Day: December 11, 2023

Mayor Brandon Johnson signs executive order to speed up city building approvals – The RealDeal

Chicago leaders want Johnson’s order for internal reviews aimed at speeding up development approvals to boost growth in areas that have been historically neglected both by local government and the business community. Meanwhile, a federal inquiry alleges that so-called aldermanic prerogative has been disproportionately used by majority-white wards to prevent or minimize affordable housing proposals, thus exacerbating racial segregation.

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‘Terrorized’ residents calls for city to stop McKinley Park street takeovers: ‘I hate that this has become a reality.’ – Chicago Sun-Times

Fireworks are shot from cars in a street takeover in McKinley Park. A resident has complained to the alderperson and police, but street takeovers have occurred nearly every weekend since April from midnight to 3:30 a.m.Every weekend for nearly nine months, a McKinley Park resident has felt the walls of her home rumbling from the power of souped-up cars revving their engines nearby. The meetups — known as street takeovers — draw crowds of 100 to 150 people and can last from midnight until 3:30 a.m. Such gatherings were supposed

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100 secret recordings, 36 witnesses later, feds winding up case against Burke – Chicago Sun-Times

Then, as the trial shifts into a new phase, former Ald. Ed Burke’s defense team has promised to summon former Ald. Danny Solis to the witness stand — finally giving Burke the chance to confront the former 25th Ward ally who famously turned on him while wearing an FBI wire. They’ve predicted they will spend hours questioning Solis about the recordings he made.

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More than 200 Chicagoland businesses, schools strike to call attention to thousands of Palestinian deaths – WGNTV (Chicago)

Nadia Ismail, administrator and teacher at Aqsa School in Bridgeview, said students gather for prayer to foster empathy and allow them to process their emotions, while going on strike allows them to make a difference. “Our students are seeing children being pulled from rubble, homes destroyed, and we don’t want them to feel helpless,” Ismail said.

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Public-sector unions spend more on Illinois politics than other states – Center Square

A new Commonwealth Foundation report reveals the four largest government unions spent $27.9 million on Illinois politics from 2021-2022. The report also listed the 10 politicians who received the most public union PAC money. A spokesman said, “I hate to tell you this, but four of those top 10 do come from Illinois: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch, Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Kay O’Brien.”

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Chicago Teachers Union president misses Indiana deadline to pay back taxes, penalty – Illinois Policy

The union boss who earns at least $289,000 and admonishes the “wealthy” to pay their “fair share” is now in arrears to two local governments. Davis Gates failed to pay her Chicago water, sewer and trash bills for at least three years, racking up $5,579 in fees by November after defaulting on a payment plan, and she failed to meet the deadline for paying $1,533 in penalties and back taxes on an undeserved property tax break in Indiana.

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Harvard President Claudine Gay Is Why I Never Checked the ‘Black’ Box – Newsweek

“I have known people like Claudine Gay my entire life and they are the reason why I never checked the black box on college and employment applications. If I had, I would not be a free individual today. As a child, I was fascinated by the story of my paternal grandparents’s interracial marriage in 1944 in segregated Chicago…. Today, the focus has been on how Gay hurt Asians and Jews, but it can never be forgotten that people like her hurt blacks far more and for such a sustained period of time, affecting multiple generations.”

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Two more execs heading out the door at Chicago Public Media – Crain’s*

The head of communications and the chief audience officer at Chicago Public Media announced today they are stepping down. The announcement of Berger and LeCompte’s departure comes a week after Chicago Public Media CEO Matt Moog announced he would be stepping down to “return to his roots as a tech entrepreneur.” After Moog announced he would leave after CPM finds a new CEO, it was revealed that union leadership at both the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ, which are owned by Chicago Public Media, sought an investigation into allegations of a “hostile

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After controversy in Quincy, advocates question whether Illinois should require judges to undergo training on sexual assault cases – Chicago Tribune/Muddy River News

Since 2018, all Illinois police officers must undergo training to better respond to rape survivors — a mandate designed, in part, to encourage more survivors to come forward (an estimated 75% of sexual assaults nationally go unreported and in Illinois, more than 4,000 rapes were reported last year, FBI data show). Avocates question whether that training requirement should extend to the state’s roughly 1,000 judges.

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New state ID program for Cook County Jail detainees aims to ‘help people reintegrate’ – Chicago Sun-Times

The pilot program is thought to be the first in the nation offered to inmates at the county jail level. “For folks who come into our custody, an ID isn’t just a nice thing to have in your wallet. It’s the only way you can get a job, or a work permit, or find housing,” Sheriff Tom Dart said. “There are a million things this throws up artificial hurdles for.”

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City Says It Has ‘No Immediate Plans’ To Build Far South Side Tent Camp For Migrants – Block Club Chicago

City Council voted in November to buy a 6.5-acre site at 115th and Halsted streets for $1 and transform the vacant lot into an encampment site for migrants which would be shut down no later than Nov. 1, 2024, to make way for a 12-acre affordable housing and retail development slated for the site. State officials are “currently not involved with that site,” spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said.

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The failures beyond Evanston High School’s segregated AP classes – Wirepoints

Critics are right to call out Evanston Township High School for its segregation of minority students from white students in several Advanced Placement classes. The district’s hypocrisy is on full display. Administrators blame “white-supremacy” and racism to justify those segregated classes, but at the same time they expect little-to-nothing from most of their minority students.

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Evanston’s segregated classes ‘prevent students from reaching their full potential’ – Wirepoints in the The Epoch Times en español

Schools like Evanston Township High School are so obsessed with equity that they no longer care about merit. They blame white supremacy for the achievement gap between white children and minority children. If kids hear that throughout their learning, when they get to competitive courses you will have an excuse to move them to separate classes so they can perform.

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