THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Burke trial headed to mistrial?...Petition filing begins...Meta opens DeKalb data facility
November 30, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
The Sun-Times and WBEZ have a fun sample of an eighth grade government class test asking if you could pass a constitution quiz. I’ll admit I missed one that I shouldn’t have. Take it here and let me know how you did.
Petition filing continues through Monday. Here’s our tracker.
The Governor’s office did not release a public schedule last night.
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YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Mistrial in Burke case? Judge to rule on defense objection to ‘very corrupt’ remark during corruption trial (Chicago Sun-Times)
The federal judge presiding over ex-Ald. Edward M. Burke’s corruption trial is considering whether to grant a mistrial after federal prosecutors elicited a comment from a witness Wednesday about the “Chicago way of doing business” being “very corrupt.”
Mistrial motions are not uncommon — particularly in a high-stakes trial such as Burke’s. Most are denied. But U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall seems to be giving serious consideration to Wednesday’s request from Burke’s attorneys.
She told lawyers on both sides to file written briefs by early Thursday.
When Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur explained that she did not expect Amtrak executive Ray Lang to make the comment at issue, Kendall quickly asked the veteran prosecutor, “what were you expecting him to say?”
The cliffhanger followed a day of testimony in which prosecutors painted a picture of Burke using his political clout to get the developers of Chicago’s massive Old Post Office to hire his property tax appeal law firm. The developers had become thoroughly frustrated with Amtrak.
Burke allegedly took advantage and was repeatedly recorded telling people he helped make an Amtrak board member’s daughter a judge.
Jurors also heard two of the most prominent Burke comments captured by FBI microphones and described in earlier court documents.
First, they heard Burke’s controversial remark that “Jews are Jews, and they’ll deal with Jews … unless there’s a reason for them to use a Christian.” And then they heard a frustrated Burke tell fellow Ald. Danny Solis (25th) that “the cash register has not rung yet.”
Woo boy that would be a shocker.
Related: Jurors see secret video of Burke pitching private law firm to Old Post Office developers, offering to help with thorny Amtrak issue (Chicago Tribune)
FBI agent tells how morning visit led to ex-Ald. Danny Solis wearing a wire on longtime colleague Ed Burke (Chicago Sun-Times)
Ed Burke's lawyer seeks mistrial during explosive day in court (Crain’s Chicago Business)
In frigid temperatures, candidates line up to submit petitions for March 19 primary (Chicago Tribune)
Bundled up against frigid temperatures, dozens of candidates for state and federal offices, some represented by surrogates, lined up outside the Illinois State Board of Elections office on Monday to file petitions for the March 19 primary ballot.
Waiting with stacks of signatures in an otherwise barren strip mall before the state’s election authority opened its doors at 8 a.m. were hopefuls for Congress and state legislative seats, as well as various judgeships.
Submitting petitions on the first day of the weeklong filing period makes candidates eligible for the top ballot position in their race. If they’re in line during the closing minutes on the last day for filing next Monday, they take part in a lottery to appear last on the ballot. Political lore holds that candidates whose names appear first or last in a crowded field gain a slight advantage.
Up for election and reelection are all 118 Illinois House seats, 23 of the Illinois Senate’s 59 seats, all 17 congressional seats and 77 judicial seats.
Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez waited in line to hand in his petitions in a bid to unseat veteran U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in the Democratic primary.
On the Republican side, what is expected to be one of the most competitive congressional primaries began to take shape as both U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro, who’s vying for a sixth term, and challenger Darren Bailey of Xenia, a former state senator who mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor last year against Democrat J.B. Pritzker, filed petitions.
Unlike in his statewide bid for governor, Bailey, 57, will be running in solid Republican territory in his bid to unseat Bost, 62, a Marine Corps veteran and former state representative. The 12th Congressional District covers all or part of 34 of the state’s 102 counties and geographically represents roughly the southern third of the state.
Related: Campaign 2024 kicks off as Illinois candidates file for March primary (Bloomington Pantagraph)
No primary pass for six Congressional Dems on first filing day (Chicago Sun-Times)
Candidates for 2024 primary brave cold for potential ballot advantage (Capitol News Illinois)
Citing Trump factor, former House GOP leader Jim Durkin takes himself out of Cook County state’s attorney race (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: Too often, low-turnout votes in spring limit voter's choices in the fall. Prepare for March. (Daily Herald)
Meta takes DeKalb Data Center online (Shaw Media)
The world got a bit smaller this week when the DeKalb Data Center began serving traffic on the internet for the first time.
Meta’s announcement came as leaders behind the global company sought to tout how its technologies and services make connecting people worldwide possible. Meta, notably founded by Mark Zuckerberg, is the parent company of social media giants Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, among others in its portfolio.
“This data center is now part of our global infrastructure that brings our technologies and services to life, making it possible to connect billions of people around the world,” said Brad Davis, director of data center community and economic development at Meta. “DeKalb has been an ideal location for Meta. It has excellent infrastructure. It has great access to renewable energy, a strong pool of talent and some incredible community partners.”
Meta originally broke ground on the development of its facility in 2020. It has since grown to more than 2.3 million square feet across five buildings, with two buildings now serving traffic, project leaders said.
Once completed, it is projected that the DeKalb Data Center will add more than $1 billion in investment to the city.
Gov. JB Pritzker said the state of Illinois has quickly become a “hub of data center expansion” partly because of recent legislative action.
“It isn’t an accident, though, that Meta and many other tech giants are seeing massive potential in our great state for data center growth,” Pritzker said. “Their decision to locate here is a reflection of the hard work that our General Assembly members and our administration have done to position our state to win this business.”
Related: Meta turns on the power for $1 billion DeKalb data center (Chicago Tribune)
SO FAR THIS WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
Two in Congressional Delegation Haven't Filed Petitions for Re-election
Pritzker Still Won't Say Publicly Where $160 Million for Migrants Coming From
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Opponents of Illinois' assault-weapons ban file emergency plea at U.S. Supreme Court (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Pritzker, Quad-Cities officials celebrate $65.7 million upgrade to I-280 bridge (Quad-City Times)
Illinois is back, Pritzker declares in message that could go national (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Temporary staffing agencies seek to block new state labor law (Capitol News Illinois)
Pending legislation would allow small modular nuclear reactors in Illinois. What are they? (Daily Herald)
Former GOP senator, third-party governor candidate to represent himself in corruption trial (Capitol News Illinois)
Former state legislator takes plea deal in sexual photos case, gets 90 days in jail (Daily Herald)
Marron named new Vermilion Advantage CEO (Danville Commercial-News)
Chicago’s City Council is tightening public access amid a slew of chaotic meetings (WBEZ)
Opinion: The ICC needs to restart Peoples Gas' pipeline replacement immediately (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Vallas: The mayor’s second 100 days show him failing to prioritize the needs of city businesses (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: State's rainy-day fund no match for pension deluge (Champaign News-Gazette)
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