WBEZ [Chicago],
by
Patrick Smith
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/16/2021 9:20:01 AM
Post Reply
The leaders of Cook County’s criminal justice system are planning on resuming jury trials in February, after months of courts being in a near-total shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shutdown has deprived accused offenders of their right to a speedy trial and left victims waiting for justice. But the proposed reopening worries court employees who believe leaders are rushing the process and jeopardizing their health. (Snip) Sources say leaders are aiming to have the first jury selection happen on Feb. 16. And they say questionnaires were being sent out Friday to potential jurors asking about underlying health issues and other COVID-19 related concerns.
Chicago Sun-Times,
by
Frank Main
&
Fran Spielman
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/15/2021 11:36:46 PM
Post Reply
The number of police officers retiring in Chicago and other cities has soared amid a chorus of anti-police rhetoric that’s become increasingly loud over the past year.
In Chicago, 560 officers retired in 2020 in a police department that had about 13,100 sworn officers as of March, records show. That’s about 15% more cops retiring than during the previous year, when the number of retirements rose by nearly 30%. (Snip) The upswing in cop retirements in Chicago already is hurting the police pension system, according to Lappe. About 1,100 more people are now getting pensions than the number who are paying into the fund in Chicago, he said.
Fox32-TV (Chicago),
by
Sally Schulze
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/14/2021 11:33:41 PM
Post Reply
Chicago - As 2021 begins, the hotel business is fighting for survival. The Saint Jane, Moxy, Sheraton Grand, Chicago Athletic Club and even the famous Palmer House are just a fraction of local hotels closed right now. "You see a lot of hotels, especially in the downtown area, that are suspended right now. I think it gives you a sense of what the permanent damage could be," said Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging (Snip) At the same time, hotels continue paying property taxes even if they’re closed. Some downtown spots cough up more than $30,000 a day, $11 or $12 million a year.
Daily Mail (UK),
by
Chris Jewers
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/14/2021 9:00:15 AM
Post Reply
Belgian rioters attacked the king's car with the monarch inside in violent unrest in Brussels over the death of a black man in police custody who was arrested for breaking the country's strict coronavirus rules.
King Phillipe was travelling to the Palace of Laeken, his official residence, as protesters began to batter his BMW with projectiles. The vehicle quickly sped off guarded by the king's security detail.
More than 500 protesters, some of them holding Black Lives Matter signs, gathered in Belgium's capital on Wednesday following the death of the 23-year-old Ibrahima Barrie.
Barrie was arrested by police on Saturday in the city for breaking the
The Hill,
by
Lexi Lonas
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/13/2021 7:41:00 PM
Post Reply
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, stopped Trump from joining fringe social media platforms Parler and Gab after he was banned from Twitter, according to a report from CNN.
Kushner and deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino are said to have gone against other aides, such as personnel chief Johnny McEntee, to get Trump not to join other social media platforms, an outside adviser and an administration official told CNN. (Snip) Parler and Gab are platforms that have attracted some far-right users due to the companies’ lack of speech restrictions on their platforms.
WBEZ [Chicago],
by
Patrick Smith
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/13/2021 1:58:47 PM
Post Reply
Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday used the final hours of the general assembly’s lame duck session to pass a sweeping and controversial criminal justice reform bill that would eliminate cash bail, make it easier to ban officers from working at police departments across the state and allow for anonymous complaints against cops.
The legislation, passed Wednesday morning after hours of late night bargaining, was a legislative priority of the Black legislative caucus. (Snip) A coalition of Illinois police groups said the bill had been “rammed through” the legislature “in the dark of night.”
Nearly 20,000 people signed on as opponents to a previous version of the bill, compared to about 4,000 proponents.
Daily Wire,
by
Joseph Curl
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/13/2021 10:38:03 AM
Post Reply
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says to stem the spread of COVID-19, all Americans should wear a mask. The New York Times says if one mask works, maybe two will be twice as nice.
“Football coaches do it. President-elects do it. Even science-savvy senators do it. As cases of the coronavirus continue to surge on a global scale, some of the nation’s most prominent people have begun to double up on masks — a move that researchers say is increasingly being backed up by data,” the paper writes. (Snip) Of course, there’s a drawback: “We run the risk of making it too hard to breathe.”
NBC5-TV (Chicago),
by
Staff
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/12/2021 10:56:04 PM
Post Reply
A Chicago alderman said he wants the Trump Tower sign removed from the city's skyline and has announced plans to bring the issue to City Council following the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Ald. Gilbert Villegas, who serves as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's floor leader in City Council, said Tuesday that he plans to introduce an ordinance aimed at forcing the removal of the tower's Trump lettering.
Under the proposed ordinance, if someone is found guilty of treason, sedition, or subversive activities, their permit will be either denied or revoked in Chicago. (Snip) “The skyline has a stain on it and we want to remove that," Villegas told NBC 5
PJ Media,
by
Mark Tapscott
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/12/2021 10:39:53 PM
Post Reply
Focus on the Family (FOTF) President Jim Daly is heard by nearly seven million listeners on more than 1,000 radio stations in the U.S. every week, and, since taking the reins of the Colorado Springs-based ministry in 2005, he has become a prominent voice in American politics.Daly has a message for Christians who voted for Joe Biden for president (Snip) This is not a single-issue problem that Daly is raising concerning Christians who refused to support Trump’s re-election. Elections have consequences and not just on abortion. Becerra has argued that the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religious faith and practice applies only to individuals, not to institutions like churches
Bleacher Report,
by
Adam Wells
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/10/2021 11:48:40 PM
Post Reply
The 2022 PGA Championship will no longer be held at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
PGA of America President Jim Richerson issued a statement Sunday about the board of directors voting to move the event.
"The PGA of America Board of Directors voted tonight to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster," he said. In a phone interview with Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said the vote to terminate was made as a result of the events Wednesday when a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol
Washington Examiner,
by
Tyler Van Dyke
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/10/2021 11:42:14 PM
Post Reply
In the wake of the violent attack on Capitol Hill last week, at least three corporations have announced that they would suspend contributions to the campaigns of lawmakers who objected to the certification of Electoral College votes.(Snip)Now, Marriott International, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Commerce Bancshares, who donated to at least one of the nearly 150 lawmakers who objected, all said they are suspending their donations "to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy," according to Popular Information, a political newsletter that polled more than 140 companies which made contributions in the 2020 election cycle.
Deadline,
by
Bruce Haring
Original Article
Posted by
AltaD
—
1/10/2021 11:26:27 PM
Post Reply
Parler CEO John Matze said today that his social media company has been dropped by virtually all of its business alliances after Amazon, Apple and Google ended their agreements with the social media service.
“Every vendor from text message services to email providers to our lawyers all ditched us too on the same day,” Matze said today on Fox News.
Matze conceded that the bans could put the company out of business while raising free speech issues, calling it “an assault on everybody.” (Snip) And it’s not just these three companies. Every vendor from text message services to email providers to our lawyers all ditched us too on the same day.”
Comments:
If at some point in time proof of vaccination is required to do just about anything in this country, will lack of a vaccine keep you off jury duty?