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TexasTowelie's Journal'Inclusive' or 'impractical?' Limits on Kelly's role in fundraising at issue in race to lead state
‘Inclusive’ or ‘impractical?’ Limits on Kelly’s role in fundraising at issue in race to lead state Democratic PartyThe race for the reins of the Democratic Party of Illinois heated up on Monday with the release of a legal opinion contending that U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly may be ineligible to serve in the top state party post.
The congresswoman’s team called that “suggestion” both “false and offensive.”
Kelly released her own legal opinion conceding that, as a federal elected official, she would be barred from raising or spending money for state or local campaigns, something the Matteson Democrat suggested would empower other party leaders.
“I will not only make sure we follow the letter of the law, but have an inclusive, team-approach to all decisions that involve the party’s finances,” she said in a statement.
“This is something that’s at the core of how I plan to lead our party.”
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2021/3/1/22307793/robin-kelly-michelle-harris-illinois-democratic-party-chair-madigan-yarbrough
Lightfoot says she was 'sexually harassed in a workplace,' sympathizes with Cuomo accusers
Acknowledging she, too, has been “sexually harassed in a workplace setting,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday sympathized with three women who have come forward to accuse New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment.
The mayor didn’t say when she was sexually harassed in the workplace or by whom. Nor did she say what job she held at the time or whether she filed a complaint against her alleged harasser.
Top aides offered no further details on the mayor’s remarks.
Lightfoot simply used her personal experience to explain why she feels a personal connection to three women who have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment and why she believes this “Me, too” moment cannot be ignored.
“Every woman who has been sexually harassed in a workplace setting, as I have been, understands how difficult it is for a woman to come forward and to speak her truth,” the mayor said.
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2021/3/2/22309938/lightfoot-sexually-harassed-workplace-cuomo-allegations-victims
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson discharged from rehab after 3 weeks; had been unable to walk after
Source: Chicago Sun Times
The Rev. Jesse Jackson was discharged Tuesday from rehab at the Northwestern-affiliated Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, where he had spent over three weeks, following an undisclosed illness and surgery.
The 79-year-old founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, who was hospitalized for eight days in January, disclosed he had been unable to walk when transferred to rehab on Feb. 6.
“When I entered the rehab center, I was unable to walk. Today, I walked out returning home, and work strengthened. I look forward to returning to work to continue to make a difference in racial injustices, and I look forward to the next march,” said the civil rights leader.
“Thank you, with an abundance of appreciation and gratitude to the Ryan Rehab staff. They are the best. The doctors, medical team, and therapist have provided me a healthy recovery.”
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/3/2/22310311/civil-rights-leader-rev-jesse-jackson-discharged-rehab-3-weeks-had-been-unable-walk-illness-surgery
Full title: Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson discharged from rehab after 3 weeks; had been unable to walk after illness, surgery
A hidden secret over a century ago, the Underground Railroad ran through Central Illinois
In the early morning of Jan. 16, 1848, Albert Greene of the Mount Hope settlement in McLean County was celebrating his sixth birthday by battling a case of the measles. Feverish and restless, he thrashed and sweated his way into a semi-sleep when unusual activity in the house's kitchen jolted him fully awake. He heard hushed conversation and the shuffling of many feet, and he smelled coffee brewing and meat frying.
Greene was awakened to hear the sound of wheels outside his home's front door. He heard people passing back and forth between the house and the covered wagon that had pulled up. Then the wagon pulled away and the house was silent again.
The Greene family's early-morning visitors were escaped slaves, probably from Mississippi or Louisiana. His father, an abolitionist who had relocated to the Midwest from New England, had received word to expect two fugitives who would need transport to Tremont, the next "depot" on the Underground Railroad that ran through central Illinois.
According to John Ackerman, Tazewell County clerk and recorder of deeds, an estimated 800 slaves passed through Tazewell on their way to Canada between the late 1840s and the end of the Civil War. The main pathway of the Underground Railroad, a secretive network of citizen volunteers, entered Tazewell County near Delavan, passed through Tremont and Morton, and circumvented Washington en route to Metamora.
Read more: https://thesouthern.com/news/state-and-regional/a-hidden-secret-over-a-century-ago-the-underground-railroad-ran-through-central-illinois/article_2962723d-cc22-5a2c-9db3-6a8057dafcef.html
'Safety Net' Hospitals That Often Treat Chicago's Most Vulnerable Communities Face Dire Financial
‘Safety Net’ Hospitals That Often Treat Chicago’s Most Vulnerable Communities Face Dire Financial StrainA new report underscores just how much small hospitals on Chicago’s South and West sides struggle financially, and what can be done to prevent them from closing.
These small so-called “safety net” hospitals tend to be staples in their communities. They typically treat low-income and elderly Black and Latino patients, and often don’t have enough money flowing in to make ends meet.
A new study commissioned by the Health Care Council of Chicago estimates that by 2024, a dozen of these hospitals could lose at least $1.8 billion combined. And that doesn’t even account for money hospitals lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they suspended money-generating surgeries and shifted patients to video and phone visits to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“We cannot do this for another three or four years and expect that we are not going to see the threat of more hospital closures, more job loss, while health does not get better,” said David Smith, CEO of Third Horizon Strategies and lead author of the paper. “This does not have to be our future.”
Read more: https://www.wbez.org/stories/safety-net-hospitals-that-often-treat-chicagos-most-vulnerable-communities-face-dire-financial-strain/09eb1a75-c471-49de-b14f-bd12cb743600
5 state corrections officers face charges in Lexington bar fight
BLOOMINGTON – Five Illinois Department of Corrections officers are due in court later this month on charges of aggravated battery and mob action related to a mid-February incident in Lexington.
Adam Deal, 38, of Pontiac; Jason Dyer, 43, of Cooksville; Adam Greenway, 29, of Flanagan; Nicholas Page, 25, of Peoria; and Gino Wendes, 24, of Kankakee, are due back in McLean County court March 19 for an arraignment following their arrests Feb. 25.
Lexington Police Chief David Belvery said they’re accused of starting a fight with three other men at about 11 p.m. Feb. 12 at Dat Bar on Main Street in Lexington. There were no serious injuries from the fight and the men were charged two weeks later. Belvery said they were with a larger group of about one dozen employees from the Illinois Department of Corrections in Pontiac.
Deal was charged with three counts of aggravated battery in a public place (Class 3 felony) and one count of mob action (Class 4 felony). Dyer was charged with five counts of aggravated battery in a public place and one count of mob action. Greenway and Page were each charged with one count of aggravated battery in a public place and mob action. Page was charged with one count of aggravated battery in a public place and mob action, and Wendes was charged with two counts of aggravated battery in a public place and mob action.
Read more: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/5-state-corrections-officers-face-charges-in-lexington-bar-fight/article_55f6807b-eb9b-58db-afde-04fd171b15f5.html
(Bloomington Pantagraph)
Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do?
Springfield officer on leave after barroom incident
A Springfield police officer is on paid administrative leave after an incident last month at the Blue Grouch Pub in Sangamon County, which is bordered by land under city jurisdiction.
Deputies were called to the Maple Street bar shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 on a report of disorderly conduct – someone needed to be removed. The apparent target was standing outside, drunk and holding a dog, when deputies arrived, according to a Sangamon County sheriff’s report. He told deputies that he was OK and planned on going home.
A bartender told deputies that the man, whose name was redacted from reports provided by the sheriff’s office, had been harassing a patron and throwing things. He’d refused to leave when asked, the bartender said, and had told customers that he was a city cop. A bar patron said that he’d called him names and tried punching him, but missed – he said he wanted the incident documented, but did not want to press charges. The bartender told deputies that she didn’t want to make a report, but she wanted him to leave. A customer also told deputies that the man might have a gun. Deputies went outside and spoke again with the man they’d seen earlier.
“I asked (redacted) if he was carrying a handgun in his pocket,” a deputy wrote in his report.(Redacted) immediately got upset with me and he began cursing and calling us names. (Redacted) also refused to remove his hands from his pockets when deputies asked him to. (Redacted) was placed in handcuffs for everyone’s safety and for refusing to comply with deputies’ commands. (Redacted) did not resist while placing him in handcuffs but he continued to curse and call us inappropriate names.”
Supervisors from the city police department and county sheriff’s office were called. No one from the tavern wanted to press charges, and so deputies uncuffed him and left him at the tavern with supervisors.
Read more: https://www.illinoistimes.com/springfield/springfield-officer-on-leave-after-barroom-incident/Content?oid=13233576
The officer later stalked the customer and attempted to intimidate the bar owner.
University of Illinois sued over sexual misconduct
Two former University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students are suing the University of Illinois for failing to protect them from a professor they say was violent and exploitative. The lawsuit, filed last month in the Illinois Court of Claims, alleges the university focused on generating income from Chinese students at the cost of protecting students.
The lawsuit outlines claims that are part of another lawsuit the former students filed in September 2019 against former UIUC professor Gary Gang Xu. Both lawsuits allege that he raped and assaulted a former undergraduate student and forced another former student to do work for his commercial projects, for which she was uncredited and unpaid. The 2019 lawsuit, which is pending in federal court in Urbana, also claimed that the university had a financial incentive to keep what it knew about allegations against Xu quiet. The women now seek about $11.7 million from the U of I board of trustees for pain and suffering, unpaid wages and attorney fees.
Robin Kaler, a spokesperson for UIUC, said the university was aware of the most recent lawsuit but could not comment on its contents. "The university investigates and takes appropriate action whenever conduct is reported that may jeopardize or impact the safety or security of our students or others," Kaler said in an emailed statement. A lawyer representing Xu did not return repeated requests for comment by deadline. Xu denied sexual assault allegations reported by The Daily Illini student newspaper in 2018.
The 2021 lawsuit claims the university failed to investigate claims of sexual harassment and assault in a timely and adequate manner. Xingjian Sun, the plaintiff who detailed an abusive relationship with the professor, reported Xu's behavior to UIUC on multiple occasions. But she rescinded the claims shortly after "as is typical of a victim of domestic violence ... to protect her safety after Xu beat her and threatened to hurt her and her family if she did not," the lawsuit reads.
Read more: https://www.illinoistimes.com/springfield/u-of-i-sued-over-sexual-misconduct/Content?oid=13235591
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