-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
The latest Illinois public schools report card data reviewed by Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski shows many schools get high marks from the state education board and graduation rates are up but most of them can’t read at grade level.
“Back in 2008, Mayor Daley told us we needed to sell the meters to offset a property tax hike. Then he hiked our property taxes anyway. Similarly, Mayor Lightfoot and her City Council allies…say they need to bring in casino revenue to offset a property-tax hike. They say they needed the casino revenue to fortify the police and fire pensions. Then they conceded that the casino’s revenues ‘only will be a drop in the massive bucket the city needs to fill each year in order to pay for the pensions,’ as Becky Vevea and Mariah Woelfel of WBEZ put it.”
“I’m shocked and disappointed by Caterpillar’s decision to move its HQ from Illinois,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said on Twitter. Duckworth has advocated policies unfriendly to business as a senator. In March, she called for a federal “tax on excessive profits” by oil companies.
Jim Dey: “Not only did Left Coast voters remove a pro-criminal prosecutor from office in a recall election, they sent a message increasingly embraced by citizens across the country, including Illinois. People — Democrats, Republicans, independents and the apolitical — don’t like crimes being committed under their noses, particularly when the responsible law-enforcement officials make their lack of concern clear.”
Decades ago, Chicago politicians curried favor with voters by distributing Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams. Garbage cans with an office-holder’s name on it were also a frequent freebie. But, the avalanche of federal stimulus funds has allowed Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Lori Lightfoot to up the ante and then some during their re-election campaigns.
Said the president of the Illinois Independent Craft Growers Association, Scott Redman, “It means the state is open for business. Had we been on hold much longer, it would have been catastrophic.”
For a city that’s been in the headlines for many of the wrong reasons, securing the 2024 DNC would be a big win for local officials and the local economy.
The report by Axios Chicago reveals that 19% of cities including Chicago, Niles, Naperville and Morton Grove have reported less than 11 months of data to the FBI in 2021. The report also shows that 66% of Illinois departments, including those in Aurora, Peoria, Huntley, and Crystal Lake, reported none at all.
The Fair Food and Retail Delivery Act prohibits third-party delivery companies from posting a menu, registered trademark, or any intellectual property on their website without the restaurant’s consent.
At least 16 residents and six staff at the state-run veterans home in Manteno have tested positive for COVID-19 and one COVID-positive resident who was in hospice died Wednesday morning, according to the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has failed to deliver on property tax relief during his term – the average family paid $1,913 more during his administration.
Crain’s estimates the higher levy would add about $158 million a year to the cost of buying homes or commercial property worth $1 million or more. But real estate interests have been largely silent as a proposal to fund homelessness-fighting programs by nearly tripling the transfer tax on pricey Chicago properties gains momentum.
“(Chesa) Boudin, and his movement colleagues, such as Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner and Chicago’s Kim Foxx, follow a different philosophy, one in which the criminal justice system does not have to be adversarial—and in which the chief prosecutor does not need to be in combat with criminal offenders. To that end, they have each touted the degree to which offending has not resulted in criminal justice consequences.”
The Chicago City Council approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to give away 100,000 Chicago Transit Authority fare cards worth $50 each and 50,000 gas cards worth $150 each.
“Dolton residents and trustees say they simply want accountability for the public funds that (Dolton Mayor and Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany) Henyard appears to spend without authorization. During the most recent village board meeting, Trustee Kiana Belcher held up a copy of a canceled check for $561,000 that she said Henyard signed by herself…I’m disappointed with (Cook County Board President Toni) Preckwinkle because when she sat next to Henyard at the town hall, she sent a message that everything was fine. The Dolton mayor’s disregard for transparency and accountability were OK in her book, Preckwinkle seemed to say.”
The Democrat is slated to speak at the Granite State’s annual party convention on Saturday, fueling speculation that his sights are set on running for president in 2024. His campaign is downplaying the event, saying he’s kicking off his East Coast swing with a trip to D.C. to lobby party officials to bring the 2024 Democratic National Convention to Chicago.
State Sen. Rachelle Aud Crowe has been confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois.
Illinois has only 13.8 behavioral health care professionals for every 10,000 residents. That’s in comparison to the national average of 21.4.
Governor JB Pritzker signed the bill Wednesday morning.
April marked the 11th consecutive month of job gains. The state unemployment rate has been decreasing since December 2021. But Illinois is still missing 146,300 jobs since before the pandemic.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin statement Tuesday could be read as a dig at Cook County, where the court system has been criticized for being too lenient for people accused of similar crimes: “For the third time in as many days, bond was denied for a defendant accused of committing a violent crime in DuPage County. These types of crimes are extremely serious and consequently those accused of such will experience the full force of the law from apprehension through prosecution.”
Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers called the strike against Lehigh Hanson, Vulcan Materials, and Lafarge Holcim — three of the biggest construction material producers in the state.
Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski joined Greg Bishop on Air to discuss the statewide failure of school districts to educate Illinois’ children. Ted pointed out the typical excuse, that Illinois doesn’t spend enough on education, doesn’t hold water. Illinois already spends more on education than any other state in the Midwest.
Ted joined Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson to talk about how Gov. Pritzker and other leaders have no plan for how Illinois is going to move to having 50% of its electricity production coming from renewable sources by 2040 and 100% from clean energy sources by 2050. Illinois is going too fast in terms of dependency on renewables – leading, in part, to sky-high gas prices and the potential for brownouts this summer.
Officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health said the state has renewed an agreement with SHIELD Illinois “that offers every public school outside of Chicago the opportunity to use the University of Illinois System’s innovative, saliva-based COVID-19 testing platform at no cost for the 2022-23 school year.” Testing in Illinois is paid for with federal funds from the CARES Act, American Rescue Plan and Operation Expanded Testing.
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