-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
A Democratic Party of Illinois spokesperson said in a statement they’re opposing candidates who have embraced values like censoring books, blocking full spectrum sex education, teaching revisionist history and ignoring public health.
Randi Weingarten heads the American Federation of Teachers, which is the parent organization of the Chicago Teachers Union.
Though federal prosecutors have developed a now-known bevy of once-secret cooperators — including former Ald. Danny Solis, Cinespace President Alex Pissios and former state Sen. Terry Link — none have recently taken the witness stand to face the kind of grueling cross-examination faced by former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez Thursday.
“Setting aside the electorate’s voice in the County Clerk’s race based on how many votes someone else got in some other race, and based on mathematical probability analyses would disenfranchise all voters who voted and who did nothing wrong in exercising their right to vote,” Judge John Anderson wrote.
“Today’s decision out of Texas gutting the preventive services mandate is a devastating blow to millions of Americans who receive lifesaving treatment each year thanks to screenings and preventive care,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. He called it “another sad example of political grandstanding overshadowing common sense.”
Dr. Joel Zinberg said states with fewer restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic outperformed states like Illinois that implemented more restrictions. “The important finding of our study is that states that imposed more severe lockdown measures did not do any better than states that were less
Several Republican Lawmakers introduced different plans to lessen the tax burden on Illinoisans. Among them, Senate Bill 1150 would make the 2022 sales tax exemption for groceries a permanent one while also exempting prescription drugs and other medical devices from state sales tax beginning July 1.
“Smart Stat is increasing money into the block grant, and we want to make sure it’s going to get into the streets and not be absorbed into administrations and I’m just wondering if we have spent enough time talking about it,” state Rep. Will Davis said.
State Sen. Win Stoller said his community and family are seeing the exodus from Illinois for better opportunities elsewhere. “My own son has moved to Chattanooga,” he said. “Chattanooga was the same size as my home town of Peoria just 10 years ago and now it’s double the size because they have attracted a new Volkswagen electric car plant and that’s where my son works, in Chattanooga.”
Congressman Darin LaHood and Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski argue the site needs recognition for its impact on American history, as it was the catalyst for the start of the NAACP. Illinois’ senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth are also working in the Senate on similar legislation.
State Sen. Sue Rezin said the bill would specifically allow for the construction of small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs. SMR proponents say they can be deployed in places like factories, replacing the need for things like coal-fired cogeneration plants. “This is a large change in energy policy for the state of Illinois,” Rezin said. “It’s important to have a robust discussion and make sure the bill’s been vetted.”
“People – especially people of color – are unnecessarily pulled over far too often,” said state Sen. Rachel Ventura. “The odor of cannabis alone shouldn’t be one of those reasons. Cannabis is legal in Illinois…”
In 2021, the year Chicago police were most successful at finding weapons in cars, officers made 156 traffic stops for every gun arrest. Critics say the strategy relies on stops unrelated to road safety, leads to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary police interactions that alienate Black and Latino communities, and ensnares legal gun owners in the criminal justice system for what often amounts to technicalities. They also maintain that the approach fails to reduce violent crime.
This idea is a component of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus education pillar and legislation in 2021 that established the Whole Child Task Force. While anyone in Illinois can experience trauma, the Task Force noted that it is disproportionately experienced by people in marginalized groups. The bill language states that systemic and historical oppression, such as racism, is often at the root of this inequity.
Never before had the City Council voted to set new committee chairs and revise the legislative body’s rules at the end of a term, less than a week before runoff elections, prompting several council members to cry foul.
The bill would prohibit health care workers who have been the subject of a substantiated claim of “material obstruction” of an abuse investigation from further employment in the health care field.
Nearly half of Illinoisans have thought about moving away, and they said taxes were their No. 1 reason. Population decline also contributes to the lower economic prospects of the state.
“The Department of Housing, University Illinois Chicago, DePaul University, the University of Chicago all have come out and said there’s a housing issue in South Shore,” Dixon Romeo said. “[An] eviction tracker shows that right now the Fifth Ward is the number one ward for evictions. If it is theater, what is the role that (the alderperson) is playing in this play?”
A new bill progressing through the Capitol would extend the length of time parents can take off work for bereavement leave if their child dies by homicide or suicide. The proposed bereavement leave policy would require companies to allow 12 weeks of unpaid leave for businesses with more than 250 employees, or six weeks for businesses for fewer than 250 employees.
“Chicago’s declining enrollment, like many cities across America, is driven not by a natural disaster but rather by declining birth rates and a confluence of factors pushing people to leave the city, including the loss of public housing, gentrification, crime, and past school closures. These are problems the school system cannot fix by itself. City Hall, which has control over zoning, tax policy, and economic development, will play a key part.”
The Illinois Senate unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that gives financial protection to children whose parents make money posting videos of them on social media. Sen. David Koehler said if the bill is signed into law, Illinois would be the first state in the nation to enact such legislation.
Mark Glennon, founder of the nonprofit Wirepoints, said high taxes are just one of the reasons for the exodus. “The economy, crime of course, is the big one right now that is driving people out of Chicago and other places.”
The Wall Street Journal journalist Jason L. Riley cited Wirepoints’ Matt Rosenberg in his new piece about the Chicago mayoral election. Matt said that next week’s election may well hinge on Hispanic voters and their opinions on the city’s crime wave.
Johnson is a CTU organizer, and getting him into City Hall means CTU dominance over Chicago ahead of the next contract negotiations.
In emails and in recorded conversations, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu detailed the extent to which Michael Madigan and Michael McClain pressured their contacts at ComEd, and in some cases Exelon, to hire people — some of whom were either former legislators or relatives of Illinois politicians. That included ensuring employment for both Toni Berrios and Vanessa Berrios, daughters of former Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios.
“We want corridors where people feel safe coming to shop,” said Nilda Esparza, executive director of the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce.
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