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“It’s disturbing to see the agency appearing to be acting as a tool of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s as-yet undeclared reelection campaign as the mayoral election nears and targeting its messages to those already here.”
Jim Dey: “‘Most of Illinois’ local municipal pensions are distressed, and hundreds are deeply distressed, imposing a costly drag on the towns and cities that sponsor them,’ writes Wirepoints analyst Mark Glennon. Just how distressed are they? In 2024, suburban and downstate police pension systems have a funded percentage of 63.65 percent. Their unfunded liability is $7.4 billion.”
“There are likely a number of school administrators and teachers patting themselves on the back right now because the Chicago Tribune put their high school on a Best Of list, but I wonder how many of them will face up to the truth that the majority of the students they graduate aren’t ready for college or even an ability to move into a technical field where math and English skills are required.”
“We smell a correlation between how many public offices a person holds and his or her proximity to trouble.”
“The impulse behind guaranteed income programs makes sense. More than 167,000 Chicagoans live on $21 or less a day. But there is a far better use of this cash than simply cutting checks: eliminating poverty traps inside the current system.”
Governor JB Pritzker recently signed House Bill 4592 into law, which bars companies from refusing to accept cash for purchases valued below $500. Illinois joins a growing list of states seeking to support the option of cash payments. In 2024, Florida’s state legislature introduced a bill requiring businesses to accept cash and other forms of payment for goods and services. A year later, New York’s state legislature passed a bill banning retailers from turning down cash payments.
As enforcement ramped up under President Donald Trump, prosecutors shared the vital information without criminal warrants, public disclosure or legislative oversight. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul wouldn’t say whether they’re bound by a state law that strictly limits cooperation with immigration enforcement agents.
The new funding will build on Connect Illinois, the State’s broadband expansion initiative. Across the first three funding rounds, the program generated nearly $614 million in combined public and private investments, supporting projects led by 27 internet service providers and local governments to extend access to more than 44,000 households, businesses and community institutions. To date, over 20,610 households have already been connected.
Police said they were on scene to break up a large gathering when gunmen opened fire into the crowd. It was unclear why the gathering took place or who the gunmen were.
Over several years, the West Suburban Medical Center and Weiss Memorial Hospital received more than $24 million in state grants while racking up debts of roughly $100 million in state loans and unpaid taxes. Then they closed, eliminating more than 400 beds, erasing roughly 1,400 jobs and cutting neighborhood residents off from valuable medical care.
“Chicago has been savaged by predatory machines from the Chicago Teachers Union to the radical Marxism of Cook County Democratic Party chair Toni Preckwinkle –who with her ally George Soros and protege Kim Foxx–are most responsible for the massive home building boom in Northwest Indiana as Chicago refugees hope to flee all that Preckwinkle legacy caused with violent crime in Cook County. All of this has contributed to a sense of exhaustion and helplessness of the people.”
The university’s event listing names the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC) and Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality (CSWGS) as hosts and lists Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI) under “Department.” The GSRC’s Huskie Hub profile says the center uses student leadership, advocacy, campus engagement and professional development to “challenge societal constructs of gender and sexuality norms” and “promote social justice.”