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* Sun-Times…
Former state Sen. Terry Link was sentenced to three years probation Wednesday for dodging $82,000 in taxes, escaping jail time after he cooperated for years with the FBI and helped prosecutors convict others for a bribery scheme.
“I admit I made a mistake,” Link told the judge before sentencing. “I didn’t go in there with the intent of cheating the government out of anything. … I accept the responsibility of what happened. I accept that this happened and I have to pay the consequences.” […]
Link has explained that his friend’s business was going under, his wife was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, and his son was struggling with drug addiction. So Link took money out of his campaign fund to help. The friend’s wife and son died within months of each other, and the friend died in December 2018 before he could repay the senator.
Meanwhile, Link failed to report the money taken from his campaign fund to the government as income. Link agreed when he pleaded guilty in 2020 to pay the amount he avoided in restitution.
O’Neill told Rowland on Wednesday that the FBI initially approached Link “before they had any information about the tax crime.” O’Daniel said that Link started out by providing “general background information” to the FBI so agents “better understood the mechanics” of the General Assembly.
Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard stepped up efforts to distance herself from the cancer foundation bearing her name after the Illinois Attorney General’s office banned the nonprofit from raising money and indicated the latest paperwork it filed with the state failed to provide basic information.
In an appearance last week on a prominent national webcast, Henyard, who is also the Thornton Township supervisor, told former CNN host Roland Martin that she doesn’t “have a foundation” and doesn’t know anything about the state intervening in the operation of the Tiffany Henyard Cares Foundation. […]
But last year, Henyard told Illinois Answers Project and FOX 32 Chicago that she is “the face of the foundation” but also “my face is nowhere” near the operation or its leadership, which consists of people who work for her in south suburban government, including her boyfriend, according to court records. A new filing in a separate court case alleges the nonprofit has paid him to serve on the board but doesn’t specify how much. […]
State records show that in addition to working for the nonprofit, [Victor Osaque] filed the business registration with the state on behalf of a clothing store and restaurant in southeast suburban Glenwood that are owned by Henyard’s boyfriend, Kamal Woods, who traveled with her during the trip to Springfield.
Woods is listed as a director of the Tiffany Henyard Cares Foundation and worked as the Thornton Township Youth Program director, which paid $76,923 in 2023, records show.
* Leader Kimberly Lightford…
Standing alongside advocates, university professionals and students, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford outlined the data-driven findings of the Commission on Equitable Public University Funding at a press conference Wednesday. […]
The report follows Lightford’s passage of a 2021 measure to create the Commission on Equitable Public University Funding. Over the last two years, the 30-person commission studied if public institutions of higher education are in dire need of a new funding model when serving underrepresented and historically underserved student groups, including Black and Brown students, as well as students from low-income families. […]
The commission found on average, university systems in Illinois spend over double the amount on academic and student supports – the spending that most directly impacts student success – than at its less-resourced regional universities. Worse, these arbitrary and inequitable allocation decisions have compounded yearly due to a lack of equitable distribution.
“These recommendations are bold and speak to the needs of our students and the institutions that serve them,” said Christian Perry, director of policy and advocacy at Partnership for College Completion. “We are proud to support this report and educate people across Illinois to spread the word about how we can transform our higher education system and our state’s future economic vitality for the better.”
The commission outlined its proposed funding formula for public higher education, which would be calculated based on students’ needs, be driven to support historically underrepresented students and the universities that disproportionately enroll them, and get all universities to adequate funding within 10-15 years.
Click here to read the report.
* Illinois Health and Hospital Association…
Illinois’ more than 200 hospitals and nearly 40 health systems are powerful economic drivers for their communities and for Illinois, generating a statewide economic impact of $117.7 billion annually from spending on payroll, supplies and services, and capital, according to a new report released today by the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA).
Hospitals across Illinois serve their communities by providing lifesaving care; promoting community health and well-being; fostering neighborhood revitalization and enhancing public health and safety through community partnerships; and advancing health equity initiatives to ensure optimal health for all residents. The new report, “Illinois Hospitals and Health Systems: Essential to Illinois’ Economic Growth,” highlights these varied and important contributions while quantifying the hospitals’ economic impact.
Among the report’s key findings:* One in 10 Illinois jobs is in healthcare.
* For every Illinois hospital job, 1.4 jobs are created in other sectors.
* For every $1 hospitals and health systems spend, an additional $1.40 is generated in the state and local economy.“As strong community anchors, Illinois hospitals and health systems generate a tremendous amount of economic activity. They are major employers who provide good-paying jobs and large buyers of supplies and services,” said IHA President and CEO A.J. Wilhelmi. “Their impact on the economy comes in addition to the work of providing essential healthcare services, enhancing individual and community health and well-being, and addressing health disparities so all individuals can achieve optimal health.”
Estimates of Illinois hospitals’ economic benefits were based on the Regional Input-Output Modeling System II (RIMS-II) developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The Final Demand multipliers, obtained from BEA RIMS-II, were applied to 2022/2023 Medicare cost report data of hospital jobs and spending to obtain the “ripple” effect of jobs and spending throughout the economy.
* Now on a t-shirt!…
* Here’s the rest…
* WTTW | More Than 3,500 Teenagers in Illinois Pre-Register to Vote, As New Law Goes Into Effect: State Election Officials: As of Tuesday, 3,570 individuals have pre-registered to vote, according to an Illinois State Board of Elections spokesperson. Of that total, 2,954 are 16 years old and 616 are 17 years old. […] Younger voters historically have had lower turnout in elections compared to older age groups, with the lowest voter turnout typically among voters ages 18-24.
* WSIL | Pinckneyville library asking for patron support after suspected vandalism: The library owes $2,500 to the city council after required renovations to windows in the children’s room. The library took to Facebook on January 7th to let patrons know about suspected vandalism that destroyed the building’s original windows. On February 29, the team announced on Facebook the windows had been fixed, but at a cost.
* Block Club | The CTA’s Oversight Board Is Filled With Political Insiders, Not Transit Experts: Board directors say they are independent of the CTA’s leadership. But board members ignored Block Club’s messages about how they were selected and how they view their roles. Instead, the board used a CTA spokesperson to respond to questions. […] For years, the board has been dominated by members with political connections and clout, including operatives for former Mayor Richard M. Daley, a Republican political consultant convicted for his involvement in a kickback scheme, former alderpeople, loyalists who have worked in city agencies and Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks.
* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan council members exchange accusations of sexism, cronyism; ‘It’s a really bad look to create a boys club’: Picking an all-male committee quickly drew criticism from Taylor Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, Ald. Edith Newsome, 5th Ward, and Ald. Thomas Hayes, 9th Ward. Florian asked why there were no women, and only one experienced council member. […] “I think it’s just interesting that we decided to change this when you have a female mayor, and you put no females on the committee,” Taylor added.
* WCIA | Champaign school district releases statement, next steps after board member resignation: At the end of the meeting Monday night, Board member Jamar Brown announced his resignation, describing his second term as a negative experience. “The Unit 4 Board of Education is deeply grateful to Mr. Jamar Brown for his service,” Champaign School District Board of Education President Dr. Gianina Baker said in a statement to WCIA. “The Board will now follow its policy regarding filling the vacancy.”
* Daily Herald | Regional public safety facility pitched for former Route 53 extension property: “It’s been there vacant — just corn fields — for many, many years,” said Chuck Smith, chief of the Vernon Hills-based fire district. Smith would like to acquire the 34 acres to build a regional public safety training facility. His idea has support from several local entities and some state lawmakers.
* Sun-Times | Branching out? Streets and Sanitation boss reports 172% ramp-up in Chicago tree trimming: Over the years, the long wait to get a tree trimmed in Chicago has been a chronic complaint of alderpersons and their constituents. Not this year. Using twice as many crews and a grid-based system to blitz specific geographic areas, Streets and Sanitation’s Bureau of Forestry is on track to finally deliver on its ambitious plan to trim every tree in Chicago in the next five years and maintain that five-year cycle.
* Crain’s | Judge allows Art Institute to keep disputed artwork — for now: In a ruling last week, Judge John Koeltl sided with the Art Institute, granting it ownership of the drawing until oral arguments for a separate case brought by the Manhattan district attorney start this spring, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Back in January, the DA accused the museum of “willful blindness” to evidence that showed the drawing was stolen by the Nazis when it purchased the piece in 1966. “Russian War Prisoner,” created by artist Egon Schiele, was owned by Fritz Grünbaum, a Jewish cabaret star killed in a concentration camp in 1941.
* SJ-R | New report finds 2 Springfield hospitals in compliance with pricing transparency laws: Both hospitals in Springfield have been found compliant with federal law in a recent report in February from Patients Rights Advocate, a nonprofit group which pushes for transparency in the healthcare industry across America. In the sixth-annual study, Patients Rights Advocate reviewed 2,000 hospitals nationwide and found only 689 compliant, or only 34.5% of all hospitals. Springfield Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield met compliance regulation with the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2021.
* Crain’s | VillageMD laying off dozens amid Illinois clinic closures: Chicago-based VillageMD laid off about 50 workers across two clinics, in Lincoln Park and suburban Wheeling, according to a recent layoff notice the company filed with the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity. VillageMD eliminated 24 positions at the Lincoln Park clinic and 25 positions at the Wheeling location.
* AP | Charges are dropped midtrial in ‘Hotel California’ lyrics case. Don Henley plans to fight on: In explaining the stunning turnabout, prosecutors agreed that defense lawyers had essentially been blindsided in recent days by getting 6,000 pages of communications involving Henley and his attorneys and associates. The material was provided to both sides only in the last few days, after Henley and his lawyers apparently made a late-in-the-game decision to waive their attorney-client privilege to keep legal discussions confidential.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 2:16 pm
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“deep and persistent gaps that exist across the full postsecondary continuum in educational access and attainment that exist across geography, race and ethnicity, and income.”
Next page:
“Attainment gaps are dramatic when the data is disaggregated by race and ethnicity. While 72% of
Asian adults and 49% of white adults have a degree, only 31% of Black adults and 23% of Latino adults
have a degree.”
The study uses white as the baseline when its clearly Asian levels that should be the goal. Except the study has no plan as to how we get everyone up to Asian standards.
Comment by City Zen Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 2:34 pm
(Insert “take my money” GiF)
Where can I get that shirt?
Comment by Northsider Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 2:34 pm
===Except the study has no plan as to how we get everyone up to Asian standards.===
Give everyone Asian parents?
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 2:46 pm
“I accept the responsibility of what happened. I accept that this happened and I have to pay the consequences”
I can’t stand political corruption - but Link makes his statement about accepting his fate only after diming out his old buddies who trusted him. Of course, Mapes was a fool with his omerta act of lying to the Feds. The middle ground is to lawyer up and clam up.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 2:50 pm
Thanks a ton for sharing the Commission on Equitable Public University Funding report. Very helpful.
Comment by H-W Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 2:52 pm
How often does the CTA board meet? Weekly? Monthly? $25,000/year for board members, and $50,000/year for board chairman. A lot of school boards, library boards, and numerous other boards throughout the state serve without pay. It seems the CTA board members are getting a lot, especially if they are not knowledgeable or accountable for bad decisions.
Comment by DuPage Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 3:09 pm
@ City Zen
I am not so sure I agree that we need every citizen to have a college education. In that context, I am also not sure the goal should be 72% since the Asian rate is 72%.
Recall that many Asian residents come to American with degrees already in hand. First generation Asian Americans often bring degrees in medicine, engineering, and other disciplines. They then naturalize in many cases to become citizens. In addition, the Asian immigrant and Asian American populations are relative small by comparison.
When we are only comparing a handful of social categories or “groups,” we need to think about why some groups are relatively advantaged in educational attainment. In the context of Asians, family may well be a cultural factor for some families. One the other hand, there is a substantially disadvantaged group of Asian households in Illinois that is often overlooked. E.g., the model minority stereotype is a truism that is used to look past those who need better structural opportunities.
Because most White Anglos and African Americans and a large portion (but not all) Latinos are not immigrants, and because these three groups are in fact very large, comparisons across these three groups is often more telling. And because we live in a racially segregated state and in racially segregated communities within the state, I would suggest that the gaps between White, Latino and Black are structurally determined. The quality of schooling and eduation (not the same) varies across communities, and sometimes within.
If we want to address academic achievement differences, it seems more instructive to look at groups not doing well and learning why they are struggling as a category within the state.
But contrary to 47th Ward’s joke, mimicking the Asian experience is not a solution for most minorities, nor even for many Asian Americans.
Comment by H-W Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 3:16 pm
===If we want to address academic achievement differences, it seems more instructive to look at groups not doing well and learning why they are struggling as a category within the state.
The most ripe category are those who have some college but no degree (AA/AS/AAS or BA/BA). 28% AfAm/17% Latino/a/21% Other–all of those people have some college credit, but no degree. North Carolina is doing great work through the Belk Foundation on reaching those potential students. The point of the study is to provide adequate support to those colleges and universities that serve populations that need additional support because they come from a background where higher education is not as prevalent and often that is combined with primary and secondary schools that have limited supports. We provide strong support at places like UofI, Northern, ISU because many of the parents at students at those universities would be upset if we didn’t. That doesn’t always happen at the other schools especially those at are largely minority serving.
Additionally, Asian should be broken up to understand a very broad category. Individuals of Chinese, Japanese, and Indian descent tend to have high levels of attainment where as smaller, but growing populations such as the Karen, others from Myanmar, the Hmong (not as large of a group in Illinois), and Vietnamese folks often have lower levels of attainment.
Comment by ArchPundit Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 3:33 pm
@ Arch Pundit
Yes, the Asian and Asian American population is extremely diverse. On many measures of S.E.S., they present as a bimodal population.
Comment by H-W Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 3:41 pm
=not sure the goal should be 72% since the Asian rate is 72%.=
=the Asian experience is not a solution for most minorities, nor even for many Asian Americans.=
Please explain further, in detail. Seems like a lot of mental gymnastics going on here.
Comment by Just a Random Guy Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 4:31 pm
I’m opposed to the “either/or” sentencing approach for political corruption. I don’t think Link should have received only probation. Maybe 60 or 90 days in prison would have made him more genuinely sorry for what he has done. Or perhaps let him spend every other weekend in jail for the next year. As it is, the sentence is too lenient.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 4:33 pm
= Maybe 60 or 90 days in prison would have made him more genuinely sorry for what he has done.=
I don’t think that’s the goal here. And if the Feds succeed in convincing others who are compromised to cooperate in bringing down others, this is probably the roadmap for doing so. And I’m ok with that.
Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Mar 6, 24 @ 5:14 pm