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* Tribune | Illinois Supreme Court takes up accelerated appeal of ruling that struck down state ban on high-powered guns: The high court will hear oral arguments on the matter during its May term, according to an unsigned order issued Tuesday.
* ProPublica | The Federal Government Is Investigating an Illinois School Where Students With Disabilities Were Frequently Arrested: In recent years, Garrison administrators called the police to report student misbehavior every other school day on average, the Tribune and ProPublica found. Staff members routinely asked to press charges against the children — some as young as 9 — and officers arrested them.
* SJ-R | Illinois lawmakers work to meet Friday deadline to pass bills out of committee: As of Tuesday, more than 6,500 bills had been introduced in the 2023 session. While many of those bills could miss that deadline, there are multiple ways to work around regular deadlines to pass the substantive language of a bill at a future date.
* WBEZ | An Illinois lifeline program for suicidal kids has become a bridge to nowhere for many: In Illinois, the percentage of children who arrived in hospital emergency departments with suicidal thoughts climbed nearly 60% over a nearly six-year period ending in 2021, according to a study involving Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
* WBEZ | Kids in crisis face long waitlists as they struggle to get appointments for therapy: Treatment options for the low-income children served by SASS are limited by insurance hoops, systemic blockers and sheer scarcity of therapists.
* WTTW | Illinois Is No Stranger to Train Derailments Involving Hazardous Materials. Could an East Palestine Disaster Happen Here?: Illinois sits at an important shipping crossroads, and the Chicago area is a main transportation spoke with about $3 trillion in goods moving through northeastern Illinois each year, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.
* WAND | Downstate lawmaker demands reform within Illinois group homes: Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) stood alongside law enforcement and the mother of a former CILA resident Tuesday to stress that abuse in the facilities must stop. Meier wants the Illinois Department of Human Services to establish a new system for unannounced site inspections to uncover abuse and neglect. The state currently requires site inspections once every three years.
* CBS Chicago | Critics say Illinois biometric data protection laws are bad for business: Illinois residents are the only ones that have the right to sue over the improper collection and mishandling of that biometric data. Some business leaders across the state say that is scaring companies away. CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reports.
* Jehan Gordon-Booth | Paid leave law benefits Illinois workers: In our state, millions of Iower-paid Illinoisans were granted zero days of guaranteed paid leave from their employers. When life interrupted work, these workers were presented with a choice: delay taking the necessary time to care for personal and familial needs or take the time off without pay, potentially jeopardizing their employment and family stability. This harsh and unjust predicament needed to change.
* Capitol News Illinois | State revenue projections increase again in fiscal year’s final stretch: The Commission on Government Forecasting Accountability increased its revenue estimate for the current fiscal year by $575 million – yet another positive development in a monthslong streak of revenue growth.
* The Southern | The push continues for a four-lane highway from Southern Illinois to St. Louis: Murphysboro Mayor Will Stephens chairs the Four-County Highway Coalition, a group of community leaders and organizations pushing for what has become known as the Southwest Illinois Connector – a regional, rural expressway connecting Murphysboro to the metropolitan St. Louis area, providing direct connectivity to Interstate 255.
* WTTW | Plans for Chicago Summer Festivals Unclear Amid Grant Park Closures: In all, at least part of the 300-acre Grant Park – known as Chicago’s front yard – will be closed to Chicagoans for 83 days this summer, including every day except June 2, June 3, June 4 and July 16, according to a schedule released Tuesday by the Chicago Park District that was first reported by Block Club Chicago.
* Journal Star | Why was Will Ferrell in Pekin? Comedian makes stops around the Peoria area: Later in the night, Ferrell posed for selfies at The Basket Case in Peoria, according to a post on the pub’s Facebook page. A post from a Basket Case customer says Ferrell sang karaoke, and a photo attached shows Ferrell holding a microphone while the lyrics to “I Got You Babe” are projected behind him.
* Pantagraph | Labor leader John Penn helps raise over $160K for nonprofits: Laborers Local 362 donated two checks, each worth $85,000, to Promise Council and the Stay 4 Project on Tuesday. The funds were raised as part of a Jan. 26 retirement party for Penn, a longtime member of the union. He most recently served as vice president, Midwest regional manager of Laborers International Union of North America, where he represented thousands of laborers within a 10-state region.
* AP | Elon Musk apologizes after mocking disabled Twitter employee: If you’re not told you are fired, are you really fired? At Twitter, probably. And then, sometimes, you get your job back — if you want it. Haraldur Thorleifsson, who until recently was employed at Twitter, logged in to his computer last Sunday to do some work — only to find himself locked out, along with 200 others.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 7:35 am
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This line from the ProPublica article about relocating Choate residents is a massive indictment of how Illinois treats people with severe cognitive disabilities:
“The number of people, nearly 15,000, on its waitlist for community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is one of the largest in the country.”
I hope the negative attention Choate has received results in Pritzker prioritizing the abysmal state of care and services for the most vulnerable among us. Day programs are desperately needed for persons who remain with their families, for instance. More group homes in the community must be funded. Covid closed a lot of these people. We have a triple crisis of limited child care, elder care, and care for those with disabilities in this states. I hope moving Choate residents is not perceived as an end to the issues but rather a beginning of a long road toward addressing them.
Comment by Dr. M Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 7:50 am
This line from the ProPublica article about relocating Choate residents is a massive indictment of how Illinois treats people with severe cognitive disabilities:
“The number of people, nearly 15,000, on its waitlist for community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is one of the largest in the country.”
I hope the negative attention Choate has received results in Pritzker prioritizing the abysmal state of care and services for the most vulnerable among us. Day programs are desperately needed for persons who remain with their families, for instance. More group homes in the community must be funded. Covid closed a lot of these people. We have a triple crisis of limited child care, elder care, and care for those with disabilities in this state. I hope moving Choate residents is not perceived as an end to the issues but rather a beginning of a long road toward addressing them.
Comment by Dr. M Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 7:50 am
Good news on changes at Choate. Hopefully they can close it down eventually. No sympathy for the abusive workers and those covering up for them.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 8:04 am
The article about Musk mocking the disabled Twitter employee seems to me eerily reminiscent of Blago listing a deceased state employee on his “to be fired” list in his first few days as Governor, as well as bringing his example up when announcing the crackdown on accumulation of unused vacation time (implying that he may not have died had he taken his vacation days). Sick and classless in both examples.
Comment by Stuck in Celliniland Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 8:28 am
Good Luck to the effort for a 4 lane highway from Southern Illinois to Metro St. Louis. Though the map doesn’t show it connecting to I-255 (or I-57 / US 51, either).
Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 8:41 am
= at least part of the 300-acre Grant Park . . . will be closed to Chicagoans for 83 days this summer =
A major reason I did not vote for Lightfoot. I’m sick of this. It’s not like we have a long summer.
Comment by JoanP Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 8:54 am
dumping a 4 lane highway into rt 3 at Waterloo is a disaster. 7 stop lights with 8 more coming.
Comment by Blue Dog Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 11:09 am
Why not have 4-lane highways between every town of 10,000 or so and bigger towns? Makes as much sense.
I often take the Central Illinois Expressway (I-72) from Springfield to Hannibal to continue west on US 36. It’s one of my favorite roads. Hardly any traffic. That bridge over the Illinois River is a work of art. Cost millions, messed with Bald Eagle habitat and cut through a State Fish & Wildlife Area. Usually have it all to myself. Great public investment.
Comment by Sir Reel Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 11:29 am