Free Republic

Some Chicago officers want to get away from a demoralized police department. Now, the law also lets them transfer up to 5 years of service to suburban pension plans. Sean Jaycox, a third-generation Chicago police officer, was goofing around on his computer last winter. He started looking at Florida police departments that hire cops from other states but don’t make them go through a training academy again. “I threw an application in for fun, and here I am now,” Jaycox says of his new job as a Fort Lauderdale cop. “I’m only 24, no wife, no kids,” he says. “If...

WASHINGTON — Mayor Lori Lightfoot said GOP candidates for governor, making crime — especially in Chicago — central campaign themes should think twice about damaging the city’s reputation. “Vilifying the economic engine of your state just strikes me as a really foolhardy strategy,” she told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday. Lightfoot said there are “definitely productive ways in which a governor can be helpful. But anybody who thinks that they’re going to solve crime by sitting in Springfield and lobbing bombs obviously doesn’t understand the first thing about public safety.”

CHICAGO -- Five people were killed, and 33 others wounded, in shootings in Chicago over the weekend through Tuesday morning. The period was significantly more deadly than last weekend, when nine people were wounded and no one was killed. It was the first weekend in months in Chicago without a homicide. Most of the violence this weekend was concentrated on the West and South sides. Almost half the shooting victims were wounded in just four police districts, which reported three shooting victims each: The 7th District in Englewood, the 9th (Deering) in Fuller Park and Gage Park, the 10th in...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot allegedly called the owner of a high-end exotic car dealership an "idiot" during a heated meeting after the store was targeted in an armed smash-and-grab robbery, according to a report. Lightfoot allegedly "got into a fight and walked out" of Gold Coast Exotic Motor Cars during a meeting with store owner Joe Perillo, according to sources who spoke to CWB Chicago. One of the sources told the outlet the mayor called Perillo an "idiot" as she left the showroom, though Perillo told Fox News he did not hear her call him that. "I’m not aware that...

Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday that she tested positive for COVID-19. Lightfoot said on Twitter that she received the positive test early Tuesday and will continue to work from home while following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for isolation. "I am experiencing cold-like symptoms but otherwise feel fine which I credit to being vaccinated and boosted," she said. Lightfoot also called on other Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19. "This is an urgent reminder for folks to get vaccinated and boosted as it's the only way to beat this pandemic," she said. Approximately...

Nearly 100 murder suspects in the Chicago area are enjoying the comfort of home — thanks to soft-on-crime judges and criminal justice reforms designed to keep defendants out of jail, according to reports. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said 2,600 defendants are under home confinement and electronic monitoring as part of the pre-trial program he runs. SNIP Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was stunned by the data.

Conservative CNN pundit Mary Katharine Ham slammed her network for its blatantly biased coverage in a series of Twitter posts that went viral. Ham, in response to criticism by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for saying that media coverage of the congressional baseball shooting was minimal. “He’s arguing the shootings didn’t get much coverage? Pretty sure they were a huge story,” Haberman claimed. She was wrong, and Ham pointed that out. “I lived a block from the baseball field. Under 48 hours, the news vans were gone. I was on TV, live from the...

A group of Chicago parents this week sued the city’s teachers union over its refusal to teach classes in person.The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted on Tuesday night to only teach classes remotely, arguing the rise in COVID-19 cases and an alleged lack of protective measures made it too dangerous to instruct students inside classrooms.Chicago Public Schools (CPS) deemed the action an illegal work stoppage and canceled classes for three consecutive days as officials negotiated with union leaders. CTU and city officials also filed competing labor complaints.The lawsuit, filed in Cook County circuit court, offers a similar view of the...

As suburban family continues legal battle for ivermectin, mother dies in ICU; father remains on ventilator Chicago News Kane County judge previous sided with hospital and denied Elgin's couple access to ivermectin by: Kelly Davis Posted: Dec 22, 2021 / 04:50 PM CST / Updated: Dec 23, 2021 / 10:39 AM CST ELGIN, Ill. — The family of a suburban man who is seriously ill with COVID-19 has filed an emergency appeal trying to force doctors to treat him with the controversial drug ivermectin. Sebastrian Abbinanti and his wife Maria both tested positive for COVID-19 last month. The Elgin couple,...

A group of Chicago parents sued the Chicago Teachers Union after the union voted earlier this week to delay a return to classrooms due to COVID concerns. Chicago Public Schools and the union have yet to reach an agreement on whether in-person learning should return amid the recent uptick in coronavirus cases caused by the highly infectious omicron variant. Friday marks the third straight day classes in the district were canceled. The lawsuit, filed Thursday night by attorneys at the Liberty Justice Center, alleges that the school closures constitute an "illegal strike" and violate the union's own contract. "CTU’s resolution...

People are moving from high tax Democrat-run states to states that are more welcoming to businesses and individuals. The way Illinois is run shows many reasons why.In Illinois, the legislature schedules adjournment by May 31st and their salary is $69,464 per year. They also get substantial pensions and other benefits with a few years of service. They also get an extra salary if they are a leader or head of a committee. The legislature is very generous to itself.This year, they are scheduling adjournment by early April so they can campaign. My guess is their opponents don’t get taxpayer-paid time...

Bond was set at $5 million for a man arrested and charged with the murder of an Illinois welfare worker who was stabbed to death while conducting a home visit Tuesday. Benjamin Reed, 32, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and unlawful restraint for allegedly stabbing and killing 36-year-old Diedre Silas, a state Department of Children and Family Services investigator.... ...Silas was allegedly conducting a welfare check on at least one of the children living in the home when she was attacked... ...DCFS Director Marc Smith said...Staff members decide whether to go alone, in pairs, or summon...

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) asserted on Wednesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) shared blame for the riot that occurred on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol. Stefanik, who serves as House GOP Conference chair, released a statement on the eve of the Capitol breach’s anniversary, thanking law enforcement for their work to control the riotous behavior but condemning Pelosi for ultimately being the one “responsible” for leaving the Capitol prone to attack. The New York Republican called it “unacceptable” that despite Pelosi’s nine-person investigatory committee — comprising seven Democrats and two of the most outspoken Never Trump Republicans in...

A police officer who was killed at a northern Illinois hotel pleaded for her life before a man allegedly shot her with her own gun after she was disarmed during a struggle, a prosecutor said. Bradley police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic and her partner, Officer Tyler Bailey, were shot on Dec. 29 while investigating a noise complaint regarding dogs barking in a parked car outside a Comfort Inn. Bailey remained hospitalized Monday and is “fighting for his life,” Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe said during a bond hearing for Xandria Harris. Rowe said during Monday's hearing that Harris' co-defendant, 25-year-old...

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said Monday he’s “not going to give up” trying to reach an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union that averts a districtwide move to remote learning amid a spike in city COVID-19 cases. “I visited six schools today, and our network chiefs were visiting schools across the city. And one of the things that we saw was just significant differences across schools,” Martinez told the Tribune before describing some schools that recorded low staff and student attendance and other schools with opposite experiences. “When I saw that today, it just, for me, confirmed that...

The Chicago Teachers Union voted to teach virtually rather than in the classroom, triggering a cancellation of classes Wednesday which the school district leadership warned would happen if the union vote passed. Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest school district in the country, resumed in-person learning Monday in conditions union leaders described as unsafe as the Omicron virus variant sent Covid-19 cases soaring around the country. The union held an emergency meeting Tuesday evening to hold the vote by its delegates (elected union leaders for individual schools) on virtual teaching and then poll its 25,000 members electronically. The vote was 73%...

A Cook County judge and her 3-year-old son were carjacked at gunpoint late Thursday night in Humboldt Park. Police said, around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, a 52-year-old woman was pulling into a garage of a home in the 1500 block of North Campbell Avenue, with her 3-year-old son in the back seat, when two men approached.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) said Monday he will not seek reelection after 15 terms in Congress. Rush told the Chicago Sun-Times he made the decision in the past several weeks and that it was a result of a conversation he had with his grandson. “I don’t want my grandchildren . . . to know me from a television news clip or something they read in a newspaper,” Rush told the Sun-Times. “I want them to know me on an intimate level, know something about me and I want to know something about them. I don’t want to be a historical...

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday endorsed freshman Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois against another sitting House Republican, bucking the advice of GOP leadership. Shortly after Trump's endorsement, Miller, who was left without a seat after the state's redistricting process, announced she would run in the state's newly drawn 15th District, where GOP Rep. Rodney Davis is seeking reelection. "President Donald Trump inspired me to run in 2020 because our country needs principled conservatives in Congress who always put America First," Miller said in a statement on Saturday. "Today, President Trump is endorsing me because I am a conservative fighter...

CHICAGO (CBS) — At least three people are dead and 14 are injured in weekend shootings across the city. One of the victims was under the age of 18. The first homicide of the weekend happened around 8:11 p.m. Friday in Gresham. An 18-year-old man was walking in the 7900 block of South Parnell when he was shot in the neck by an unknown offender, according to police. The victim was transported to Saint Bernard Hospital where he was pronounced dead. In other shootings since 5 p.m. Friday: At 5:57 Friday, a 24-year-old male was standing in front of a...