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Archive for September, 2025

Days before fatal Mag Mile crash-and-grab, accused man posed with governor at ‘peacekeeper’ event — while wanted in 4 states

Posted in Crime, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Pritzker’s Rules of Order on September 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Kellen McMiller and Gov. JB Pritzker pose for a photo in Englewood on September 5, 2025. Inset is a mugshot taken after McMiller was arrested in 2023. (Obtained by CWBChicago; Chicago Police Department)

By Tim Hecke | CWBChicago

Less than a week before a crash-and-grab burglary crew killed an innocent man on the Magnificent Mile last Thursday, one of the men now charged with that murder donned a “peacekeeper” uniform and posed for a one-on-one picture with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

While that’s troubling, some law enforcement experts are more concerned that the accused man was able to stand directly next to the state’s most powerful executive despite having outstanding warrants in four states.

CWBChicago first reported on 35-year-old Kellen McMiller’s role as a “peacekeeper” last weekend. Now, we have more detail, including a picture of McMiller posing with Pritzker—a photo that has apparently been scrubbed from the state’s online press release about the West Side event.

More here.

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Rotary Club of Palatine’s Oktoberfest returns with beer, music, bike ride, scarecrow contest

Posted in Entertainment, Fundraisers on September 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Emily Burk of Inverness plays a round of giant Connect Four with her dad Jim during last year’s Rotary Club of Palatine Oktoberfest. The festival returns to downtown Palatine this week. | Daily Herald File Photo, 2024

Submitted by Bill Pohlman

Bring your appetite for beer, music, food and games to the Rotary Club of Palatine’s 17th annual Oktoberfest, which will take place Friday, Sept. 19, through Sunday, Sept. 21, in downtown Palatine.

Event hours are 5 p.m. to midnight Friday, noon to midnight Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Saturday is designated as Family Day, featuring games, crafts, and entertainment for children. The festival takes place on the corner of Smith and Slade streets south of the Metra train station, with proceeds from the event benefiting local charities and community projects in the Palatine area.

Admission is free to this event that features authentic German music, food, beverages and activities for all ages.

“We kick off the festival on Friday at 5 p.m.,” said Joe Mazzocchi, Palatine Rotary president. “The blessing and tapping of the keg will start our Oktoberfest event. Come celebrate in your lederhosen and dirndl!”

Rotary is collaborating with several organizations to create a low waste event. Composting and recycling stations will be in place to reduce landfill waste. With support from the Palatine Jaycees, they will be adding a water refilling station to the event.

“Our club is concerned about the environment, and this event provides an opportunity for us to contribute to keeping the community clean in a fun and environmentally friendly manner,” said Randy Klingner, Palatine Rotary environmental chairman.

“Everyone knows beer is a large component of any Oktoberfest celebration,” said Al Stoeckel, beer chairman. “There are a number of beers being poured this year. Paulaner Pils which is an imported full-flavored German Pilsner. Another beer on our menu, Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen is a medium amber lager. We also have Hacker-Pschorr Weissbier which is naturally cloudy, full-flavored and uniquely refreshing as well as Paulaner Grapefruit Radler a fruity-tart, 100% natural, not too sweet beer since it’s made with less sugar than common radlers. We will also be offering different varieties of wine, including merlot and Pinot Grigio, as well as White Claw hard seltzer.”

Die Musikmeisters will be the opening band on Friday at Rotary Club of Palatine’s annual Oktoberfest in downtown Palatine. | Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald, 2024

The event will also feature authentic German food from vendors including Morkes Chocolates, Tap House Grill, Friends of the Rotary, Tre Amici Pizza, Kooker’s, Annie’s Restaurant & Pancake Shop, Daisy’s Ice Cream Shop and Rep’s Burgers. Morkes will have a variety of caramel apples, spiced doughnuts and other sweet treats. Tap House Grill will offer pretzels with cheese, deep fried schnitzel chicken bites, sauerbraten pot roast sliders and potato salad. Pop and water will be available for purchase from the Rotary Club of Palatine.

The Friends of the Rotary will be cooking brats and hot dogs. Tre Amici will feature sausage, German and Reuben pizza. Kooker’s will have brats, a Leberkaese sandwich, a German pretzel with cheese, salads and desserts. Annie’s will have German crepes and benedicts, Hungarian goulash and caramel apple cheesecake. Daisy’s will feature ice cream sandwiches, fudge brownie sundaes and ice cream floats. Rep’s Burgers will serve their spätzle, knockwurst and their German style burger.

Musical entertainment will kick off on Friday night with Die Musikmeisters from 5 to 8:30 p.m. followed by Phenix from 9 p.m. to midnight. Saturday’s entertainment includes Alpine Thunder from noon to 3:30 p.m., Heimat und Trachten Verein Edelweiss with traditional German dances between 3:30 and 5 p.m., Die Kellerknaben from 5 to 8 p.m., followed by Polkaholics from 9 p.m. until midnight. The musical line up on Sunday features Phenix from 2 to 6 p.m.

Games and activities for Family Day will be on Saturday from noon until 3:30 p.m. with face painting, balloon art, fire department displays, children’s raffle prizes and birdhouse building by Home Depot. At approximately 12:30 p.m., the winners of Scarecrows on Parade, a scarecrow decorating contest sponsored by the village of Palatine, will be announced. This year, Family Day will feature an Oktoberfest Family Bike Ride sponsored by the Bike Palatine Club on Saturday morning at Towne Square on the corner of Smith and Slade Streets. Riders are asked to meet at 10:30 a.m. and the ride will start at 11 a.m. Visit bikepalatine.com for more information.

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(Reminder) One of the country’s most distinctive car collections goes on sale in Chicago

Posted in Fools and their money, Topics Of Interest on September 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

A 1949 Triumph 2000 Roadster on display at Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum, 3117 N. Knox Ave. in Chicago, on Sept. 10, 2025. The entire collection of vehicles amassed by Larry Klairmont will be auctioned off. | Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune

By Nina Metz | Chicago Tribune

Though it’s not unusual to pursue hobbies or accumulate collections, personal wealth means those preoccupations can manifest in more eye-popping ways. Take cars, for instance. Before his death in 2021, Highland Park real estate business magnet Larry Klairmont spent the final two decades of his life amassing a fascinating array of more than 600 historical and unusual vehicles, and put them on display in a museum on Chicago’s Northwest Side. The building’s contents stood as an expression of one man’s eclectic tastes.

That comes to an end this weekend. The museum has closed and the entire Klairmont collection — which in recent years was winnowed down to 284 cars — will be sold by Mecum Auctions. The public can take one last look at the collection Friday (with a $20 entrance fee), then the auction takes place Saturday and Sunday and is strictly for bidders.

Selling off everything is apparently not unusual among auto collectors. It costs money to maintain facilities where cars are housed, and surviving family members may not be as engrossed in the pursuit as their departed loved one. And so, the cars are released back into the world to be collected by new enthusiasts with enough financial firepower to offer a winning bid.

We’re at an interesting inflection point for driving culture. The promise of convenience and practicality remains, while many people want to see more investment in public transit and safer bike lanes — a reduced reliance on cars, in other words — for safety and environmental reasons. The introduction of electric cars, which require different skills (and technology) to repair, has signaled yet another shift. Down the line, fewer amateur mechanics may be able to spend their weekends tinkering with a junker and bringing it back to its former glory.

Read more here.

Related: “Northwest side garage full of hidden-gem classic, muscle cars to go on auction block”

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Parents call for Algonquin-based District 300 board president to resign after social media post about Charlie Kirk death

Posted in 300, Conflict of interest, Dumb and Dumber, Education, Elections, Ethics, Lake & McHenry County Scanner, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts on September 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Parents and community members hold a protest outside the District 300 administration office in Algonquin to call for the resignation of District 300 Board President Nancy Zettler (inset) over her Friday remarks regarding the Charlie Kirk assassination. | Photo: Kane County GOP; Inset: Provided

By Sam Borcia | Lake & McHenry County Scanner

A protest was held and community members are calling for the resignation of the Algonquin-based District 300 school board president over her social media remarks about the Charlie Kirk assassination.

Nancy Zettler, the Board President for Community Unit School District 300, shared a Facebook post on her personal profile from Qasim Rashid, a fellow Democrat and Chicago-area resident.

Rashid reflected on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and said that he extends his empathy to Kirk’s family despite disagreeing with his politics and with him as a person.

Parents and community members hold a protest outside the District 300 administration office in Algonquin to call for the resignation of District 300 Board President Nancy Zettler over her Friday remarks regarding the Charlie Kirk assassination. | Photo: Kane County GOP

In sharing the post, Zettler said, “The first thing I thought when I heard this today was ‘Karma, it’s a $itch.’ Then I read this. The author, Qasim Rashid, says it best.”

Parents in the school district took to social media against Zettler for making the comment, saying it was “hateful” while calling for her removal from the board.

A protest was held on Monday morning outside the District 300 administration office at 2550 Harnish Drive in Algonquin.

More here.

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Ding Politicking on School District Property

Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Ethics, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Open Meetings Act, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, South Barrington, Springfield, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)?, WTF on September 16, 2025| 3 Comments »

In the wake of many instances wherein The Observer has set forth the conflict of interest and the blatant violations of D220’s Code of Conduct and Board Policies by Board Member Erin Chan Ding, we have recently learned that Chan Ding’s violations continue and, due to complete lack of accountability by District Superintendent Winkelman and Board President Ficke Bradford, Chan Ding has actually been emboldened.

You’ll recall that at the July 15th Board of Education meeting, President Ficke Bradford asserted:

“As many are aware, District 220 Board Member Erin Chan Ding has declared her intent to run for State Representative of the 52nd District, and it’s within Erin’s right to do so, and Erin is aware of the Board policies and the laws that are in place.

We have consulted with our counsel, um, to confirm that merely running for an office, um, for political office, while refraining from engaging in any prohibited political activity while acting as a Board member or on School District property does not constitute a violation of the Board’s Code of Conduct. Erin and all Board Members are aware of the policies the Board does have in place.”

In fact, there are D220 Policies that specifically address these issues (in addition to those we have previously brought to the readers’ attention):

8:25 Advertising and Distributing Materials in Schools Provided by Non-School Related Entities
Political Candidates or Parties

Candidates and political parties will not be accepted for posting or distribution, except when used as part of the curriculum.

And,

2:105 Ethics and Gift Ban
Prohibited Political Activity

The following precepts govern political activities being conducted by District employees andBoard of Education members:

2. No Board member or employee shall intentionally use any District property or resources in connection with any political activity.

Yet, despite the direct admonition of Board President Ficke Bradford, and the explicit prohibition of political activity by two Board policies, we are given to understand that Board Member Chan Ding, in her dual capacity as a D220 Board Member and as a political candidate for the Democratic nomination for the 52nd District, attended both the Barrington High School and the Station Middle School Back to School nights, on School District property, where she handed out her political flyers for her run for the 52nd District and solicited signatures for her petitions to get on that ballot.

Craig and Sandra, your credibility is shot. You continually allow Chan Ding to flagrantly violate Board policy without any admonition, abusing her power, departing from the Board’s purpose, and destroying the public trust.

Shame on you.

Related: “District 220 Board of Education meets tonight (9.15.25),” “District 220 posts Notice of Tentative Budget Public Hearing,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”

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District 220 Board of Education meets tonight

Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, His Master's Voice, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Look For The Union Label, Mad Cows, Open Meetings Act, Overhead, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Privacy, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Taxes, Transparency, Video Streaming, Well Water Quality, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The District 220 Board of Education meets Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Items on their agenda include:

A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.

Related: “District 220 posts Notice of Tentative Budget Public Hearing,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”

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$3.3B in road funds sit idle, yet Illinois drivers face record-high gas taxes

Posted in Aunt Blabby, Economy, Fat Bastard, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes on September 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

If Illinois state lawmakers are not going to spend the $3.3 billion sitting in the state’s road fund, drivers should get a break from the taxes going into it. Illinois gasoline taxes are No. 2 in the U.S.

By Ravi Mishra | Illinois Policy Institute

An accumulation of over $3.3 billion of unused dollars in Illinois’ road fund shows Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s automatic gasoline tax hikes are not necessary, and lawmakers should halt them.

Illinois      drivers have been paying more for gas every July since 2019, when Pritzker doubled motor fuel taxes and tied annual tax hikes to inflation. The state gas tax is now 48.3 cents per gallon, costing each driver an extra $143 annually and ranking Illinois as No. 2 in the country for highest gas taxes.

Road Fund balance has ballooned in the past six years

From 2018 to 2024, state road spending increased nearly $1 billion, but because of constant tax and fee hikes, revenues have surged even faster and grown nearly 95% in the same period. In 2024 alone, the state’s road fund collected over $5 billion while spending under $4 billion.

The fund reserves have ballooned. Cash balances grew from $624 million in 2018 to $3.3 billion as of 2024, a 428% increase. Balances are projected to continue growing to nearly $3.5 billion by 2026. Illinois’ “lockbox” amendment prevents these funds from being redirected to other expenses, yet lawmakers continue to allow automatic gas tax hikes regardless of need.

Drivers are paying more than necessary

Motor fuel tax rates were doubled in 2019 from 19 cents per gallon to 38 cents. Since then, rates have risen automatically to match inflation, ballooning to 48.3 cents in 2025, the second highest in the nation.

Read more here.

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Democrat Assassination Culture Killed Charlie Kirk

Posted in Crime, Education, John Kass News, OP/Ed, Politics on September 15, 2025| 2 Comments »

By John Kass | John Kass News

“When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil and they lose their humanity“ Charlie Kirk

Why did the Democrat left assassinate conservative youth organizer Charlie Kirk?

Because the courageous Christian patriot engaged young Americans across the political aisle on important ideas and the left–despite the Democrat Media Complex that usually protects them–had no answer for what he was doing. The founder of the organization Turning Point USA had charisma, brains and moral clarity. He was an inspiration to America’s young.

Hard leftists had shut down public discourse at the universities, as they’d shut down open discourse in American newsrooms. Kirk invited face-to-face public debate with those who disagreed with him on his “prove me wrong” tour of college campuses. Young Americans loved him and some hated him.

What infuriated the left was that Democrats couldn’t compete with him or his ideas.

So they killed him.

The one who pulled the trigger allegedly is Tyler Robinson, 22, from Utah.

Whether he’s executed for Kirk’s murder or becomes another poster boy for Democrat violence—like killer Luigi Mangione–is not known yet.

But we do know that it was the assassination culture of the Democrat left that caused this.

Read more here.

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Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District Board meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, BCFPD, Jewel-Osco, Property Taxes, Public Safety on September 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District (BCFPD) Board of Trustees meets tonight at 6:30 PM at 22222 N. Pepper Road in Lake Barrington. A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.

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Former two-term Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, who led the state through much of the 1990s, dies at 79

Posted in Chicago Tribune, Politics, Springfield on September 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Former Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka and former Gov. Jim Edgar after an Illinois Business Immigration Coalition event on April 22, 2014, at the Chicago Club.| Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune

By Rick Pearson and Ray Long | Chicago Tribune

Jim Edgar, the two-term Republican governor who guided Illinois through much of the 1990s with a low-key yet intense persona and a meticulous focus on fiscal matters aimed at preparing the state for the 21st century, died Sunday. He was 79.

Edgar died in Springfield, where he had been hospitalized due to an adverse reaction to treatment for the pancreatic cancer that he had been diagnosed with in January friends and associates said.

“It is with heavy hearts we share the news that our beloved husband, father and grandfather Jim Edgar passed away this morning in Springfield from complications related to treatment for pancreatic cancer,” family members said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful for the love, support and kindness so many have shown to Jim and our family over these last several months.”

Arguably one of the most popular governors in the state’s history, Edgar — who was born in the small town of Vinita, Oklahoma, but raised in Charleston, Illinois — provided stable governance through his reserved tone. It was a sharp contrast to his immediate predecessor, James R. Thompson, a Republican who was a constant campaigner and served a record 14 years with a grandiose, free-wheeling personality bent toward spending, building and dealmaking.

After leaving office in 1999, Edgar kept his word that his formal political career was over. He became a senior fellow at the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs and declined efforts by fellow Republicans to be drafted as the state party chairman, make another run for governor and, twice, to run for U.S. Senate.

Read more here.

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