The CTA announced it would be suspending all buses and trains Sunday evening in the wake of widespread protests that turned violent Saturday.
All CTA service will be suspended at 6:30 p.m. Sunday “at the request of public safety officials,” the transit agency said. They expect service to resume Monday morning but did not offer an exact time.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has 400 Chicago Police Officers & 350 traffic aides guarding the lakefront & beaches from healthy joggers, bikers, boaters, & dog walkers while riots & looting is taking place on Michigan Avenue
You can be arrested for jogging here but not for breaking a window of Macy’s & setting it in fire.
Her priorities & allocation of resources is completely wrong. In addition she has spend millions on signs, snow fence, towing cars near churches, photo opts, etc while ignoring protecting residents & businesses. She needs to focus on reopening safely to get the city up and running rather then having press conferences, doing stunts & playing games.
Mayor Lightfoot lit the wick for the rioters with these type of statements.
“I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump. It’s two words: It begins with ‘F’ and it ends with ‘U,’ ” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot on the president’s response to protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd.
Gov. JB Pritzker has lifted all restrictions on churches in Illinois after a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court, and has issued a set of guidelines instead.
SUPREME COURT UPDATE: Justice Kavanaugh has entered an order, requiring Governor Pritzker to respond to churchs’ emergency injunction application BY THURSDAY (tonight)at 8 pm.
At the same time, in another emergency petition arising out of the Ninth Circuit, handled by my good friend Paul M. Jonna and his colleagues, Justice Kagan has ordered Governor Newsom of California to respond, also by 8 pm on Thursday night.
This is a GREAT sign. And lightning fast. Most of these early-stage injunction petitions die without any response/action. This move by Kavanaugh and Kagan indicate strong interest by the Court to at least LOOK at this issue of reopening Churches BEFORE another Sunday passes.
Former Chicago mayoral candidate, community activist and businessman Dr. Willie Wilson sent a letter to Washington, D.C. to enlist the support of President Trump and Attorney General William Barr in the dispute regarding houses of worship.
In the letter, Wilson complained about Mayor Lightfoot and the citations the city issued and disorderly conduct charges filed against the churches.
Wilson said that if places that sell alcohol are allowed to be considered essential services, so should churches.
“The problem with the mayor and also the governor is that they put themselves above the law,” said Wilson. “And I understand this Sunday, they were supposed to give a ticket to the people who come to service. This is not China or the Soviet Union. This is America where we have rights.”
Wilson has offered to pay those fines.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh ordered Pritzker to respond to the churches by 8 p.m. Thursday.
Just hours before, the Illinois Department of Public Health issued a set of guidelines for churches, none of which are mandatory.
The guidelines encourage churches to avoid in-person activity and continue to hold remote services, or allow congregants to meet outdoors.
I’m sure it will be a surprise to JB but by pure coincidence, the government spent $ 9 million dollars to work on facilities that never opened. I paraphrase our last (of several) federally convicted felon Illinois Governor, “This is fucking golden.” I hope they have a cell big enough.
Illinois politicians have no shame. Long known that there is little difference between Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature. Still known as “the combine”. Just a big pile of corrupt shit. Many hope JB ends up as our third of last four governors in the federal pen.
Is it just a coincidence the contractor involved in Pritzker’s private construction projects got coronavirus contracts?
A detail tucked in a Fox 32 investigative report about Illinois contractors trekking across the border to build a new mansion at Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Wisconsin horse farm raised the eyebrow of somebody who knows how deals get done in America’s most corrupt state.
The “dwelling contractor” listed on Wisconsin building permits, Bulley & Andrews, is the same company caught up in the alleged “scheme to defraud” Cook County taxpayers by removing toilets from one of Pritzker’s Gold Coast mansions. The toilet scheme is still being investigated by the feds.
In April, Bulley & Andrews scored a taxpayer funded firm-fixed-price contract worth nearly $9 million to convert the former WestLake Hospital in Melrose Park into a COVID-19 acute-care site. The contractor also worked as a subcontractor doing similar work at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin. Both jobs got done, but neither site opened
The contracts were issued as part of a $1.7 billion effort spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which Bulley & Andrews hadn’t worked with since 1944. A Courthouse News investigation raised concerns that much of the work had been “awarded to contractors without transparency.”
Pritzker’s administration didn’t respond to a request for an interview about the state’s role coordinating the work on the alternate COVID-19 treatment sites with the federal government.
So, I didn’t get the chance to ask: Is it just a coincidence the contractor involved in construction projects (and toilet removals) at Pritzker’s mansions scored the lucrative work tied to the governor’s coronavirus response?
Sure, I could have snuck a question in at Pritzker’s daily televised pandemic updates, filed a series of Freedom of Information requests, appealed the administration’s almost certain denial and tried to convince the boss to pony up for an expensive legal fight in the name of “gotcha” journalism.
But really, that’s a waste of time. During the pandemic, I’ve learned from experience that the Pritzker administration dodges questions, ignores interview requests and blocks access to public information with vigor. The rest is details.
That’s why I wasn’t shocked over the holiday weekend when Pritzker put out a public statement disavowing a provision tucked in “Restore Illinois” legislation that would have limited access to public information.
Simple acts of reporting made it clear to me that the governor’s administration doesn’t need any help or extra time keeping secrets from the public.
Around the time we first learned African-Americans were the hardest hit by the pandemic, the state didn’t just deny my request for coronavirus death demographics.
An Illinois Department of Public Health department lawyer called to warn me that possession of data from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Officer (which I attached to my request as an example of the demographic information I was seeking) violated federal laws.
“You better call a lawyer,” the state lawyer yelled.
In April, my FOIA request for personal protective equipment invoices and an accounting of the state’s pre-pandemic PPE stockpile (and before Pritzker started blaming President Trump for a shortage) got denied like I was asking for wartime secrets. I asked for the documents because a public health department insider told me the state hadn’t replenished stockpiles in 2019.
The public health department’s denial cited provisions in state law prohibiting the release of “vulnerability assessments, security measures, and response policies or plans that are designed to identify, prevent, or respond to potential attacks upon a community’s population or systems, facilities, or installations, the destruction or contamination of which would constitute a clear and present danger to the health or safety of the community,” and a bunch of other things that I did not ask for.
All I wanted to know was what the state’s stockpile looked like before the governor put taxpayers on the hook for those secretly chartered flights to an overpriced PPE shopping trip in China while nurses shared masks as they treated early COVID-19 patients.
The administration could easily have answered those straight forward questions over the phone.
But the coronavirus crisis has taught us that upfront honesty isn’t how Pritzker governs.
It’s not the way big money deals always get done in Illinois, either.
Hey Lori!
Stop worrying about churches being open, guarding the lake front from joggers, looking for family picnics and let’s not forget enforcement of wearing a masks and let the police be police and stop the crime.
Ten people are dead and 38 others are wounded so far in weekend shootings in Chicago — the deadliest Memorial Day weekend since 2015, when 12 people were killed.
Despite the state’s stay-at-home order, the weekend’s death toll has already surpassed last year’s holiday weekend, when seven people were killed and 34 were injured during the period from 5 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Tuesday.
In 2018, seven people died and 30 others were wounded. In 2017, six people were killed and 44 others were wounded. In 2016, six people were killed and 56 wounded.
At the beginning of Memorial Day weekend — the unofficial start of summer — Chicago Police Supt. David Brown announced opening a Summer Operations Center to centralize police resources in an effort to tamp down on summer gun violence.
Pastor Lewis said Christian pastors are under attack in Chicago and they need help: “All we are seeking is the same consideration and trust that is being tendered toward the liquor stores, abortion clinics and Walmart,” he told the Todd Starnes Show.
Courtney Lewis, the pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Chicago, was in the middle of his sermon when he heard loud banging on front doors. It was the police and they were denied entry into the sanctuary.
Chicago Mayor Lightfoot gave the brush off to President Donald Trump:
Mayor Lori Lightfoot had dispatched three squad cards and two unmarked cars filled with armed officers. A representative from the mayor’s office was also present.
Pastor Lewis said the intent was to shut down their Sunday services. It was “like the Soviet-style KGB,” he said.
“The only thing she hasn’t done yet is beat the doors down and arrest our members,” the pastor said.
Pastor Lewis tells the Todd Starnes Radio Show that the men of the church were instructed not to open the doors during the services — per protocol.
“Thankfully our doors were locked as a normal safety precaution we take each service to protect our members from the escalating gun violence in Chicago,” the pastor said.
A church usher, who is typically positioned outside the building during the services, saw the mayor’s goon force attempt to enter the building and began taking photographs.
Even more disturbing, an individual in an unmarked car with tinted windows was seen filming and photographing church members as they arrived to worship Jesus Christ.
“The mayor wants to educate everyone into compliance – which means intimidate,” the pastor said.
Rev. Lewis wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney John Lausch pleading for help and protection against the city’s Democrat mayor and her jackbooted thugs.
He said the church has gone out of its way to follow CDC guidelines by having online services, outdoor services and engaging in social distancing. All church members must also have their temperature taken before entering the sanctuary.
“We are trying to follow the laws of man as much as reasonably possible but when the laws of man conflict with the laws of God I as a pastor have a duty to follow the laws of God,” he wrote. “We will not be intimidated by this overhanded government bully, but we are requesting the assistance of our president and our Justice Department in correcting this grave miscarriage of the law.”
Pastor Lewis said Christian pastors are under attack in Chicago and they need help.
“All we are seeking is the same consideration and trust that is being tendered toward the liquor stores, abortion clinics and Walmart,” he told the Todd Starnes Show.
Michael McHaney of Clay County had this to say at the conclusion of the case he heard yesterday afternoon (Mainer v Pritzker) in the Clay County courtroom:
“Since the inception of this insanity, the following regulations, rules or consequences have occurred: I won’t get COVID if I get an abortion, but I will get COVID if I get a colonoscopy. Selling pot is essential, but selling goods and services at a family owned business is not. Pot wasn’t even legal and pot dispensaries didn’t even exist in this state until five months ago and, in that five months, they have become essential, but a family-owned business in existence for five generations is not.
A family of six can pile in their car and drive to Carlyle Lake without contracting COVID but, if they all get in the same boat, they will. We are told that kids rarely contract the virus and sunlight kills it, but summer youth programs, sports programs are cancelled. Four people can drive to the golf course and not get COVID but, if they play in a foursome, they will. If I go to Walmart, I won’t get COVID but, if I go to church, I will. Murderers are released from custody while small business owners are threatened with arrest if they have the audacity to attempt to feed their families.
These are just a few of examples of rules, regulations and consequences that are arbitrary, capricious, and completely devoid of anything even remotely approaching common sense.
State’s attorneys in this state, county sheriffs, mayors, city councils and county boards have openly and publicly defied these orders followed by threats to withhold funding and revocation of necessary licenses and certifications unless you obey. Our economy is shut down because of a flu virus with a 98 percent plus survival rate. Doctors and experts say different things weekly. The defendant cites models in his opposition. The only thing experts will agree on is that all models are wrong and some are useful.
The Centers for Disease Control now says the virus is not easily spread on surfaces. The defendant in this case orders you to stay home and pronounces that, if you leave the state, you are putting people in danger, but his family members traveled to Florida and Wisconsin because he deems such travel essential. One initial rationale why the rules don’t apply to him is that his family farm had animals that needed fed. Try selling that argument to farmers who have had to slaughter their herds because of disruption in the supply chain.
When laws do not apply to those who make them, people are not being governed, they are being ruled. Make no mistake, these executive orders are not laws. They are royal decrees. Illinois citizens are not being governed, they are being ruled. The last time I checked, Illinois citizens are also Americans and Americans don’t get ruled. The last time a monarch tried to rule Americans, a shot was fired that was heard around the world. That day led to the birth of a nation consensually governed based upon a document which ensures that on this day in this, any American courtroom tyrannical despotism will always lose and liberty, freedom and the constitution will always win.”—Judge Michael D. McHaney, Clay County court, Mainer v. Pritzker, argued May 22, 2020.
Thank you, Judge McHaney. You said it beautifully.
The Illinois House just voted for a $42.8 billion dollar budget. This budget actually INCREASES spending by $2 billion!!! In the midst of declining revenue during this financial crisis. To top it all off, it also includes a PAY RAISE for lawmakers. Unbelievable!!
Thank goodness our current State Representative Bradley Stephens voted against all of this.
✅ Increase Spending
✅ Increase Debt
✅ Get a raise!
Last night (or this morning) at 1:15 am while you were asleep how did the Illinois Democrats in Springfield address 20% unemployment, families losing their life savings and the financial strain of this pandemic? Did you think they might show empathy and vote to cut their pay (already near the highest in the country) 20% like many people have had to do to keep their jobs in the private sector? If you guessed that you are wrong. For the second time in 12 months the Democrats in Springfield voted themselves a PAY RAISE. Good morning!
After weeks of doing nothing, our “essential” state government late last night passed a budget that includes the following.
Includes a $1,800 pay raise for legislators.
Spends almost $43 billion despite revenues totaling roughly $37 billion.
The remaining budget hole is financed on THE HOPE OF A massive federal government bailout that I am sure the Feds will be more than happy to just hand out to a broke, corrupt state.
With the $5 billion in new debt and approximately $6 billion in a not yet set federal bailout, the state plans to spend $11 billion more than they plan to bring in.
And you all were complaining that that new math doesn’t work. PFFTT
“Americans seem to accept the restrictions on our rights to speech, religion, travel and commercial activities simply because the origin of those restrictions is a popularly elected person.”
Our Communities and YOUR Families deserve better!
Our Illinois Democrats just voted to give all the legislators a pay raise! This is the second year in a row they got a pay raise!. They are the fifth highest paid legislators in the nation while the state is the worst run state in the Union.
They also voted for a budget that is $2 billion more than last year. Indiana, though, just a day ago CUT their budget 15%.
It also includes about $5 billion more in debt.
Meanwhile, we are in an economic crisis! Over one million Illinoisans lost their job in the last 9 weeks. Small businesses – and large- are closing their doors for good. Many others had significant pay cuts. What the hell is the matter with these people?
Well, here’s the deal. They are counting on you forgetting about this by Novemeber. They are especially counting on the Democrats plodding along to continue to vote them back into office and others to be bedazzzled and confused by glossy mailers that lie about their positions to sway voters to vote for them again. They are counting on the special interests to fund their campaigns.
And – they are counting on a federal bailout from Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Casten. And they are counting on being out of office with their hefty pension before it all comes tumbling down.
The US Department of Justice on Friday intervened in an Illinois case that has the potential to invalidate the state’s stay-at-home order implemented by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker — while also writing to the mayor of Los Angeles to warn that a lengthy lockdown could be “arbitrary and unlawful.”
The DOJ filed a statement of interest in support of a lawsuit by state lawmaker Rep. Darren Bailey, who has sought to challenge Pritzker’s stay-at-home restrictions — challenging whether he can keep the restrictions in place longer than the 30 days allowed by state law.
“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor of Illinois has, over the past two months, sought to rely on authority under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act to impose sweeping limitations on nearly all aspects of life for citizens of Illinois, significantly impairing in some instances their ability to maintain their economic livelihoods,” the agency said in a statement.
Continuing, the DOJ said: “According to the lawsuit, the Governor’s actions are not authorized by state law, as they extend beyond the 30-day time period imposed by the Illinois legislature for the Governor’s exercise of emergency powers granted under the Act.”
Bailey last month won a lawsuit against the stay-at-home order, seeking to prevent the governor “from taking any action … which orders Darren Bailey to stay at home, or at his place of residence, as well as limiting his ability to travel within the state…”
The DOJ said that Pritzker, instead of responding to a motion for summary judgement, has sought to have the case removed to federal district court
“The Governor of Illinois owes it to the people of Illinois to allow his state’s courts to adjudicate the question of whether Illinois law authorizes orders he issued to respond to COVID-19,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division in a statement. “The United States Constitution and state constitutions established a system of divided and limited governmental power, and they did so to secure the blessings of liberty to all people in our country.“
“Under our system, all public officials, including governors, must comply with the law, especially during times of crisis. The Department of Justice remains committed to defending the rule of law and the American people at all times, especially during this difficult time as we deal with COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
“However well-intentioned they may be, the executive orders appear to reach far beyond the scope of the 30-day emergency authority granted to the Governor under Illinois law,” Steven Weinhoeft, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, said.
The governor has defended his orders, and has criticized Bailey for taking the legal action.
“It’s insulting. It’s dangerous and people’s safety and health have now been put at risk,” Pritzker said, according to the Associated Press. “There may be people who contract coronavirus as a result of what Darren Bailey has done.”
The statement of interest marks the latest intervention by the DOJ in lawsuits against state coronavirus restrictions. In April, Attorney General William Barr announced an initiative directing officials to review coronavirus restrictions to ensure that civil liberties are not being violated.
On Friday Assistant Attorney Eric Dreiband also wrote to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and L.A. County’s health director, warning that a longer-term lockdown “may be arbitrary and unlawful.”
Both Garcetti and Health Director Barbara Ferrer have suggested restrictions could be in place for months, with Ferrer saying that stay-at-home restrictions will be in place “for the next three months” unless a vaccine is discovered.
In the letter, the DOJ said that it “recognizes and appreciates the duty that you have to protect the health and safety of the residents of the Los Angeles area in the midst of a pandemic that is unprecedented in our lifetimes.”
“Governmental authority, however, is not limitless, and must be exercised reasonably,” the letter says.
“Even in times of emergency, when governments may impose reasonable and temporary restrictions, the Constitution and federal statutory law prohibit arbitrary, unreasonable actions,” it says. “Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”
Meanwhile, President Trump on Friday threatened to “override” governors who refused to allow places of worship to open.
Literally just 10 days ago this was the headline instead on a CenterSquare article –
“Pritzker Warns About Dangers of Crossing Illinois Borders.”
Illinois you elected a man who has ZERO integrity and has never heard the words “Lead by Example.”
I am sorry – but – the Governor is acting like a spoiled brat. The rules never applied to him as a kid obviously and he got away with everything. The man has ZERO integrity and has never heard the words “Lead by Example.”
No one in Illinois should take him seriously. And no one should believe anything that comes out of his mouth.
Ten days ago he says this – “”I am concerned because I think that in many ways that opening too early – or the potential spread of the virus in those states – will affect our metrics in Illinois,” Pritzker said during a video news conference from his home in Chicago. “So, I understand that people may cross over the border, but I think they should take into account the danger – the potential anyway – for the spread of the virus and their ability to carry that virus back over the border when they come back, bring it to their family and their community, affecting not only the health and safety of their community but also the ability of their region to meet the metrics we’ve set.”
Yesterday in response to the report on construction workers traveling to his home in WI from IL he says this, “”First of all they’re operating an essential function. Construction is an essential function. And second of all, they’re union employees that are going to do the work that they do. And I’ve never said people can’t cross the border to another state,” Pritzker said Thursday.
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