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* Here’s your morning roundup…
* Tribune | Illinois COVID-19 disaster declaration to end: These disaster declarations have allowed those states – including Republican-run Texas – to continue benefiting from COVID-era bumps in federal reimbursements for programs like Medicaid, additional benefits for those on food stamps and the ability to quickly deploy emergency workers to respond to areas in need, like hospitals with severely short staffing.
* WCIA | Illinois House Republicans discuss reforms to budget-making process: “Illinois House Republicans are here to govern,” House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna), said. “We are here to give solutions. We want to help and are willing to share our ideas that address the budget shortcomings and provide tax reform policies that Illinois taxpayers and job creators need to stay in Illinois and need to grow in Illinois.”
* Shaw Local | Some Illinois Valley gun owners speak in support of state weapon ban, ‘We can make it better’: Peru resident Chris Kelly is a retired iron worker and a veteran of the U.S. Marines who has lived in the region his entire life. He’s now the vice commander of Utica’s American Legion Post 731, and said he supports the recent legislation to ban certain semi-automatic weapons in Illinois.
* Bloomberg Law | Illinois Paid Leave Brings a Twist to Expanding Sick Time Laws: “The mandatory paid time off laws are an interesting twist,” she said, noting measures like the Illinois legislation raise employer concerns about possible abuses. “The time can be used for any reasons, but that time appears to still have job protections attached to it that a paid sick time law would have.”
* Chicago Mag | The Computer That Will Change Everything: Eight years in the making, Aurora, a powerful new machine at Argonne National Laboratory, could help solve some of the most pressing questions of our time. Welcome to the new era of supercomputing.
* Tribune | Protesters disrupt Chicago mayoral forum as candidates exchange personal attacks: A group of demonstrators chanted against Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who joked during the live broadcast that he must be doing something right if he isn’t mayor yet but already drawing protests. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, meanwhile, stood up for Johnson, saying he “has a right to talk without interruption.”
* AP | Republicans set to oust Rep. Omar from Foreign Affairs panel: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been eager to flex Republican power to remove the Minnesota Democrat after he blocked two other Democrats, Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell, from rejoining the House Intelligence Committee once the GOP took control of the chamber in the new Congress.
* Tribune | Lake County vigil raises awareness about human trafficking: Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart and Pat Davenport of Mundelein, chief executive officer of A Safe Place, opened the program. “We need all hands on deck,” Rinehart said. “We’re not only talking about sex offenses or sex trafficking, but also labor trafficking; and we know that labor trafficking is also very hidden in a lot of our underserved communities.
* Center Square | Invest in Kids program slated to end in 2023: Illinois’ only scholarship-based school choice program is in peril unless lawmakers take action. The Invest in Kids program, which is funded by charitable donations, will expire at the end of the year unless it is extended by lawmakers.
* WILL | What effect is Illinois’ rising minimum wage actually having?: To discuss these questions and more, The 21st was joined by the CEOs of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, as well as a worker who has been part of the Fight for 15 movement.
* Capitol News Illinois | Gun lawsuit restraining order remains in place: In a 2-1 ruling, the justices said plaintiffs in the case made a plausible argument that the law violates their rights to equal protection under the law. Under the law, some categories of people – active and retired law enforcement officers, correctional officers and military personnel on active duty, for example – may purchase and possess those weapons. Other groups, such as retired military personnel or those who are not on active duty, are barred from obtaining assault-style weapons after Jan. 1, 2024.
* Tribune | Illinois appellate court allows temporary hold on state gun ban to stay in place for plaintiffs in lawsuit: An Illinois appellate court on Tuesday upheld a downstate judge’s decision to temporarily block Illinois’ recently enacted ban on high-powered weapons and high-capacity magazines from being enforced on more than 850 people and a handful of licensed gun dealers named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the ban.
* Eliot Clay | Clean, affordable, reliable energy is best for state’s future: Investing in new and more reliable transmission infrastructure will generate jobs, which means more economic growth for communities. The proof is in the numbers — nearly 120,000 people work in Illinois’ clean power industry. Besides that, manufacturers support clean energy technology and build much of that technology in the state. Illinois needs to add renewables to the energy sector since American manufacturers consume one-third of all U.S. energy. The industry created new technologies that make energy more affordable and reliable.
* Axios | New AI tool instantly analyzes police bodycam footage: A small but growing number of police departments are using a new AI system that analyzes officers’ bodycam footage and flags problematic encounters — as well as commendable ones. Police departments may be more likely to seek out such tools after five Memphis Police Department officers were charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in the death of Tyre Nichols.
* C BS Chicago | United Center concession workers vote to authorize strike: After last night’s Bulls’ game, they authorized a possible strike with a 98 percent yes vote. […] The union wants affordable healthcare, better wages, and benefits.
* NYT | Vaccine Makers Kept $1.4 Billion in Prepayments for Canceled Covid Shots for the World’s Poor: Gavi, the international immunization organization that bought the shots on behalf of the global Covid vaccination program, Covax, has said little publicly about the costs of canceling the orders. But Gavi financial documents show the organization has been trying to stanch the financial damage. If it cannot strike a more favorable agreement with another company, Johnson & Johnson, it could have to pay still more.
* Tribune | For the first time, jazz musician Roscoe Mitchell takes center stage as a painter : Mitchell, 82, is among the most influential living musicians in the free-jazz firmament, famed for his work with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, an AACM outgrowth he cofounded. Mitchell’s first forays into painting coincided with his first footholds in Chicago’s creative music scene in the early 1960s. Those artistic practices might have continued in tandem, had Mitchell not walked away from painting in the 1970s to focus on music.
* NBC Chicago | From Wilmette to Gurnee, More Chicago-Area Bed, Bath & Beyond Stores To Close: The running list of stores totals more than 100 nationwide, including 15 in Illinois. Of those, more than half are located in the Chicago area, with closures now reported at stores in Wilmette, Forest Park, Crystal Lake, Geneva and Chicago Ridge.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Feb 1, 23 @ 7:32 am
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” … adopting a revenue estimate and basing the budget off of that … .”
Doesn’t COGFA do that already? This is nothing more than IPI pablum.
Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Feb 1, 23 @ 8:07 am
Thank you, Isabel. I misread the headline “From Wilmette to Gurnee” and I now have “The Lincoln Park Pirates” song going through my head… Could be an interesting morning.
Comment by The Magnificent Purple Walnut Wednesday, Feb 1, 23 @ 8:59 am
Magnificent- that’s the first thing that popped in my head as well… “way hey, tow them away”.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Feb 1, 23 @ 9:16 am
When ILGOP uses the word REFORM in a sentence, can one deduce a particular synonym that would better describe of its actual meaning?
Comment by PublicServant Wednesday, Feb 1, 23 @ 9:27 am
PublicServant
At that point, all I’m doing is checking my wallet.
Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Feb 1, 23 @ 10:01 am
Thanks, Isabel, for the post on Roscoe Mitchell. As a fan of live music and particularly jazz, we are fortunate to have access to these talented musicians.
Back in the day, clubs hosted the 9, 11, and 1 o’clock sets. Different times today yet we still have access to clubs and listening rooms throughout the city.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Wednesday, Feb 1, 23 @ 11:20 am
Second Rudy’s Teeth on the Isabel “Thank You”.
We do have a lot of good places to hear Jazz in the city.
Andy’s and Winter’s for Jazz absolutely never disappoint.
Comment by Back to the Future Wednesday, Feb 1, 23 @ 1:24 pm