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Archive for September, 2023

New study shows Illinois lost more residents than any state so far this year

Posted in Deception, Ethics, FUBAR, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on September 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Allied

A new study reveals that the exodus from Illinois continues.

Clever Real Estate teamed up with moving company Allied Van Lines and found that Illinois has had more outbound moves than any other state in the past six months.

The study contradicts claims by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that Illinois is gaining population.

“It makes sense when we analyze the data. Illinois in the past few years passed a really big tax increase so people said they are moving because of that and there is a slightly higher than average violent crime rate,” said Jaime Seale, author of the study.

The study showed that respondents said a desirable place to live would have a low crime rate (46%), affordable homes (43%) and a low cost of living (41%).

Predictably, baby boomers care more about tax rates when picking a place to live. The Clever Real Estate study found that 42% say low taxes are one of the most important things in a city or state, compared to just 23% of millennials.

From Jan. 1 to June 30, 2023, Chicago had more outbound moves than any other city, while Phoenix had the most inbound moves, according to Allied Van Lines.

More here.

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Festivals Sept. 15-21: Ribfest, Oktoberfests, Fall Fests and more

Posted in Entertainment, Fundraisers on September 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Ribs

Ribfest returns to the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton Friday through Sunday, Sept. 15-17.

Friday, Sept. 15

Riot Fest: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Sept. 15-17, at Douglass Park, 1401 S. Sacramento Drive, Chicago. Three days of punk, rock and alternative music featuring Teagan and Sara at 7 p.m. and Foo Fighters at 8 p.m. Friday; Death Cab for Cutie at 6:50 p.m., Queens of the Stone Age at 7:55 p.m., and The Postal Service at 9 p.m. Saturday; The Mars Volta at 6:35 p.m. and The Cure at 7:40 p.m. Sunday. Single-day passes start at $109.98. riotfest.org.

Ribfest: Noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 15-16, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at the DuPage County Fairgrounds, 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton. Ribs, food, drinks, expos, family fun area and more. Music from 7th heaven at 5:30 p.m. and Third Eye Blind at 8:30 p.m. Friday; Hillbilly Rockstarz at 5:30 p.m., Alexandra Kay at 7 p.m. and Phil Vassar at 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and Danhattans at 1 p.m., OMT at 2:30 p.m. and Superchair Band at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. General admission is $5, which does not include concerts; concert tickets are $40 Friday and $35 Saturday, which includes general admission. ribfest.net.

Rotary Club of Palatine Oktoberfest: 5 p.m. to midnight Friday, Sept. 15; noon to midnight Saturday, Sept. 16; and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at Slade and Smith streets, Palatine. Authentic German food and beer, live entertainment and bands and a traditional keg ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday. Family Day activities from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. palatinerotary.com/Oktoberfest.php.

Heritage Fest: 6-11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, in downtown West Dundee. Annual festival with fireworks show at 8 p.m. Friday (rain date Saturday); Dundee Lions 5K at 8 a.m. Saturday; arts and crafts fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday; car show from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; business expo; and community breakfast from 8-11 a.m. Sunday. Music from Chris Moreno Band from 6-8 p.m. and 7th heaven from 9-11 p.m. Friday; Dundee Scottish Pipe Band from 10-11 a.m., String Lickers from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Bishop Super Band from 1:30-2:30 p.m., Controlled Burn from 3-4 p.m., Jonny Lyons & The Pride from 4:30-6 p.m., Sixes & Sevens from 6:30-8:30 p.m., and Hi Infidelity from 9-11 p.m. Saturday; and Starlites from 8-10 a.m., Crossover from 10-11 a.m., Retro Unplugged from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thrill Pill from 1-2:30 p.m., and The Lennys! from 3-5 p.m. Sunday. Free. wdundeeheritagefest.org or facebook.com/WDundeeHeritageFest.

Saturday, Sept. 16

Dundee Lions Heritage Fest 5K: 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at South End Park, West Dundee. Chip-timed 5K run and 1.75-mile walk from West Dundee south along the Fox River and returning to East Dundee. Proceeds support local charities and businesses, as well as fulfilling eyeglass needs for kids in Community Unit District 300. $20-$40. Sign up at raceroster.com.

Fall on the Farm: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 16-17, at Lambs Farm, 14245 W. Rockland Road, Libertyville. Family-friendly event with fall-themed crafts, vendors, music, food and more. Adults $8; kids $15. lambsfarm.org.

“The Race for the Rest of Us” 0.5K Beer & Donut Run: 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 16, at Ray Franzen Bird Sanctuary, 650 N. Rohlwing Road, Itasca. Run a loop around the bird sanctuary while trying to eat a doughnut and drink a beer. Must be 21 or older; fee includes T-shirt and race cup, a pint of beer or seltzer, and a doughnut. $35. Register at itascaparkdistrict.com/240/Autumn-Events.

Six Flags Great America Fright Fest and Oktoberfest: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, and select days through Sunday, Oct. 29, at Six Flags Great America, Six Flags Drive, Gurnee. Daytime hours are family-friendly with trick-or-treat and Halloween crafts. Evening hours include haunted mazes, roaming zombies, scary clowns and spooky shows. Oktoberfest: Noon to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays featuring German food and beer. Tickets start at $45. sixflags.com/greatamerica.

Trails & Ales: Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at K-9 Dog Park, 120 Remmington Road, Schaumburg. Bring your dog for a dog agility course and bobbing for hot dogs. A copy of your dog’s vaccination records must be brought the day of the event. Current dog park members must pay to participate. Fee includes wine, beer and soda. $10-$15. parkfun.com.

Cary-Grove Craft Brew Festival: 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at Rotary Park, 1300 Klasen Road, Cary. More than 20 craft beers, hard ciders and seltzers, music, beer games and food trucks. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove. $45; $15 for designated driver at runsignup.com/RBF.

It’s Our Fox River Day: Saturday, Sept. 16, at participating locations along the Fox River watershed. Annual event features cleanups in Aurora, Batavia, East Dundee, Elgin, Fox River Grove, Geneva, Hampshire, Montgomery and more. Also, shoreline and woodland plantings in Deer Park; Port Barrington RiverFest; Dutch Creek Explorations, Glacial Lake Pingree Circle Tour in Elgin, Tai Chi at Fox River Shores Preserve and more. Sign up at friendsofthefoxriver.org/its-our-fox-river-day-2/.

Sunday, Sept. 17

Fall Caboose Days: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at the Fox River Trolley Museum, off Route 31, South Elgin. Ride with the conductor in the Big Red Caboose or with the engineer in the locomotive. $5-$8. foxtrolley.org/special-events.

HFest

Heritage Fest in West Dundee runs Friday through Sunday, Sept. 15-17.

Mexican Independence Day Celebration: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at 127 E. Calhoun St., Woodstock. Hispanic Connections’ seventh annual family-friendly event featuring games, bouncy houses, toro mecánico, music and food. Free. woodstockilchamber.com.

Heirloom Apple Fest: 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at Durant House, 37W700 Dean St., St. Charles. Learn about apples popular during the 19th century. $3; $1 for ages 18 and younger. ppfv.org.

Palatine Historical Society 30th Cemetery Walk: 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at Hillside Cemetery, 375 N. Smith St., Palatine. Guided tours of the cemetery as actors play the roles of Palatine residents from the village’s past. Tours start every 10 minutes, with the last tour beginning at 3:30 p.m. Purchase tickets the day-of. $10 adults; $8 Historical Society members; $5 school-aged kids; free for preschoolers. palatineparks.org.

Cantigny Car Show: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at Cantigny Park south parking lot, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton. Vintage cars, entertainment and food trucks. DJ music by Carousel Sound and live music by The Beaux Band. $15 for 16-64; $12 for 65 and older. cantigny.org.

Monday, Sept. 18

Motor Monday Cruise Night: 5 p.m. to dusk Monday, Sept. 18, at The Depot, 319 N. River St., East Dundee. Family-friendly cruise night with music, food and drinks. Open to cars and trucks, all makes and models. Free. eastdundee.net.

Tuesday, Sept. 19

Wauconda Cruise Nights: 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, at Route 176 and West Mill Street, Wauconda. Cars and family-friendly activities. Free. waucondacruisenight.com.

Thursday, Sept. 21

Ravinia District Food Truck Thursdays: 4:30 p.m. to dusk Thursday, Sept. 21, at Jens Jensen Park, on Dean Avenue between Roger Williams and St. Johns avenues, Highland Park. Free. cityhpil.com.

Music Under the Trees at The Dole: 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at The Dole, 401 Country Club Road, Crystal Lake. The Galway Gals perform. Bring blankets and lawn chairs. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. $20. thedole.org/music-under-the-trees.

Plaza Concert Series: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at the Wheeling Town Center, 351 W. Dundee Road, Wheeling. Totem Frog will perform. Free. thewheelingtowncenter.com/events.

Summer in the Shire Concert Series: 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at Village Green, 100 Village Green South, Lincolnshire. The Flat Cats will perform. Food and drinks, a balloon artist, face painting and a kids’ craft. Bring a lawn chair. Free. lincolnshireil.gov.

Find more entertainment opportunities here.

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Under the ‘D,’ the Bears are turning September into desolation row

Posted in Entertainment, Resident Spotlights on September 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

AR-230919673

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs catches a touchdown pass from quarterback Jordan Love during the first half of the Bears loss on Sunday. Jim O’Donnell says the Bears appeared about as prepared for their 38-20 loss to Green Bay as J.B. Pritzker suddenly being called up to sing with Death Cab for Cutie at Riot Fest ’23. (Associated Press)

WHO SAID THAT THE BEARS DIDN’T flash a lot of “D” at Soldier Field last Sunday?

Disgraceful … distasteful … disgusting.

The team appeared about as prepared for their 38-20 loss to Green Bay as J.B. Pritzker suddenly being called up to sing with Death Cab for Cutie at Riot Fest ’23.

It was a grand day not to be a Bears season-ticket holder.

One northwest suburban couple dashed through two separate realities:

They showed up to tailgate with pals in the South lot at Soldier Field around noon. They then zipped for kickoff to a watch party at a baronial mansion in Barrington Hills.

BY THE FOURTH QUARTER of the debacle, the wide-screen TVs at the mansion were playing to crickets and empty bottles of Koia Protein chocolate peanut butter.

More here.

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Watch out! North suburban haunted houses are here to scare you

Posted in Entertainment, South Barrington on September 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo-Jul-10-2023-3-39-45-PM-scaled

South Barrington

Terror Roulette: Hours are 7-11 p.m. Thursdays, 7 p.m.-midnight Fridays, 6 p.m.-midnight Saturdays and 6-11 p.m. Sundays Sept. 29-Oct. 29 plus Oct. 30-31. Tickets: $29.60-$69. At The Arboretum of South Barrington, 100 W. Higgins Road. terrorroulette.com.

The “Terror Pass” is general admission; the “Psycho Pass” gets you a T-shirt and a commemorative photo. A “Full House” VIP experience is $199 and is at 9:45 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays only and includes a behind-the-scenes tour plus T-shirt, pin, photo and sticker pack. It’s limited to 16 people each night.

The best deal is a group of eight; not only are the ticket prices reduced but you’re guaranteed to be with your group.

Guests must be 16 and older to enter Terror Roulette without a parent; those 13 and older must be with a parent or guardian over age 21. While guests are not permitted to touch the actors, Terror Roulette is a fully immersive attraction and visitors may be touched, guided, held back, set on a different path or even removed from their group. There is a safe word if the experience gets to be too overwhelming.

Find more here.

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Federal taxpayers will fund billions more than actual cost of Illinois battery plant to be owned by Chinese company with alleged CCP ties

Posted in BOHICA, Commodius Maximus, Deception, Ethics, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on September 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

JB China

State of Illinois tax incentives exceeding half a billion dollars are a comparatively small part of taxpayer money that will go to Gotion, Inc. for an electric vehicle (EV) battery factory in Illinois.

Through federal tax credits alone, which so far are going mostly unreported, Gotion will be paid billions more than its construction costs.

In other words, taxpayers will be paying many times over the cost of a new factory they will not own.

It will be owned, instead, by Gotion, and Gotion is widely reported to have close connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Here are the details:

Governor JB Pritzker announced the state’s deal with Gotion on Friday for construction of the project in Manteno, southwest of Chicago. The plant is expected to cost $2 billion and employ 2,600 workers. Gotion’s total incentive package from the State of Illinois is valued at $536 million, according to Pritzker’s announcement. In addition, Kankakee County agreed to cap property taxes paid on the approximately 150-acre property at $2 million per year for the next 30 years.

The state incentive package alone, exceeding $206,000 per worker, is exceptionally high in comparison to typical plant-siting location incentives around the nation other than battery factories. “The average incentive deal in the U.S. might be around US$50,000 per job,” although it’s not unusual for highly capital-intensive projects to receive incentives of over US$100,000 per job.” That’s according to senior economist at the WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, quoted in the Financial Times.

However, those subsidies are dwarfed by huge federal tax credits now being lavished on new battery producers under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which devoted $783 billion to global warming and green energy spending. President Biden recently admitted that the act was not about inflation reduction. It has been heavily criticized as climate extremism.

Under that law, owners of new EV battery plants get tax credits based on the production capacity of the plant, and those credits have been massive, often in the billions of dollars per plant.

One group closely researching the subsidies is GJF, Good Jobs First, a worker-oriented policy group in Washington, D.C. Their July report details the credits for recent battery plant announcements.

The tax “credit alone is large enough to cover each facility’s initial capital investment cost and wage bill for the first several years of production,” the group found.

Read much more here.

Related: “Illinois lands Chinese EV battery plant as Pritzker, Duckworth seek more deals with Asian companies,” “Hefty Illinois tax incentive package helps lure Chinese EV battery plant”

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Illinois is automatically mailing 66,000 people checks for unclaimed money. Are you one of them?

Posted in Community Alerts, Press Release, Springfield on September 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Unclaimed

Check your mailbox: More than 60,000 people in Illinois are in line to automatically receive checks for as much as $5,000 in unclaimed property. Are you one of them?

Illinois’ Unclaimed Property Program, or I-Cash — one of several ways Illinois residents can find unclaimed money owed to them — previously required that residents file a claim in order to collect any outstanding funds. However, new enhancements to the program allowed the state to mail a check out with no claim needed, a recent release from State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs said.

According to the release, checks worth up to $5,000 will automatically be mailed to more than 66,000 people who are owed money but have not claimed it. Prior to the changes, the automatic payment cap was $2,000.

The enhancement, part of the state’s “Money Match” program, crossmatches state data with the treasurer’s unclaimed property database, the release said.

“When a matching name and mailing address is identified and confirmed, the unclaimed property owner will receive a letter from the Treasurer’s Office that describes the amount and source of the money,” the release continued.

After an additionally security step is completed, Frerichs’ office will then issue a check to the owner, the release said.

“All they have have to do is watch for the mail,” the release added.

More here.

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Visitation and Memorial Service tomorrow for “Mr. White”

Posted in Barrington High School, The Greatest Generation on September 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Charles White

Charles A. White
February 25, 1932 ~ July 28, 2023

Charles A. White, distinguished English teacher at Barrington High School, who made a memorable impression on scores and scores of students, passed away July 28, 2023.  He was 91.

Mr. White began his teaching career at Bloom Township High School in Chicago Heights then came to Barrington High School in 1962.  Mr. White taught all levels of English at Barrington, but his specialty was the senior elective course, Major British Writers.  He was passionate about the writings of authors such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Geoffrey Chaucer, Samuel Beckett, T. S. Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, and, of course, William Shakespeare.  He developed and designed a “theater-in-the-round” room and had students recite, perform, and memorize important pieces of poetry, prose, and dramas.  Mr. White served as English Department Chairman during a particularly remarkable period of Barrington High School as he helped guide and shape the direction of the rapidly growing school.  During his career, Mr. White taught abroad several times, once on a Fulbright Exchange in England, as well as in Munich, Vienna, and at the American International School in Salzburg.

Mr. White provided a spark of inspiration and was co-founder of an innovative and award winning course, “Junior English and the Interrelated Arts”, still featured at Barrington High School.  As conceived by Mr. White, the course became a team-taught collaboration between the English and Art Departments.  Underlying philosophical connections were explored in American literature, art, architecture, theater, opera, and  even in Shakespeare.  It was his belief that such connections provided meaningful access for readings and writings in, particularly, American literature.  Students also learned to use the cultural environment of Chicago to attend live performances of dramas, symphonic music concerts, opera, and exhibitions, including an architectural walking tour snaking through Chicago’s Loop designed as a architectural treasure hunt.  Being an opera aficionado and expert, Mr. White took students to the Lyric Opera twenty-eight years in a row.  A natural and informed tour guide, he also took students abroad during many summers.  A list of former students is far too lengthy to mention, but many became dear friends and contacted him often long after they graduated.  Indeed, former students of his are all over the world and still consider themselves part of his “family.”  Many seemed proud to keep Mr. White appraised of their respective professional accomplishments.

Never one to hide his opinion, Mr. White served for many years in various volunteer community positions including the Barrington Area Library Board of Directors during a time of rapid growth.  He was particularly influential in the library expanding into an architecturally award-winning facility.

A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, September 14 with visitation from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a short service following at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 149 W Main St, Barrington, IL 60010.

His entire obituary can be found here.

Mr. White was one the finest educators Barrington High School students have ever experienced. Comments posted to the Barrington High School Alumni Facebook page announcing his passing (seen here), show how his passion to teaching is remembered fondly.

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Let’s Talk About Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Ultra-Thin Black Skin

Posted in Cook, County, John Kass News, OP/Ed, Politics on September 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

BJ

By John Kass
Sept.13, 2023

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is consumed by the color of his skin. It seems that his black skin is all he wants to talk about.

Someone close to him might want to tell the poor fellow to simmer down, grow up and act like a man—and inform him he is not the first black mayor of Chicago.

But why talk of the color of his skin? Instead, let’s talk about the thinness of it.

I’ve been covering Chicago politics for decades—since the 1980s—and never has there been a politician with skin as thin as his. It’s not merely rice paper thin, it is so thin that it makes rice paper resemble cardboard. Brandon Johnson’s skin is so thin it must have been made by the faeries, ephemeral and disappearing, as light as a cherub baby’s breath.

I knew the first black mayor, who came up the hard way, slugging  it out with his opponents like Fast Eddie Vrdolyak. Harold Washington played the race card when it meant something, as a means to intimidate white liberal journalists into obedience. There is no creature as malleable as a liberal white journo petrified that he’ll be accused of racism.

But they’re all trained now. They’re all obedient now. Politicians can even pet them, at least in Chicago without fear of being bitten.

Harold Washington knew how to play broken knuckle politics. His father—a soldier in the Chicago Machine—was repeatedly passed over for promotion up the ranks, and this fueled Washington’s revenge for a time.

But Harold didn’t have time to hold a grudge against the white Daley faction of the old machine. He had a city to run. He had people to protect. He had a downtown to nourish and safeguard, because it kept the rest of the city alive and the taxman off the backs of the neighborhoods.

Brandon Johnson knows nothing of this. He was not prepared to deal with the details of government. He thinks he’s something of a charisma man. He knows how to scream race and more race, which becomes tiring when violent street crime destroys downtown and the value of commercial real estate leases.

Read on here.

Related: “Editorial: Brandon Johnson uses race to try to preempt legitimate criticism. That won’t work well for Chicago.” – Chicago Tribune, “Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson whips out race card to dismiss his ‘slow start’ and other criticisms” – Wirepoints Quickpoint, “‘Microaggressions’ and the Mayor” – Wall Street Journal

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Sexually explicit library books subject of Congressional hearing

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, Elgin Community College, Harper College, His Master's Voice, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, School Districts, Springfield, TMI, Topics Of Interest, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 13, 2023| 1 Comment »

GQ

The books being made available to children in public schools and libraries was the topic of a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, with an Illinois law thrust into the spotlight.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias testified before the committee to explain the legislation. Beginning next year, Illinois will withhold tax dollars from public libraries that limit what types of books are available.

“This legislation is important because both the concept and practice of banning books contradicts the very essence of what our country stands for and what our democracy was founded on,” Giannoulias said.

Republicans have taken issue with the definition of book bans adopted by Pen America, which said books being pulled off the shelves in schools for review constitutes a ban.

“This is not a ban. This is about schools deciding what’s appropriate for school children, and sexually explicit and obscene, pornographic material isn’t appropriate,” U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said.

The hearing took a racy turn when U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, read passages from a couple books, including a profane paragraph from “Gender Queer,” which has appeared on Pen America’s banned book list.

“No one is advocating for sexually explicit content to be available in an elementary school library or in the children’s section of the library,” said committee chair U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. “That is a distraction from the real challenge.”

Read more and view the video here.

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Inspector: 177 Illinois state employees commit $4.5 million in PPP fraud ‘so far’

Posted in Crime, Deception, Look For The Union Label, Springfield, Unions on September 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Union Label

A total of 177 Illinois state employees have been determined to have obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans based on falsified information. That’s according to the Office of Executive Inspector General, which put the dollar amount of fraud found “so far” at $4.5 million.

The OEIG released the report Tuesday. The summary shows 132 Department of Human Services employees, 25 Department of Children and Family Services employees, eight Department of Healthcare and Family Services employees, four Department of Employment Security employees, three employees each from the Department of Public Health and Department of Veterans’ Affairs and one at each of the Department of Revenue and the Department of Natural Resources have been identified “so far.”

“To date, the improper loans identified in these founded reports total more than $4.5 million in public funds,” the report said. “The OEIG’s PPP investigation project remains ongoing. These numbers do not reflect a final total of OEIG founded reports or a final total for any particular agency.”

Illinois’ OEIG investigation was initiated in 2022 to examine whether employees with the state of Illinois abused the federal taxpayer-funded program. PPP was instituted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to assist businesses in keeping employees paid when state governments across the country limited economic activity in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

Read more here.

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