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University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos in an April 29 letter to the university community regarding recent protests.
Reporters with camera crews were waiting for a statement from the mayor on the arrest of a man suspected of killing CPD Officer Luis Huesca when the mayor is seen running for his car, flanked by his security detail and aids.
The Keep Illinois Data in Illinois Tax Credit legislation (Senate Bill 3939, House Bill 5827) will help minority business owners develop data storage facilities. The legislation will also help underserved areas of Illinois by giving tax benefits to data centers that are located in “disproportionately impacted areas” of the state.
There are now 275 instances in which the inspector general found Paycheck Protection Program wrongdoing, the alleged thefts totaling more than $7 million in public funds, according to the IG’s April newsletter. Department of Human Services employees accounted for 175 of those cases. The Department of Corrections was the next highest, with 31 cases.
The complaint notes that the Northwestern protest, like others assembled on college campuses elsewhere in the U.S., has glorified Hamas, while attacking Jewish people, in general, with protestors routinely spouting widely known antisemitic tropes and anti-Jewish chants, calling for Jewish genocide and subjugation, while celebrating Islamic terrorists.
“Access Living’s expert examined 183 developments and concluded 100 percent of them contained significant accessibility barriers. The result of the city’s neglect? Chicago is thousands of units short of the bare minimum number of accessible units required by federal law, let alone the number to meet the actual demand.”
“As organizers, we have learned the skills that are necessary in order to keep our community safe from the police, and that we’ll have numbers in people and we have a strong community support,” said Rayna A., at the University of Chicago, who asked for her last name not to be published out of fear of harassment. “We’re very interconnected with orgs across the city. We’re hoping to just grow and expand and create … a space that is as safe as it can be. Because safety is never guaranteed.”
A new amendment to House Bill 793 would create a special grant fund of $2 million to help community agencies transition away from the sub-minimum wages.
The groups’ federal lawsuit, filed in Chicago, seeks a court order declaring the denial of the protest permit unconstitutional, and granting them a permit to march Aug. 18 “at a time and along a route that allows them to communicate their message to their intended audience of DNC delegates.”
Senate Minority Leader John Curran said the Democrats’ measure gets rid of competition in the middle of an election. “It’s also a slap in the face to voters that one of the ballot questions you’ve included is about election interference when that’s exactly what this legislation does,” said Curran.
State Sen. Jason Plummer said the Pritzker administration is shutting facilities down and not going through the proper procedures. “No community hearings,” Plummer said. “You guys gaslight the people of Illinois by pretending these facilities are still operational. You’re killing some of these areas in central and southern Illinois.”
“550+ new, full-time jobs will be created over the next five years to support this manufacturing, all paid at least 120 percent of the average wage of similar job classifications in McLean County (the agreement estimates a minimum salary of $51,174). “
The Jewish United Fund’s Jane Charney demanded that Chicago Public Schools clamp down on the sit-ins. “This hypocritical and selective enforcement of campus rules and capitulation to mob rule sends a clear message to Jewish students and their families that our safety and our ability to be present at our schools in the fullness of our identity is not important.”
“Chicago’s ideologue mayor, Brandon Johnson, has suffered several political setbacks in his first year in office. But rather than blaming himself, Johnson is pointing his righteous finger at ‘Right-wing extremists.'”
The Pretrial Success Act, a bill filed this legislative session, would direct $15 million to community organizations around the state to provide voluntary services to people awaiting trial, from clinical behavioral and health services to transportation, child care, and case management in order to improve their odds of success.
Christine Haley, the state’s chief homelessness officer, said the legacy of systemic racism — including practices like redlining that prevented Black Americans from buying homes in many neighborhoods and from developing generational wealth — should also be a part of the conversation because of the link between poverty and homelessness.
“The Bears have a job to do to convince lawmakers in Springfield that this is a worthwhile thing to do,” state Rep. Kam Buckner said.
David Gates erroneously claimed a homestead exemption on the property while living in Chicago, effectively shorting revenue for Indiana schools. It’s an exemption which is reserved for those living in a house they own.
CTU is demanding the board identify schools with vacant and unused floors to be converted into dormitories for unaccompanied youth and to provide access to school building shower and laundry facilities for students and families in temporary living situations. The union is also demanding the board identify functioning schools with separate entrances to be used as temporary sheltering places for homeless CPS families.
Twenty-four-year Quaker Oats employee Troy Hollingsworth of Chrisman doesn’t know what he’s going to do next after losing his job at Quaker. The unexpected Danville plant closure and layoff of approximately 510 employees also wasn’t good timing, Hollingsworth said, with his recent purchase of a home.
Jim Dey: “There’s an element of monkey-see, monkey-do to this business. If students and hip faculty members elsewhere are protesting, why shouldn’t the equally morally superior here express their moral outrage? Peaceful protest certainly has its place. But the lack of enthusiasm on campus for the protests has revealed its place here is marginal.”
The subject has created a deep divide among Chicagoans after the idea was floated to the city council. Ald. Gilbert Villegas said it is much more expensive to heat a home with electricity.
The measure approved by the House would also end the practice that allows local political parties to fill unfilled legislative candidates slots within 75 days after the primary election. Given the partisan-drawn nature of Illinois’ Democratic-drawn legislative maps, some incumbents end up winning their primaries with no general election challenger.
A nonprofit legal organization filed a civil rights complaint against Northwestern University Tuesday, after the university announced plans to offer five scholarships exclusively to “Palestinian” students, allegedly discriminating against the rest of the student body.
CPS officials said students have a “fundamental constitutional right to free expression, and Chicago Public Schools encourages students to take an active role in civic life.”
Though the governor did not rule out more discussions, the team clearly is facing an uphill battle.
There have been a few counter protesters at DePaul, where there has been some shouting back and forth, but overall things have remained peaceful.
“We will not tolerate violence, we will not tolerate destruction. But what we will do is protect everybody’s First Amendment right,” Supt. Larry Snelling said.
Gotion could receive roughly $7.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies for its factory in Illinois, which is expected to cost $2 billion. With an additional $536 million state subsidy package, the combined total in subsidies would exceed $8 billion.
“According to a 2023 Wirepoints analysis, the State Board of Education Illinois Report Card regarding Chicago Public Schools data revealed that only 2 in every 10 Black students can read at grade level, and in many city schools, it’s 0 out of 10. Black leaders and civil rights organizations are aiding in the subjugation of Black children because they fail to demand accountability and lack moral vision.”
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