Free Republic

Proponents and opponents of legalizing pot in Illinois are firing up their talking points after a proposal to legalize the sale of weed for recreational purposes sprouted up this week. Opponents of legalizing, regulating and taxing pot say they don’t care how much revenue it could generate for Illinois’ failed finances. Amendments to bills in the House and Senate this week would allow for the sale of recreational marijuana with a $50 tax per ounce. That would be on top of any sales tax. Supporters says it could generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year for the state. Democratic...

The purpose of Illinois campaign disclosures laws is to promote transparency and to permit voters to make informed decisions. While posing as a virtuous civic organization, the ‘Wilmette Friends’ are actively supporting candidates and opposing their challengers without disclosing their campaign contributors in violation of Illinois law. No one knows how to learn what expenditures have been made or where the funds were deposited. The League of Women of Voters, which has a lot in common with the Wilmette Friends (and the New Trier Caucus) is supposed to be nonpartisan, but in New Trier it would appear that the local...

I can't even go on my favorite sports board without being surrounded by libs. Just look at them all chomping at the bit for single payer. Its sick. So tired of it. Their hate for Trump and everything Republican is amazing. Rent free in their heads.

Illinois, one of the nation’s most populous states, could soon join the ranks of the limited few with recreational weed following the filing Wednesday of proposed pro-pot legislation in the state House and Senate. Democrats proposed identical bills in both chambers that would legalize the use, cultivation and distribution of marijuana and establish a framework for taxing and regulating the plant, potentially making the Land of Lincoln the next state to skirt the federal prohibition on pot. Senate Bill 316 and an amendment to House Bill 2353 would let adults 21 and over harvest weed and have up to 28...

[A]n undercover operation involving federal postal inspectors... discovered irregularities in applications for mail ballots. [T]he ballots were to be sent was a vacant lot... On April 3, 2015, a postal inspector posing as a letter carrier attempted to deliver the ballots. When the inspector parked near the vacant lot and exited the vehicle, Perry allegedly approached him and said he had been waiting for the ballot delivery. According to the criminal complaint against Perry, he then signed his own name to a form acknowledging receipt of the ballots and carried them into the nearby campaign office. “Perry admitted that his...

Barack Obama's name is revered in his home state. But the Illinois House has rejected making his birthday a state holiday. [Snip] The Republican floor leader says even Obama wouldn't want the cash-strapped state to give state workers another paid day off.

In 1817, German Baron Karl von Drais invented a prototype of the modern bicycle called a "velocipede" and nicknamed in English "hobbyhorse." Throughout the following years, mechanics modified and redesigned it, and by the 1870s a high-wheeled bicycle enabling greater speed had replaced the velocipede and could occasionally be seen on American streets as a novelty. During the latter part of that decade, Egbert H. Osburn demonstrated the first "wheel" in Quincy to dazzled spectators gathered in Pinkham Hall on Maine between Third and Fourth. As more bicycles began taking to the road, an 1881 edition of The Quincy Daily...

ROCKFORD - WARNING: This story contains graphic video of a shooting death. It was distributed to show that a security guard's actions in use of deadly force were justified. Viewer discretion is advised.The Metro Security Officer who shot and killed an armed bank robber after the robber pointed a gun and fired at him will not be charged in the shooting. The Winnebago County State's Attorney's office has determined the use of deadly force was justified given the life-threatening danger the bank robber presented. 34-year-old Laurence Turner entered the bank on North Mulford Road in the late afternoon of January...

Illinois Democratic Gubernatorial Hopeful Multi billionaire J. B. Pritzker The Tribune’s photo of JB Pritzker is, um, quite something…

Illinois pitches sales tax for Netflix, Spotify, other streaming services Joe Kaiser The city issued notice in November 2016 that it was again expanding its 9 percent amusement tax, this time to businesses subscribing to paid programming – a creative way to skirt federal law prohibiting taxing satellite providers the same as cable providers, the latter of which the city already taxes. By directly taxing businesses – such as restaurants or bars that subscribe to satellite TV for sports packages – the tax is imposed directly on the consumer rather than the satellite provider. This means each business that buys...

The fungus, a strain of a kind of yeast known as Candida auris, has been reported in a dozen countries on five continents starting in 2009, where it was first found in an ear infection in a patient in Japan. Since then, the fungus has been reported in Colombia, India, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Pakistan, South Korea, Venezuela and the United Kingdom. Unlike garden variety yeast infections, this one causes serious bloodstream infections, spreads easily from person to person in health-care settings, and survives for months on skin and for weeks on bed rails, chairs and other hospital equipment. Some strains...

Chicago man freed from prison, given $25 million. He spent his second chance rebuilding his old gang The top was down on Thaddeus Jimenez's shiny Mercedes convertible and opera music blared on the stereo as he and a gang associate drove around Chicago's Northwest Side looking for someone to shoot. Just three years earlier, Jimenez had won a staggering $25 million verdict for his wrongful murder conviction. But instead of building a new life, he used the windfall to rejuvenate his old gang, paying recruitment bonuses, buying guns and fancy cars, and even giving cash prizes to members willing to...

The top was down on Thaddeus Jimenez's shiny Mercedes convertible and opera music blared on the stereo as he and a gang associate drove around Chicago's Northwest Side looking for someone to shoot. Just three years earlier, Jimenez had won a staggering $25 million verdict for his wrongful murder conviction. But instead of building a new life, he used the windfall to rejuvenate his old gang, paying recruitment bonuses, buying guns and fancy cars, and even giving cash prizes to members willing to tattoo their faces with the Simon City Royals insigni

Alleging divestment is anti-Semitic depends on the conflation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Our critiques of Israel’s practices are not attacking people of the Jewish faith or heritage.

Illinois Is Prepared—for Zombies The state readies for an undead apocalypse while its financial situation grows worse. Gerald Skoning Illinois’s state lawmakers are busy these days, but not with trying to reform the pension system or improve Springfield’s dismal bond rating. Instead, they’re moving to designate October 2017 as Zombie Preparedness Month. This may sound like a joke, but it’s (un)deadly serious: A resolution adopted by the state House last month contends that “while a Zombie Apocalypse may never happen, the preparation for such an event is the same as for any natural disaster.” Residents are urged to “create a...

Federal law enforcement officials searched three facilities of heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar Inc on Thursday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney Office for the Central District of Illinois said, and the company's stock fell. The spokeswoman, Sharon Paul, confirmed that federal law enforcement activity was conducted at locations in Peoria, East Peoria and Morton. It was not immediately clear why federal agents raided the three locations. Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Scott said in an emailed statement that the company was cooperating with authorities. "Law enforcement is present in various Peoria-area Caterpillar facilities executing a search warrant. Caterpillar is cooperating," Scott said....

Reportedly Mob-connected Democrat Marty Moylan wants a $100 FOID card February 28, 2017 Back when Rod Blagojevich busied himself introducing all manner of radical gun control schemes, Democrat Marty Moylan worked as an Electrical Union enforcer. His job, among other things, involved getting Electrical Union workers "out of jams". He's also got ties to the Chicago mob, per the "Chicago Clout" blog. Marty Moylan later became mayor of Des Plaines. Now, the guy "that will tell you anything to get elected" has wormed his way into the Illinois House. Democrat Marty Moylan stands as one of those Progressive Caucus Democrats...

There’s a fun little food fight breaking out in the state of Illinois this week which is sure to have public worker union advocates spitting nails. There was a recent vote among members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union authorizing a strike if Governor Bruce Rauner did not cave in to their demands. In response, the governor set up a new website inviting citizens to apply for government positions.

A pending bill in the Illinois House that would create sanctuary zones for undocumented immigrants drew demonstrators from both sides of the issue Saturday to downtown Springfield. Rosanna Pulido of Springfield, founder of The Illinois Minuteman Project, organized a noon rally at the Abraham Lincoln statue at Second Street and Capitol Avenue. The rally was in opposition to HB 426, which would allow schools, medical treatment and health care facilities and places of worship deny access to state and local law enforcement officers who are enforcing immigration laws, unless the officers have a court-issued warrant. "It's absolutely ridiculous," ( Chicagolady)...

CHICAGO (CBS) — Politicians are pushing back against the planned closing of a CVS pharmacy within the next month on the west side of Chicago. WBBM’s Nancy Harty reports. State Representative Melissa Conyears-Ervin and other elected officials stood in front of a CVS store at Madison and Kedzie Sunday morning to denounce the move. Her husband, Alderman Jason Ervin, said the case was a travesty and that it amounts to theft. “We have enough challenges and problems in this community, and we don’t need to have the fact that our seniors cannot get their basic medicine anywhere in East or...