Free Republic

It's bad enough that four people died in a mass shooting incident at Chicago's Mercy Hospital last Monday. In addition to the perp, "[t]he victims were identified as Dr. Tamara O'Neal and Chicago police officer Samuel Jimenez. A pharmaceutical assistant was also shot and killed." "He had a very, very pleasant personality," Maldonado said of Juan Lopez, noting that his internship lasted for about eight weeks in either 2016 or 2017. No written records of the internship? Alderman Maldonado goes for the Sgt. Schultz defense: "I know nothing!" The alderman said the city runs the internship program and that he...

This doesn’t happen anywhere else on the planet,” said California’s Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom. “We stand alone in the world in the number of mass shootings," echoed U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. These were typical comments after an alleged shooter murdered 12 people in Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif. People have been acting for a long time like the United States is the world’s hotbed of mass public shootings. Following a 2015 mass shooting during his administration, President Barack Obama declared: “The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in...

Authorities were reporting multiple victims in an “active shooter” attack in the area of Mercy Hospital on the Near South Side that brought out a large police presence Monday afternoon. Emergency crews were called to near the hospital, 2525 S. Michigan Ave., about 3:20 p.m. There were “reports of multiple victims” in the attack, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a tweet. Fire officials called an emergency medical services Plan II, sending at least 10 ambulances to the scene, because of an “active shooter” situation, a Fire Department spokesman said. A hospital employee said she was in her office when...

Chicago Public Schools this fall recorded one of the sharpest single-year enrollment declines since the district’s student population began a steady downturn 16 years ago. The 361,314 students counted on the 20th day of classes this fall represents a reduction of 10,000 students from last school year. That’s a slightly smaller drop than two years ago, when enrollment plummeted by about 11,000 students from the preceding year. The numbers continue a long-standing trend that began in 2003, when total enrollment stood at 434,000. ... Years of falling enrollment, school expansion and choice patterns have left CPS with tens of thousands...

It took nearly three hours to rescue six people stuck in an elevator in Chicago’s fourth-tallest building early Friday. A broken hoist rope caused the express elevator to malfunction while guests who had just left the Signature Room on the 95th floor rode down toward the lobby. The elevator and two others have since been closed to the public while repairs are made and investigators figure out what happened. When rescuers scrambled to find the stuck elevator early Friday morning, there were no openings between floors because of the building’s blind-shaft style layout. The rescue crew had to hammer out...

Illinois last year enacted a Bail Reform Law intended to make bail affordable for poor people. Kim Geiger of the Chicago Tribune explained at the time of passage: …the new law creates new rights for people in custody at Illinois jails and aims to move away from requiring people charged with relatively minor crimes to post cash bail as a condition of their release. The legislation reflects a general consensus among criminal justice advocates, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx that the state's cash bail system is unfair to poor people. Under the previous...

It was never a question of "if." It was always a matter of "when." The seizure of a New York Times reporter's phone and email records has sent a chill down the spine of every reporter concerned about protecting his or her sources. That means every serious reporter — especially those in Washington who report on politics and national security. It is disturbing because reporters need to be able to do their jobs, unfettered. But absolutely no one should be surprised. First off, the Trump administration has been all too clear about its scorn for established press rights — with...

If Donald J. Trump decides as president to throw a whistle-blower in jail for trying to talk to a reporter, or gets the F.B.I. to spy on a journalist, he will have one man to thank for bequeathing him such expansive power: Barack Obama. Mr. Trump made his animus toward the news media clear during the presidential campaign, often expressing his disgust with coverage through Twitter or in diatribes at rallies. So if his campaign is any guide, Mr. Trump seems likely to enthusiastically embrace the aggressive crackdown on journalists and whistle-blowers that is an important yet little understood component...

The headline should have been: “Security Guard Apprehends Shooter and Saves Lives.” Instead, it’s another case of the police shooting and killing an innocent black man. Eyewitnesses say that at Manny’s Blue Room Bar in Robbins, [Cook County, Chicago] Ill., security told a group of intoxicated men they had to leave. One of the men returned armed, at which point shots were exchanged between them and armed security guards. One of the guards, Jemel Roberson, 26, managed to restrain one of the gunmen. From WGN9: “He had somebody on the ground with his knee in back with his gun in...

A police officer mistakenly shot and killed a security guard at a bar in Chicago's south suburbs early Sunday morning, Chicago’s Fox 32 reported. Witnesses said a security guard told a group of "drunk men" to leave a Robbins bar around 4 a.m. An armed suspect later came back inside the bar and opened fire, WGN-TV reported, citing witnesses. Armed security guards returned fire, the report said. One the guards -- Jemel Roberson, 26 -- apprehended the suspect outside, witnesses said. Roberson then requested help from Midlothian Police, the Cook County Sheriff's Office said. A witness told the station that...

Book by wife of ex-U.S. president details ups and downs of marriage, political life

An avowed Nazi running as a Republican lost a House race in suburban Chicago on Tuesday. Arthur Jones, who called the Holocaust "the biggest, blackest lie in history" and described himself as a former leader of the American Nazi Party, lost by a 50-point margin to incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski. Jones still managed to get more than 40,000 votes, according to official figures. The 70-year-old secured the Republican nomination in March, when the party did not bother to put up any other candidate in the heavily-Democratic congressional district. Jones's primary win was a major embarrassment for party leaders. They disavowed...

Lauren Underwood has won the 14th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating challenger Randy Hultgren, according to returns as reported by the Associated Press. Underwood is a registered nurse and health policy expert. Her top causes as a candidate are access to quality health care for all Americans, the presence of high-paying jobs and a strong local economy, and maintaining the safety and security of northern Illinois families. Hultgren has been the 14th District congressman since 2011. Underwood was endorsed by former President Barack Obama and supported by a Democratic super PAC. The flipping of the 14th...

The Fox News Decision Desk has determined that in Illinois, Democratic billionaire J.B. Pritzker will unseat Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. He’ll become the richest governor in U.S. history.

The Republican Jewish Coalition is calling for the resignation of seven Democratic members of Congress whom it claims are "connected" to controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The group describes him as a "known anti-Semite." The lobbying group on Tuesday called for the following lawmakers to step down: Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Maxine Waters, D-Calif.; Danny Davis, D-Ill.; Andre Carson, D-Ind.; Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.; and Al Green, D-Texas.

She beat Donald J. Trump last time. At least, by the popular vote. Can she do it again this time, for real? Hillary Clinton may be gearing up for a third run for president of the United States. Even as a two-time loser, she could be the Democratic Party’s best chance of ending the Trump presidency

Underwood’s fraud was busted by a local newspaper, The Kane County Reporter, which would probably get a Pulitzer of the fraud had been on the part of a Republican. We will watch and wait to see if this outstanding work of a local paper gets any such recognition. The entire article should be read to take in the depth of the phoniness. It’s clear from the lede paragraph onward that Underwood put aside the actual practice nursing in favor of left wing politics:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel praised President Donald Trump for condemning anti-Semitism in the wake of the deadly synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. Israel’s U.S. ambassador, Ron Dermer, also lauded Trump, citing the president’s prepared remarks made at a rally Saturday in Illinois hours after the attack, which killed 11. In a message sent to the Jewish community of Pittburgh on Sunday, Netanyahu said the Jewish people are “blessed” to have “many friends around the world who reject and fight anti-Semitism.” He wrote: “I want to express my appreciation to President Trump for unequivocally condemning this heinous crime and for...

Finally, here are my more extended observations and comments from my family's attendance at the Trump rally in Southern Illinois, on 10/27/2018. I'll hit a few high points, but not spend a lot of time on what the President said -- here is a link where you can watch, yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl4k_fH8Vk8 My intent is more to let people who've not been to one of these rallys "see" what they are like, or for those who've attended in the past, maybe see how they have evolved or in what ways this rally may have been a bit unique. I also take...

Washington, D.C. – Today the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund announced its endorsement of Representative Rodney Davis for re-election in Illinois’13th Congressional District. “Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund is pleased to endorse Congressman Rodney Davis, a stalwart advocate for the unborn with a 100 percent pro-life voting record,” said former Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, SBA List’s Vice President of Government Affairs. “Rep. Davis has co-sponsored legislation to stop late-term abortions after five months of pregnancy, protect babies who survive failed abortions, and to get taxpayers out of the abortion business. His opponent, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, is an extremist backed...