THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All..."Hellhole"...Chicago crime...Sex ed standards...Agriculture forum fibs
August 29, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
We are back and better than ever. I spent a lot of time on the road last week, mostly outside the borders of Illinois and I realized some states do things better than us (economic development) and other states do things far worse than us (tolling). And we can all agree St. Louis is the worst.
But it’s good to be back and at it this morning.
I’ll be on WLS-AM with Steve Cochran this morning at 7:05am discussing, well, whatever Steve wants to discuss, I guess. You can listen to the fun and frivolity here.
My Shaw Newspapers column is on the mess at DCFS and that Gov. Pritzker needs to dismantle and reimagine this struggling and important agency. Read it here.
Paid subscribers, you’ll have a big scoop on major statewide races coming your way today, so be on the lookout for that. If you want to be among the paid subscribers, well, you’ll have to join them. A subscription is just $99 per year or $9.99 per month. Just click below to join.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets)
Opinion: Chicago isn’t a ‘hellhole.’ Neither are many other places dismissed as ‘dangerous.’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
The United Airlines flight attendant nudged the cart forward through the cramped aisle.
“Chicken, pasta or vegetables?” she asked passengers hours before we landed in the city Republican gubernatorial hopeful Darren Bailey twice proclaimed a “hellhole” a day before.
When the cabin crew member glimpsed me, my younger sister, Almas, and our friend Deba — also of Indian descent — she slightly tweaked her recitation of the menu selection: “Chicken, pasta or masala vegetables?”
Our overseas jaunt was a momentous reprieve of sorts, since we were initially scheduled to leave for Portugal on March 17, 2020 — right before coronavirus restricted our every move.
For me, it was also a reminder of why I value venturing outside our borders, sometimes in locales many Americans would dismiss as “hellholes,” à la Bailey.
I’m among those who take issue with the downstate Republican’s oversimplified remarks about Chicago. Bailey upped the ante again last week, calling my hometown the “OK Corral.” Gun violence has devastated the city. No Chicagoan will say otherwise. But in our midst there are kaleidoscopic gardens, cozy bungalows and a resilient group of upstanding, diverse residents as showcased in the photographic retorts to Bailey’s comments on social media.
Chicago isn’t the only place maligned by outsiders and dog-whistling politicians too lazy and arrogant to look beyond the headlines. The birthplaces and residences of thousands around the world are often deemed dangerous or uncivilized. There is violence, political unrest and oppressive regimes in many of these cities and nations. But as in Chicago, there’s more to the story. Just from chatting with locals or witnessing the pulsation of hope roaring up against the turmoil and heartache, preconceptions can be thrown out the window.
It’s funny those lovely pictures on Twitter were never taken in Roseland, Englewood, or Garfield Park. I’ve said plenty about how dumb it is that Darren Bailey has painted a city of 2.5 million people with a broad brush, but the willful disregard of lakefront liberals for what’s happening in parts of their city is shameful.
Related: Street takeovers throughout city devolve into clashes with police, arrests and car impoundment (Chicago Sun-Times)
7 killed across Chicago since Friday evening, 16 others wounded (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Voters should hold Illinois lawmakers accountable for a crime reduction package (State Journal-Register)
Darren Bailey again slams Chicago violence and Gov. J.B. Pritzker touts business experience during agriculture forum downstate (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois sex ed law puts school districts in center of latest battleground in education culture wars (Chicago Tribune)
As the mother of five children, Barrington resident Marsha McClary approved of her hometown school district teaching students about the birds and the bees with what she described as a traditional, biology-based sex education program.
So when McClary heard Illinois lawmakers had passed legislation mandating that school districts teaching comprehensive sex education follow new standards created by a New York City-based nonprofit, McClary decided to do her homework.
“I read through the whole thing and in general, I thought, a lot of these things in the standards are wonderful, but then I got to page 21, and for me, that’s where the rubber meets the road,” said McClary, whose children are enrolled in Barrington School District 220.
In particular, McClary was troubled that the standards required that by the end of fifth grade, Illinois students should be able to “describe the role hormones play in the physical, social, cognitive, and emotional changes during adolescence and the potential role of hormone blockers on young people who identify as transgender.”
McClary was also alarmed to see a requirement that by the end of fifth grade students should be able to “distinguish between sex assigned at birth and gender identity and explain how they may or may not differ,” as well as “define and explain differences between cisgender, transgender, gender nonbinary, gender expansive, and gender identity” and understand that “gender expression and gender identity exist along a spectrum.”
“For an 11-year-old person, I’m just not OK with that,” McClary said.
Related: Despite promise of universal pre-K for CPS, enrollment lags in city’s neediest areas (WBEZ)
'We need a lot more people': Staffing shortages bedevil school districts (Daily Herald)
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Bailey, Pritzker face off in agriculture forum with accusations of lies (Capitol News Illinois)
Opinion: Both gubernatorial candidates fumble facts at ag forum (Shaw Media)
After he takes control of state party, Gov. J.B. Pritzker doles out $5.5 million to help fellow Illinois Democrats (Chicago Tribune)
The 100th annual Du Quoin State Fair has officially begun (The Southern Illinoisan)
Illinois voters may opt to vote-by-mail in all elections (Associated Press)
IL reports 4 COVID deaths in St. Clair County in last week. See latest community levels (Belleville News-Democrat)
A Chicago cop charged in the U.S. Capitol attack rejects a plea deal (WBEZ)
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