Free Republic

many of today’s young people neither understand nor respect the importance of property rights in a free society.. ... Philadelphia .. at least 30 police officers have been injured in the violent unrest, while dozens of people have been arrested for rioting or vandalism. Mobs have descended on Walmart and rushed out carrying TVs, while other agitators ransacked Footlocker for new sneakers. The full number of businesses ravaged by the destruction is increasing and still being tallied. ... This latest outbreak simply adds to the thousands of businesses, from Chicago to Minneapolis and beyond, that have been rioted, ransacked, burned...

CHICAGO, IL — Two sisters are charged with attempted murder after police allege they attacked a store employee and one sister stabbed him 27 times after they were asked to wear a mask, Chicago police said. The 32-year-old store worker was in critical condition following the Sunday attack. Police said the two sisters entered a small West Side store in the 3200 block of West Roosevelt Road around 6 p.m. Sunday and were greeted by an employee, who asked them to put on a mask and use hand sanitizer, according to Sun-Times Media Wire. Police said surveillance footage showed Jessica...

A 47-year-old man known as a “human crime wave” was sentenced to life without parole Wednesday for fatally shooting a high-ranking Chicago police officer. A judge ordered the man, Shomari Legghette, to serve a “natural life sentence” in connection with the 2018 murder of Commander Paul R. Bauer, 53, the Cook County State Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “Justice was served today,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted Wednesday. “But it may be little comfort to the wife and daughter who lost the centerpiece of their lives and mourn Paul Bauer’s absence every day.”

Some Cook County residents will be hearing from Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on why the former prosecutor thinks state’s attorney Kim Foxx’s progressive vision is the right choice for voters this November. In a robocall scheduled to be sent out this week, the U.S. senator from California ramps up her February endorsement of the Democratic incumbent and defends the county’s top prosecutor’s record in reforming criminal justice, Foxx’s campaign announced Wednesday. She portrays Foxx as a bulwark against Republican President Donald Trump’s policies, which the state’s attorney’s office has sued the administration over, in a bid to parlay...

Kane County Judge Kevin Busch granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the enforcement of an indoor dining ban at FoxFire restaurant in Geneva.. Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health is asking the Illinois Second District Appellate Court to reverse a decision by Kane County Judge Kevin Busch granting a temporary restraining order to prevent the enforcement of an indoor dining ban at FoxFire restaurant in Geneva. In their appeal, Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health ask for the order to be vacated and for the temporary restraining order to be dissolved. The appeal...

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” that Republicans would “regret” confirming Amy Coney Barrett as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Co-host Sunny Hostin said, “Rahm, Amy Coney Barrett is now Justice Barrett having been officially sworn in as the newest Supreme Court justice after what many Democrats are calling an illegitimate process. Minority Leader Schumer is saying Republicans will regret her confirmation. Do you think they will?”

After Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday announced that new coronavirus restrictions will go into effect in the city of Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on the governor to reconsider, saying she is concerned that the new mitigations could have dire consequences for already struggling businesses. “I'm not sure that we're reaching the right people with the restrictions that are going to be imposed by the state and that's my concern,” she said. Speaking on PBS’ “NewsHour,” Lightfoot said she was “very concerned” about the new regulations, warning they could have a massive impact on businesses in the city that...

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly, a critic of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, bucked his fellow Democrats to endorse the Republican challenger in one of the most anticipated local races this November. Reilly’s decision was announced by Patrick O’Brien’s campaign, but earlier last week the 42nd Ward alderman’s political committee gave $1,000 to the GOP challenger’s political war chest. Reilly also sent text messages and calls touting his endorsement to his ward’s residents. “Alderman Brendan Reilly 42nd Ward Chicago and his constituents know, firsthand, the consequences of Kim Foxx’s failure to aggressively prosecute repeat gun offenders and violent criminals downtown,”...

My cousin who is a head nurse at a local hospital in Chicago suburbs gave me this info on covid. These are the text messages from her. Take her information as you wish. From what I've seen, there are very high false positive And negative rates. Also, if you test positive, then test again 3 days later and are all positive, that counts as 2 positives. What we can't dispute are the number of actual hospitalizations, which are definitely up in my area, but I'm very specious of anyone who has zero symptoms but comes up positive. The good news...

A West Side security guard was allegedly attacked by two sisters he told to wear masks and use hand sanitizer — one of the women holding him by the hair while the other stabbed him more than two dozen times. “It’s the complete randomness of this. It’s terrifying,” Judge Mary Marubio said Tuesday while ordering the sister held without bail on attempted murder charges. The argument at Snipes shoe store in Lawndale escalated Sunday when 18-year-old Jayla Hill took out her phone and began filming a guard who asked them to leave for refusing to use personal protective equipment, Cook...

Gov. JB Pritzker is ordering bars and restaurants in Chicago to halt indoor service and to limit gatherings in the city at 25 people starting Friday as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. “Region 11 [the city of Chicago] is now averaging more than twice as many COVID-related hospital admissions per day as it was a month ago, with a positivity rate that has almost doubled since the beginning of October,” Pritzker said in a written statement Tuesday. According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago has seen eight straight days of increasing cases and seven...

Dear Governor Pritzker, Because of you, restaurants are closing their doors permanently because they cannot survive another shut down. Because of you more homes will be foreclosed. More cars repossessed. More college funds drained. Hopes and dreams lost as we remain powerless in your hands. Because of you, another teen suicide was reported just yesterday because teens literally cannot handle the isolation. Do you know of these suicides? Or do you know and simply choose not to report on these because it doesn’t fit your political agenda? People like you, are why people like me, hate politics. It is never...

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who campaigned on a pledge to end Chicago’s “addiction” to fines and fees, is counting on a big increase in city collections from speeding tickets and other violations to balance her 2021 budget. And she wants part of the boost to the bottom line to come from speed cameras across Chicago issuing speeding tickets to drivers caught going as little as 6 miles per hour over the posted limit. Under the mayor’s proposal, as part of her 2021 budget package, anyone caught by a camera driving from 6 to 9 mph above the limit would get a...

<p>Here in Middle America, there are small towns where going a couple of miles per hour over the speed limit will get you stopped by the town’s lone police officer. These “speed traps� are dotted throughout the region as, many times, a significant portion of a town’s revenue comes from issuing these tickets.</p>

Is Joe Biden the “big guy” engaged in foreign influence peddling, about to transform the American Way into the Chicago Way if he’s elected president? That’s for you to decide. You’re a voter. But being properly skeptical isn’t the same as having complete lack of curiosity about Hunter Biden’s dealings and about whether his father, who was vice president and who might become president, used political leverage to help. Yet many outlets covering Biden’s campaign don’t seem that curious. The story about damaging emails purportedly to and from Hunter Biden on questionable foreign business deals simmered initially on the pages...

Mayor Proposes Cutting 614 Positions From Chicago PD If Federal Stimulus Doesn’t Get Approved Holly Matkin Chicago, IL – Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has proposed a budget plan that includes eliminating over 600 positions within the city’s police department as part of an effort to offset the unprecedented $1.2 billion shortfall anticipated for next year. Lightfoot said that eliminating 1,921 vacant positions within city government would save a total of $106 million, WBBM reported. Over half of the jobs she plans to slash would be tied to the Chicago Police Department (CPD), which would see a loss of 614 positions...

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a business curfew will begin Friday in the city of Chicago. Citing a “surge” in coronavirus cases in the city of Chicago, Lightfoot said indoor bar service will be suspended and non-essential business will close nightly at 10 p.m. Liquor sales will end at 9 p.m. Gatherings will be limited to six people or less. The restrictions will be in place for two weeks.

With the Nov. 3 election looming, hundreds of women marched downtown Saturday morning to make their case against electing President Donald Trump for a second term. “This is the most crucial election of our lifetime,” organizer Gianna Gizzi told a crowd of several hundred who gathered at Federal Plaza in the yearly event meant to empower woman and encourage equality. “We’re marching for the people here and those who can’t be here,” Gizzi said. Though this year’s march paled in comparison to the 2017 gathering that drew tens of thousands, the rally also attracted first-timers, including Michele McGowan, who said...

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is ramping up her attacks on her Republican challenger just as a new poll shows the Democratic incumbent losing ground. Foxx also reported a fundraising boost from a couple of top Democratic donors. The incumbent argues that O’Brien is “pure Trump." Republicans say O’Brien’s rise in the polls shows voters are deciding what’s wrong for voters are “the disastrous policies of Kim Foxx.” Foxx’s 30-second ad describes O’Brien and President Donald Trump as “angry” Republicans who want to “‘lock em up’ regardless of evidence.” Foxx has gone after O’Brien previously for his role as...

Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro has had more than enough of his students’ means of protesting for abolishing campus police. Some of their violent tactics are reported here. Read his entire, open letter below.