THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All
October 11, 2021
Good morning.
Whether it’s Christopher Columbus Day or Indigenous People’s Day to you, enjoy the day off if you have it.
If you’re interested in a 30 day free trial of our subscriber-only content without being locked in to a year-long commitment, now is your time.
Sign up for a year subscription at $75 and we’ll give you a free month to check out our subscriber-only newsletters and alerts and decide whether you want to go through with the full year. No obligations, no sneaky internet stuff, just a free preview. Click below to redeem. Subscriptions and a little bit of ad revenue are our way of keeping this newsletter available and growing. We could sure use you as a part of our growing community.
If you have any questions, drop me an e-mail at patrick@theillinoize.com.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets)
Surpassing 25,000 dead in state from COVID-19: How pandemic evolved from killing Chicagoans to southern Illinoisans (Chicago Tribune)
They include a retired nurse from Chicago’s South Side, a former teacher from Mount Vernon and a lawyer in Carbondale.
They joined others from all races and ethnicities, from deeply Republican to deeply Democratic parts of the state, more old than young, but all adding up, day after day, to propel Illinois to reach one more grim milestone for the pandemic this month: 25,000 official COVID-19 deaths, and counting.
Illinois crossed that threshold Oct. 1, after closing out its deadliest month since last winter, tallying more than 1,000 deaths in September alone. And the 25,000 doesn’t count about 2,700 additional deaths deemed as probable COVID-19 cases.
As the known death toll has grown over 18 months, a Tribune analysis of state and federal data shows how the pandemic’s deadly waves have evolved since March 2020 amid starkly different mask-wearing and vaccination habits across the state.
Deaths were originally clustered in Chicago’s more Black and Latino neighborhoods, but then spread beyond the Chicago area, to the point the virus has killed a greater proportionate share of residents in rural southern Illinois than dense Chicago.
Related: Illinois COVID-19 hospitalizations back to lowest level since August (Chicago Sun-Times)
City of Chicago employees who don't report vax status face 'no-pay' penalty (Crain’s Chicago Business)
COVID-19 kills three more in Rock Island County (Dispatch-Argus)
Southwestern Illinois counties report more vaccinations, fewer COVID infections (Belleville News-Democrat)
State gets 2 bids to buy the James R. Thompson Center (Chicago Sun-Times)
Two potential buyers for the Thompson Center, the state government’s former base in the Loop, have emerged. Both groups submitted proposals to the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, an agency spokesperson said Saturday.
But what’s next for the 17-story building known for its all-glass sloping facade and domed skylight remains a mystery. Details of the two proposals weren’t revealed, thanks to a state law that allows officials to keep the submissions concealed until a winning plan is picked.
State officials have begun to evaluate the proposals “to determine which is in the best interest of the state and its taxpayers,” the spokesperson said.
One of the bids is expected to be picked by the end of the year, with a purchase agreement to follow by February and the sale to close by April.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been clear about his plans to sell the Helmut Jahn-designed Thompson Center, a building his administration has deemed “oversized, outdated and expensive.” He signed a bill in 2019 to begin efforts to sell the building.
Pritzker’s move sparked outrage from preservationists who’ve called Thompson Center “iconic” and said it deserves landmark protection and creative ideas for reuse.
I may do a dance the day it gets knocked down.
Opinion: Some hard truths on crime that Democrats aren't acknowledging (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Illinois Democrats and equity activists reacted with anger a few days ago when state Senate Republicans unveiled a get-tough-on-crime package that would curl your toes.
The ire was understandable. In a blast from the past, GOP lawmakers proposed everything from imposing mandatory minimum sentences, such as life in prison for a second conviction of using an illegal gun in a robbery, to requiring prosecutors to explain in writing why they dropped gun charges. Also on tap: Undoing a new state law that effectively bans cash bail. Ah, to have the good old days of Class X prisons overflowing with felonious codgers, no?
But, if understandable, the ire was and is overdone. The road to a criminal justice system that truly works requires it to be not only fair, but credible. It has to offer both incentives and penalties. The progressive left may be losing sight of that, at great risk to its ultimate goals.
Though reformers were right to push for an end to cash bail to the extent that it was just a form of debtors prison for those accused of minor crimes, local judges have gone overboard in letting just about anyone out. According to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, of the 3,200 people free on electronic monitors in lieu of bail as of mid-August, 527 were charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, 520 allegedly had a weapon despite a prior felony conviction, 267 faced charges of being an armed habitual criminal, and 98 had been arrested for murder.
Yes, m-u-r-d-e-r. Not exactly some kid busted for having a couple of joints, is it?
Or, carjacking. Among recent reforms was one making it harder to prosecute cases by making it easier for adults intending to steal a car to just hand a weapon to a juvenile, who will be tried in juvenile court rather than as an adult. Clearly, fear of prosecution has all but vanished, because the brazenness of some recent incidents is absolutely mind-boggling.
Related: Opinion: Lightfoot and Foxx. Stop the blame-game and work together (Chicago Sun-Times)
Champaign 18-year-old arrested on murder charges in fatal shooting Sunday (Champaign News-Gazette)
The Senate Republican news conference last week included some expected rhetoric and also had the appearance of a campaign event trying to make crime the latest “R vs. D” issue for 2022.
I clearly don’t have the answers to reduce the spike in crime, not just in Chicago, but around the state. Illegal guns are a huge problem, whether they’re stolen in Illinois or shipped in from another state. But, there’s a societal problem, too. When did shooting someone become the answer to a teenage spat? How did it get this way? Is it gang related? I know prosecutors have had a hard time getting witnesses to cooperate, making convictions a lot harder to come by.
It’s disappointing this is spinning into the latest campaign issue, because this is far too important for talking points.
SOME TOP LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
JOIN US