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The Windy City saw at least 30 people shot during the first three days of the DNC, including six homicides. “As of now, week to day, that is double the number of murders of New York City, and Chicago has less than a third of New York’s population,” said Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector.
The lawsuit took aim at the law enacted by the state’s Democratic legislative supermajority and Gov. JB Pritzker in 2020 which used the Covid pandemic to greatly expand mail-in voting in Illinois.
A spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnson said the decision to remove the racks was made based on public health and safety risks, as well as their deteriorating condition and limited use. They stated that publications are free to use their own individual news racks.
“My endeavor is to use this convention as an opportunity to benefit the people of Chicago,” Johnson said. “I’m using this as leverage to make sure that people in this city, no matter where you live, that you can have a neighborhood school that you can send your child to that’s fully resourced, and a good paying job, and affordability.”
State Sen. Andrew Chesney said this is a rare opportunity where progressives and conservatives come together.“The idea that we’re going to give these wealthy entities tax breaks is not something I support,” Chesney said.
Employee rosters show employment in CPS increased by 5,472 full-time staff members between December 2019 and December 2023 despite a decrease of 31,905 students during that same period. That’s a 15 percent boost in full-time staff during a 9 percent drop in enrollment. More staff and fewer students but there remained 2,182 unfilled teaching positions as of October.
Despite there being bipartisan support for the Invest in Kids program, including all 40 Illinois Republicans in the House, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said there weren’t 60 Democrats on board to bring a renewal forward. “The advocates have just not been able to convince 60 Democrats to support continuation of that program and that’s consistent with what Democrats across America feel.”
Annually, the grocery tax revenue accounts for $330,000 to $350,000, City Manager Chris Conrad said. That’s about 10 percent of the city’s current sales tax revenue, an unrestricted revenue source.
“The collective theme from our legislators is protecting our democracy,” said 15th District council member Carmelita Earls. “Our message to our elected officials is that protecting basic humanity is what [the] Austin community wants.” Austin, the second-largest neighborhood in the city by population and home to the mayor, has had the most homicides this year among Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods.
Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez and Chicago Teachers Union vice president Jackson Potter joined U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush — two of the most progressive members of Congress who have been outspoken critics of Israel — on stage to call for an immediate U.S. arms embargo on Israel in response to their ongoing war in Gaza.
“What the legislative and what the Illinois State Board of Education has done is helping us across the state fulfill those empty classrooms, but as a culture, we need to make sure and try to get teaching to be fashionable like it was in the past,” said Tip Reedy, superintendent of Williamsville School District.
“All the managers and owners are saying the same thing,” said Kamilia Kaf, director of food service at the South Loop Market. “They haven’t seen any delegates come in, they haven’t seen like an influx in sales due to this DNC. Like I said, it’s just disappointing.”
“Basically, we’ve taken the state that’s well situated and was an economic leader and turned it into an under-performer. We just continuously shoot ourselves in the foot by regulating and passing laws that are anti-business, actually anti-growth,” state Rep. Dan Ugaste said.
Jim Dey: “This week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago has created a lot of political excitement. But it’s all downhill from here on the Illinois politics front because of lack of substantive competition in state and local races.”
“The truth is that all these retired cops and firefighters will always get paid. That’s the legal and moral obligation. The question is how painful will it be for this small town if the can keeps getting kicked and kicked?”
The Biden-Harris administration’s recently proposed national security regulations would, as crafted, give a free pass to Gotion High-Tech, a Chinese government-tied company developing an electric vehicle battery facility just 63 miles away from a sensitive military facility in northern Michigan. The company plans a sister project in Manteno, IL.
“The press is reporting that the anti-Israel protests at the Chicago convention are underwhelming, but that doesn’t capture what’s really going on. The protests we’ve watched are designed to get the attention of the public and Democrats inside the hall, and on that point they’re succeeding.”
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the potential consequences of Kamala Harris’ economic proposals, the facts Wirepoints’ new billboards tell about Illinois: we’re overtaxed, we’re shrinking, we’re losing jobs, and more.
The group involved in Tuesday’s violence was not affiliated with the coalition that planned Wednesday’s event that began at Union Park. And the organizers of the latest demonstration were familiar with Chicago police.
The group of about 40 delegates and supporters said the DNC denied their request to have a Palestinian speaker on stage, so they staged a sit-in.
Multiple law enforcement sources say it appears the maggots were brought into the hotel by activists seeking to send a message. The Fairmont hotel is hosting Democratic delegates from Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri and South Dakota, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke at the hotel Wednesday morning.
There was also a SWAT incident Tuesday that lasted approximately 14 hours. A man barricaded himself inside a restaurant on the 2300 block of W. Madison Ave.
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