THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All
January 24, 2022
Good morning and happy Monday.
Just a reminder, former Bears quarterback Rex Grossman has won as many NFC Championship games as Aaron Rodgers.
Don’t forget you can save $22 off of a yearlong subscription through the end of the month. Instead of $75 for the paid content subscribers receive, which includes two newsletters exclusive to them each week, you’ll get breaking news alerts and previews of things that go up, like video interviews.
It’s well worth $53, but I’m kinda biased.
And, as always, you can drop me a note at patrick@theillinoize.com with your thoughts, questions, comments, unadulterated praise, and even your complaints. I respond to everyone personally (though, sometimes I’m a little slow…especially to the haters.)
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Projects with Madigan ties went to the front of the line for massive Rebuild Illinois initiative (Chicago Sun-Times)
For the better part of the past decade, hotel owners Jon Weglarz and Mark Weglarz fought to put a damper on the noise caused by screeching train brakes outside their Midway Airport-area properties.
Now, it appears they’ve finally succeeded — with the intervention of the Weglarz brothers’ longtime property tax lawyer, then-House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who delivered $98 million in taxpayer money for what undoubtedly would be one of the most expensive brake jobs in history.
The Madigan-sponsored project was among nearly $4 billion in pet projects that a handful of officials inserted into the state’s largest-ever capital projects bill in 2019. Dubbed Rebuild Illinois, the package was touted as a way to advance Illinois into the 21st century, with $45 billion in infrastructure improvements, including roads, bridges and public works projects.
Through a process largely shrouded in secrecy, certain projects got pushed to the top of that list without the normal scrutiny the state gives massive public works initiatives. And, until his ouster last year amid a federal corruption investigation, Madigan played a key role in the allocation of funds for these projects, which were labeled “leadership additions.”
Records show at least $144 million went to four projects backed by Madigan that avoided the usual review process and benefited people the former speaker has ties to.
Beside the money for reducing the noise from trains near Midway Airport, those projects also included $31 million for a charter school records show asked for only $1.5 million, $9 million for a new Chicago high school building that the Chicago Public Schools hadn’t sought that funding for and $6 million for a Romeoville airport control tower that a Madigan political ally had wanted for years.
You can see the latest statewide GOP candidates continue to put Madigan in their rhetorical crosshairs, even though he’s now more than a year removed from the Speaker’s office.
They’ll tell you their polling shows people in Illinois don’t like Madigan. Duh. Our poll in October 2020 gave Madigan a 22% approval rating statewide (with 61% disapproval). But Republicans have focused their messaging over the past decade or so with an “all Madigan all the time” theme, and it really hasn’t paid off that much.
This election is a referendum on JB Pritzker, and while these things are helpful to that narrative, I’m sure, I can assume I’ll start seeing press releases this morning calling for investigations and hearings and blah and blah and blah. It’s not going to penetrate with the electorate. Find a message that will.
Madison County State’s Attorney Sues to Stop Judicial Redistricting (Belleville News-Democrat)
Madison County’s state’s attorney filed a lawsuit Friday to try to stop a plan opponents say allowed Democrats to pull the rug out from under two local Republican judge candidates.
Earlier this month, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law that splits the current 3rd Judicial Circuit — which includes Madison and Bond counties — into new sections called subcircuits.
The change is unconstitutional and scrambles election planning for two openings in the 3rd Circuit by using an outdated precinct map, according to the suit filed by Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine.
Madison County’s current voter registration cards don’t include any information on the new subcircuits, meaning they’ll have to be redrafted to inform voters about which subcircuit they live in, the suit states.
The requirement “poses an undue burden on Madison County Administration in terms of the time, manpower and resources it will take to implement for the 2022 elections,” the lawsuit states. Changes to other circuit maps don’t go into effect until 2024, but Madison County’s map goes into effect this year with no explanation for the “differential treatment,” the suit says.
Additionally, the Illinois Constitution doesn’t allow the General Assembly to eliminate all countywide judgeships, the lawsuit argues.
Haine, a Republican, is the son of longtime Democratic Sen. Bill Haine, who passed away last year.
Why teaching about critical race theory has become a lightning rod in suburban schools (Daily Herald)
Suburban teachers are figuring out ways to talk about race and racism and their roles in history to challenge timeworn methods for teaching about the past.
Whether such conversations belong in the classroom is a debate raging nationally and has become a political flashpoint pitting parents against teachers, school leaders and one another.
A state task force is working to help school districts improve how Black history is taught in classrooms, while Illinois educators are being trained on new culturally responsive teaching standards.
But Republican lawmakers and conservative activists have criticized diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in public schools, which they view as a means of promoting a controversial concept known as critical race theory.
Originating in the 1970s, the theory is an academic examination of social, cultural and legal issues regarding race and racism in the United States. The framework's basic tenet is that racism is more than individual prejudices and biases; it is embedded within economic and political systems and institutions, perpetuating racial inequities in health care, education and criminal justice.
Illinois' largest teachers unions -- the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers -- support using a racial and social justice framework to teach students. That requires educators, regardless of background or identity, to bring "a cultural understanding and a deep self-awareness to their work," the IEA says.
It’s worth noting (the story does), that Critical Race Theory is not a part of the curriculum in Illinois schools.
That said, I have yet to find an opponent who can actually explain what their biggest issue is. I’m no expert on CRT, but wouldn’t teaching about things like slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Dred Scott, civil rights, etc. be called “history?”
The latest COVID-19 surge has made it difficult to get basic medical care in Illinois. (Chicago Tribune)
After a year of undergoing treatments to fight off an aggressive form of breast cancer, Heather Mingay was scheduled to have her ovaries removed this month, in an attempt to help prevent the cancer from returning.
Mingay, 37, of Northbrook, told her manager at work she’d be gone. She secured extra child care for her three kids. She mentally prepared.
And then her doctor’s office called her about 2½ weeks ago to cancel the surgery. The call came as hospitals across the state suspended elective procedures to help keep beds open, amid a nasty COVID-19 surge that’s sent many people to hospitals, especially the unvaccinated.
“I could cry right now,” Mingay said, shortly after learning her procedure was postponed. She’s now cancer-free and wants to stay that way. “This is not elective. It’s not a choice, but I have to kind of sit on the sidelines right now, and the longer I sit on the sidelines, my risk goes up for recurrence.”
“No matter where you’re going to go right now in health care, you’re probably going to experience a delay,” said Dr. Richard Freeman, Loyola Medicine regional chief clinical officer.
Related: Cook County records 14,000th COVID-19 death as worst surge wanes — but fatalities rise (Sun-Times)
In-person classes still worry some Illinois State students (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Opinion: Teachers (and their unions) deserve a little respect (Rockford Register Star)
What’s next for CPS-CTU? (Sun-Times)
CPS says change in COVID case reporting wasn’t intended to mislead public (Sun-Times)
School quarantine amid omicron ‘a complete nightmare’ for some in DeKalb County (Shaw Media/DeKalb Daily Chronicle)
Editorial: Time to start thinking about reopening (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Illinois GOP is putting the puzzle together—but a few pieces are still missing (Crain’s Chicago Business)
After a long stretch in which the once-dominant Illinois Republican Party looked like it was going to effectively lie down and cede much of the 2022 ballot to Democrats, the Rs suddenly are acting a little more chipper. Sorta like a 60-year-old guy who suddenly discovers the benefits of, um, vitamin B.
In Springfield, the party, led by House GOP Leader Jim Durkin, has coalesced around an issue with real salience: Crime, and whether ruling Cook County Democrats are making you unsafe. In Washington, President Joe Biden continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. Statewide, the Republicans have assembled a diverse ticket of candidates for governor and other constitutional offices with a fighting chance to win, particularly for the vacant secretary of state’s job.
For one, as good as that statewide ticket and gubernatorial hopeful, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, may prove to be, the ticket lacks something. That’s a nominee anyone has heard of at its top for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Tammy Duckworth.
Of the people who have announced for the GOP nomination, one sued another for defamation, with a third reportedly predicting that the final vote count would show Donald Trump was re-elected. U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Rodney Davis have taken a pass on running. So has anyone else who wouldn’t have to spend $5 million just to build their name recognition.
There’s still a very few weeks for that to change, and a few rumors that something may be afoot. But with Iraq War hero Duckworth sitting on a $6.4 million campaign war chest, don’t hold your breath that you’ll see someone with a decent chance to unseat her.
Related: Opinion: Holding candidates accountable is tougher than ever in the digital age (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: Is he or isn't he? Irvin tries to assure GOP (Champaign News-Gazette)
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