Latest news with #OpenMeetingsAct
Chicago Tribune
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: Advocates condemn court decision on gender-affirming care ban
Good morning, Chicago. Chicago-area trans and LGBTQ+ community groups responded with disappointment and anger to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care. In the case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, three families with transgender children and a health care provider challenged Tennessee's law banning puberty blockers and hormone treatment for trans minors. The state has kept those drugs legally available for other purposes. Plaintiffs argued the ban violates their constitutional right to equal protection under the law, while Tennessee contended it is necessary to protect children. Chicago trans rights advocates said they're worried the ruling could push trans youth in other states to more dangerous, unsupervised sources of gender affirming care in states with bans similar to Tennessee. Despite the Supreme Court's decision, advocates stressed that Illinois continues to be a sanctuary state for young people and families seeking gender affirming care. Read the full story here. And here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including the latest in the debate on teen curfews in Chicago, layoffs announced at Columbia College Chicago and what to do this weekend in Chicago. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History Mayor Brandon Johnson announced he will issue a rare mayoral veto after aldermen granted Chicago's police superintendent the power yesterday to declare a teen curfew anytime, anywhere in the city. The highly contentious ordinance faced months of City Council debate before passing in a 27-to-22 vote. After the vote, Johnson, who had blasted it as 'lazy governance' and unnecessary, said he will issue the first mayoral veto in decades in a bid to kill the ordinance. Johnson called the measure 'counterproductive to the progress that we have made in reducing crime and violence' and said it will elicit costly lawsuits against the city. Mayor Brandon Johnson faced stiff criticism from a City Council opponent yesterday as he introduced an ordinance to implement a grocery tax at the city level. Johnson's administration has argued the 1% city grocery tax is necessary as a state grocery tax that sent revenue to municipalities ends. But Ald. Brendan Reilly accused Johnson of sneaking the ordinance's introduction during a meeting to avoid legislative pushback, in what he characterized as a violation of the Open Meetings Act. Iran's supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes yesterday and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause 'irreparable damage to them.' European diplomats prepared to hold talks with Iran tomorrow. The U.S. State Department said yesterday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review. What Jamal Williams remembers from Plano's Juneteenth celebration three years ago isn't just its record attendance — the organizer and former alderman said about 1,100 people showed up. Between the live band and fireworks, he was proud that residents of all races and political affiliations celebrated together. 'It was overwhelming. There was no negativity there,' he said. 'The police were getting along with people. People were parking, people were grilling, kids were jumping around.' Plano, a town near Aurora in Kendall County that's home to about 12,000, made history in February 2021 when it became the first municipality in Illinois to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday, officials there say. It has held annual celebrations ever since, until this year. Due to dwindling attendance and derogatory comments on social media, this year's festivities were initially canceled, Williams said. But some residents wanted the show to go on. So organizers decided to move the Thursday event to a church in Yorkville, just a few miles away. Columbia College Chicago laid off 20 full-time faculty members as part of planned cuts to academic programming, the school announced this week. Columbia has been plagued by financial troubles for years, with a budget deficit once expected to surge to nearly $40 million. The school's cost-cutting initiatives in December reduced the number of undergraduate degrees offered from 58 to 33. A nonprofit civil rights advocacy group called for hate crime charges to be brought against a woman accused of attacking another woman, who caught her defacing a painting of a Palestinian man on a mural in the Pilsen neighborhood. An auction that seeks to find a possible buyer for Pope Leo XIV's childhood home in Dolton has been extended a month while a federal judge declined to block the village from its own attempt to acquire the property. As state and local governments look to transition to clean energy, some Winnetka residents were disappointed the Village Council voted to extend by 20 years the village's contract with an energy provider supplied largely by a downstate coal plant. Whether Ryan Donato ever leads the Chicago Blackhawks again in goals won't matter. The scrappy forward is sticking around for the long haul, agreeing to terms Wednesday on a four-year, $16 million contract through the 2028-29 season. He will have an annual salary-cap hit of $4 million. The right sports movie can really do a number on you. It can maneuver around cliches, resistance points and aversions to string-pulling to win the big race against your more skeptical instincts. But it's usually not immediate. Movies tend to roll around in your head, half-remembered, for decades. And then it's there again, when you need it. Last weekend, for example. Last weekend, the 1979 charmer 'Breaking Away,' nominally about cycling but about much more, glided out of the mists of time to push Tribune film critic Michael Phillips up another series of hills on the second day of a three-day, two-night bike-packing trip Route 66 extends nearly 180 miles across the Texas Panhandle, starting in the ghost town of Glenrio, which straddles the border between Texas and New Mexico. About 20 miles east, the town of Adrian advertises itself as the route's midpoint, equidistant to Chicago and Los Angeles. The road passes vast farm fields, undulating grasslands dotted with towering wind turbines and sprawling cattle ranches before entering Amarillo, the Panhandle's largest city. At its western edge sits one of Route 66's most photographed attractions: Cadillac Ranch. Looking for something to do this weekend? We've got you covered with events in and around Chicago, from the 24th annual Chicago Pride Fest to Meltin' Margs and the Black Yacht Festival.
Chicago Tribune
18-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Mayor Brandon Johnson faces city grocery tax pushback as state levy expires
Mayor Brandon Johnson faced stiff criticism from a City Council opponent Wednesday as he introduced an ordinance to implement a grocery tax at the city level. Johnson's administration has argued the 1% city grocery tax is necessary as a state grocery tax that sent revenue to municipalities ends. But Ald. Brendan Reilly accused Johnson of sneaking the ordinance's introduction during a meeting to avoid legislative pushback, in what he characterized as a violation of the Open Meetings Act. 'They intentionally are leaving the public in the dark,' Reilly told reporters later. 'It is obvious the mayor is not proud of this ordinance because he tried to sneak it in without anyone understanding what it would actually do.' Moments after the measure was introduced — the first step in a typically months-long legislative process that includes committee discussion, full City Council votes and often opposition delay tactics — Reilly accused Johnson of hiding the measure with an inaccurate description. Reilly called the introduction 'a cute trick' by Johnson's Law Department. The two debated back and forth, with Johnson at points appearing to not recognize Reilly and Ald. Scott Waguespack as they raised their hands to speak. The mayor dismissed Reilly's claims that his corporation counsel was behind the alleged scheme. 'It was read into the record correctly, if you have an issue with the content or context, that sounds deeply personal, but it was read correctly,' Johnson said. Reilly responded that he would have sent the measure to the City Council's Rules Committee, a move that would delay the tax's passage by adding another layer of required approval. 'Well, what you would have done or could have done, you had an opportunity,' Johnson said. Reilly later cited the Open Meetings Act to argue Johnson was trying to avoid public scrutiny on the tax. And he continued to speak when he was not recognized. 'You have to recognize that,' Reilly shouted, his microphone off. 'I can sue.' The heated back-and-forth marks the official start of what is sure to be a complicated effort by Johnson to keep the tax going for Chicago consumers. Gov. JB Pritzker led the charge last year to rid the state of its decades-old grocery tax, arguing the regressive tax hits poor families hardest. The state tax will expire at the start of 2026. But Pritzker also left the door open for local governments to decide to implement the tax on their own, an offer around 200 municipalities across Illinois have already taken. Johnson's budget director, Annette Guzman, urged aldermen to implement the tax earlier this month. Failing to do so before the Oct. 1 deadline would blow an $80 million hole in the city's already unbalanced future budget, she said. After council adjourned, Reilly told reporters he plans to file a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General, saying the ordinance is now 'ripe for a lawsuit' should it pass. He said City Clerk Anna Valencia traditionally reads aloud the subject matter of the new items, and the obfuscation on Wednesday prevented him from using a parliamentary move to delay the legislation. A spokesperson for City Clerk Anna Valencia told the Tribune Wednesday that the clerk's protocol is to read aloud new items based on the language used in the mayor's transmittal letter to her office. A copy of the letter from Johnson regarding the grocery tax instructed her to introduce the legislation as 'an ordinance amending revenue-related provisions of Title 3 of the Municipal Code,' which was what she did during the meeting. Aldermen also passed a Wrigley Field security upgrade plan that involves $32.1 million from the Cubs, city and state. The team and city officials are hopeful the added safety will check off a final box for Major League Baseball and help land Chicago an MLB All-Star Game. The City Council also decided to grant St. Adalbert Catholic Church landmark status. The decision marks a decisive turning point in a long preservation battle over the closed Polish Pilsen church. Activists who want the church reopened were dismayed that the final landmark status only protects the church building and not other buildings on the property. The narrowed landmarking clears the way for the Archdiocese of Chicago to sell the plot to a nondenominational Christian ministry. Aldermen delayed consideration on an ordinance that would grant them the power to ban Airbnb's and other short-term rentals on a precinct-by-precinct basis. The measure would allow short-term rental companies to overturn aldermen's decision by collecting signatures of support from 10% of an affected precinct's voters.
Chicago Tribune
16-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Federal court filing seeks to bar Dolton from buying pope's boyhood home
A former Dolton village employee is trying to block the village from using taxpayer money to acquire the childhood home of Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. Lavell Redmond, who has an ongoing lawsuit against Dolton alleging wrongful termination in 2022, is asking a federal judge for a temporary restraining order. The motion, filed Sunday, alleges the village, in seeking to buy the home, is engaging in an 'endeavor with substantial cost to taxpayers with no compelling governmental necessity.' Mayor Jason House has said the village may attempt to acquire the home through negotiations with the owner, and has also raised the possibility of using eminent domain and going to court to gain ownership of the house at 212 E. 141st Place. At the same time, an auction firm is taking offers for the home, with a closing of bids at 4 p.m. Chicago time Wednesday. A reserve price of $250,000 was set for the home. Steve Budzik, a real estate broker representing the home's owner, said Monday the owner is open to a sale while at the same time considering bids being submitted through the auction house, Paramount Realty USA. 'Within the next couple of days we will have to see how this auction turns out and which direction the seller will go,' Budzik said. He said the owner of the home and auction house were not disclosing information about the level of activity or number of bids received so far. Redmond's motion states he isn't trying to block the auction from proceeding or a possible private sale of the home, but just the village's involvement. A hearing on his request for a restraining order is scheduled for Wednesday morning before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland. 'This is about responsible governance and financial integrity,' said Matthew Custardo, an attorney representing Redmond, in a news release Monday announcing the court filing. 'Taxpayers deserve leadership that prioritizes obligations — not optics. Pay your bills before you buy trophies.' Prevost lived in the home from his birth in 1955, and his parents lived there until they sold it in 1996. Since Prevost was named the leader of the Roman Catholic Church May 8, the house has drawn significant interest from onlookers, prompting Dolton officials to station a police car on the block. Dolton officials have not discussed a potential acquisition of the pope's home during an open Village Board meeting, nor have they cited the property acquisition exception to the Open Meetings Act in any closed sessions they have held. But village attorney Burt Oldeson said trustees are willing to expend village funds to get their hands on it. Redmond said, in the Sunday filing, that Dolton 'is in severe financial distress, running large deficits while drowning in liabilities' including pending court decisions and unpaid vendor bills. The filing says it is 'fiscally irresponsible for the village to divert any money' toward making what was called 'a novelty real estate purchase.' In his federal lawsuit filed after he was fired from his village job, Redmond alleges his First Amendment right to free speech was violated and that he was wrongfully fired from his job. Redmond worked as a code enforcement officer and also volunteered to work on the mayoral campaign of Tiffany Henyard, ousted after one term in office by Jason House. Redmond's lawsuit alleges he was fired by Henyard after talking with Daily Southtown columnist Ted Slowik in early August 2022. The column included information about Redmond's hiring by Dolton, which triggered a firestorm of controversy because of his status as a registered sex offender, stemming from a crime for which he served 24 years in prison. Redmond said he was fired immediately after the Southtown attempted to contact Henyard for comment on the story. The lawsuit was filed in 2023. Redmond also has a pending federal lawsuit stemming from a brawl that erupted at a Thornton Township Board meeting. The Dolton home was bought last year by Homer Glen-based rehabber Pawel Radzik for $66,000, and he told the Chicago Tribune that most of the home had been updated extensively since. Pawel listed it in January for $219,000 before cutting his asking price to $205,000 later that month and then to $199,900 in February. With the news in May that the new pontiff had spent many years of his youth living in the 141st Place home, the home was taken off the market, with the auction plans announced last month. Should any negotiations between Dolton and the owner separate from the auction break down, House has said they may use eminent domain, where a court ultimately could determine the amount that the village would have to pay, The lineage of the home prompted the owner to take it off the market, because the connection with Pope Leo threw a wrench into figuring out a potential value, Budzik said last month. In the complaint for a restraining order, filed Sunday, Custardo said his client is unemployed and has 'remained largely without income' since his termination by the village. The filing said Redmond has been looking for a financial settlement but that the village has said, in and out of court, that Dolton is in dire financial condition and faces massive settlements from lawsuits. A message left Monday with the village's law firm seeking comment was not immediately returned. The village's pursuit 'of a symbolic property while claiming indigency in court proceedings is not only hypocritical but risks irreparable harm by further depleting funds that may be necessary for judment satisfaction or service continuity,' the filing alleges.
CBS News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Hamtramck's suspended city manager escorted out of council meeting
Hamtrack's suspended city manager was ordered to leave a city council meeting after he attempted to attend as a guest. Max Garbarino was suspended during the May 27 meeting while an investigation is ongoing over the decision to suspend Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri. This was the first council meeting since the action was taken against Garbarino. He sat in the front of the visitor seating area at city hall, and walked out with a police officer escorting him after he was called out. "You are on paid administrative leave. You're not supposed to be here," was the announcement Mayor Amer Ghalib made during the meeting, before an officer walked over to Garbarino. Garbarino is among those who have sued Ghalib, Altaheri and city council members on allegations of corruption and a violation of the Michigan Whistleblower Protection Act and Open Meetings Act. The city council was on its regular meeting schedule for June 10, with an agenda that included utility pavement repairs, grant money for alley replacement and reviewing recent invoices.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission hosts first meeting ahead of major deadlines
The current membership of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission hosts an inaugural meeting. From left, Commissioners Monica Oldenburg, Kim Lowe and Bruce Bailey. At left is the seat for Commissioner Lorelle Mueting of Gretna. June 9, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission hosted its inaugural meeting Monday ahead of a fast-approaching July 1 deadline to set licensing criteria and an Oct. 1 deadline to begin issuing licenses. Emergency regulations will more than likely need to be adopted to meet the July deadline that voters approved in November, because of public hearing notice requirements for regulatory changes. Next steps remain unclear for the commission, which has a very limited amount of funds for the task. Commissioner Bruce Bailey of Lincoln, who separately chairs the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, said the goal is to come up with something to show the public by July 1 and seek feedback. 'That's where we are at this time,' Bailey told reporters after the meeting. ''Til then, we really don't know anything.' Bailey said his 'gut feeling, realizing what a short window it is,' is that the board will 'most likely' need to consider emergency regulations. Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Ben Swanson, who explained the typical rulemaking process to commissioners on Monday, said he would address the emergency process at the next commission meeting at 10 a.m. on June 26. The commission was still deciding on a location. It was not immediately clear whether the group would hold additional meetings before the July 1 deadline. Under normal rulemaking conditions, an agency or commission drafts guidelines and sets a hearing for public comment. The public must be notified at least 30 days before said hearing. If commissioners approve the proposed rules and regulations later this month, with no significant changes, the guidance will be sent to the Attorney General's Office for constitutional review. The governor has final say on the rules and regulations before they are filed with the Secretary of State's Office. If the commission makes significant changes, there must be another hearing with another 30-day notice. Much of the first meeting focused on administrative hurdles, including the Open Meetings Act for virtual and in-person meetings and support from the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services for budget control and human resources. Bailey and Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the group that led the new laws through the process to the measures' 2024 wins at the ballot box, described Monday's meeting as a needed 'step.' 'We have to take the wins when we get the wins,' Eggers told reporters. 'Today, having a meeting was a win.' However, Eggers cautioned that major questions remain about how the commission will find funds to work, the timeline for future regulations and how commissioners will respect what the people had in mind when they passed the new laws. 'We have always been committed to sticking in here and advocating and fighting and educating until the day that we see Nebraska patients who need medical cannabis as an option have it, that it's accessible to them, that it's safe for them,' Eggers said. 'That day is not here yet.' State lawmakers in May approved a two-year state budget with a $30,000 increase in the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission's bottom line for staffing related to any of the commission's shared duties with the Nebraska Cannabis Commission, for staff who might take on new duties under the medical cannabis law. Voters placed all three members of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission on the Medical Cannabis Commission. The governor changed the commission's members in recent weeks by choosing not to reappoint Harry Hoch, Jr., to the 2nd Congressional District seat, leaving just Bailey and Commissioner Kim Lowe of Kearney, as first reported by the Nebraska Examiner. However, lawmakers didn't approve creating a new budget line for the Medical Cannabis Commission the way they did when the Asian American Affairs Commission was created in 2024. Lawmakers also declined to pass a bill clarifying the framework within the Liquor Commission for medical cannabis-related spending and revenue collection. The result is an unclear system that commissioners started grappling with on Monday. Jacob Leaver, deputy state budget administrator, said spending from a Liquor Control Commission cash fund should be used for the 'bare minimum.' He suggested that the cannabis commissioners approve a 'subprogram' in the state budget, which can be done administratively but doesn't equate to new spending. He said commissioners 'theoretically have $0 of appropriation.' 'Essentially, you have to 'borrow' [an] appropriation from the liquor side into that new subprogram for the medical cannabis side,' Leaver said. The Liquor Control Commission has one cash fund, with a maximum annual spending limit of $100,000, which was slightly increased this spring. The fund collects revenue from various liquor-related fees, such as for registration or server training, or from selling copies of governing rules and other documents. The fund is rarely used but tapping into it creates a new juggling act. State law allows those funds to be used for 'any administrative costs' associated with specific liquor statutes. Medical cannabis statutes were placed in a different section of the law, and the budget bills did not expressly authorize additional spending from that fund. Bailey asked whether those funds could be paid back if the Liquor Control Commission authorized diverting funds for the Medical Cannabis Commission. Leaver said 'yes and no,' as the Medical Cannabis Commission collects no general state taxes (income, sales, etc.) but could direct application fees, for instance, back to the cash fund. Liquor commissioners could ask the Legislature for more funds in 2026 or backfill spending, state budget officials have said. Bailey told reporters the commission would look into getting some funds soon in the face of a tight budget but 'a large goal.' 'We'll do our best, as we can,' Bailey said. Bailey and Lowe were sworn into their new roles Monday, as was Dr. Monica Oldenburg of Lincoln. The trio unanimously voted to elect Oldenburg, an anesthesiologist, as chair and approved up to two members to meet with outside consultants or experts and come back with that information. Commissioner Lorelle Mueting of Gretna missed the first meeting. Oldenburg defended Mueting as having had a prior commitment and said commissioners tried to get to work as soon as possible. The AG's Office did not, as it has in the past, threaten the commission Monday with a future lawsuit if licensing moves forward by the Oct. 1 deadline. Attorney General Mike Hilgers and his staff have repeatedly threatened that action, including in court and before the Legislature. Legal action continues in Lancaster County District Court, with a longtime marijuana opponent, former State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, trying to void the new medical cannabis laws. Kuehn's filings argue that the laws are an unlawful delegation of power and run afoul of federal laws against marijuana. Hilgers and his office have argued the AG should be the one to challenge the laws on encroaching on federal constitutional powers and have asked that Kuehn's case be dismissed. Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong is currently considering whether to dismiss the case. However, a June 5 filing from Kuehn now seeks to add Oldenburg and Mueting to the case while removing Hoch from the lawsuit. Hoch was not reappointed to the commission as Gov. Jim Pillen seeks someone with more 'cannabis experience,' according to Hoch. 'This is a constantly evolving and fast-moving controversy as government actors actively seek new ways to use taxpayer resources to implement the measures at issue,' the latest court filing from Kuehn said. One of Kuehn's attorneys, former State Sen. Andrew La Grone, attended Monday's inaugural meeting of the Cannabis Commission. Kuehn's lawsuit also targets Pillen, Secretary of State Bob Evnen, other state officials and the three sponsors of the 2024 campaign, including Eggers. Eggers said she hopes the commission remembers the lives at the center of the fight, including her son who has a severe form of drug-resistant epilepsy. She said the window of opportunity to work together for safe access remains open. 'I hope they approach this remembering that the decisions and the way they do this does impact real people, and those real people and the patients and the voters of the state are watching,' Eggers said of the commission. 'I believe they have a very, very strong expectation to how this goes.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
