Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Live coverage
Next Post: Open thread
Posted in:
* ICYMI: Governor Pritzker released his tax returns on Friday. Dan Petrella from the Tribune…
* Related stories…
* Isabel’s top picks…
* Shaw Local | Joliet Township pulls out of grant for asylum-seekers: Joliet Township on Friday announced that it no longer will pursue an $8.6 million grant to provide services for asylum-seekers. The announcement comes two weeks after the grant was announced, stirring a controversy that may have peaked at a raucous township board meeting this week.
* Sun-Times | Palestinian American boy stabbed to death, his mom wounded in suburban hate crime motivated by war in Israel, police say: Police arrived at the home in the 16000 block of South Lincoln Highway about 11:35 a.m. and found Shahin and her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume. Each had been repeatedly stabbed, the boy 26 times.
* Tom Kacich | Pritzker replenishes his campaign fund: Gov. J.B. Pritzker deposited another $12 million into his J.B. for Governor campaign fund earlier this month, his first personal cash infusion into the account since he won election to another term last November over Republican Darren Bailey.
* AP | Booze, beads and art among unclaimed gifts lavished upon billionaire Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker: The second-term Democratic governor and multi-billionaire has been lavished with hundreds of gifts from around the world, ranging from a $950 bottle of Japanese whiskey to 35 cents: a quarter and dime, to be exact.
* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…
* Herald-Whig | Cass County Board member announces candidacy for Frese seat: Republican Eric Snellgrove will run for the seat in the 99th District, which covers parts of Adams, Brown, Cass, Morgan and Schuyler counties. In a statement released Friday, Snellgrove said residents need someone “that relates to us all and will represent all of us in Springfield.”
* Tribune | In what may be state’s first conviction of its kind, ex-DCFS worker guilty of endangerment in death of AJ Freund; supervisor not guilty: “We hope it’s a shift in the landscape,” he said. “We’ve been running across — at least as long as I’ve been here — a significant deficit in the ability of DCFS to investigate these cases, to get us accurate information and to help us keep children safe. … We hope that it is a conclusion where some minor good has come from that unspeakable tragedy.”
* Tribune | Democrats welcome mat for migrants is also fraying party’s base: With no firm plans in place and the only concrete advice to incoming migrants being Pritzker’s warning that “it’s gonna get cold in Chicago and New York very soon,” cracks among the Democratic base, particularly among key ethnic and racial blocs, have emerged over spending taxpayer dollars and housing for migrants.
* Center for Illinois Politics | Illinois Schools: Trying to Maximize on AI Promise Without Falling Prey to its Pitfalls: The Illinois Principals Association (IPA) has created a draft of a student handbook policy regarding the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), defining it as “intelligence demonstrated by computers, as opposed to human intelligence.” It provides examples of AI technology such as “ChatGPT and other chatbots and large language models.” The policy asserts that AI is not a substitute for schoolwork that requires “original thought,” and that using AI to “take tests, complete assignments, create multimedia projects, write papers, or complete schoolwork without permission of a teacher or administrator is strictly prohibited,” and “constitutes cheating or plagiarism.”
* Sun-Times | Burke’s lawyers now say they plan to call Danny Solis to the stand as trial of ex-City Council dean nears: Burke’s lawyers have also been clear about other potential defenses in recent court filings. For example, they’ve written that Solis was “singularly corrupt” and “untruthful.” Meanwhile, Kendall had ordered Burke’s lawyers to disclose by Monday whether they intended to present an entrapment defense. In their filing Friday, Burke’s lawyers said that is not their plan.
* Tribune | First month of bail reform: Challenges, benefits and a reduced jail population in Cook County: “When you implement an entirely new system, there’s obviously going to be a learning curve,” said Scott Schultz, the chief public defender in Calhoun and Jersey counties, two of Illinois’ smallest. Though early days, one anticipated result of bond reform appears to be taking hold: Cook County’s jail population has shrunk by more than 500 inmates, according to data maintained by the sheriff’s office.
* Daily Herald | Tornados in Illinois are increasing, and climate change may play a role, weather experts say: Climatologists say the concept of a tornado “alley,” or lane where the storms are most common, is a bit of a misnomer. It’s more like “tornado country,” they say, historically encompassing Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma and northern Texas and reaching east to the Appalachian Mountains. That area itself, weather experts say, isn’t shifting, but they are seeing more tornadic activity in the more populated states to the east, and that means an increased risk of injury, death and property damage.
* Tribune | Farmers in Illinois and around the country seek more protections under new farm bill as climate change threatens livelihoods, health and crops: If the federal government shuts down, something that was only barely averted at the end of September, it could further delay work on the new bill between mid-November and possibly the rest of the calendar year. The removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has created turmoil in the U.S. House and is also likely to put any action on hold for the foreseeable future.
* Crain’s | Johnson begins playing defense after unveiling $16.6 billion budget: Johnson’s plan to close a $538 million budget deficit relies heavily on an increase of $187 million more in revenue projections over what the city projected when it put out its budget forecast just a month ago.
* Tribune | City considers Brighton Park vacant lot as a possible site for migrant tent encampment: The city of Chicago is evaluating a plot of land in Brighton Park as a possible site for winterized tents to house recently arrived migrants, Ald. Julia Ramirez, 12th, confirmed. “This is all very preliminary,” Ramirez said Saturday when asked about the site at 38th Street and California Avenue. “They’re assessing the lot to prepare for winterized tents.”
* SJ-R | Sangamon Link: A look back at racism Springfield’s hotels in 1881: Springfield hotels refused to house America’s best-known Black choral group in 1881. The result was nationwide condemnation, a rebuke from President James A. Garfield, and a scramble by embarrassed local residents to repair the city’s reputation.
* Tribune | Four months later, DuPage County mass shooting puts spotlight on ‘lost community’: Some question why DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick has made no public comments about the investigation, which thus far has yielded only one arrest. Others wonder why they haven’t received the same outpouring of support typically seen after mass shootings.
* WTTW | First Measles Case in Illinois Since 2019 Identified in Cook County, State Public Health Department Confirms: The Cook County Department of Public Health reported a suspected case of measles to IDPH on Tuesday. The measles case was then confirmed by the IDPH laboratory a day later, according to the department.
* Shaw Local | Marijuana cultivation center coming to Fulton: Ground was broken this week on a marijuana grow operation in the Fulton Industrial Park.
Davenport, Iowa-based developer and Fulton Industrial LLC owner Dan Dolan, owner of The Dispensary and Rec Room, paid the city $814,750 for slightly less than 60 acres of vacant land at 31st Avenue and Fourth Street, according to Whiteside County property records.
posted by Isabel Miller
Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 7:48 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: Live coverage
Next Post: Open thread
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Only 2.2 in taxable income? Hope they didn’t have to do too much belt tightening.
Comment by SWSider Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 8:45 am
I’m sure Pritzker takes advantage of tax breaks, but his trust(s) still paid more than $52 million in federal tax. Compare that to a certain former president who paid between $0 and $750 in federal income tax. I paid more than that, and I don’t have my own jet, multiple homes and properties, and generally live the high life. I expect the rich to pay more than me, and I’m glad to see Pritzker playing by the rules.
Comment by Sir Reel Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 9:01 am
Oops, $42 million.
Comment by Sir Reel Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 9:02 am
The sheer political incompetence and (if one wants to go that far) dishonesty to task by the Joliet Township sank the whole thing, imploding by what the supervisor did, not the reaction it caused.
This is a lesson I hope others look at when trying to decide tactics to get buy-in, not promote a phony appearance of it.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 10:03 am