-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
“The bill is sneakily drafted so that cops can still access these records (why?), but the public can not. That means employers will have to hire convicted drug dealers and flashers with expunged records, or worse for them, thieves, commercial fencing operators who steal supplies …”
Chicago’s school board is looking for a new CEO as it stares down a possible half-billion-dollar budget deficit. And later this year, the city will hold school board elections — this time for every seat. On the state level, there are questions about what education funding and child care will look like as the Trump administration threatens to withhold federal funding for Illinois child care services.
At its core, the proposal is an investment decision: whether the future revenue from the meters would justify the cost of buying out the lease. Politically, Johnson would also have to convince aldermen and voters to swallow the optics of repurchasing an asset for far more than the city received when it sold it nearly 20 years ago.
“Illinois’ experience as an early adopter of restrictions on the use of biometrics shows how lawmakers struggle to keep abreast of fast-moving technologies. It’s also a glaring example of how a single state can create a legal minefield that discourages innovation while inviting exploitation from attorneys on the hunt for easy money.”
“The devolution of once-independent voices like the Tribune into the rigid orthodoxy of the far left is one of the earliest and most troubling signs that the American Republic is deeply threatened and under siege, especially in big blue cities.”
For the last 35 years, a portion of annual fees paid by Illinois oil operators has been deposited into a fund to plug wells and restore the land they once occupied. And yet, the state cannot account for where most of that money has gone over the years, only to say that much of it has been swept away for uses other than intended.
In 2022, property taxes on the 71st Street building were $16,463. By 2025, the bill had risen by 255 percent — to $58,592.
Also this week, Cook County’s inspector general, Tirrell Paxton, reported closing 18 more PPP fraud investigations in the last quarter of 2025. He found county employees obtained a combined $315,000 in bogus loans. Those cases were referred to criminal authorities.
Here are some jobs the center should offer to provide a more complete picture of the Obama administration’s record.
Matt Paprocki, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “As lawmakers debate pensions, football stadium subsidies, taxes and new programs in 2026, they should remember that sustainable growth comes from the private sector. It does not come from ever-expanding government budgets.”
Jim Dey: “As for proposed solutions, it’s a wish list. That’s because the responsible officials have over the years mostly ignored the problem. Instead, they sometimes have done the opposite of what they should be doing, passing unaffordable pension sweeteners rather than restraining growing costs.”
Retired 37-year police veteran Chief Tom Weitzel calls on Chicago Sun-Times Editor-in-Chief Kimbriell Kelly “to shut down their ICE tracking portal, which endangers police & our communities.”
“You have women traveling like over an hour, sometimes in emergent circumstances, and in at least one case giving birth in a parking lot because rural health care is getting lost and those travel times are becoming a little dangerous,” state Sen. Li Arellano said.
“A politics based on permanent categories of oppressor and oppressed poisons the foundations of free society—truth and justice. When moral judgment precedes evidence, inquiry becomes taboo, and debate devolves into accusation rather than analysis. By treating ‘structural racism’ as the sole explanation for every failure, ideological leaders shield themselves from criticism.”
Heidner, a controversial Barrington Hills business executive who put $1 million into his own campaign and who has a new digital ad in which he
It would be the first time since the payment policy took effect in 2023 that the city isn’t planning to pay the full amount in January. The move underscores the financial stress that Chicago is facing. Local property tax distributions from Cook County have arrived late and the city’s expenses including for labor, pensions and material continue to rise.
Organizers of the event spoke beforehand, saying their message is to fight against “Nazi-style atrocities” from the Department of Homeland Security, after incidents like Good’s death.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER