THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All
August 5, 2021
Welcome to the Thursday Free for All. As I mentioned Monday, this e-mail will be a quick compilation of stories that I’ve been writing or reading, things I’ve been hearing, and a little commentary here and there. It’s a lot of stuff we don’t have room for in the regular Tuesday newsletter or the subscriber newsletters on Wednesday and Friday.
Or, like in the case of Governor JB Pritzker’s new school mask mandate, big things that happen on days we aren’t writing a full newsletter.
If something catches your eye or is interesting, please send it my way to patrick@theillinoize.com.
If you’re not a paid subscriber yet, we hope you’ll join us! If you subscribe by August 31, we’ll give you $10 off a yearly subscription- knocking it down to just $65. We’re doing our best to provide fair, honest content and we hope you’ll be part of our growing community.
Let’s get to it.
COMING TOMORROW
We’re working on a story for paid subscribers tomorrow about private businesses requiring COVID-19 vaccines for employees. Is it legal? Is it happening?
YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets)
Governor JB Pritzker will require masks in schools and require some state employees to get vaccinated. From our story yesterday:
“People are dying who don’t have to die,” Pritzker said Wednesday in Chicago. “It’s heartbreaking and it impacts us all.”
Local decisions on masks in schools for the upcoming year have been contentious affairs in all corners of the state. Pritzker’s new order certainly takes the decision out of the hands of beleaguered school boards and superintendents, but will likely leave an angry sect of parents around the state.
While the initial strain of the COVID-19 virus didn’t impact children to the extent it did seniors or those with comorbidities, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike says Delta variant cases among children have grown dramatically.
Ezike says in January, cases among kids under 10 were about 5.5% of total cases in the state. Last month, it was closer to 15%. 23% of cases last month were kids 10-19.
Pritzker says the key to combating the Delta variant and moving past mitigations is vaccination.
“The vast majority of vaccinated people are safe,” Pritzker said. “No vaccine is 100% effective and hearing about breakthrough cases on the news can feel scary, even when breakthroughs are rare and mild. But, the likelihood of a vaccinated person testing positive for COVID-19 remains extremely low.”
Related: Teachers unions support the mask mandate, but aren’t coming out in favor of a vaccine mandate.
Republicans complain more about process than the mandate itself.
School districts: “We’ll deal with it.” (State Journal-Register)
July recreational marijuana sales hit a record. (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois recreational weed sales hit a record $128 million in July, helped by a late-month boost from the Lollapalooza festival.
The blowout sales month — up 10% from the previous high of $116.4 million in May — included four days of booming business at Chicago-area cannabis dispensaries during the annual music festival, which returned to Grant Park last Thursday after a one-year pandemic hiatus.
The $127.8 million in recreational marijuana sales statewide is up more than $12 million from June, according to a monthly report by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Through July, the state has generated $753 million in recreational cannabis sales — more than all of last year.
Will Dillard run for Governor again? (Sun-Times)
A former Republican state legislator and veteran of two past GOP gubernatorial administrations said Wednesday he’s weighing a bid to join the field of candidates vying for the chance to unseat Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Kirk Dillard, who is currently the chairman of the Regional Transportation Agency’s board of directors, said in a statement Wednesday people “whom I respect and whose opinions I value reached out to me” and asked him to consider running to “restore political balance to Illinois and make it safe and function well again.
“They also believe I am a Republican who can win a general election as the ‘Sun Times’ once opined,” Dillard’s statement continued. “I owe it to them, the people of Illinois and to my family to carefully listen. Currently, I am laser focused on getting the northeastern Illinois transportation system through a pandemic.”
Dillard unequivocally denied rumors he was exploring a run for Governor when I spoke to him in May.
I texted Dillard last night and he asked that we speak today. So, hopefully I’ll have more for subscribers tomorrow.
Some of our top links from the week so far:
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