Free Republic

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...

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...

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...

CHICAGO -- Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday that President Donald Trump and his allies in Illinois are partly to blame for the coronavirus spike in the state. Pritzker spoke to CNN's "State of the Union" the same day health officials announced 4,245 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 additional deaths. "He's modeling bad behavior. He doesn't wear a mask in public. He has rallies where they don't encourage people to wear masks in public," Pritzker said. "But it is the president's allies in our state, all across the state, who are simply saying to people, 'Don't pay any attention...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is considering a $94 million property tax increase, layoffs for more than 300 city workers and a gas tax hike as part of her plan to close a $1.2 billion budget deficit, sources told the Tribune. Lightfoot also is considering about $500 million in refinancing city debt to help close the deficit, sources said.

Chicago’s murder rate is currently about 50% above what it was at this time last year according to data released by the Chicago Police Department. Chicago has seen a rise in murder cases, not just compared to the previous year but compared to the previous four years, according to figures released by the Chicago Police Department.The CPD regularly posts statistics about crime in the city, both week to week and year to year. A look at recent stats shows that murder has risen in the city, doubling in the first week of October from the previous week with 15...

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is using electronic billboards on city property to honor Breonna Taylor following protests in Chicago this week in response to her fatal shooting by police in Louisville, saying the campaign on signs alongside local expressways is not politically motivated despite some aldermanic criticism.(snip) n a statement, the mayor’s office likened the Taylor messages to public service announcements the city posts on the digital billboards. “This week, the city’s social media channels and electronic billboards are honoring the life of Breonna Taylor and countless other victims of systemic injustice with the display #SayHerName,” the statement reads in...

I keep seeing on Facebook that the economic carnage is not the fault of Lightfoot or Gov Fat Boy per libs because it was done in the name of "safety". That its the virus that did it. I do not understand that line of thinking nor willing to figure out where they think that is correct. Its insane. I argue back with no luck.

On June 11, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot held a news conference with new Chief of Police David Brown. She was livid. She announced that she had been contacted by the office of Congressman Bobby Rush and presented with videos recorded on a night of rioting following anti-police protests at the end of May over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The videos revealed thirteen policemen in Rush’s office, two dozing, others making coffee and preparing popcorn. Bobby Rush, indignant and upset, spoke as well. He castigated the officers for their having had “unmitigated gall” to make themselves coffee and...

By Monday morning ABC 7 reported the numbers had risen to 51 shot, 12 fatally. The Chicago Sun-Times reported 53 were shot, 11 fatally. ABC 7 notes four people were shot, one fatally, in Englewood just before 4 p.m. Sunday. The victims were sitting on a porch when a passing vehicle stopped and two people jumped out and began shooting. A 35-year-old man was shot in the head and killed, while a 26-year-old woman, 17-year-old boy, and 60-year-old man were all shot and wounded. An 86-year-old man was shot dead in West Pullman Sunday. His body was discovered about 6...

In Illinois Republican Party v. Pritzker, (7th Cir., Sept. 3, 2020), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by the Illinois Republican Party that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker's COVD-19 Order limiting gatherings (including political gatherings) to 50 people is unconstitutional because there is an exemption from the limit for religious services. The court, denying a preliminary injunction, said in part: A careful look at the Supreme Court’s Religion Clause cases, coupled with the fact that EO43 is designed to give greater leeway to the exercise of religion, convinces us that the speech that accompanies religious exercise has a...

More than 270 workers are set to lose their jobs at the award-winning chef's restaurants this month due to the coronavirus. CHICAGO, IL — Hundreds of workers at Iron Chef Stephanie Izard's restaurants in Chicago are set to lose their jobs later this month. The companies that operate Izard's Girl & The Goat, Duck Duck Goat and Little Goat Diner notified Illinois officials in July that each plan to lay off dozens of restaurant workers starting Sept. 20. According to notices filed with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, 96 employees at Little Goat Diner face permanent layoffs,...

Chicago police on Tuesday released surveillance video asking for the public's help in identifying a group of people who broke in and ransacked a store on the city's West Side back in May. Video showed dozens of people swarming the West Chicago Avenue business, which sold electronics among other items, around 1:45 p.m. on May 31. Many were captured taking whatever merchandise they could find over a roughly 25-minute period. At least one person violently kicked and shattered a protective covering under a counter that housed additional items. The aftermath of the looting spree saw the store looking like a...

In the early hours of Aug. 10, caravans from across the city ransacked high-end stores in and around downtown after rumors circulated on social media that Chicago police had shot and killed a 15-year-old Black boy on the South Side. Police did shoot 20-year-old Latrell Allen, who is Black, the day before. Police allege Allen fired gunshots at them, but officers were not equipped with body-worn cameras, and no other footage of the incident has been made available. Allen is expected to recover. Images of people walking in and out of department stores with their hands full of products transfixed...

Six people were shot, including one who died at the scene, as they ate outside a restaurant in Chicago, according to the city Fire Department.

Chicago police have arrested and charged a man wanted or robbing and attacking an 85-year-old woman in a parking garage near the Magnificent Mile. Tony Davis, 45, of Chicago, is now facing felony charges of aggravated battery of a victim over 60 and robbery stemming from the attack Tuesday morning. Police say he grabbed the woman’s purse, threw her to the ground and dragged her a few feet before running off. The woman suffered a head injury as a result. Davis was arrested Friday when he was stopped for violating CTA rules. SNIP

It makes sense that not a word was spoken at the Democratic National Convention about the riots, looting, and mayhem that have ravaged some of our major cities. To denounce Antifa and Black Lives Matter would have been to denounce the Democrats’ own base. And while many a Democratic mayor is embracing the idea of defunding the police, they’ve had no hesitation calling the police to protect themselves. Citing the need for her and her family to live in peace and security, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had the police cordon off her block to prevent protesters from coming anywhere near...

A bid by several aldermen to demand that Gov. J.B. Pritzker deploy the Illinois National Guard to Chicago in an effort to reduce escalating violence and sustained protests amid the coronavirus pandemic failed on Friday at a special meeting of the Chicago City Council. Although Mayor Lori Lightfoot dismissed the effort by Alds. Leslie Hairston (5th Ward), Anthony Beale (9th Ward), Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) and Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward) earlier this week to force the special City Council meeting as a stunt and an example of “grandstanding,” 47 aldermen attended the virtual meeting, ensuring it took place. Veteran City...

For months now there have been calls in all the major riots around the country to defund the police as a solution in the wake of the death of African-American George Floyd. Now large numbers of Black communities are coming out against that ‘stupid’ idea. . The assumption by many is that these demands were only coming from within black communities, where many of the BLM protests occur. The truth is that many community leaders and locals from these do not want this at all. Many locals feel the only thing keeping their communities safe during these times is the...