“In passing the Pretrial Fairness Act, Illinois is making a valiant effort to restore the presumption of innocence to the roughly 175,00 people that are incarcerated pretrial every year in
State Sen. Elgie Sims of Chicago sponsored the legislation, and two months after it passed, he had a personal experience in Springfield that he claimed served as a perfect example of how no-cash bail would make the state safer. Monday, the first day of cashless bail, a Chicago man appeared in a detention hearing on the same general allegations as the man who threatened Sims. And just like in Springfield, the judge sent the Chicago man home.
But the numbers citywide for third through eighth graders have still not reached pre-pandemic levels at most schools. Overall, about 26% of students met or exceeded reading standards on the 2023 test, compared with 27.3% in 2019. For math, 17.5% of students passed, compared with 23.6% in 2019.
“We have to stop playing for the moment and addressing this busload by busload,” Ald. Ray Lopez said. “[We need] to begin making preparations — not only in this city, but this state — to address the fact we could see upwards of 50,000 migrant asylum seekers sent to Chicago and Illinois in the next year…[City leaders] are relying on hope that the federal government will provide us the dollars to humanly care for these individuals.”
Illinois recorded 102 court cases filed per 100,000 people, totaling 13,130 case filings for a population of 12,812,508. “It is doing great damage to our business community,” state Rep. Dan Ugaste said. “Businesses know where this happens, and they do not want to locate where they are constantly going to be sued and accrue extra costs.”
“When they received the money, they just spent it … cars, trips, luxury items, people like that you’re not going to be able to recover any funds from because they spent all the funds,” one former federal prosecutor said. “But if there’s individuals who still have some monies or some access to monies, and the government goes after them, the government can recover some of the money.”
“Kim Foxx drops the charges, the three felony charges, on the 21-year-old migrant female who attacked several of our officers outside the 8th District after protesting and blocking traffic,” John Catanzara said. “You can’t make this up. There is no rhyme or reason, no explanation, not even a courtesy call.” In a separate case Monday, another migrant was let go from jail after allegedly assaulting police during Mexican Independence Day celebrations in Chicago.
On Monday, Illinois State Police announced emergency rules listing the banned firearms and how those who own them from before Jan. 10, can file a sworn affidavit noting they are providing information voluntarily. The rules also say police, retired police, jailers and those in the security sector are exempt.
In this survey of courtrooms statewide, murder suspects were detained, a woman accused of aggravated domestic battery for hitting her partner with a piece of wood was released, and a man who allegedly violated an order of protection from his 80-year-old next door neighbor was sent home with orders for random alcohol testing.
“A city public safety act can cover hate crimes, domestic violence, weapons violations and threats against witnesses, victims and police officers. It can also cover possession of stolen vehicles, robbery, burglary, theft and retail theft for items over $1,000 value… Prosecutions of public safety city ordinance violations would not depend on lax, permissive state’s attorneys.”
The City’s Office of Budget and Management said in a statement Tuesday it will not publicly disclose the elected officials who opted for the 2.24% pay increase until Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget is released next month. Johnson currently makes $216,210 and would receive a pay bump of a little over $4,800 if he accepts it.
“Yes, the plan comes swathed in the favored rhetoric of the Twitter left: The move’s meant to ‘repair past harms that have contributed to purposeful disinvestment and exclusion.’ But the only harm here comes from the policies favored by Johnson’s comrades, policies that caused Chicago’s crime to jump 29% across all categories this year over the same period in 2022.”
According to a report commissioned by Lollapalooza promoter C3 Presents and conducted by Texas-based research group AngelouEconomics, Lollapalooza generated more than $422 million for Chicago’s economy, compared to $336 million last year.
As a massive foreclosure lawsuit against the owner of the Palmer House enters its fourth year, the hotel’s State Street retail space is poised to be seized by a lender.The bid price shows how far the property’s value has fallen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
State Representatives Brad Halbrook, Chris Miller, and Dan Caulkins are submitting legislation that revises Illinois business tax credits and requires any future tax incentives given to a foreign entity must be with an entity affiliated, and active members, with allied countries of the United States. The legislation will include similar qualifications for investment of Illinois funds and donations received by higher education institutions.
Al Llorens, president of the Illinois Education Association: “The IELRA is the Illinois law that requires school districts to recognize and bargain with education labor unions. This landmark event not only revolutionized the landscape of public education but also empowered teachers and education support staff, like paraprofessionals, bus drivers, nurses and secretaries, to play an active role in shaping the future of education. Together, we continue to advocate for our students, their education and our communities.”
In some of those counties there was an inconsistent interpretation of when the new law took effect, with some arguing that it should be based on when a person was arrested or charged, instead of the date specified by the state Supreme Court.
The American Islamic College is now the third largest emergency migrant shelter opened by the city after a motel in River North and one in the South Loop. A developer bought the college campus in July, and plans to turn the campus into apartments and a senior living center after the facility ceases to be used as a shelter, according to Ald. Angela Clay’s office.
Clean energy businesses in Illinois added more than 3,600 workers in 2022, now employing 123,799 people in Illinois. According to the analysis, clean energy and clean transportation companies employed more than 734,000 Midwesterners at the end of 2022, a nearly 4 percent increase from 2021. Nationally, clean energy employment grew 4 percent.
Private pensions restructured their pensions years ago, an approach McLaughlin said legislators should consider but won’t. “They (private pensions) restructured them because they knew they were going to make sure they were going to get paid is to keep underlying business solvent,” McLaughlin said. “The public pension plans have never, and they will not allow that negotiation to take place. Their job [pension fund stakeholders] is to make sure we can stay solvent, and the only way they believe they can solve it is to constantly tax us. That is a recipe for disaster, which is why everyone is leaving
Advocates at the nonprofit Metropolitan Tenants Organization, which has already helped local residents organize into a tenants’ union, say inaction from Chicago building officials and lack of communication from the landlord are symptoms of a haphazard, reactive set of safety regulations that leave tenants in danger. A measure sitting in a City Council committee, the Chicago Healthy Homes Ordinance, would pave the way for the city to track apartment landlords and conduct periodic safety checks.
While the Pros include the Arts, rich local history and the people, the Cons include high sales tax, high crime, high cost of living, and “school system challenges.”
The Chicago metro’s median income was $82.9k in 2022, compared with $87.1k in 2019, adjusted for inflation. Statewide, median household income fell by 4.1%, to $76.7k from $79.9k.
One of the shelters, located at the former Cook County Adult Probation facility on West Walnut Street, began housing migrant families Friday; a shelter on North Ogden Avenue will open later this month. Frustrated resident Jake Setlak, 48, said, “We have always gotten 48 hours notice for street cleaning and we have gotten no notice whatsoever from the city about what’s going on.”
Jim Dey: “Here’s the official line: (Illinois Secretary of State Alexi) Giannoulias testified before Sen. Dick Durbin’s Judiciary Committee to warn of a rising tiding of fascism that threatens to capture America’s libraries…Nothing much was resolved at the hearing. Indeed, senators complained they have no authority over local libraries’ book acquisitions. That reality prompted (Louisiana Sen. John) Kennedy to suggest Giannoulias’ appearance must be ‘good for your politics back home.'”
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Frango production moved out of state in 1999 to the dismay of civic leaders and local mint chocolate aficionados. More than two decades later, chocolate has made its return to the upper floors of the building now anchored by the Macy’s department store, where candy giant Ferrero is opening its first North American research and development lab and innovation center. Ferrero’s local production is spread out across several facilities; In Illinois, it includes Franklin Park,
Ted joined Rufus Williams of WVON for a deep discussion about the calculus of Chicago crime and why criminals have a near-zero chance of getting arrested, why the morale of police officers has suffered, why Chicago’s leadership continues to downplay crime within the city, how minorities are overwhelmingly the victims of violent crime, and more.
Cook County is expected to be closely watched as the reforms are tested with real world cases, and the courtrooms were filled Monday with judges and lawyers observing the new proceedings unfold for the first time — at times chiming in to offer advice when difficult procedural questions arose. “We’re done. One day down,” one Leighton Criminal Courthouse worker said, beaming. Then she quickly added, “Just all the rest of them to go.”
“The balance is we celebrate culture and making sure that our first responders have access to hospitals and clinics,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Again, the beauty of the city of Chicago is really our diversity and it was an incredible display of Mexican independence.”
Overall, said Ald. Brian Hopkins, there were 86 arrests related in some way to the Mexican Independence Day celebrations. The majority, he added, were gun-related (unlawful use of a weapon), and most of the rest were for disorderly conduct, though one officer was assaulted. On the Southwest Side, businesses on a mile-long stretch of Pulaski Road were tagged with “vile graffiti” while motorists were drag racing, “doing doughnuts” and
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