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“Mayor Lightfoot celebrated Chicago’s standing as a sanctuary city until it became a problem.”
“Even though Abraham Lincoln prosecuted a brutal and bloody war to free the slaves and gave his very life for the equality of men, Honest Abe is just another dead white male oppressor to the raging mob of nihilists.”
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle didn’t provide an estimate of the cost, but said it’s “not an inconsiderable number” and that it wasn’t accounted for in the budget. “I just wish the elected officials of Texas and Florida would be approaching the Biden administration to try to work through some of these challenges rather than putting people on buses to come here. “
David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “I thought of the Choate victims while watching the recent gubernatorial debate between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state Sen. Darren Bailey. The debate was an exercise in prepackaged talking points, prolific accusations of lying by both candidates and a flat refusal to propose concrete solutions to some of the state’s most vexing problems…Problems in such an out-of-the-way place, affecting voiceless, powerless people, too rarely grab attention from the people in power.
In order to ease congestion and create revenue for infrastructure improvements, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning is suggesting adding what are known as “managed lanes” to several expressways. It would be a tolled express lane, where drivers would have to pay more to use it.
This report grades governors on their fiscal policies from a limited‐government perspective. Governors receiving an A are those who have cut taxes and spending the most, whereas governors receiving an F have increased taxes and spending the most.
The two candidates disagree on a slew of topics, including on the county’s pandemic response as well as the strategy to fight crime.
Comment: Though this report is not about Illinois, Chicago recently declared itself a sanctuary city for transgender surgery at any age, as we wrote here, and this is a particularly thorough and balanced column on the issues.
The dogs have been on the clock since Sept. 2. An analysis of violent crimes on trains, platforms, and stations found 51 cases in September. This is compared to 60 violent crimes in August, 60 also in July, 67 in June, 53 in May, and 59 in April.
The Illinois Freedom Caucus, which is made up of Illinois lawmakers, will be introducing legislation “to ban chemical castrations and gender surgeries for minors in Illinois.”
One of the architects of the law, state Sen. Robert Peters said the crime wave is a byproduct of the current judicial system. “What we’ve been seeing over the last couple years isn’t happening under anything that we passed, what is happening is under a status quo criminal legal system that is utterly failing.”
Illinois saw its overall credit rating increase from BBB with a positive outlook to BBB+ with a stable outlook this year. Although the state saw an upgrade, it still have the worst rating in the country.
The error was noticed earlier this week. It showed Peggy Hubbard as the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Hubbard lost the June primary to Kathy Salvi. “While we came to the best remedy – to sequester the hundreds of ballots that were distributed – this does not solve the most pressing problem of election integrity and transparency,” Salvi said.
The website offers an array of evidence from state’s attorneys, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials.
“There’s no job training, no effort, no ability to have them become stakeholders in a system here. They’re just giving away $500 and nothing’s required of the individual,” said Bob Fioretti, a former Chicago alderman, adding he thinks it will do little to address the county’s 13% poverty rate.
“Durbin’s proposed interference in the credit card market will wallop consumers in three ways: they will lose rewards and cash-back programs; they will face higher annual fees; and they will be exposed to the potential of fraud through less-secure networks. None of this is speculation, as Durbin’s meddling with debit cards demonstrated exactly how banks respond when handcuffed in a competitive market.”
“With HUD’s consent, the CHA has essentially become a land piggy bank for other government agencies and the private sector…HUD ultimately approved more than a dozen land transactions while applying little pressure on the CHA to measure the benefits for residents or produce more affordable housing. In several cases, the agency agreed to accept far less than a property’s market value.”
There are growing indications that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) is struggling to fill vacancies, as approximately 20% of employees have resigned since last summer.
“The future of the world depends on us — on Democrats controlling the Senate, Democrats controlling the House, maintaining our leadership in the Illinois legislature,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth said. “It all ties together.”
Earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Public Health stopped publishing data on COVID-19 outbreaks by school and potential COVID-19 exposures. In addition, the Office of the Cook County Medical Examiner no longer publishes detailed information about most COVID-19-related deaths. These were datasets that parents, residents, advocates and journalists relied on to track the pandemic. Their disappearance has made it harder for the public to understand COVID-19’s risk and its impact in their communities and schools.
As the automotive industry makes a shift toward electric vehicles, the Illinois Department of Transportation says it is considering taxing EV charging stations in an effort to offset the projected revenue loss from fuel sales.
“Call it Pritzkerville – eerily like Potterville from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ with pot stores and a massive casino planned to fill the holes ripped in Chicago due to the loss of great businesses and decent people pursuing their dreams.”
A thorough look at how Chicago compares to rival cities in the corporate headquarters hunt.
Federal regulators have cited Roseland Community Hospital at least 72 times since Jan. 1, 2017, more than any other Illinois hospital that’s monitored by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Eight of the lapses were serious enough to warrant what federal regulators call an “immediate jeopardy” citation, which flags problems that, if left uncorrected, put patients at risk of harm or death.
But Illinois State Board of Education spokeswoman Jackie Matthews also said that despite the “positive news in the area of student achievement,” the impact of frequent disruptions to student learning is also evident on this year’s state report card.
According to CompTIA, there is a net tech employment of 318,662 in Illinois, the seventh highest in the country. “It’s not, ‘we could be a tech hub’, we are a tech hub,” said Jack Lavin, president and CEO of Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.
The sweeping Illinois criminal justice reform bill known popularly as the SAFE-T Act has lately been chewing the political scenery due to its end of cash bail come Jan. 1st. We’ve identified several other problems with the enacted legislation which also need revision.
The end of Illinois’ cash bail system on Jan. 1 means St. Clair County will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual revenue, may need to hire more employees to implement the new system, and could see savings at the county jail.
In addition to measures intended to accelerate development near public transit, the Connected Communities ordinance implements a novel cap on the amount of parking for new residential buildings near train stations — one spot per two units. But
“We’re at about 29% vacancy right now,” Ald. Brian Hopkins said. “We’ve been staying under 30%, but this announcement may be what puts us over, and there’s a psychological benchmark there. It’s a blow to the economy, a blow to Michigan Avenue, but it’s a very desirable location.”
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