s not just green energy skeptics sounding the alarm.
The government has failed spectacularly to manage the risk of inflation. Consider the simple act of eating breakfast. It’s 45 percent more expensive than it was two years ago. For many, that’s no surprise given the unprecedented government-enforced lockdowns, the trillions of dollars spent on bailouts and a haphazard implementation of the green energy agenda.
The union said it is “looking very closely” at the Los Angeles Unified School District — which instituted a coronavirus vaccination requirement for students, but has delayed enforcement.
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