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Witnesses at federal court hearings worried that including traffic stops in a consent decree originally issued in 2019 to reform the Chicago Police Department would actually slow attempts to curb the controversial practice.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced the settlement, saying J & J stopped selling talc products in the U.S. shortly after he and a group of 42 other attorneys general began investigating.
About 121 people will leave over the next week, city officials confirmed.
Bears Team President Kevin Warren stated that the goal is to begin construction by 2025, with the stadium opening for football in 2028.
A key takeaway from the department’s new policies relates to crowds, First Amendment assemblies (previously called “protests”) and civil disturbances: “Force will only be used when it is objectively reasonable, necessary, and proportional.” CPD also said “mass arrests are a last resort.” The policy is here and public comment is now open through June 30. After that, CPD will review the additional feedback received to guide future revisions to the drafts.
The Archdiocese of Chicago is leasing the building to the city at no cost, and the city in turn is subleasing the space to a global humanitarian nonprofit called the Zakat Foundation. The shelter is not considered to be one of Chicago’s 17 “city-run” shelters and officials said the Zakat Foundation is assuming all operating costs of the shelter.
“There are two ways to force the speaker to bargain with us. One way is through the courts and the other way is through labor action like a strike. Considering we are public servants and we’re trying to avoid impacting the people of Illinois as much as possible, we decided to go through the court system,” lead plaintiff Brady Burden said.
Department of Corrections Acting Director Latoya Hughes said current Stateville employees can work elsewhere after the prison closes. “Should staffing patterns hold, the department estimates that approximately 1,000 Illinois Department of Corrections positions are available within a 65-mile radius,” said Hughes.
“This means the state is giving permission to local governments to go behind the backs of the taxpayers and pass tax increases way above what they are paying now in the grocery tax,” state Rep. Brad Halbrook said.
Because education is such a crucial component in the success sequence, it’s imperative that Chicago schools focus on reversing failing outcomes for its students.
Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union will open their contract bargaining sessions to the public for the first time June 14. Concerned Chicagoans can attend in-person and make their voices heard.
Lawsuit abuse harms our local economies, costs hard-working people their jobs, and drains taxpayer resources.
“It is with that vision in mind that I am proud to announce that my administration is taking the first step toward rebuilding our city’s public mental health care infrastructure by reopening the shuttered mental health care clinic in Roseland. By starting on the Far South Side, we are making clear to the people of Chicago that we are prioritizing those who have been left behind and discarded by previous administrations.”
And while officials with the court have said repeatedly the situation is improving – particularly when compared to 2020-2021 amid the height of the pandemic – accurate case processing statistics for the Cook County Circuit Court remain scarce, making it difficult for the public to know for sure how much the situation may have changed in recent years and just how backlogged Illinois’ largest court system may actually remain.
Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Davis Gates said newcomer families are experiencing “what it feels like to be a Black family in Chicago public schools.”
In recent years, the vast majority of schools with bilingual programs that the district has monitored have failed internal and state audits. They’ve fallen short of a range of requirements, such as providing bilingual instruction in core subjects, having properly certified teachers, and teaching students about their native country and culture. Now, the arrival of many migrant families continues to test whether the district can do better.
“We know our students still have work that needs to be done. … This current situation particularly close pandemic has raised some alarm for us, I’ll say, built a sense of urgency around what our students need to know and be able to do,” said Nicole Nash Moody, Assistant Superintendent at District 186. District 186 will shift its program to include more instruction on phonics to help students better understand how words are formed.
District officials believe CPS is owed more than $1 billion from the state in order for it to be fully-funded under Illinois’ funding formula. CEO Pedro Martinez said CPS wasn’t pushing for that full amount, but instead advocated for an increase of $550 million to be distributed among schools statewide. The governor’s budget ultimately included a $350 million increase.
Last year, a jury found the 69-year-old Mapes guilty of lying to a federal grand jury when answering questions about a broader investigation into Madigan and others. He was sentenced to 30-months in prison. It is unclear where Mapes will serve his time.
While the Obama Presidential Center has been under construction for nearly three years, the center’s tallest structure, the Museum Building, has now reached its full height: 225 feet.
Gov. JB Pritzker could soon sign a massive tax credit bill on his desk that gives breaks to specific industries, like electric vehicle manufacturers, quantum computing companies and semiconductor manufacturers. “We continue to tax small businesses and individuals so we can hand out big money to big businesses. Corporate bailouts instead of taking care of the real job providers in the state of Illinois,” state Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer said.
“Carbon capture is here in Illinois. Lucrative federal incentives are drawing industry; most are for projects that extend the life of polluting fossil-fuel and ethanol plants. In Illinois, there are currently proposals for 22 sequestration injection wells, and CO2 pipelines have been proposed in 23 counties.”
In Iowa, opposition to the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline is growing. Meanwhile, Illinois recently passed a moratorium on carbon capture pipelines of up to two years.
Through passage of 2020’s Intergenerational Poverty Act, lawmakers set an ambitious plan: to cut deep and persistent poverty by 50 percent by 2026, lift all children from poverty by 2031 and eliminate poverty entirely in Illinois by 2036. But like most of the commissions and blue-ribbon panels that lawmakers create, it has no authority to fix the problems it finds. And the commission, which has seven vacancies, is a long way from meeting its goals.
Over 140,000 Illinois government workers and retirees took in more than $100,000 in salaries or pensions in 2023, according to data collected by Wirepoints via FOIA. That’s more than a 50% jump since Open the Books counted 94,000 government members with $100K compensation back in 2018.
The American College of Pediatricians held a news conference where Dr. Andre Van Mol said, “Physicians take an oath to do no harm and gender-affirming health care is documented to lead to harm.” Meanwhile, an Illinois state agency is launching a statewide initiative it says “supports and expands gender-affirming care.”
Two city council members say approximately 70 businesses and 100 churches have been impacted by Mayor Christopher Clark’s mandates on licenses and delinquent property taxes.
Early data shows around 88% of participants are sticking with CPS five years in. Officials hope that’ll help with the district’s teacher retention problems, especially if the program keeps growing. CPS hires around 1,500 teachers every year, so next year’s 225-member cohort will account for around 15 percent of those hires.
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