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"In Chicago, radicals gathered for a conference on Marxism during what many view as the heyday of socialism in the United States. The Democratic Socialists of America is now larger and more powerful than at any time in our history.... Speakers in Chicago used the conference to push supporters to the next stage in the movement, including some openly calling for violence and the end to capitalism."
The lawsuit says the move “excludes medically necessary healthcare services from federal reimbursement only when provided to low-income transgender adolescents” while flying in the face of how Medicare and Medicaid exclusions have traditionally been set — by the states.
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According to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office, the settlement will ensure most customers see a decrease in their monthly bill during non-heat months by reducing a fixed charge down from $21.30 to $15 beginning Nov. 16. Nicor must also accept a reduction in the profit it can make on its infrastructure investments, according to Raoul’s office, and has pledged to protect union jobs through next year.
The Republican congressman said it is common sense to require an ID to vote, which is why he has repeatedly voted to pass the SAVE America Act. “One, [the bill] requires an ID to vote … two, requires you to prove you’re a U.S. citizen to vote. Again, common sense,” he said. “Thirdly, it has a review of our mail-in ballot system to make sure that there’s no improprieties there. I think those are all good things.”
“House Republicans have multiple ethics bills ready to help clean up our state government and hold officials accountable. The majority party claims they can govern. Well, let's see it,” state Rep. Travis Weaver said. “HB 1554 prohibits public officials from using campaign funds to pay for criminal defense and HB 1727 would prevent public officials charged or indicted on a felony from collecting pension benefits.”
Alan Jernigan, of the American Legislative Exchange Council, said Illinois has higher wages but fewer opportunities. “The reality of the situation is with minimum wages in Illinois having one of the higher ones in the country, what that really does is it prices out those entry-level jobs and those opportunities for people that want to get started in their careers,” he said.
Last month, Sangamon County Judge Jack Davis issued an order requiring DCFS Director Heidi Mueller to appear and explain why the agency has not followed the judge’s orders or appeared in court on the case at all this year.
Pritzker accused Republicans of knowing they cannot win elections based on their unpopular policies and claimed they are instead working to “rig the 2026 election.” Pritzker called the alleged effort a “disgraceful attack” and urged voters to pay close attention to the fight over the upcoming midterms.
That’s roughly seven times the average annual salary in the state.
In Illinois, Nebraska and other states, family farms are colliding with estate- and inheritance-tax thresholds tied to an illiquid asset. Many of the states that tax wealth at death have already built in relief in ways than can inform policymakers still fighting about it. 
Pritzker noted the Surplus to Success program, a $300 million initiative aimed at remediating state-owned properties which have been left vacant for decades.
The Responsibility in Firearms Legislation Act, a bill coming before the Illinois General Assembly, would require gunmakers to contribute to a state fund that would help offset the costs shouldered by taxpayers and the individuals directly affected by a shooting. If passed, the law would be a first of its kind in the country. Other states have considered similar bills, but none have become law.
State Rep. Dave Severin, a Republican, and the governor took a photo with a constituent at the DuQuoin State Fair after its opening, which was used to allegedly create an AI-generated photo of the two officials that sparked threatening comments about the lawmaker.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said former President Joe Biden would have had a booming economy if there was any correlation between rampant illegal immigration and a good economy.
Michael McCuskey will resign that watchdog post amid criticism about his ability to handle investigations. It’s the latest twist for a post that McCuskey’s two immediate predecessors described as “broken” and a “paper tiger.” Prior to that, the LIG’s office sat vacant for three years.
Creating a PAC that invests in candidates beyond his home state can help build relationships, generate goodwill and accumulate political capital that could prove valuable in a future White House bid.
"Donald Trump and his administration have attacked the people of Illinois, violated our rights, and broken Illinois law, and they are using the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause to protect their marauding federal agents from prosecution. We don’t intend to let them get away with it."
Thomas Geoghegan, who represents the disability rights groups, physician and disabled Illinoisans who brought the case, told U.S. District Judge John Tharp that the law upends the millennia-old tradition of the Hippocratic oath, a pledge doctors make to first do no harm. “It’s our view, ultimately, this is authorizing a different standard of care,” he said.
Under the program, Illinois students in public and private schools could receive scholarship money to help them find a tutor, get special education services, attend ACT or SAT prep sessions, pay tuition, or get assistance with other academic needs. That will happen only if Illinois allows the state’s schoolchildren to benefit from the EFTC by opting into the program.
In the Chicago area, listings are down 54 percent from 2019, according to Zillow. Nine Illinois metro areas have suffered even larger declines. Bloomington saw the steepest drop, with inventory down 69 percent from 2019.
Rep. Regan Deering said Illinois needs to return to academic fundamentals, including phonics, math skills and higher expectations. “We've really just gotten away from the fundamentals,” she said. “And so, I think getting back to that, getting back to having that higher expectation, making extra resources available to our students” is necessary.
In July 2013, Detroit became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy. Wirepoints founder Mark Glennon said Chicago, unlike Detroit, has sold most of its future sales tax revenue. “This was a major mistake that the legislature in Springfield made about five years ago when they passed legislation authorizing this form of financing,” Glennon said.
"So far, (Gov. JB) Pritzker is opting out, as have most Democratic governors. Two Democrats who have opted in are New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. Hochul, like Polis, explained she opted in because she decided the program was good for her state’s K-12 students. Illinois kids won’t be eligible for a scholarship if Pritzker doesn’t opt in."
"In the past week or so, three women have told stories about their dissatisfaction with the way they were treated by the state’s legislative inspector general. ... 'His treatment of victims is unacceptable,' she wrote. 'The LIG kept telling me he was a federal judge, and that I made him look incompetent and questioned his integrity of investigating. … If someone really comes forward with a serious sexual assault or a big case, nobody should have to talk to him.'"
"ISBE cited numerous factors that have driven the school funding gap growth, including everything from declining local revenues, to a more accurate count of low-income students. But the gorilla in the room remains Illinois’ consistent failure to adequately fund K-12 from state-based revenue. In fact, the state only covers 27 percent of all education funding costs, well below the national average of 46 percent."
mass shooting in Jeanette Taylor’s ward, a federal offer turned down, and the uncomfortable question of whose safety Chicago actually guarantees.
"This was an easy vote and something Democrats could point to and say – 'Yes, I voted to reject socialism in all its forms.' They couldn’t do it. Therefore, every Illinois Democrat just proved whose side they are on – the radical Democrat Socialists."
Logan is the most recent blow in a community that has taken hit after hit. In the past 10 years, several major employers vanished, including the 2022 closure of Lincoln College; Another small Christian college closed a year after that. And two decades ago, the state-owned and operated Lincoln Developmental Center shut down. Top Chicago Stories
"The CTU no longer operates solely as a traditional labor organization focused on workplace representation. It has transitioned into a political organization whose broader goals frequently conflict with working-class families and the broader labor movement. The political alignments of CTU leadership — including partnerships with ideological groups whose members have publicly attacked city public safety departments — reflect this shift in priorities."
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A program that "despite its flaws has a demonstrable upside."
Ald. Brendan Reilly unleashed most of his anger at Mayor Brandon Johnson’s top aides, senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee and chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas, who chose not to appear. Instead, they sent Johnson’s chief financial officer, who’s been on the job for a few weeks. “If I’m a taxpayer in the city of Chicago, I’m disgusted,” Reilly said. “The mayor is not doing his job enforcing the [host agreement]. They’re allowing folks to play games with union jobs, people’s livelihoods and honestly, our police and fire pensions — which require this casino to be incredibly successful.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson said the building at the corner of Clark and Monroe offers 117 residential units and more than a third of the units are affordable. "The $64.2 million conversion was supported with $28 million in city TIF assistance as part of my administration's commitment to investing in housing and creating more affordable city for everyone," Johnson said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson credited the reduction in violence to an increased presence of Community Violence Interrupters, or CVIs, and to collaboration between CVIs and the Chicago Police Department.
"Fifteen human beings shot in one Chicago park in a matter of moments. In any other city, any normal city, this would be a cause for civic outrage. People would rise up demanding that the “mayor” do something about it. In this sick city, the only outrage is over the fact the Trump administration had the temerity to call out the city for its perpetual status as the murder capital of America."
"But after a year, uncertainty over process can no longer explain the absence of answers. Franklin Park ultimately turned to Illinois State Police to investigate (Silverio Villegas) González’s killing. Evanston police investigated federal agents for months before formally asking the Cook County state’s attorney’s office for specialized assistance. Chicago established procedures for investigating alleged crimes by federal immigration agents and has reportedly assigned specialized investigators to (Marimar) Martinez’s shooting."
The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services has launched online applications for the $15 million Disaster Relief Assistance Program. Residents can get reimbursed for documented expenses like rent, mortgage payments, and utility bills.
CPD initially reported that the man had jumped from the train near 69th Street and landed on the third rail, “where he remained incapacitated,” before being struck by an oncoming train. But investigators later determined that the man had been involved in an altercation with three men aboard the train around 2:30 p.m.
Ald. Nicole Lee, whose ward includes Bridgeport, said 35-year-old Rate Field has “life left” in it — though the area around it needs sprucing up. “Taken together, this plan would be devastating for our community,” who live just hundreds of feet from the proposed site of the new Amtrak facility, said Lee. “We know we have to modernize the stadium and modernize and develop these areas along 35th Street."
"What dismays me is not that the violence happened. Rather, it is the tolerance. I’ve seen communities elsewhere in America go into an uproar over one death and demand lasting change. On the South Side, 15 people are shot at a picnic, and our leaders can’t even muster a sincere thought. ... Mayor Brandon Johnson brags about his Blacker-than-thou administration and demands diversity reports from city bidders. Yet where is he?"
"'You just say, the following offenses are not eligible for electronic monitoring, and there can be negotiation on what those offenses can be,' O'Neill Burke told us. Exactly. Begin that discussion, Springfield Democrats."
The Chicago Teachers Union has spent almost $236,000 on eight candidates it has endorsed for the first fully elected Chicago school board, with most of it going to the CTU staffer running for president. In the 2024 school board election, the union funneled $2.8 million to candidates.
The learning model condenses core subjects into two hours of AI-powered learning. Students then focus the rest of the day on financial literacy, tech literacy, public speaking, entrepreneurship, and more. Tuition for the private school costs $55,000.
"The Illinois Accountability Commission has been highly effective in producing a detailed public record and official legal referrals regarding immigration agents’ conduct during Midway Blitz. ... It’s long past time for the Cook County state’s attorney to prosecute these crimes, just as Minnesota has done."
"Where's the salt trucks? Where are the tow trucks. Where were all of that Sunday night? That's the question. And Brandon Johnson owes us all an answer for that," Ald. Ray Lopez said.
Affordable housing developer: "The path forward is not mysterious. Chicago needs a four-year housing agenda built around one simple standard: producing more homes. We can create up to 50,000 housing units and close half the city’s affordable housing deficit with this four-year plan."
Some videos on social media show weapons, a pickup truck doing donuts and a wheel flying into a crowd. Another showed people starting and then standing in a ring of fire. Though some videos ended with police breaking them up, information about arrests was unavailable.
A University of Chicago poll found that 13.6 percent of Chicagoans want Brandon Johnson to run for re-election.
The pandemic dried up much of the Loop's lunchtime business, so many restaurant owners could no longer afford downtown rents, said John Vance, principal at Stone Real Estate. But landlords are now more likely to offer generous terms, perhaps including lower rents, and that's helped local entrepreneurs without deep financial pockets gain a foothold downtown, he said.
Adler-Bolton argues that “fitness is a measure of relative disposability under capitalism” and says the goal should not be to become “more useful to the ruling order.”
According to CPD records, Monday’s arrest was the sixth time Chicago police arrested Johnelle McDonald in the past year. He was on pretrial release in two theft cases when the Red Line incident occurred. One is a felony theft case from February, while the other is a misdemeanor retail theft case stemming from an arrest just nine days before the train incident.
The reduction was announced Tuesday in a memo to employees from Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. The memo, titled "Building a simpler, faster Uber," said the company was making "significant organizational changes" and simplifying team structures despite Uber's growth over the past five years.
Husam Marajda of U.S. Palestinian Community Network stated, “Per Palantir’s own admission, it serves to help fight ‘U.S. adversaries.’ This specifically means that Palantir serves war and terror. It means that Palantir gives technology to criminal governments and administrations like the United States and Israel and others, to commit war crimes. To kidnap and separate families. To cause destruction everywhere.”
"While upgrading passenger rail infrastructure is a valid regional goal, it should not require imposing a heavy industrial footprint on a stable, working-class residential community. A primary driver here remains clearing the South Loop parcel for real estate acquisition and a potential stadium project. If the White Sox depart, Chicago will be left with two massive sports stadiums lacking primary tenants — leaving Guaranteed Rate Field to sit underutilized unless substantial public funds are committed to maintain or repurpose it."
Wirepoints Research and Commentary
State investment totals have skyrocketed since 2015 from about $10 billion to over $41 billion and political abuse of the money has been common. The money is currently returning just 3.7% per year. 
Most of Illinois' local municipal pensions are distressed and hundreds are deeply distressed, imposing a costly drag on the towns and cities that sponsor them. SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
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There's an irony surrounding the battles over solar farms in Illinois. Residents are being forced – through mandatory surcharges in their electric bills – to pay for the very subsidies that help make solar projects profitable. Their own money is being used to finance solar farms that many residents don’t want. That’s exactly what’s playing out in Effingham today. 
Summary and audio 
Much of the routine trade and investment between China and America is entirely appropriate and in America's interest. But inserting the Chinese Communist Party into America's pay-to-play system and its economic development strategy isn't just crossing a line. It's a leap into an abyss of stupidity. 
Illinois paid the price for embracing Fauci's "science." Here's the retrospective. 
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