Downtown Chicago office vacancy sets another record while top space tightens – Crain’s

The downtown office vacancy rate ticked up during the first quarter to an all-time high of 28.6% from 28.2% at the end of 2025. The share of available workspace in Chicago’s urban core is up from 26.5% a year ago and 13.8% when the COVID-19 pandemic began, having now hit new record highs for 15 consecutive quarters. But competition is stiff for large spaces in prime buildings.

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Illinois’ CGFA analyzes Pritzker’s budget, sees more bonding – The Bond Buyer

llinois’ bond sales would total $3.2 billion in fiscal year 2027 under provisions of Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive budget, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability found in its analysis of the spending plan. The state’s outstanding principal would climb to $29.9 billion and debt service would hit $3.8 billion for general obligation bonds and $435 million for Build Illinois bonds, CGFA said in its analysis, released last week.

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Illinoisans paying 26% more for health insurance bought on Affordable Care Act exchange – Chicago Tribune

Illinois consumers who bought health insurance on the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange are paying 26% more for coverage, on average, than they did last year, and the number of people who enrolled in the plans dropped nearly 4%, according to the state. Though that 26% average increase in monthly premiums is surely tough for many, it’s a far cry from the 78% average jump that state regulators previously said could occur if the federal government didn’t renew enhanced premium tax credits and people stayed on their plans from last year.

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Illinois must reign in spending – Illinois Policy

Since 2020, the state has gotten $15.6 billion in federal aid related to the COVID-19 pandemic. While that funding was temporary, Illinois has permanently increased what it spends. That has caused a fiscal problem for the state, with projected budget deficits totaling nearly $21 billion during the next five years. Expenditures are forecasted to grow nearly 20 percent in that time, but revenues only 11 percent in that time.

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Lawmaker criticizes surplus spending bill – Center Square

“Senate Bill 4175 would allow municipalities to establish OPEB trusts to fund retiree fringe benefits. These trusts allow municipalities to invest the funds more broadly than typical municipal accounts and can help improve credit ratings. I’ve worked to put guardrails in place to protect municipalities, ensuring financial responsibility is a priority,” Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, D-Western Springs, told The Center Square.

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CEJA workforce hubs deliver hope – Evanston Now

Waukegan graduates“The hardest part about Friday was to see all those people there, and the tears were because they knew it was over; they go back to the life they had before,” said Yvette Ewing, executive director at The Community Works, a nonprofit that helps recruit candidates for the CEJA hubs. “The hardest part, I’ll be honest, is knowing that there’s no job at the end specific to clean energy.

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Illinois Poised to Pass Another Bill Shielding Illegal Aliens in the State – FAIR

Illinois lawmakers are advancing legislation that would significantly curtail where federal immigration detention facilities may operate in the state, further demonstrating the state’s willingness to obstruct federal law enforcement operations. The proposal, House Bill (HB) 5024, would prohibit immigration detention centers from being located within 1,500 feet of residential areas and numerous community locations, including schools, parks, daycare centers, forest preserves, cemeteries, and places of worship.

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The Hunger Industrial Complex, Part II: The Six-Figure Charity Racket – Illinois Family Inst.

The Hunger Industrial Complex, Part II: The Six-Figure Charity RacketRead that again. A Walmart General Manager is the top leader at a facility responsible for billions of dollars in inventory and hundreds of employees. That person earns $218,317, which is at the high end for that role. Meanwhile, the Vice President of Operations at the Greater Chicago Food Depository—who has a much less demanding logistical role—earns $353,845. That’s

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Harvey’s request for financially distressed relief rejected by Illinois Department of Revenue – Chicago Tribune

The Financially Distressed City Law allows home-rule municipalities in the top 5% of tax rates and the bottom 5% of tax income per capita to apply for fiscal relief via a state takeover of finances. The law was invoked once before, in East St. Louis in 1990. The Department of Revenue determined that while Harvey meets the requirement of being in the top 5% of tax rates, it is not in the bottom 5% for tax yield per capita, according to the letter.

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Bailing Out Chicago Would Send a Dangerous Message – City Journal

“The door is open, then, for Illinois and Chicago to return to D.C. and ask for federal assistance. If granted, taxpayers nationwide will pay for the Windy City’s fiscal recklessness. And the bailouts likely won’t stop there. Officials in other cities, such as Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York, will be watching closely. If Chicago can get a bailout, why not the Big Apple?”

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Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades

Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.

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Mayor Johnson’s administration ‘reflexively hostile to oversight,’ outgoing Chicago inspector general says – Chicago Sun-Times

“This administration has shown itself to be reflexively hostile to oversight. This has come largely through the Law Department … interfering with OIG’s access to city premises, withholding records from OIG, declining to provide records even though they were, in fact, publicly available, declining to implement recommendations from OIG,” Witzburg told the Chicago Sun-Times.

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The Pols Who Failed Sheridan Gorman – Wall Street Journal

Mr. Pritzker’s real message wasn’t the “real failures.” It was: This is Donald Trump’s fault, notwithstanding that there’s hardly a Republican to be found in Illinois. Alderwoman Maria Hadden told Fox32’s Chicago Live last week that Gorman “might have been a wrong-place-wrong-time, running into a person who had a gun. Not to be outdone, Mayor Brandon Johnson gave a master class in deflection when asked if he would apologize to Gorman’s parents for her death.

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Ja’Mal Green: Don’t surrender Chicago to ‘teen takeover’ chaos – Chicago Tribune

“Let’s stop pretending we don’t know what’s going on. These “teen takeovers” downtown, such as the one on Wednesday, aren’t just harmless get-togethers. They’re organized disruptions — planned online, carried out in large groups and allowed to spiral out of control because the city has been too slow and too hesitant to respond. That needs to change.”

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Illinois missing out on big savings – Illinois Policy

The state should implement long-term saving measures, such as a spending cap. Under such a cap, annual spending cannot increase more than the 10-year average growth of the state’s nominal gross domestic product. That way, increases in spending are tied to growth in the tax base, which could mean limited tax increases.

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Court battles hit taxpayer wallets – Yahoo News/Chicago Tribune

The costs of decades of misconduct by Chicago police have grown enormous as the city settles lawsuit after lawsuit using expensive private counsel to handle most of the work. Now a Tribune investigation has provided the most detailed analysis yet of how Chicago’s legal strategy has run up costs, making these misconduct cases more expensive on average for taxpayers than similar legal claims in New York and Los Angeles.

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Slain college student’s mother vows ‘fight for justice’ after illegal immigrant charged in Chicago killing – Fox News

I want to say this gently, but honestly, as a mom. I’m angry,” Jessica Gorman said. “I’m like completely heartbroken, and we are going to fight for justice for our sweet Sheridan, and we’re going to fight for change.” At the vigil, the family’s attorney, Thomas Tripodianos, warned against what he described as growing complacency about public safety. “If we accept this, even silently, then we are accepting a reality where young people are not as safe as they should be. And that is not acceptable,” Tripodianos said. “And there must be justice. Real justice.”

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The High-Tax Wealth Flight Continues – Wall Street Journal

States with the highest taxes continue to lose the most income to other states. California lost on net $11.9 billion, mostly to Texas, Nevada and Arizona. Other big losers include New York ($9.9 billion), Illinois ($6 billion), Massachusetts ($4 billion), New Jersey ($2.6 billion), Maryland ($1.8 billion) and Minnesota ($1.5 billion).

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Lawmakers punt Bears property tax bill to April – Capitol News IL

The Chicago Bears will have to wait until at least April for action on a property tax measure that would boost their efforts to build a domed stadium in Arlington Heights. State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, the top House Democratic negotiator, confirmed to Capitol News Illinois that the bill won’t move before the House adjourns Friday.

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Sheridan Gorman’s Murder—and Chicago’s Silence – RealClear

“The insidious effect of local media’s near blackout of the story is not just defining deviancy down but ignoring it altogether. It’s a “shut up and take it” message by the media to the residents of Chicago – and even to the family of a young girl attending her dream school shot dead by a criminal illegal who should never have been in the city in the first place.”

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What Happens When You Pay Ex–Gang Members to Stop Crime? Ask Chicago. – The FP

“The biggest lobby in Chicago is not big business,” Tabares said. “It’s the nonprofits, and they’re using the blood flowing in the streets, demanding funding with no strings attached. There is no accountability for how the money is being flown into these programs. No accountability whatsoever…. They are actually paying people for being a gang member—that’s what they’re doing.”

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Jesse Jackson, the Prophet Who Became a Politician – Wall Street Journal

“When leaders become dependent on outrage, solutions become threats to their power. Chicago, the adopted hometown of both Jackson and Mr. Obama, proves the point. Jackson rose in a political culture of entrenched corruption, where moral accountability was too often weakened by ethnic loyalty and party interest. Rather than resist this culture, Jackson and other civil-rights veterans were absorbed by it.”

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Darren Bailey Gears Up to Face Pritzker for Second Consecutive Governor’s Race – WTTW

He has also come out squarely against federal immigration agents in Cook County, a stance likely to resonate with voters following last fall’s “Operation Midway Blitz. “The whole ICE situation should’ve looked a lot different and better coordinated,” Bailey said. “And I’ll even go so far as to say there shouldn’t be federal agents in Cook County doing this work.”

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Failing Schools Place Politics Over Academics – Steve Cortes

“It seems that school system chiefs in Chicago—and across America—prefer to indoctrinate students as politically fixated young agitators who can act out with impunity. As long as leftist narratives dominate, those vulnerable children are simply passed along, advancing grades without mastering the basic skills of a fully formed thinker.”

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Chi-Town Meltdown: Chicago Ramps Up Taxes and Debt in Familiar Death Spiral – Jonathan Turley

https://i0.wp.com/jonathanturley.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Chicago_in_Flames_by_Currier__Ives_1871_cropped.jpg?ssl=1In Chicago, the city council is now drifting toward bankruptcy like a ship of fools. For those of us who love our home city, it is a painful thing to watch. Despite a history of corruption under the Daley machine, the city was always a pro-growth town that attracted industries. It is now following Detroit’s path toward insolvency as politicians kick the debt can down the road for someone else to pay.

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Opinion: Illinois needs better zoning data before rewriting housing rules – Crain’s

No one has ever bothered to study the way 1,396 localities authorized by the state to enact zoning actually deploy that zoning authority. In other words, Governor Pritzker and the supporters of the BUILD Plan are missing key information that could help them show why their Plan is sorely needed—or how it would play out on the ground. As it stands today, they can’t even tell their constituents whether these localities have chosen to enact zoning—much less whether they allow accessory dwellings or duplexes, impose large lot sizes, or issue parking mandates.

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Suburban couple wants Will County prosecutors investigated for seizing their Ford Broncos, retirement savings – Chicago Sun-Times

Former gun store owner Jeff Regnier and wife Greta Keranen say prosecutors abused their power when they used Illinois’s civil asset forfeiture laws to try to take ownership of their property even though they weren’t convicted of crimes. A judge called the tactics “authoritarian,” but prosecutors say they were following the law.

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Del Mar makes campaign stop in Metropolis – Metropolis Planet

With a few days left until the 2026 Primary Election, the Bailey/Del Mar campaign bus made a stop in Metropolis on Thursday, March 12. While Darren Bailey, a Republican candidate for the office of Illinois governor, was unable to attend due to family matters, his lieutenant governor running mate Aaron Del Mar met with voters at La Pizza di Shane.

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Chicago Pulls Bond Offering — Some History -GovMoneyNews

The City of Chicago just chose not to proceed with the sale of general obligation bonds in a larger bond offering planned for this week. An early news report framed that decision in terms of market conditions amidst upheaval in the Mideast. But the independently poor financial condition of the city is also in the mix.

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Chicago tests war-rattled muni market with $800M bond sale – Crain’s/Bloomgerg

While muni bonds are typically seen as a safe haven for investors, debt sold by borrowers with ratings below benchmark securities carry greater risks. Chicago’s 10-year bond yields have widened more than the broader market as the city’s financial stress mounts. The average yield on long-dated Chicago bonds this month has jumped 23.6 basis points to above 4%, compared with the benchmark rising about 18 basis points to 2.65%, data show.

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Jesse Jackson Jr. turns to AI to amplify Rush endorsement – Politico

U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 1st district Bobby Rush talks to media.An AI-enhanced former congressman is hitting the Chicago airwaves. As he campaigns to reclaim the South Side congressional seat he once held, Jesse Jackson Jr. is launching a new TV and digital ad featuring an endorsement from fellow former Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush — delivered with an assist from artificial intelligence.

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From Redcoats to Robots: AI and Robotic Are Challenging our Republic’s Future – Jonathan Turley

The danger is that politicians will react predictably and try to subsidize jobs that are no longer viable and industries that are being dramatically downsized. At the same time, they are likely to expand model programs in Democratic cities for universal basic or guaranteed income. Democrats have moved forward with more than 60 bills creating such programs, and this week, Cook County, Ill. (the second-largest county in the U.S.) made permanent the universal basic income program it had originally launched with federal COVID-19 relief funds.

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Chicago will return to market with $800 million GO deal – The Bond Buyer

The borrowing for firefighter back pay and police misconduct settlements was “sold as a five-year deal,” not a ten-year deal with a backloaded debt structure, said one analyst. “Spreading it out over ten years makes it feel like we are now committing the cardinal sin of debt financing an operational need,” he said, noting that at five years, it didn’t necessarily feel that way.

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Video: Chicago sees split reaction to Iran strike – FOX32 (Chicago)

Chicago saw two very different responses to the U.S. attack on Iran. A coalition of 27 local organizations gathered at Federal Plaza for what they called an emergency anti-war protest. Just blocks away at Daley Plaza, about 100 Iranian-Americans held what felt more like a celebration — dancing, handing out sweets and cheering the death of Iran’s longtime leader.

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Illinois Adopts AI-in-Employment Regulations: What Employers Must Know for 2026 – JD Supra

Illinois recently expanded the state’s prohibitions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in employment. In 2020, Illinois enacted the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act (AIVIA), which regulates employers’ use of AI in the interview and hiring process. Under this Act, employers are obligated to inform applicants when AI technology is used during the course of a video interview, provide an explanation of the AI technology’s mechanics, and obtain prior consent from the applicant.

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Bad Bets: Massive EV Subsidies Not Paying Off – RealClear Investigations

While no one has calculated exactly how many federal and state dollars both Republican and Democratic elected officials have sent to that green sector, experts RealClearInvestigations consulted fixed the total north of $100 billion. Currently, Rivian builds its EVs at an Illinois plant, but the company has been losing roughly $39,000 per EV it sells.

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Blue City Spending Drives ‘Unaffordability,’ Not Relief: Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon on Chicago’s Morning Answer – AM560

“You didn’t have to be a wizard t.o see it,” Glennon said, recalling that warning signs were evident as far back as the early 2000s when state revenues faltered after the tech bubble burst. The fiscal trajectory of many major cities, he said, has long reflected a pattern of expanding government commitments without sustainable funding models. Full interview here.

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KBRA and Fitch downgrade Chicago – The Bond Buyer

The rating actions come ahead of Chicago’s plans to sell about $502 million of series 2026A GOs and Series 2026B GOs. The downgrade stems from the city’s deteriorating fund balance, narrowing liquidity and high and rising fixed cost burden, KBRA said in a statement

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A Liberal Sounds The Alarm On Blue Cities – Tipp Insights

“As budgets swell, populations shrink and taxes climb, Fareed Zakaria questions whether America’s largest cities are delivering value for what they spend….Or take Chicago, with a mayor whose approval rating is deep underwater, where the pension promises are so large that they will surely bankrupt the city at some point. What is the theory of good government here?”

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The Data Crusader Trying to Save Illinois – Wall Street Journal

image“Ted Dabrowski knows how the state got off track, but he’s the underdog in the GOP primary for governor…. Mr. Pritzker has been a frequent target of Wirepoints’ unflattering statistics, and he once lashed out at Mr. Dabrowski’s firm, calling it a ‘carnival-barker organization’—a phrase that drew a rebuke from the people of the circus and carnival culture.”

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Rick Heidner: In the Midwest, Anti-ICE Democrats Are Failing America – RealClear Politics

“Rather than having a nuanced discussion on ICE tactics, the left’s position is to abolish ICE and reward illegal immigration. Here’s what Pritzker Democrats won’t tell American voters: If Illinois, Minnesota, and other states had simply cooperated with ICE and other federal agencies, they could have deported the worst criminal offenders in a matter of weeks, and then they could have left.”

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Illinois advocates urge senate action on SAVE Act – Center Square

“My home state of Illinois, and others across our country, have failed to properly maintain their voter rolls and implement basic election security practices such as requiring voter ID. By establishing clear, consistent standards to verify voter eligibility, this legislation helps ensure that only the American people decide our elections,” U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said.

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The Illinois ‘cliff tax’: A single dollar could cost families hundreds of thousands – Kiplinger/MSN

The word “threshold” matters: It’s not a true exemption. If an estate is valued at $4 million or less, there is no Illinois estate tax. But if the value exceeds $4 million by even a single dollar, Illinois will tax the entire estate, not just the amount above the threshold. This is known as the Illinois “cliff tax.” At an estate value of exactly $4 million, the tax is zero. But at $4 million plus $1, the entire estate is taxable.

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Chicago to sell $1B in debt from unpaid fees despite uncertain buyers – Crain’s/Bloomberg

Brandon Johnson Chicago mayorChicago is seeking to sell about $1 billion in debt the city is owed from things like unpaid parking tickets even as a top finance official warns the unprecedented offering is expected to be costly with uncertain investor appetite. The sale is the first of its kind for Chicago, and has never been done at this scale and scope as far as the administration under Mayor Brandon Johnson knows.

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Feds investigating student data privacy violations – BLN News

From McLean County Republican Party press release: Illinois State University is reported to have maintained an agreement with NSLVE similar to the one currently under review at Tufts University. U.S. Reps. Mary Miller, Darin LaHood and Mike Bost are introducing legislation aimed at preventing third-party organizations, such as NSLVE, from having unrestricted access to private student data.

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Editorial: Governor still pushing his fix for public pensions on wary legislators – Champaign News-Gazette

Pritzker is calling for additional funds for Tier 2 public employees, those hired on or after Jan. 1, 2011. Some have suggested that the so-called Tier 2 pension benefits fall short of federal safe-harbor requirements because they may be less than those provided by Social Security. But no one has proved that Tier 2 benefits fall short of Social Security, or by how much. Better to answer those questions than commit major funds to solve a problem that does not exist.

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Manteno votes down Gotion investment review – SRP

Those wanting to see a review of Gotion Illinois by the United States Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) were disappointed after Manteno trustees voted against the request at the January 20 village board meeting.

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Conservative policy wonk Ted Dabrowski gets off sidelines with run for governor – Capitol News Illinois

Ted Dabrowski“For years, Ted Dabrowski wielded influence behind the scenes in Illinois Republican circles, serving as a go-to source for conservative research and commentary through his stewardship of thinktanks Wirepoints and the Illinois Policy Institute. With Republicans largely relegated to the policymaking sidelines in Democrat-dominated Springfield, Dabrowski’s efforts have mostly proven an academic exercise. That could change this year.”

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Blue States’ Demographic Nightmare – City Journal

With the border effectively closed, the populations of states like California, Hawaii, and New Mexico are declining, and they’re stagnating in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts. The great Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Smith once observed that “there is a great deal of ruin in a nation.” Today, you might describe the process as “managed decline.” It’s a feat that many Democratic states are pulling off quite convincingly.

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The Chicago Teachers’ Mystery Audits – Wall Street Journal

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has resisted making its financial audits public, and we are starting to learn why. The union recently produced audits going back to 2020, and the records show that its finances haven’t always received a clean slate by its official independent auditor.

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The Blue State Population Bust – Wall Street Journal

If recent trends in population growth and migration continue, the Brennan Center projects that Texas would gain four seats, Florida three, and Georgia, Arizona, Utah, North Carolina and Idaho one each in the reapportionment after the 2030 Census. California would lose four, and New York two. Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island would give up one apiece.

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Blue State Dems Launching Schemes to Obstruct ICE, Federal Laws – Breitbart

Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also announced that she is spearheading a project to reveal the names, personal information, and locations of ICE officers while pro-migration activists are trying to block law enforcement operations. Also in Illinois, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has warned ICE officers and other federal law enforcement not to remove or obscure the license plates on official vehicles because he claims it is a violation of state vehicle operating laws.

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Richard Porter: Tranquility Is a Drama Trump Can Win – RealClear

Ensuring “domestic tranquility” is among the six express goals of government stated in the Constitution. But for many protesters, the goal “seems to be to deliberately disrupt domestic tranquility as a tactic to undermine the president’s popularity. It’s working. Tranquility is a peaceful, calm state, without noise, violence, or worry. That’s not what we have in Minneapolis or, on any given day in Chicago and a handful of other cities in states controlled by Democrats.”

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New push to protect Illinois workers from extreme cold after subzero week – FOX32 (Chicago)

Supporters say the bill is urgently needed after this week’s arctic blast, when schools closed, transit shut down, and cities opened warming centers while thousands of workers still had to show up to load baggage on frozen tarmacs, deliver packages, and work in warehouses that felt like refrigerators. …. “Climate change is not some far away or future health threat. It is harming Illinois workers now,” said a supporter.

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Empty suburban office space ended 2025 at new record high – Crain’s

1100 E. Warrenville RoadThe suburban office vacancy rate ended the year at a record high of 32.9%, up from 32.4% three months earlier and 32% at the end of 2024, according to real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle. The share of available workspace across the suburbs is up from 22.1% when the COVID-19 pandemic began and has now hit new all-time highs every quarter for five years.

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Republican hopeful Ted Dabrowski defends TV ad likening Ill. Gov. JB Pritzker to communist Poland, Ecuador turmoil – Chicago Tribune/Yahoo

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Dabrowski talks in Chicago on Jan. 6, 2026. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)“In 1960, my parents immigrated to Chicago, Dad from communist Poland, Mom from Ecuador. They came here for a better life. Today, politicians like JB Pritzker are behaving just like those politicians my parents fled,” Dabrowski said in the ad, which was aired after the third quarter of Sunday’s Chicago Bears game.

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The Forbidden Op-Ed – Awake Illinois

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.”

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Chicago Splits 2026 Advance Pension Payment on Cash Crunch – Bloomberg

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.

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Obama Presidential Center job listings push ‘anti-racism’ pledge ahead of opening – FOX News

“That’s why our goal is to make sure every member of the Foundation team is committed to anti-racism, sets expectations for how we will engage, and makes space for the work,” the statement said. “We’re focused on making sure our actions match our intent – removing barriers for diverse vendors, building anti-racism and equity into our hiring practices, and recruiting diverse cohorts for our leadership programs.”

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The Great Divorce Continues – Issues & Insights

“When U-Haul released its latest “Growth Index” this week, it made us wonder if blue states will ever get a clue…. From 2012 to 2022, California lost more than 1.6 million people to net domestic migration; New York almost 1.8 million; Illinois nearly 900,000, according to Unleash Prosperity’s “Vote with Your Feet” analysis of IRS data.”

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Another $1.5M Democrat-Socialist Boondoggle In Illinois – Breakthrough Ideas

“So, let’s be clear here – of the $4.4 million they needed to raise to open up the grocery store, over $1.5 million (35%) came from taxpayers. This store is a for-profit store. It is a competitor to every other store that offers the same product. I don’t think Jewel, Mariano’s, Target, Walmart, or any other grocery seller had the taxpayers fund 35% of their development costs. This is a socialist model, and they are lying about locally

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Pritzker’s Pretzels – Townwhall

“JB and Penny Pritzker are scions of the Hyatt family dynasty. Each has, on paper, had an impressive career of public and private service. Both are destroyers. While they are not twins, they both seem to employ the same techniques to ruin whatever they can get their hands on.”

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Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon Says CPS Tax Hike and Budget Woes Signal Deeper Crisis for Chicago – Audio – AM560

Chicago’s mounting fiscal pressures and public safety concerns were front and center on Chicago’s Morning Answer as guest host Chris Krok spoke with Mark Glennon, founder of Wirepoints. The discussion ranged from a recently approved Chicago Public Schools tax increase to broader warnings about crime, budgeting, and government accountability in Illinois and beyond. Listen here.
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“The 2028 Race For White House Has Begun. Here’s Who’s Winning. – Politico

“While Ocasio-Cortez likely would not have to worry about competing against a fellow democratic socialist, she may have to worry about getting crowded out of the progressive populist lane, and by a billionaire no less: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Unlike Newsom and some other Democrats, Pritzker hasn’t tried to recalibrate at all on immigration or trangender issues.”

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Democratic despotism: The left moves from censored to compelled speech – Jonathan Turley – The Hill

In Illinois, Democrats have taken up the cudgel of compelled speech on the issue of abortion. Again, over objection that the law was unconstitutional, Democrats and Gov. JB Pritzker passed a law that said that all healthcare providers, including pro-life and religious pregnancy help centers, must extoll to their patients the “benefits” of abortion, even if they have faith-based objections to abortion.

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How an Illinois Career Politician Not Up To the Task Stole My 529 Money – Points & Figures

“I put my money in short-term rates, and it should have been safe no matter what happened, right? Wrong. Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Gianoullis lost 38% of its value. Why? Because he was unprepared. He was inexperienced and didn’t understand financial markets. He didn’t grasp risk-reward, and he was more into himself as a career politician than he was at being a steward of taxpayer money.”

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Bally’s Loudly Opposes Chicago Budget That Would Legalize Video Gaming Terminals – Casino Reports

A Bally’s VP estimated Bally’s would have a yearly total tax loss of $260 million with VGTs legal, and the city would lose roughly $70 million in tax revenue annually beyond the $4 million payment from the HCA. But she saved her biggest salvo for last, claiming a similar 37% reduction in revenue projects to a “staggering reduction of 750 to 1,050 positions if this proposal is effectuated.” Suever said Bally’s is committed to creating and maintaining 3,000 jobs at the River West side but bluntly said “VGTs pose a direct threat to this commitment.”

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Citadel leaves Chicago tower as city alarmed by ‘job killer’ tax – Crain’s/Bloomberg

Citadel CenterThe number of finance roles in Illinois as a whole is down 2.7% since Griffin left to 397,000 in September, according to data from the state’s Department of Employment Security. That’s a big setback for Chicago, a city that gave birth to the modern futures industry in the late 1800s and is home to CME Group Inc. and Cboe Global Markets Inc., some of the top derivatives exchanges.

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Editorial: Chicago has lost its mind – Washington Post*

“In fairness, reckless local politicians aren’t the only reason Chicago is in trouble. Reckless state politicians are also a major problem….Unless politicians get serious, actually cut spending and start enacting sane, pro-growth policies, Chicago will get more than a taste of that bitter pill.”

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Blue States, High Rates – Institute for Energy Research

“The evidence presented in this report is unambiguous: electricity affordability is a function of state-level policy choices. States that have embraced aggressive renewable mandates, 100% “carbon-free” targets, premature coal and nuclear retirements, rooftop-solar cost shifting, and restrictions on natural gas infrastructure routinely deliver the nation’s highest electricity prices.}

 

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Chicago radio host Dan Bernstein rips Cubs player for Turning Point event attendance, likens it to ‘Nazi-adjacent pep rally’ – FOX News

Dan Bernstein: “If you want to go to a gathering that tells me clearly that you are proud to be among hatemongers, homophobes, fascists, racists, flag-waving proud racists. If these are your people and this is your thing, and you want to be at this proudly Nazi-adjacent pep rally, go ahead. Go ahead. Have a day, man. Have a week. Whatever blows your hair back.

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Illinois sees decline in rate of residents moving out of state, study finds – Crain’s

Illinois has for the first time in 17 years managed to stem the tide of outbound migration, with roughly the same number of residents in 2025 moving into Illinois as those moving out. That’s according to the annual Migration Patterns Study released this week by Indiana-based moving company Atlas Van Lines. The same report found that about 50% of Illinois residents would choose to leave the state if they could for tax reasons alone.

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Everyone Culpable in Chicago’s Madness – Martin Preib’s Crooked City

“It is difficult to foresee a journalist, politician, or business leader rising up from within the city to truly transform this living, evolving catastrophe of a city, even though, as the engine of a political movement aimed at expanding beyond the frontiers of Chicago and Illinois, Chicago has never posed a more dire threat to the nation. That battle must be undertaken from an outsider, untainted by the city’s embrace.”

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Chicago Transit Doesn’t Need Another Bailout – City Journal

https://th.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.HP4ocAMgMeCx5qbz4KxnAS&pid=News&w=300&h=186&c=14&rs=2&qlt=90&dpr=2.4Instead of leveraging earlier bailouts to modernize services and prepare for the future, the CTA and other agencies used them to keep empty trains and buses running. The forthcoming transit fiscal cliff is a rare opportunity for customer-oriented reform. But the CTA and other systems would rather burn through more taxpayer funds to provide services that customers don’t want.

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Dabrowski and the business crowd – Politico IL*

“Illinois’ business-class donor community — defined by its wealth, pragmatism and preference for policy-focused politics — appears to be consolidating behind Republican Ted Dabrowski in his run for governor, marking a shift away from President Donald Trump’s MAGA wing of the party that backed Darren Bailey in 2022.”

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Want wokeness out of schools? End woke teacher training – FOX News

Columbia University’s teacher preparation program includes “Making Change: Activism, Social Movements and Education.” It has students “learn from the examples … the Chicago Teachers Union, the Tucson Unified School District fight for ethnics studies, BLM at Schools,” and other progressive movements. The Chicago Teachers Union and BLM are among the worst possible examples of education leadership. The former has delivered some of the worst academic achievement in the country and has refused to release a financial audit for five years running.

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States with Clean Energy Mandates, Including Illinois, Have Higher Rate Increases – Energy Bad Boys

Based on an analysis of states with clean energy and renewable energy mandates have sought 32 percent higher rate increase requests since 2020 than states without mandates—and mandate states have higher electricity prices as a result, which are growing at almost double the rate as no mandate states. Mandate states with the highest rate increase requests from 2020 through 2025 include California, New York, Michigan, Virginia, and Illinois, while the non-mandate states were led by Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania

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Byron York: The road to the Chicago train fire attack – Washington Examiner

Judge Molina-Gonzalez got her way; Reed was free to board the train with his bottle of gasoline, ready to attack. And the prosecutor’s words came true; Reed was indeed a “threat to the physical safety of the community.” And the public was left to contemplate the obvious fact that Reed should have been incarcerated long ago, as well as the fact that Molina-Gonzalez represents something that has gone terribly wrong in the American system of justice. A society that will not take Lawrence Reed off the streets will not protect the public.

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One dead, 8 wounded in 2 shootings in Chicago’s downtown Loop district, hours after Christmas tree lighting – CBS News

President Trump took to his Truth Social platform Saturday afternoon to address the shootings, alleging that there was “Massive crime and rioting in the Chicago Loop area,” Friday night, and making the claim that “Multiple Police Officers” were “attacked and badly injured,” although police have not reported any injuries to officers.

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Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison won’t run for reelection in 2026 – CBS News

Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison (R-17th) announced Thursday he will not run for reelection next year, saying he believes “public service should be a season of contribution, not a lifetime occupation, and it is important that I lead by example.” Morrison, the lone Republican on the 17-member Cook County Board, also said the Democratic party’s supermajority was a factor in his decision not to seek another term in office, saying his fellow commissioners’ “ideological priorities diverge sharply from my own deeply held personal, ethical, and spiritual convictions.”

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Tear gas, car crashes, chokeholds: Risky tactics have driven Trump’s Chicago deportation ‘blitz’ – Chicago Sun-TImes

Garry McCarthy, a former Chicago police superintendent, says he isn’t opposed to the Border Patrol’s mission but is “not a fan of their methods,” including car chases. McCarthy says Border Patrol agents have acted more recklessly than their counterpart agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “They’re out of control,” he says of the Border Patrol agents.

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Financial State of Chicago 2025 – Truth in Accounting

“As Chicago’s 2026 budget process moves forward, new independent analysis indicates that city leaders are debating spending priorities and long-term commitments without a complete and fully transparent understanding of the government’s true financial position.”

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Pritzker believes government shutdown will help Democrats in 2026 midterms, Republicans disagree – ABC Chicago

“What I am so upset about is that Donald Trump was fine with people not being able to travel, people not being able to get their food. He was fine, he is fine with taking away health care from people,” Pritzker said. “You can’t be so obstinate about every little element of whatever your program is, and refuse to have the government work unless you get your way, when you’re in the minority, too,” said Richard Porter, a former Republican national committeeman from Illinois.

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John Kass: Pritzker’s Angry Violent Left Kills Any Hope of Immigration Compromise

“Good and decent men like Ald. Lopez think of compromise. But shameless weasels like Pritzker and his violent radical left wing unions ruin the idea of common ground, they take over the streets, ramming I.C.E. vehicles and shooting at law enforcement isn’t about seeking common ground. It is about violent demands, like the old Confederate slave owners at Ft. Sumpter firing on union troops to protect their slave trade.”

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‘Chicagoans Do Not Want Us to Bankroll the Regime”: Treasurer Declares City Will Now Longer Invest in U.S. Treasury Bonds – Jonathan Turley

“It is the ultimate virtue signaling at the cost of others. She is given a fiduciary duty to properly maintain and protect the investments of the city, which is currently facing a rising debt crisis…. Let’s recap. Mayor Johnson wants to float massive bonds to avoid cutting the budget while taxing large businesses for every new person that they employ. At the same time, the city will not invest in bonds that guarantee the most secure investment of money currently in city coffers.”

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Gov. JB Pritzker worries that Trump will go to extremes to distract from Epstein files – A.P.

Pritzker, widely seen as among the top potential Democratic presidential contenders in 2028, also directed some of his sharpest criticism at members of his own party. He said the decision by seven Democratic senators and one independent to side with Republicans in a Senate vote to end the government shutdown was an “enormous mistake” that played right into Trump’s hands.

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Victor Davis Hanson: America Fought a Civil War So Trump Could Enforce Federal Law – Daily Signal

Mayor Brandon Johnson said that he was going to actively oppose the enforcement of federal law within his jurisdiction in Chicago. ICE, as we remember, two weeks ago, were blockaded, under siege. And local Chicago area law enforcement—which was requested by ICE to help them get out from being surrounded by these Antifa-like protesters—refused to come to their aid. JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, on numerous occasions, has characterized these federal officers as Gestapo, Nazis. And they are acting, in his view, illegally and will be held to account by his state authorities. “This is all very dangerous.”

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Illinois awaits word on $1 billion in Big Beautiful Bill cash for rural hospitals – Crain’s

A hospital hallwayIllinois joined the rest of the U.S. today in applying for a piece of the $50 billion the federal government will allocate to rural health over the next five years, with a plan that seeks $1 billion. The $50 billion was a late addition to HR 1, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, following concerns that health care cuts in the GOP-led spending measure would hit rural hospitals particularly hard. CMS is set to decide on how the awards will be doled out by Dec. 31.

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Dabrowski campaigns in Marion, calls for lower taxes and local control – The Southern

“If I’m governor, I’ve got the bully pulpit,” he said. “Expose it. Persuade, persuade, persuade. People don’t want to pay the highest taxes. He added he would not shy away from challenging members of his own party on fiscal issues. “There’s no leadership in the Republican Party,” he said. “We need principles at the top — lower taxes, more jobs, less government.”

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S&P revises Chicago’s outlook to negative – The Bond Buyer

The rating agency cited the city’s persistent budgetary structural imbalance, its weakened reserves after years of deficit spending and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s decision to cut back supplemental pension contributions in his proposed 2026 budget. S&P also raised concerns around political gridlock and social capital risks, like inequities in health care, public education and housing, that could drive population loss.

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Gov. Pritzker Breaks Ground on New Grocery Store in Venice – Press Release

Established in 2023 and initially announced in Venice, the Illinois Grocery Initiative is a multipronged policy designed to mitigate and eliminate food deserts across Illinois. The initiative consists of two key grant programs—the New Stores in Food Deserts Program and the Equipment Upgrades Grant Program. To date, DCEO has awarded a total of $18.1 million statewide, which includes $16.5 million for new grocery stores and $1.6 million for equipment upgrades.

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Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon Interviewed by Dan Proft on Pritzker Profanity and Illinois’ New Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act – Audio

“It’s an appalling way to conduct political discourse — and in front of teachers, no less,” Glennon said, adding that Pritzker’s justification that “all limits are off” with Trump is emblematic of a broader disregard for honesty and accountability in Illinois politics. The energy bill, he noted, will primarily benefit politically connected companies like Gotion, the Chinese-owned firm building a heavily subsidized battery plant in Illinois. Glennon warned that the legislation effectively guarantees further taxpayer exposure with “no caps” on future costs. “You’re adding batteries to a broken system and pretending that will fix it,” he said.

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Commentary: JB Pritzker says what the Sun-Times can’t – Chicago Sun-Times

Neil Steinberg: “Even when our brains are dying, we can still cuss. Which might be a useful metaphor to better understand the governor of Illinois telling the president of the United States to “’- – – all the way off.’ [Which is what Pritzker said.] We could sniff at the word. Or step back and realize it’s a symptom of a political system that has suffered massive damage and is perhaps dying before our eyes. Pritzker is speaking out for the people of Illinois, against the shredding of American democracy and the abandonment of norms of humanity and law. It’s

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Pritzker defends using expletive to tell Trump to F-off, says ‘all limits are off with Donald Trump’ – Center Square

Pritzker earlier said, “I’m sorry to be vulgar, but Donald Trump and his cronies can fuck all the way off.” Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Dabrowski released a statement saying “Such language debases the office of the governor of Illinois. I am also disappointed that the audience of teachers gave Pritzker’s comments a standing ovation…. You will hear no such language from me when I am governor. I will restore common decency to the office, and that will include language I use to address even my most staunch opponents. I will defeat Pritzker and succeed as governor

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Time To Curb the Violence – RealClear

Almost 3 in 4 voters (72%) decry today’s polarizing political rhetoric as a cause of contemporary violence, and over 4 in 5 state it is unacceptable for their own political party to use violence to achieve its aims…. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and others are villainizing the ICE agents in dire language that is an open invitation to violence.”

 

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Death threats against ICE officers up by 8,000%, DHS says – Center Square

Doxxing is directly tied to coordinated efforts by rioters to harm ICE agents and by cartel affiliates that have placed bounties on them. DHS earlier this month exposed a cartel bounty system operating in Chicago that is similar to those that have been used in Texas for years, The Center Square reported. This month, a Latin Kings member was arrested after he allegedly put a hit out on Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino.

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Senators Durbin and Duckworth vote again to keep federal government shut down – The Hill

Senate Democrats on Tuesday voted for the 13th time to block a House-passed bill to reopen the federal government, despite a plea this week by the nation’s largest federal workers union toend the 28-day shutdown. Only three members of the Democratic caucus voted to advance the bill: Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

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Pritzker claims no Dems compared Trump to Hitler—he’s among the many who have – Post Millennial

Appearing Monday on MSNBC’s The Best People podcast, Pritzker told host Nicolle Wallace that he has “never suggested Donald Trump is Hitler.” Wallace didn’t push back on the lie. Instead, she backed his claim, saying, “I don’t think any Democrat has.” She then added that accusations of that are “a smear that they project back onto critics.”

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Victor Davis Hanson: The Left is ‘Bleeding Kansas’ – American Greatness

“The demagogic, anti-ICE bluster of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson is nullificationist and state-rights supremacy to the core…. The escalating violence in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland bears an eerie resemblance to the precursors to the “Bleeding Kansas” madness of the late 1850s, in which, eventually, local law enforcement often ignored or joined in the violence of ad hoc thugs, sometimes in opposition to the federal government.”

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The Left Attacks the Rule of Law – Wall Street Journal

image“Our officers have been shot at and assaulted. They have faced death threats, doxxing and confrontations at their homes. Spotter networks in Chicago linked to street gangs and Mexican cartels track the movements of officers for Customs and Border Protection as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, relaying locations and enabling ambushes during routine enforcement operations. This month [in Illinois] a member of the Latin Kings gang was charged with putting <a class="ekxajjj0 css-i0lbhy-OverridedLink" href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/10/06/latin-kings-gang-member-arrested-illinois-after-placing-hit-commander-large-border" target="_blank"

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Jonathan Turley: California and Chicago Move Toward Taxation Armageddon

“At some point, [Chicago] will go the way of Detroit in an irreversible plunge toward insolvency…. With the rise of Democratic Socialists in California, Illinois, and New York, these economic policies are likely to spread only to major cities. I fear that the result will be disastrous for our great cities. There is a perverse incentive for some of these politicians. Wealthy Republicans and conservative residents are fleeing these states, leaving Democrats more solidly in control. However, they are cutting off the top income earners and job creators. With the cutting off of subsidies under the Trump Administration, they must

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Illinois upgraded by Moody’s Ratings – The Bond Buyer

Illinois received an upgrade Thursday from Moody’s Ratings, which lifted its issuer rating to A2 from A3. Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated the latest in a series of upgrades for the state since he took office in 2019. “Our tenth credit upgrade speaks volumes to the state’s commitment to consistent fiscal discipline ? even as the Trump administration creates widespread economic uncertainty,” he said in a statement Thursday. “With each credit upgrade, Illinois saves taxpayers millions of dollars in interest payments and further demonstrates the benefits of long-term improvements to our fiscal position.”nIllinois remains an outlier among states for exposure to

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Chicago mayor’s 2026 budget would dial back pension funding – The Bond Buyer

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed $16.6 billion 2026 budget would reduce the supplemental pension contributions that had lifted the city’s credit stature.mThe budget, released Thursday, calls for new revenues, but avoids the property tax hikes that fell flat with City Council last year. The mayor’s budget would cut the advance pension payment to $120.2 million from the originally planned $238 million.

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Long-troubled Harvey, IL, makes a formal distress declaration – The Bond Buyer

The city council of Harvey, Illinois, voted to declare the long-troubled city distressed in a bid for state oversight, as Mayor Christopher J. Clark warned of an impending city government shutdown. The vote clears the way for the state to assume financial control of Harvey and possibly, city leaders hope, to bail the city out. But the tools the distress declaration makes available may not meet the magnitude of Harvey’s financial problems.

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Chicago’s Union Boss Gets a Promotion – Wall Street Journal

image“Talk about failing up. Stacy Davis Gates, the Chicago Teachers Union president who has presided over the educational failures of Chicago public schools, has been elected to lead the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Here we have in a single event the problem that is ruining Illinois.”

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Raging Democrats make extraordinary ‘Civil War’ claim during divisive ‘No Kings’ speeches – Daily Mail

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson ignited the crowd on Saturday by telling liberals to be 'ready to defend this democracy' and to be 'ready to fight fascism'The Chicago mayor accused President Donald Trump of wanting a ‘Civil War’ rematch during a No Kings protest. Mayor Brandon Johnson ignited the crowd on Saturday by telling liberals to be ‘ready to defend this democracy’ and to be ‘ready to fight fascism.’ ‘Are you prepared to destroy authoritarianism once and for all? We’ll let the world hear you, no kings!’ he said

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America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy – The Atlantic/Yahoo

“The past decade may rank as one of the worst in the history of American education.” The “Mississippi miracle” should force a reckoning in less successful states and, ideally, a good deal of imitation. But for Democrats, who pride themselves on belonging to the party of education, these results may be awkward to process. Not only are the southern states that are registering the greatest improvements in learning run by Republicans, but also their teachers are among the least unionized in the country. And

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Bally’s lender standoff threatens Chicago casino funding – The RealDeal

Bally’s is facing a revolt from lenders over its latest debt proposal, a standoff that could ripple far beyond Wall Street — all the way to Chicago’s pension funds. For Chicago, the timing couldn’t be worse. The city is counting on the long-promised Bally’s casino — approved in 2022 and expected to generate hundreds of millions for its underfunded pension systems.

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Chicago Flips Red Statement on “The No Kings Clown Show” Protest – X

“While the Tribeca Film Festival and their celebrity partners search for their next “movement moment” to glorify on screen, Black families across Chicago are being displaced, silenced, and ignored. The same institutions funding this rebellion-for-profit have yet to fund real solutions for poverty, crime, or education in our neighborhoods.”

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Another Huge Union Payout Will Hasten Chicago’s Demise – City Journal

“When Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker signed legislation in August that would retroactively boost the pension payouts of some Chicago police and firefighters, he did more than just increase the city’s unfunded pension liability by another $11.1 billion. He also marked a watershed moment for the city and state, by making clear that elected officials have no intention of addressing a looming fiscal crisis. Illinois is a byword for financial mismanagement.”

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Dabrowski sets fundraising bar at $1.5M in GOP primary for governor – Capitol News Illinois

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-post-image aligncenter" style="caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" src="https://i0.wp.com/capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/251016-GOP-GOV-CANDIDATES-JN.jpg?resize=1140%2C570&quality=89&ssl=1" alt="Darren Bailey, Ted Dabrowski and James Mendrick." width="560" height="280" data-full-width="1140" data-full-height="738" data-attachment-id="86128" data-permalink="https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/dabrowski-sets-fundraising-bar-at-1-5m-in-gop-primary-for-governor/251016-gop-gov-candidates-jn/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/251016-GOP-GOV-CANDIDATES-JN.jpg?fit=1140%2C738&quality=89&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1140,738" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="251016 GOP GOV CANDIDATES-JN" data-image-description="<p>Darren Bailey, Ted Dabrowski and James Mendrick.</p> " data-image-caption="<p>The Republican candidates for governor who are leading the fundraising race include former state Sen. Darren Bailey, conservative researcher Ted Dabrowski and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick. (Capitol News Illinois photos and illustration by Jerry

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Appeals court restores Trump’s control over National Guard in Illinois, but blocks deployment – The Hill

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit granted the Trump administration’s request for an administrative stay in part, meaning the president is allowed to federalize the National Guard in Illinois. The appeals court, however, denied the administration’s request to be able to deploy the National Guard. Unless further ordered by the court to do so, troops do not need to return to their home states, the order also reads.

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Jonathan Turley: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calls for the arrest of ICE officers

“Before Johnson attempts to arrest federal officials, he might want to take another look at the Constitution and review some history on the subject. Wallace also tried to ride the wave of rage to power after “standing at the schoolhouse door in person, if necessary.” It did not work. The federal government prevailed, and Wallace was left as a tragic relic of history.”

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Cities targeted by Trump’s troop deployments, including Chicago, bear fiscal burden – The Bond Buyer

A lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul underscores the risks to Chicago’s economy and finances. Among the areas where the deployments may harm Chicago finances are tourism and hospitality, core planks of the city’s economy and significant revenue sources for Chicago; police overtime costs; and investor perceptions of a downward slide, even if such perceptions aren’t rooted in reality.

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Chicago Mayor to Unveil Budget That Addresses Trump Funding Cuts – Bloomberg

The first-term mayor and progressive Democrat was already facing a $1.15 billion deficit for 2026 before the Trump administration ramped up funding freezes and threatened to reduce the money flowing into Chicago and other major cities. “My budget will have to address the very cuts that are coming from the federal government,” Johnson told reporters.

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Gov. JB Pritzker appointees’ plan shifts a mega property tax burden onto you – Brian Costin – Opinion – Chicago Tribune*

Illinoisans already face the nation’s highest property taxes, yet legislators and political appointees close to Gov. JB Pritzker are pushing a veto-session “megaproject” bill that could trigger the largest property-tax redistribution in state history — shifting billions from politically connected megadevelopers onto ordinary families and small businesses.

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Richard Porter: Pritzker’s Gambit – RealClear Politics

Richard Porter: “The governor wants Illinois to go to the mat to protect illegal immigrants from being deported and prevent the feds from fighting violent crime in Chicago. To champion his misguided priorities, Pritzker is willing to sacrifice federal dollars and increased jobs, while ensuring Illinois residents will pay higher taxes. Think about that. It’s slightly less stupid than going to war to protect slavery.”

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The Progressive Flight From Reality – RealClear

Progressivism isn’t just an ideology; it’s also becoming a mental health condition. Take Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s recent denunciation of “White House senior aides” for “sowing fear, intimidation and division” by, among other things, calling Democrats “fascists.”Given not just his party’s but his own frequent use of such rhetoric – comparing ICE agents to Nazis who disappear immigrants and vowing that Republicans “cannot know a moment of peace” – the jaw-dropping irony of his complaint was lost on no one, except, apparently, Pritzker and his allies. It raises the question: How did he think he could get away with this?

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Video: Sen. Tammy Duckworth on Face Nation Says Ice Using ‘Gestapo’ Tactics and More – CBS

Duckworth: “If anybody is targeting anyone, it is out of control ICE agents targeting, again, zip-tying children, throwing reporters onto the ground, separating children from their mothers, trying to convince schools to turn over kids from public schools. They are raging through the streets of Chicago, trying to intimidate everyday, ordinary citizens, or just trying to go to school and go to work. That’s not acceptable…. They took money away from law enforcement officers, child prevention effort- violence against children prevention efforts. They- they’ve literally, this president, has defunded the police. She went on, as shown in the <span style="text-decoration:

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After spending millions on Bailey in 2022, GOP megadonor Uihlein backs Dabrowski for governor – Daily Herald*

After giving millions of dollars to Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey’s unsuccessful 2022 campaign, megadonor Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest is backing a different candidate in the 2026 contest. When asked about the prevalence of big donations to Dabrowski’s campaign, DuPage County Republican Party Chair Kevin Coyne said the candidate’s former employer, Wirepoints, is “very, very popular” among Republicans in the business world.

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TikToks show South Shore building in ruin long before ICE raided it this week – CWB Chicago

Chicago news outlets have published and aired seemingly endless images and videos from inside the South Shore apartment building raided by federal immigration agents this week. You’ve undoubtedly seen them: doors hanging open, apartments torn apart, and hallways left in disarray after the feds left. What the outlets haven’t shared is what the building looked like before the raid.

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ICE Agents Attacked During Stop as Lawmakers Spread Falsehoods – Law Enforcement Today

Despite clear facts about the Chicago incident, Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and made several false and inflammatory statements—alleging that the suspect did not drive toward the officers, that the agent did not fear for his life, and that officers “dragged him from his vehicle and slammed him to the ground.” More background from DHS is here.

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Record High: Chicago Teachers Union 2X Political Spending – Illinois Policy

CTU doubled its political spending in 2025, reaching a new high. Less than 18% of CTU’s spending was on representing teachers – what should be its core focus. Union president Stacy Davis Gates gave herself a raise, bringing her total compensation to more than $273,000.Questionable spending included over $173,000 to a “recording studio” in New Mexico.

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Why Darren Bailey is Running Again – The Illinoize

“It’s probably six weeks ago when I got up early one morning and Cindy [his wife] came in the office at five before I left for work, and I just told her, I said, ‘Cindy, I got this burning in my heart. I just can’t walk away from it.’ I’m one of those people that I don’t want to leave any stone unturned.

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Democrats’ Relentless Demonizing Paves Way For The Next Political Assassination – The Federalist

“You can’t relentlessly call your political enemies ‘Nazis’, ‘fascists,’ and ‘tyrants’ without giving license to homicidal leftists to do what they do best: Attack their perceived existential threats…. American politics is a tinder box right now, and leftists like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker keep striking matches.”

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Obama Presidential Center deposits just $1M into $470M reserve fund aimed to protect taxpayers – FOX News

Barack Obama and the Obama Presidential Center construction site in Chicago.When the Obama Foundation snagged a sweetheart deal to build its beleaguered Obama Presidential Center in a Chicago public park, it pledged to create a $470 million reserve fund to spare taxpayers should the project ever go belly up. But new tax filings show the foundation has only deposited $1 million into the fund and has not added to it in years, with critics saying the empty promise could potentially leave Chicagoans on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.

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How Illinois’ privacy law is costing Chicago billions in data-center deals – Crain’s

Amazon data centerChicago has long been one of the top markets for data centers, but it’s losing ground because of fears that BIPA could leave AI companies vulnerable to costly class-action lawsuits If they gather or use biometric information without consent in operating or training their software. The shift threatens Chicago’s status and could cost it thousands of jobs and billions in investment at a time when construction activity is weakening.

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Northwestern Qatar’s compliance with Qatari law exposes university’s contradictions: Analysis – Campus Reform

Article imageNorthwestern admits NU-Q operates under Qatari law, enforcing nondisparagement clauses that restrict journalism, research, and U.S. civil rights protections. These provisions chill academic freedom at the flagship Evanston, Illinois campus, limiting seminars, speakers, and even course design, since testing or acknowledging the restrictions is off-limits.

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Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC ouster is not the end of free speech – The Hill

Illinois governor and obvious presidential candidate JB Pritzker said that ABC’s decision was “an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.” But Kimmel’s show wasn’t suspended because of Trump, Carr or the Big Bad Wolf. Kimmel’s ratings were in steep decline already, and ABC would have surely looked past the blunder if there was any sense that he could still generate an audience.

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Pritzker Blasted Trump for ‘Lying’ on Budget While Ignoring His Own Misleading Spending Docs – Washington Stand

What Pritzker didn’t say was his own budget included misleading claims about state pension obligations being “fully funded.” Such statements may well violate a “Cease and Desist” order issued in 2013 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to Illinois’s history of chronic misrepresentations of its massive unfunded state pension obligations.

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Who Will Be The Charlie Kirk Who Can Save Our Big Cities? – Issues & Insights

“Charlie Kirk’s] real contribution was challenging students to cast off the conditioning that has been imposed on them by the smug, radical professors and administrators who have taken over the academy. Young people needed to hear what he had to say, and to hear the way he said it, and they responded in numbers and in ways few of us could have imagined. Urban dwellers need to hear a similar message. Someone inspired by Charlie, someone of comparable intellectual nimbleness, affability and decency, ought to set up events in New York City’s Central Park, Los Angeles’ McArthur Park, Chicago’s Grant

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Conservatives in Blue States: Realistically, What Can They Get Done? – Daily Signal

This past weekend, members of the State Freedom Caucus—a network of outspoken fiscal and social conservative lawmakers who pressure Republican leadership in their states—gathered for their annual summit. Some hailed from deep-red states such as Missouri, South Carolina, and Wyoming, but others came from Democrat-dominated states, such as Maryland and Illinois, where advancing conservative legislation is often all but impossible.

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Kevin Ryan is Lighting Up Illinois Politics – Irish Echo

“Zeus is the Democratic Party of Illinois and Prometheus is young buck Kevin D. Ryan, a United States Marine Corp veteran, teacher, Oxford and Georgetown graduate, who is running in the Democratic primary for the Illinois Senate.” When he returned from Afghanistan he left his teaching job to study at the University of Oxford. “I earned a graduate degree in diplomacy that took me to assignments across Europe, The Pentagon, and the U.S .Treasury Department including an assignment working directly for the commanding general of the Marine Corps.” And oh yeah, while he

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Case Study of Northwestern University: How Qatar Fuels Campus Extremism in the United States – Middle East Forum

And from a statement by The Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN); CAAN “is shocked but not surprised by revelations from the Middle East Forum (MEF): Northwestern University currently employs Ibrahim Abusharif, a professor who co-founded and served as treasurer of the Quranic Literacy Institute — a group a federal jury found liable for laundering over $1 million to Hamas, with a $156 million judgment in the Boim terrorism financing case. Abusharif teaches the mandatory “Doha Seminar” for all American exchange students at Northwestern’s Qatar campus. Further, House testimony released last week confirmed Northwestern has extended Gaza professor

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2025 Amendments to Illinois Laws Employment Laws, Part 2 – Lexology

Changes to multiple laws in Illinois, including the elimination of fact-finding conferences under the Illinois Human Rights Act, changes to the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act, Equal Pay Act, and Family Military Leave Act, which can be accessed here, changes to the Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act, and creation of a new law, the Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act.

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Podcast: Democrats Continue to Alienate Voters; It’s Time for Republicans to Step In — Smoke-Filled Room

Democrats question why they are underperforming with young men. If only Republicans had a serious candidate for governor to speak out on these issues… For a Republican perspective, joining Collin Corbett on Smoke-Filled Room this week, along with Cor’s political experts Michael Butler and Chris Jackowiak, are former State Representative Dan Caulkins and policy expert Carolyn Schofield.

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Moody’s revises Chicago’s outlook to stable – The Bond Buyer

City Council members were expecting something like this from rating agencies, Ward 32 Alderman Scott Waguespack told The Bond Buyer. “[T]he CPS payment and what’s been happening not just with the governor but with the General Assembly, putting unfunded mandates on us on a constant basis has contributed” to Chicago’s current situation, he said. “In a broader sense ? we’re kind of expecting [a downgrade] to come next,” he added.

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54 shot over weekend in Chicago as governor rejects Trump’s threat to send in National Guard – ABC News

The victims included a 17-year-old girl who was inside her home when a bullet came through a front window and hit her in the arm, a 31-year-old man who was shot in the leg after getting caught in the crossfire of gunmen shooting at each other from two vehicles, and two people who shot and injured while driving down a street. Fewer than five hours after Trump posted a message on social media on Saturday criticizing Pritzker’s handling of crime

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Mantras and Money: Chicago Schools Agree to Pay $2.6 Million Over Transcendental Meditation Sessions – Jonathan Turley

Despite its budget crisis, Chicago school administrators are burning through money on woke programs and resulting litigation. The latest example is the over $2.6 million in damages that will be paid to students who were forced to participate in a Transcendental Meditation program during classes. Teachers ignored the religious objections to the Hindu-based program, and the school subsequently litigated the case, incurring even greater costs to the system.

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Brandon Johnson is a Moron – National Review

“The part, apparently, that Brandon Johnson is fated to play if Trump sends the National Guard to Chicago is the woke foil, visibly and loudly representing all that is wrong about the left’s attitudes toward crime and policing.”

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Video: Liberate Families: the School Choice Imperative – Cortes Investigates

The uplifting story of Chicago Hope Academy. Learn what it’s doing for families on the West Side of the Windy City…the worst neighborhood in America. Across the country, parents, educators, and concerned citizens join forces to create innovative, loving, and effective models of true education…and those efforts deserve a fair share of the massive tax dollars we already spend on education.

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Jason Riley: Trump’s Crime Crackdown Is a Political Winner – Wall Street Journal

imageDoes the name Hadiya Pendleton ring a bell? The 15-year-old sophomore was shot dead in the afternoon at a park on Chicago’s South Side, about a mile from where the Obamas had a home. The liberal response to crime has been to pamper lawbreakers and crack down on law enforcement, even while residents of dangerous low-income neighborhoods have consistently demanded more and better policing.

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Arne Duncan Guest Essay: Trump’s Crackdown Will Make Crime Worse – The New York Times*

Arne Duncan: “President Trump has managed to put at risk years of hard work underway in cities across America to bring down crime, restore trust in the police and expand proven approaches to public safety that can save lives and money. High on Mr. Trump’s list of target cities is my hometown, Chicago, which is currently on track for the lowest number of homicides in any year since 1965…. One factor contributing to the positive trends in Chicago is the growth of community violence intervention programs, or C.V.I. I help lead one of them.”

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Feds Launch New Unit to Prosecute Health Care Fraud Cases in Illinois – WTTW

“Since becoming U.S. Attorney, my office has charged nearly $2 billion in health care fraud schemes involving alleged criminal conduct that has stretched across the country, and even transnationally,”US Attorney Boutros said in a statement. “The newly created Healthcare Fraud Section that I’ve launched will bring greater focus, efficiency, and impact to our efforts in this important program area, which often involves the exploitation of patients through unnecessary and/or unsafe medical tests and procedures.”

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Chicago’s new casino is a gamble in more ways than one – The Financial Times

“The wisdom of the share sale is dubious. The securities — which are of equal seniority but come in various classes with different price points — cannot be easily sold in the private market. Dividends may not be forthcoming, since lenders have priority claims on the casino’s cash flow. The project is further complicated by a so-called OpCo-PropCo structure, where Bally’s will lease the underlying land from a third party trust.”

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Chicago Mayor Still Wallows in the Worst Job Approval Rating in the Country – Chicago Contrarian

“Take his ratings among the city’s Hispanics. Despite all the hundreds of millions he has thrown at illegal aliens in the city, he has a horrendous 26 percent approval among the very sector he has been pandering to with millions in freebies for migrants. Ah, but he has the approval of African American Chicagoans, right? Not even close. According to the poll, only 38 percent of blacks support him.”

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Illinois AG faces another lawsuit over use of outside lawyers – Reuters

A woman walks by Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in ChicagoThe companies said Raoul’s use of the lawyers violates their due process rights under the U.S. Constitution because it delegates state authority to private parties with a financial stake in the outcome. They also argue the Illinois Constitution requires officers of the state’s executive branch to be compensated with state salaries.

 

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Gov. Pritzker signs bill opening financial aid to illegals – FOX News

The bill reads that “a student who is an Illinois resident and who is not otherwise eligible for federal financial aid, including, but not limited to, a transgender student who is disqualified for failure to register for selective service or a noncitizen student who has not obtained lawful permanent residence, shall be eligible for financial aid and benefits.”

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CTU’s Stacy Davis Gates: Sustainable community schools will kickstart CPS ‘reconstruction – Chicago Sun-Times

A group of people are lined up outside a building. One man in a suit speaks at a podium.Gate: “We are situating schools as anchors in their neighborhoods where they celebrate and reflect their specific cultures. The president is attacking those communities. We see them as instrumental in raising and educating our children…. We are situating schools as anchors in their neighborhoods where they celebrate and reflect their specific cultures…. in our city, we are honoring public education as the legacy of what formerly enslaved Africans

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Closeted Conservatives, Come On Out, The Water’s Warm! – Daily Caller

TOPSHOT-US-EDUCATION-HARVARD-GRADUATIONForest Romm and Kevin Waldman, researchers in clinical and applied psychology, studied students at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan on their political beliefs, asking, “Have you ever pretended to hold more progressive views than you truly endorse to succeed socially or academically? “An astounding 88 percent said yes,” Romm and Waldman report.

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Editorial: The Real House Democratic Nightmare: Democrats could lose 10 seats in 2030 as voters flee blue states – Wall Street Journal

“Start with the raw numbers. Between 2020 and 2024, California (-1,465,116), New York (-966,209) and Illinois (-418,056) lost the population equivalent of Kansas to other states. Texas (747,730) and Florida (872,722) gained the equivalent of West Virginia. Utah, Idaho, Arizona and North Carolina also experienced a rush of newcomers.”

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Mass transit bailout a sure thing during Springfield fall veto session, key state lawmaker says – Chicago Sun-Times

State Rep. Kam Buckner, shown on May 18, 2022 where he announced his candidacy for Chicago mayor.A key player in the Springfield scramble to save mass transit said Friday there will be a fall bailout that uses a mix of tax hikes and a modest fare increase to avert dire service cuts at CTA, Metra and Pace. State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, even floated a new idea to add to the revenue mix: a “large event surcharge” that would add anywhere from $1 to $3 to

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Bally’s falls far short of $250M casino stock sale target, says more offerings to come – Crain’s

Bally’s Chicago casino raised $5.5 million in a long-awaited stock offering yesterday. The company also raised $25.6 million from private investors at the same prices as the IPO, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Together, the two stock sales are far short of the $250 million Bally’s intends to raise while providing minorities a significant ownership stake. Bally’s says the IPO is the first of a series of offerings it plans.

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Rahm Emanuel: Illinois Is Gerrymandered, ‘I Have Participated’ – Breitbart

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Inside Politics,” CNN Senior Political and Global Affairs Commentator, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, former Obama Chief of Staff, and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel acknowledged that Illinois is a heavily gerrymandered state and admitted “I have participated in it” but argued that it’s different from Texas because “it was done exactly when the Census data was done, not mid-cycle, not mid-game.”

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Rep. Mary Miller to Introduce Bill Combating Illinois Law Requiring ‘Invasive’ Student Mental Health Screenings – Breitbart

Rep. Miller is expected to reintroduce her bill on Friday, called the Parents Opt-In Protection Act, Breitbart News has learned exclusively. The bill would require prior written consent from a parent or guardian, or from the student if the student is an adult or an emancipated minor, before a school could administer a survey about a student’s sensitive personal information.

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Private Pools Across Chicago Shut Down All Summer Thanks To Health Dept. Delays – Block Club Chicago

In interviews, building managers and local pool contractors described a excessively complicated and short-staffed state inspection and approval process that has led to prolonged pool closures and inspection delays that have stretched for months, if not years, even though the work to replace a drain cover is relatively simple and often takes less than a day of labor.

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Racial Preferences at Northwestern? – City Journal

In the days following the election, Schill had reportedly been poring over academic histories of the McCarthy era and the Red Scare, believing that President Trump might conduct an anti-Communist-style siege of elite universities. According to a source at the meeting, Schill, a lawyer by training, tried to maintain a reasonable demeanor. But all hell broke loose when he turned the microphone over to the faculty.

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Chicago aims to have largest number of air-pollution monitors in the U.S. – Chicago Sun-Times

“This is going to be a very big network of air monitors — more than any place in the nation,” said Myrna Salgado-Romo, who has helped advise the city in her role as network manager for the Chicago Environmental Justice Network. “Hopefully, it informs future policies.” The sensors will not be used to enforce pollution violations, however. Their use is intended to help shape city planning and practices around industrial development, planning, zoning and land use and establish public health safeguards to mitigate the pollution.

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Ex-police chief warns Chicago cops will get hurt because Mayor Johnson won’t help ICE – FOX News

“And the dangerous thing with that is that [Mayor Brandon Johnson] has been telling them to never assist. So even when ICE would need more police officers because they’re under attack, they’re being assaulted, maybe they’re being battered. He’s directed his police department to not cooperate, which is unheard of. I’ve actually never heard of that.”

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Illinois Dems say state should be blueprint in national fight against Trump – Capitol News IL

With a video montage showcasing the state’s Democratic elected officials as Star Wars heroes fighting President Donald Trump – portrayed as Darth Vader – party leaders unofficially kicked off the 2026 campaign. That was part of an annual Democratic County Chairs’ Association breakfast in Springfield attended by more than 2,000 people before Gov. JB Pritzker held the governor’s traditional campaign rally at the Illinois State Fair.

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Republicans blame Pritzker, Illinois ‘sanctuary’ status after Freeport woman dies in crash – Rockford Register Star

“To be crystal clear, this person was in this country illegally,” Rep. Andrew Chesney said. “He was a multiple criminal offender with domestics and felony DUIs. And our local law enforcement is unable to communicate with federal authorities to remove people like this from our state and our country. It’s a direct result of the policy we have passed in Springfield.”

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Gotion to start making EV batteries in Manteno next month – Crain’s

With the addition of two manufacturing lines to assemble EV batteries and commercial chargers, Gotion will have five production lines in operation in Manteno, Chen Li, president of Gotion Americas, tells Crain’s. Another line, which makes residential and consumer energy-storage products for applications such as solar, started in April.

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State education board to vote on new test scoring system – Capitol News IL

Education officials in Illinois expect to see a marked increase this year in the percentage of students classified as proficient in reading, writing and math…. That’s not because of any change in the way schools are teaching or how well students are learning, but rather a change in the way the state reports scores on the annual assessments students are given in those core subjects.

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The Illinois Voter Suppression Strategy – Opinion – Wall Street Journal

image“If Mr. Pritzker wants to lead his party on protecting democracy, he can prove his care for voters’ interests by ending a practice that rigs the calendar instead of the maps. Having all Illinois elections in November during federal-election years would raise turnout, broaden representation and cost the left nothing in Chicago—where Democrats win 80% of municipal races.”

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Revealed: Obama’s Rise to Power Was Engineered by Gerrymandering – PJ Media

“This isn’t conspiracy theory or speculation; it’s a documented fact, exposed in a 2012 ProPublica article that laid bare how Obama’s early power base in Chicago wasn’t built on genuine grassroots support, but on the calculated lines of a rigged district…. John Corrigan, the Democrat who helped draw the map alongside Obama, revealed the scheme in an interview with the New Yorker back in 2008.” That New Yorker article says, “The partisan redistricting of Illinois may have been the most important event

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‘What more could the governor do?’: Illinois lawmakers doubt state’s districts could be more gerrymandered – Daily Herald*

While Gov. JB Pritzker last week repeatedly said he and his allies in the General Assembly might pursue gerrymandering Illinois’ congressional districts to benefit Democratic candidates even more than they already are, legislators on both sides of the aisle doubt it’ll happen. They don’t question Pritzker’s desire to wrest congressional power from Republicans to counter the GOP’s effort to build its House majority by redrawing district maps in Texas. They just don’t think it’s possible to widen the Democrat’s 14-3 majority in Illinois’ congressional delegation through mapmaking.

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Northwestern named among top universities in price inflation lawsuit – Daily Northwestern

Northwestern was one of 32 elite colleges and universities named in a Friday lawsuit that alleged the schools exploit a “core misrepresentation” of early decision admissions policies to drive up attendance costs. The class action complaint, which was filed in a Massachusetts federal court, claims that schools violate the Sherman Act, an 1890 antitrust law, by cooperating with one another and mandating their early decision admits to pull applications from other institutions.

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Illinois’ Chronic Tardiness – Truth in Accounting

The absence of timely reports creates fertile ground for financial mismanagement, hidden deficits, or creative accounting to go unnoticed for years. Without current data, lawmakers, analysts, and citizens are forced to make decisions based on outdated or incomplete information. This undermines sound budgeting, masks potential risks, and erodes public trust in the state’s ability to manage its finances responsibly.

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Pritzker: Johnson never asked for veto of controversial pension sweetener – Crain’s

“The mayor never once called me or, as far as I know, any legislators to oppose that bill or ask for any changes in that bill. When a municipality that’s affected by some piece of legislation doesn’t speak up about it, opposing it, then how can people know that the mayor opposes it? … What I know is that we have helped the Chicago police get fairness in their contract.”

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Over half of Illinoisans unhappy with JB Pritzker – Illinois Policy

“There’s national speculation Pritzker would run for president in 2028, but his Illinois numbers do not bode well for his appeal on the national stage. The reasons Illinoisans are concerned about him are increasingly obvious. In the same poll, 60 percent of voters said high taxes were the most important issue facing the state.”

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Democrats pledge a gerrymandering war – Jonathan Turley

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker portrayed his party as the victim of conniving pols and pledged to respond in kind. Yet, it was Pritzker who approved the redistricting that guaranteed that, while Republicans represent almost half of the voters, they will receive less than twenty percent of the congressional seats.

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Commentary: A School-Choice Test for Josh Shapiro and JB Pritzker – Wall Street Journal

Corey DeAngelis: The school-choice movement just scored a historic win. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a federal tax-credit program that allows Americans to donate to organizations providing K-12 private school scholarships around the U.S. This initiative will give more parents access to schools that best fit their children’s needs. But there’s a catch: Governors must opt in to allow their states’ families to access this scholarship funding.

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Opinion: Chicago’s pension crisis just got $11 billion worse – Crain’s

JB Pritzker J.B.In a remarkable Friday afternoon news dump, at the end of last week Gov. JB Pritzker signed a controversial pension bill that will increase pension benefits for many Chicago policemen and firefighters….This is a really bad outcome for Chicago. As a result of this change, the future liabilities of the police and fire pension funds have risen significantly.

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Texas Hold’em: Texas Gov. Abbott pledges to arrest ‘derelict Democrats’ as Illinois Governor Pritzker offers sanctuary – Res Ipsa Loquitur

Jonathan Turley: “Illinois has long been a sanctuary state, but this is getting ridiculous….The self-professed champions of democracy are fleeing to avoid a democratic vote by the duly elected representatives of the public…. Seeking sanctuary in Illinois raises the question of who you are being protected from in refusing to allow democratic votes in your state.”

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Democratic Governors Are Angling for 2028 – Politico

They’re fond of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as well as Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, if somewhat more skeptical either can claim a nomination and general election. Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer is well-liked, especially among the other women governors, but there are doubts she’ll run for president. And former Rhode Island Governor-turned-Commerce-Secretary Gina Raimondo has her admirers.

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Paul Vallas: To fix Chicago finances, start with CPS and the CTU – Crain’s

CPS Chicago Public Schools Vallas: “Ultimately, the greatest obstacle to balancing the city’s budget and ensuring vital services are the CTU’s intransigence and unsustainable pension burdens. The CTU is no longer a conventional labor union advocating solely for teachers; it’s a political machine, often at odds with broader public sector labor and the interests of the city.”

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Why Blue States Can’t Have Nice Things – Persuasion

“The belief that good governance can be engineered—that there’s a correct way to govern, some set of magical processes that, if followed, will achieve optimal results—is what led cities to outsource core functions to consultants and nonprofits in the first place. And replacing one bloated public-private technocracy with a slightly more efficient public-private technocracy doesn’t solve this fundamental problem.”

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Once an Illinois showpiece E.V. maker, bankrupt Lion Electric voids warranties on school buses sold in Illinois and across the U.S. – Wirepoints

When will politicians learn? How many times must the lesson be taught? Industrial central planning by government doesn’t work. Government is no good at picking winners and losers. Leave that to the private sector and let it bear the losses on bets that don’t pay off. Illinois, however, recently announced yet another subsidy for another Canadian electric bus company.

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Federal Funds for Local Obedience: Immigration Clause Puts Dems in Bind – RealClear

A little-noticed provision in the “Big Beautiful Bill” forces blue states and cities to make a tough choice: Comply with federal immigration law or lose federal money for criminal justice aid. Sen. Dick Durbin, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, argued that “Putting unnecessary stipulations on this funding is harmful and unproductive.” “Blocking funds for this purpose,” Durbin continued, “totally misses the mark.”

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Chicago CFO says property tax hike likely in 2026 budget package – Bloomberg

Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski said the city will likely seek to raise property taxes to address next year’s budget deficit. “It is likely that that will be part of the package,” Jaworski said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New Voices event in Chicago. “We haven’t rolled out the full package yet, but the package is going to include cuts, and it is going to include proposals for increasing our revenues.”

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University of Illinois among schools that rejected applicant pools with too many white scholars, records reveal – College Fix

In years past at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, search committees received weekly updates on the demographic makeup of applicant pools, along with specific diversity goals for each department. If semifinalist or finalist pools were deficient in diversity, administrators could delay or block the search, records show. Redacted emails among UIUC administrators discuss solutions to inadequate diversity, including adding previously rejected minority candidates back into the shortlist or finalist pools.

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IL trial lawyer campaign pushes Pritzker to OK lawsuit expansion law – Legal Newsline

As business groups in Illinois and beyond await Gov. JB Pritzker’s decision on whether to veto new legislation which could open Illinois’ courts to a flood of out-of-state lawsuits, Illinois’ powerful trial lawyers have also mounted a marketing blitz of their own downplaying the warnings about harm to the state and its economy in a bid to persuade Illinois’ billionaire progressive governor to sign the measure into law.

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Illinois cryptocurrency regulations await Pritzker’s approval – WAND

All cryptocurrency operators could soon be required to register with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. One proposal could set transaction limits, a maximum withdrawal fee and create a live customer service portal. The other legislation would require operators to be transparent about the risks involved with their products, services and virtual currency by providing disclosures to customers.

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Blue city officers flocking to cop-friendly red states, police leader says: ‘Why would anyone stay?’ – FOX News

“I think you can look no further than Seattle, Portland, Chicago [and] New York,” said the national VP of the Fraternal Order of Police. “All of these cities have basically told their police officers, ‘We don’t support you. We’re not gonna be there for you when you need us. We’re gonna try to defund you when given the opportunity.’

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Commentary: Democrats’ school choice dilemma – Wall Street Journal

New federal legislation created a school-choice program that poses a headache for elected Democrats. It provides a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for individual taxpayers who donate up to $1,700 annually to “scholarship granting organizations,” but states have to opt in. It’s a tough dilemma. Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro has indicated limited support for school choice, while Illinois’s JB Pritzker and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear have been dead set against it.

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U of Chicago prof denounces school as ‘evil’ and ‘colonialist’ institution…but wants to stay – Jonathan Turley

Abdelhadi gave a raving presentation at the socialist conference, denouncing UChicago. She punctuated her unhinged comments with profanity: “F— the University of Chicago, it’s evil, you know it’s a colonial landlord. Like, why would I put any of my political energy into this space? I kind of had a little bit of disdain for people who spent their time doing that…” She went on to explain that it was really not an academic but an activist calling that brought her to UChicago:

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Chicago Teachers Union President: “Ain’t No Damn America” – Front Page

At the Socialism 2025, Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Davis Gates delivered a speech that mocked the Fourth of July and promoted militant activism—raising real questions about her focus as an education leader. “Fireworks? Ain’t no damn America.” “You build a militancy… if it has to go down, it goes down. You call the strike.” “So the reimagination of this place that we are trying to save—but kinda not, because we ain’t out here saving it.”

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A Power Line for Clean Energy Was in the Works. Now, an Investigation Looms. – New York Times

Project OverviewKnown as Grain Belt Express, the $11 billion line would carry electricity produced by wind farms in Kansas across Missouri and Illinois all the way to Indiana.But on Tuesday, the Missouri attorney general, Andrew Bailey, a Republican, opened an investigation into Grain Belt Express and requested that the state’s Public Service Commission reconsider its approval.

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Former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan: Illinois should learn from blue states’ energy mistakes – Crain’s*

“As Illinois maps out its energy future under Gov. Pritzker, it’s at a clear fork in the road that will impact so many families for years to come: pursue an affordable, popular and balanced energy policy that includes natural gas, working with renewables and nuclear, as it does today; or follow the risky path of Northeast states that are now seeing spiking power bills and higher potential for blackouts. As Democratic governors there rethink their anti-natural gas posture, Illinois should learn from their mistakes and promote a balanced plan that Democrats nationally can build on.”

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Audit reveals Chicago blew through a key budget reserve in 2024 – Crain’s

Chicago’s ability to weather looming financial storms took a hit when the Chicago Board of Education refused to cover a 2024 pension payment that’s become a political hot-potato. According to the newly released audit, the city ended 2024 with a $161 million deficit in its general fund, driven by the loss of the $175 million payment city officials anticipated would be reimbursed by Chicago Public Schools.

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Teachers’ Unions Think They Own Your Kids – The Daily Economy

“The teachers unions, led by figures like Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) president Stacy Davis Gates, believe they own your children, and they’re not shy about admitting it. Their fierce resistance to school choice and their brazen claims over the minds of America’s youth reveal a chilling agenda.”

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Paul Vallas: Illinois returning to the soft bigotry of low expectations – Illinois Policy

“Today, as public schools continue to lose students and public trust, leaders such as Pritzker are not just tolerating failure – they are celebrating it. Instead of pushing for accountability, high standards and greater educational opportunity, they are covering up failure and strengthening the destructive monopoly of teachers unions – all while calling it progress.”

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Plan to put horror venue near casino casts new doubt on stalled megaproject – Crain’s

Universal Horror Unleashed renderingCity officials didn’t address the future of the apartment proposal when announcing Universal’s plans for the venue at a news conference. But Universal is receiving incentives for the project through Illinois’ Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credit program, and according to the agreement, the venue must maintain operations for at least 10 years. That suggests Onni is moving on from its plans, or at least tabling them for a long time.

 

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CPS school board to consider green schools pilot program – Chicago Sun-Times

If approved, the resolution would establish a healthy green schools pilot program at Chicago Public Schools with the goal of investing in at least 12 clean energy projects at neighborhood schools by the end of the 2025-26 school year. Those projects could include rooftop solar, heat pumps or geothermal systems that use stable underground temperatures for heating and cooling buildings.

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Illinois gas tax increases to 48.3 cents July 1 – Center Square

Illinois drivers face another gas tax hike July 1, despite already paying the nation’s second-highest rates. Starting July 1, Illinois drivers will see the state gas tax rise to 48.3 cents per gallon—up 1.3 cents from last year—as part of an automatic inflation adjustment that keeps Illinois among the nation’s most heavily taxed states at the pump.

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IL state Sen. slams Evanston reparations; city will defend policy ‘vehemently’ – Center Square

Illinois state Sen. Andrew Chesney is voicing sharp criticism of the city of Evanston’s reparations program, calling it “outrageous” and “offensive to everyone.” Chesney’s remarks come on the heels of a new federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch to shut down the race-based initiative, which gives $25,000 in taxpayer money exclusively to Black residents.

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Brandon Johnson faces fresh ethics scrutiny after lobbyist donation – Crain’s

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign is taking heat for accepting $1,500 from a city lobbyist less than a year after a high-profile City Council battle to strengthen a ban on such donations. The potential infraction would be the latest instance of the Johnson campaign accepting money from people or entities barred from contributing to Chicago’s mayor and has raised questions over his camp’s struggles to comply with campaign finance laws as he gears up for a likely re-election bid.

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