The agency that manages Chicago’s convention center campus wades into the market this week with a deal that continues its trend of pushing off looming bond payments to manage a persistent mismatch between its revenues and its debt service schedule.
Gov. JB Pritzker joined a growing number of Democrats who have criticized Biden’s border policies when he sent a letter to the president with a list of demands outlining how the federal government’s response to the border crisis is inadequate. “…Most critically, the government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois,” the letter states.
The lawsuit argues that the use of public buildings as migrant housing is a nuisance to the community, and it also accuses the city of violating zoning ordinances around the former South Shore High School and other public areas. The suit calls for an audit of city funding used for migrants and related housing, and claims that the city’s move to turn police stations into makeshift shelters violates federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.
“Personal income in California, Illinois and New York declined in 2022 for the first time since 2009 as Covid transfer payments ebbed…. Some states such as Florida and Georgia spent their federal funds on public-works projects. California, New York and Illinois used their allotments largely to cover pre-existing budget shortfalls, boost government worker pay, and bake into their budget new spending obligations. Those will become shortfalls once
Illinois became the first state to prohibit book bans in public libraries earlier this year, but state lawmakers could expand the reach of that law. A plan from Sen. Mike Simmons could prohibit school districts and staff from limiting access to biographies, memoirs, and other books or materials about race, sexual orientation, reproductive health, gender identity, religion and human rights.
Race officials agreed to reduce the time it will take to set up and take down the race by a total of six days — four days before the race and two days after the race. The inaugural race cut off public access to much of Grant Park for weeks at the height of summer.
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race created 750 jobs and generated $8.3 million in local and state taxes, and attracted 47,405 visitors, most of whom traveled from outside the city to attend the race. These attendees spent $684 per day, $200 more than the typical domestic traveler did last year, according to the report.
Johnson also expressed frustration at unnamed critics who have questioned the allocation of resources to migrants to what the city is providing to Black Chicagoans. “Comparing the conditions in which descendants of slaves have had to endure to migrants who are sleeping on floors. I question how much you actually care a lot about Black people and understand their needs,” he said.
Alds. Anthony Napolitano and Anthony Beale have sponsored a resolution to add a referendum to March 2024 primary ballots in Chicago, asking voters if the city should keep its sanctuary city designation. A second proposal asks for alderpeople to be notified if they are receiving buses full of migrants in their wards.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said seeking asylum is a human right recognized by international law. “The population shift that we are experiencing as a result of the failure of federal policies is now impacting the people of Chicago in a very dramatic way and so that’s why I’ve been setting up a brand-new shelter every single week, we’ve renegotiated a contract I inherited multiple times to cut the cost on services.”
According to the numbers, about 450,000 Chicagoans live below the poverty line, their highest amount since 2017. “Poverty drives crime up and it also drives entitlements up,” state Rep. LaShawn Ford said. “That’s going to cause an increase in taxes to pay for entitlements, and it will also cause more taxes to pay for public safety.”
“That’s a huge, huge problem and basically the taxpayers are going to have to come up with $144 billion sometime over the next 20 to 30 years,” Reason Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Zachary Christenson said.
“We’re not going to let it happen there [in Illinois] just like we’re not going to let it happen here,” he said about the EV batter plant proposed for Manteno, Illinois.
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“New pipeline infrastructure will invariably put more communities in danger given the complexity of transporting CO2 thousands of miles with what could create dozens of points of entry and exit for CO2,” said the letter to President Joe Biden, an effort led by Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia of Illinois and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, with co-signers including
“The tension if not the physical damages are high, with longtime black residents told to step off the corner, to step back and give their place in line to illegal Latin immigrants who are being courted as new prospective voters by Biden Democrats. Black voters have been betrayed. Down deep they must know this.”
The resignation comes a week after a blistering report from the Illinois auditor general found 33 instances of noncompliance, including that the department did not immediately report to local states’ attorneys 28% of child abuse and neglect reports involving children who had tested positive for a controlled substance. In another instance, the agency neglected to notify directors of state agencies in a timely fashion about cases in which children were alleged to have been abused while receiving care in a hospital. In all those cases, the reporting time ranged from 34 days to 885 days from the time the investigation
A joint statement from state Sens. Steve McClure and Sally Turner reads, in part, “As the recent compliance audit makes crystal clear, the issues with DCFS aren’t getting better; the situation actually appears to be getting worse. We hope the Governor takes this opportunity to finally fix the issues that plague DCFS and have led to heartbreaking stories of children waiting months for placements, or those who tragically have lost their lives.”
“There are many questions regarding the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund. Those questions include the heavy fees private equity and large number of money managers are charging the Pension Fund, a pending forensic audit that questions how the money is spent, a fund that is only 45 percent funded, and the fight to fix the grossly unfair Tier 2 Pension for new teachers.”
The law, dubbed the “Racism-Free Schools Law,” requires requires Illinois schools to “create, implement, and maintain at least one written policy that prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, and national origin and prohibits retaliation.” The law also mandates that schools implement a system to report incidents of discrimination or harassment.
People hoping to run for Chicago’s elected school board in the November 2024 election may have limited time to campaign as Illinois lawmakers are still working on a map defining the areas board members will represent. The state set an April 1, 2024, deadline for completing the map, after blowing through a July 1 deadline.
Additionally, only “organizations, not-for-profit entities and licensed businesses” would be eligible to receive the necessary permit to build a bookcase on city land under the legislation.
The trouble began around 10:55 p.m. May 26 near 23rd Place and Washtenaw. CPD surveillance officers monitoring the camera feed reported that a group of people had pulled a man from a passing vehicle. The 37-year-old driver was yanked from his van by “multiple offenders,” including one wearing “a neon ‘peacekeepers’ vest,” a CPD report said. A severe beating ensues.
The small business network Alignable reports that 40% of small businesses nationwide couldn’t pay their rent in September, the highest amount this year. In Illinois specifically, that figure was 46%.
Nurses and other health care professionals are seeking a change to the current law, which states that there is no limit to how many patients a nurse can be responsible for at one time.
Hundreds of asylum-seekers have been arriving in the Elgin area within the past year. Said Dianha Ortega-Ehreth, of Centro de Información – one of the three organizations that will benefit from the Elgin grant. “Our case workers are all fully bilingual and bicultural. They are all trained to work with new arrivals. We estimate that we can reach close to 1,000 individuals over the course of the year.”
As the pace of justice in Cook County has grown slower and slower, leaders of the criminal court system have failed for years to implement a first step toward reform: collecting data on why cases get delayed. The Tribune’s investigation found murder cases move more slowly in Cook County than in any other major urban court system that could be studied.
While the size of farms has continued to surge, the number of corporate-owned farms is much fewer than most people believe. Ninety-six percent of Illinois’ farms are family-owned. Illinois Farm Bureau says nearly 70,000 families own and operate family farms in the state.
“As consumers, we can expect to see a domino effect with similar legislation in more cities and states. Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, has announced they are looking at a similar law. The main proponent of the proposals is the ‘One Fair Wage,’ a labor advocacy group backed by the Service Employees International Union. There are current initiatives in Washington D.C., Michigan, Boston, and New York. Seven states have eliminated the tip credit.”
Chicago is planning to send a delegation to the Texas border with Mexico to meet with government officials and nongovernmental organizations, and give migrants a more realistic portrayal of what they might expect in Chicago. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first deputy chief of staff, said the Texas border trip will be used, in part, to warn migrants about Chicago winters.
The central question is simply this: If taxpayers are to pay somebody $8 billion to build a $2 billion factory, can’t we find an American company instead a Chinese one linked to the CCP?
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about how Chinese battery maker Gotion Inc. is set to receive $8 billion in tax incentives to build a battery plant in Manteno, Illinois, why Manteno residents met on Monday to rally against the battery plant, why Gov. Pritzker is asking for federal help as Chicago struggles with the migrant crisis, and more.
“We’re running out of money – quickly,” said one person close to the Pritzker administration. “What we’ve gotten so far is Band-Aids – we need to stem the tide of the problem.”
One woman said the Village Council should be ashamed for wanting to “reward China with a piece of the United States.” Others accused local leaders of failing the country; they say the deal with Gotion was done behind closed doors. When asked whether he was reconsidering his support of the project, Manteno Mayor Tim Nugent said, “No.”
Once the packed meeting got under way, the atmosphere grew even more heated as residents booed and chanted at city leaders “What about the kids!” They stood shoulder-to-shoulder as they lashed out. “Vote them out,” one resident said. “We’re going to vote them out of office.”
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