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Archive for the ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)’ Category

Illinois taxpayers to pay for climate education mandates

Posted in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Politics, Unions, WTF on April 27, 2024| 1 Comment »

State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr said she is working to ensure young people understand the science behind climate change and the effects it will have.

By Catrina Petersen | The Center Square

Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, every public high school shall require a unit of instruction addressing climate change in either a required science class or a required social studies class.

House Bill 4895 gives the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) the directive to create professional development resources for educators to best teach climate change coursework.

State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville,  said she is working to ensure young people understand the science behind climate change and the effects it will have.

“ISBE recognized that there is a real hole and need for professional development to help train our educators on how to teach about climate change. This bill allows ISBE to create those professional materials subject to appropriation,” said Yang Rohr.

State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva,  said he thinks the legislature is starting to impose too much of what they believe the educators should be teaching Illinois children.

“Rather than the educators, the people we’re told are the professionals, decide what to teach the kids, allowing it to be up to the school boards to decide what their kids need to succeed, allowing educators to educate…we instead are interjecting a political ideology on our schools and children and asking that to be taught. I’d rather them reach their levels in math and reading and then we start worrying about things like this,” said Ugaste.

Not a single child tested proficient in math in 67 Illinois schools. For reading, it’s 32 schools, according to a Wirepoints report.

Read more here.

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Barrington Area Council of Governments meets today

Posted in BACOG, DARCHED, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Ethics, FUBAR, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Meeting Minutes, New Normal?, OMA, Open Meetings Act, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, South Barrington, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, Village Director of Administration, Village Government, Well Water Quality on April 23, 2024| 2 Comments »

Illinois State Representative Nabeela Syed will be speaking at tonight’s BACOG meeting.

The Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG)  is scheduled to have multiple meets today at the Barrington Hills Village Hall.

The first is a meeting of the BACOG Connectivity Committee originally scheduled for March 20, 2024, but postponed until today we believe at 5:30 PM.  Topics include:

  • Current and Potential Projects, and
  • Coordination with Lake and Cook County 5-Year Road Programs

The BACOG Finance Committee meets at 6:40 PM to cover:

  • (Approval) Minutes of May 23, 2023*
  • Proposed Budget for FY 24-25*
    • Adjustments for FY 2023-24, and
    • Use of Business Partner Contributions

At 7:00 PM, the BACOG Executive Board meets.  Topics on their agenda include:

  • Discussion with Invited Guest Illinois State Representative Nabeela Syed
  • Public Comment
  • (Approval) Minutes of March 20, 2024*
  • (Approval) Treasurer’s Report for April 2024*
  • Committee and Liaison Reports
    • Connectivity Committee (President Rusteberg)
    • Legislative Committee (President Darch)
    • Northwest Water Planning Alliance (President McCombie)
  • Member Updates, and,
  • Director’s Report (Executive Director)

We’d be happy to post copies of these agendas. However, BACOG does not post them on their website. They simply print and tape them to the windows of member offices, despite the following:

“Public bodies that have a website must post the agenda of any regular meetings of the governing body (i.e. County Board, Board of Trustees, Board of Commissioners, School Board, etc.) at least 48 hours prior to said meeting. Any agenda of a regular meeting that is posted on a public body’s website shall remain posted until the regular meeting is concluded.”

Further, the last time BACOG posted any meeting minutes was in January, and:

“Any public body that has a website must post the minutes of a regular meeting of its governing body (i.e. County Board, Board of Trustees, Board of Commissioners, School Board, etc) on the website within 10 days after the approval of the minutes by the public body. Public bodies must approve the minutes of the previous meeting either by the next meeting or within 30 days, whichever is later. These minutes must stay on the website for at least 60 days after their initial posting.”

So much for compliance and transparency.

* Attachment follows the agenda

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NPR: Our Federal Tax Dollars for Marxist News, Partisan Censorship and Pan Flutes?

Posted in Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Ethics, John Kass, Look For The Union Label, News Media, NPR, OP/Ed, Politics, Taxes, Wirepoints on April 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

By John Kass | JohnKassNews.com

As a life-long, big city newsman so focused on work that my musical choices involved only news radio jingles, I no longer enjoy listening to news on the radio. Why?

Because it’s mostly biased corporate leftist crap, and I keep fretting about whether Alexander Soros has purchased this local news station or that one and bent its newsroom to his daddy’s will as if they were the once-thriving Cambodian middle class.

Meanwhile cable TV news is so full of snickering liberal rage, and pouty left-wing news presenters with epic hair, that I can’t stand it.

But I’ve come up with a positive alternative:

National People’s Radio.

Que the Pan flutes and the bird sounds from the Amazon rain forest. Yes, the time has come.

And, added plus, “free” public television with programming set up by a corporate board of prominent American conservatives including the scholar Victor Davis Hanson, radio broadcaster Dan Proft, Tom Bevan co-founder of Real Clear Politics and University of Chicago Professor Emeritus Charles Lipson.

For example, we’d have President Joe Biden, accompanied by those Pan Flutes playing the theme of Cmdr. McBragg, telling the story of Joe’s heroic Uncle Ambrose being devoured by cannibals in New Guinea. Whether it happened or not. You can’t make omelets without breaking a few eggs, right Walter Duranty?

And lengthy panel discussions on “It’s the Economy Stupid” about how much things cost at the store, what they cost now and how great things were BJ (Before Joe) and droll comedies from Britain on the humorous antics of liberal chumbolones, and sad dramas from Britain about sad middle-class depressives.

We’ll have sports too, from 24-hour fly fishing to 24-hour soccer that often ends 0-0, and city apartment terriers killing alley rats.

We’ll call that one about the rat-killer “Prince of the City” along with a kid’s cartoon show on the heroic “Prince” protecting a multi-racial family from cartoon rats.

To fund it all, we’ll invoke a complicated hidden federal tax scheme replete with complicated grants and call it just a bunch of “grants” that are all much too intricate for Americans to bother about in Congress. So I hope you’ll never get to the bottom of it and the money keeps flowing in to support my elitist fly-fishing documentaries and scoreless soccer.

Wait a minute. You don’t think Americans should pay for red-blooded rat hunting sports and right-wing comedies on the death of the citizen and fly-fishing stories with corporate “sponsorships” to entertain a tiny fraction of the population?

Buzz off, fascist.

Read more here.

Related: “NPR Scandal Should Kill Taxpayer-Funded Broadcasting,” “National Public Radio’s Debacle and the ‘Vibe Shift’”

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Illinois legislator pushes to end ‘ageist’ mandatory driving tests for seniors

Posted in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Politics, Public Safety, Springfield, Traffic, WTF on April 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

By Catrina Petersen | The Center Square

State Rep. Jeff Keicher and AARP are looking to approve House Bill 4431, which would impact driving tests for those 75 or older.

Illinois is the only state in the nation that requires drivers 75 and older to retake a driving test as a condition of renewing their driver’s license. Keicher’s legislation would end this practice. Keicher said contrary to what some folks may think, drivers aged 75 and older are not more crash-prone than younger drivers.

“If you’ve had an accident, if you’ve had a ticket, those should be triggers at any age,” said Keicher. “They shouldn’t be based on when you turn 75 or 80. These should be things that are based on the condition of the individual driver and not a holistic policy. The removal of the mandatory test for those over the age of 75 is a critical piece of telling Illinoisans that we want them here.”

According to Keicher, the Illinois Secretary of State’s office is neutral on the bill and they’ll honor whatever the legislature decides. He said it is past time to fix the hurdle put in front of seniors in Illinois.

Ryan Gruenenfelder, senior director of advocacy and outreach at Illinois AARP, said it’s not enough that the Secretary of State changed the age requirement.

“As a result of that study, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias raised the minimum age to take a driver’s test from 75 to 79,” said Gruenenfelder. “The AARP commends that change but we need more. It’s time for Illinois to join the other 49 states to entirely remove age as a factor and align evidence-based practices focusing on functional abilities rather than age.”

Read more here.

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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), Ethics, His Master's Voice, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Unions, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on April 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 6:30 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Topics on their agenda include:

  • FOIA Report
  • Consideration to Approve the Final 2023-24 Academic Calendar
  • Consideration to Approve 2025 – 26 Academic Calendar
  • Consideration to Approve Kelsey Road Parking Lot Contract
  • Consideration to Approve Summer Capital Bid for BHS Joint Sealant Project
  • Teaching and Learning/Extended Update
  • School Board Governance Recognition, and
  • First Reading of Board Policy

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

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Bid Notice – Tennis Court Repair and Maintenance Project The Barrington Hills Park District 

Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Countryside Elementary School, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), FRVPC, Massbach Hounds, Politics, Property Taxes, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Unions on April 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“The Barrington Hills Park District, Cook County, Illinois (“Owner” or “Park District”), invites bids for the following project:

Tennis Court Repairs/Maintenance

Bid Documents, including Instructions to Bidders, Drawings, technical Specifications, General and any Special Conditions and Bid Forms including required Contractor certifications, and Prevailing Wage Determination and Supersedes Notice are available electronically by contacting the Barrington Hills Park District at 847-783-6772 or by email at office@bhillsparkd.org  

A pre-bid meeting will be held at 361 Bateman Road, Barrington, IL 60010 at 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. on April 30, 2024.  This meeting will be used to review the Specifications and give any Bidders the opportunity to discuss any concerns with the Owner.

Each bid shall be placed in a sealed envelope and clearly marked “Sealed Bid: Tennis Repairs/Maintenance.”  The envelope shall be addressed and delivered to and received by the Park District at the following location: Barrington Hills Park District, 364 Bateman Road, Barrington, Illinois 60010 or in person at the bid opening at Barrington Hills Park District Riding Center Meeting Room, 361 Bateman Road, Barrington, IL 60010.  No responsibility shall be attached to any person for premature opening of a bid not properly identified. 

Bids shall be received until 1:00 p.m. on May 7, 2024  Immediately thereafter, the bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.  Bids received after that time or at a different location will be rejected.

The Barrington Hills Park District reserves the right to waive technicalities, to accept or reject any or all bids, or to accept only portions of a bid and reject the remainder. Owner will award the Contract to the lowest most responsible and responsive Bidder, as determined by Owner. In considering the Bidder’s responsibility, the Owner may evaluate, among other factors, the ability of the Bidder to provide experienced labor sufficient in numbers to timely and properly complete the services, the financial capability of the Bidder, and the performance of the Bidder on other projects.

Bids shall not include federal excise tax or state sales tax for materials to be incorporated in, or totally consumed in the prosecution of the Work.  A tax exemption certificate will be furnished by the Park District at the request of the Bidder. The District’s tax exemption number shall only be used by the successful Bidder for the Work of this Project.

No bid may be withdrawn and all bids shall remain firm for sixty (60) days after the bid opening.

The Work of this Project is subject to the current Illinois Prevailing Wage Act,  A prevailing wage determination has been made by the Park District, which is the same as that determined by the Illinois Department of Labor for public works projects in Cook County. The Contract entered into for the Work will be drawn in compliance with said law and proposals should be prepared accordingly and provide for payment of all laborers, workmen, and mechanics needed to perform the Work at no less than the prevailing rate of wages (or the prevailing rate for legal holiday and overtime work) for each craft, type of worker, or mechanic.

The Contractor(s) selected will also be required to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations and executive orders, including but not limited to those pertaining to equal employment opportunity. All bids must be accompanied by cashier’s check or bid bond payable to the order of the Barrington Hills Park District for ten percent (10%) of the amount of the bid as provided in the Instructions to Bidders. No proposals or bids will be considered unless accompanied by such bond or check.

By Order of the Board of Park Commissioners of the Barrington Hills Park District Dennis Kelly, President”

Sources: Barrington Hills Park District Website and Daily Herald Marketplace

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Barrington Hills Park District Board (RCBH) meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Big Brother, Big Red, Cell Towers, Countryside Elementary School, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Don't Change Barrington Hills, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Financial Statements, Fox River Valley Hunt, FPDCC, FRVPC, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Immigration, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Look For The Union Label, Mad Cows, Open Meetings Act, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Transparency, Well Water Quality, Your Barrington Hills on April 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The Barrington Hills Park District Board/Riding Club of Barrington Hills will hold their monthly meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. Some items on their agenda include:

  • Administrators Report:
    • Replacement computer for Administrator
    • MAG purchase
    • Tennis bid dates chosen
    • Storing statues
    • New Locks for Tractor Shed
    • Labor to install camera focusing on Tractor Shed (camera & equipment purchased last year)
    • Organizing the Tractor Shed; approve labor cost for Octavio & Kim to organize
    • Pony Club’s items in Tractor Shed organized or taken to different storage area
    • BHPD trailer cleaned and parked outside with sale sign and price posted
    • Manure spreader cleaned and stored in public area with sale sign and price posted
    • Mice nesting in the tractors
    • Make large “Horse Show” sign portable by installing wheels
    • Purchase tennis court drying roller
  • Tractor purchase review
  • Project Requests to review and policy for submitting requests
  • Advisory Committee Report
  • Rental Requests
  • Review Rental Agreement Forms, with costs added for dressage arena and round pen rentals
  • Review Riding Center Rules

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here. Instructions for accessing the meeting remotely can be found here.

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Maia Kobabe’s ‘Gender Queer’ tops list of most criticized library books for third straight year

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Area Library, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elgin Community College, Girlie man, Harper College, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on April 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

FILE – Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents on Dec. 16, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Kabobe’s graphic memoir “Gender Queer” continues its troubled run as the country’s most controversial book, topping the American Library Association’s “challenged books” list for a third straight year. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

By  | Associated Press

Maia Kobabe’s graphic memoir “Gender Queer” continues its troubled run as the country’s most controversial book, topping the American Library Association’s “challenged books” list for a third straight year.

Kobabe’s coming-of-age story was published in 2019, and received the library association’s Alex Award for best young adult literature. But it has since been at the heart of debates over library content, with conservative organizations such as Moms for Liberty contending that parents should have more power to determine what books are available. Politicians have condemned “Gender Queer” and school systems in Florida, Texas and elsewhere have banned it. Last December, police in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, responded to a complaint from a custodian about the book by showing up and searching for it in an 8th grade classroom.

The ALA released its list Monday, along with its annual State of America’s Libraries Report.

“A few advocacy groups have made ‘Gender Queer’ a lightning rod,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. ”People are trying to shut down conversation about gender identity.”

Many books on the ALA’s top 10 snapshot had LGBTQ themes, including the four works immediately following “Gender Queer”: George M. Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” Juno Dawson’s “This Book is Gay,” Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and Mike Curato’s “Flamer.” The list’s other five books all were cited for being sexually explicit: Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Ellen Hopkins’ “Tricks,” Jesse Andrews “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan’s “Let’s Talk About It” and Patricia McCormick’s “Sold.”

“These books are beyond the pale for some people simply because they touch upon sex,” Caldwell-Stone says.

Read more here.

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District 220 Board of Education meets tonight

Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Ethics, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Unions, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on April 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 6:30 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Topics on their agenda include:

  • FOIA Reports
  • Revised Personnel Report
  • Consideration to Approve Food Service Bid
  • Referendum Phase 2 (Marketing) Update
  • Proposed 2025-26 Academic Calendar

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

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Legislation would allow third-party software for parents to monitor children online

Posted in Big Brother, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Politics, School Districts, Springfield, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on March 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Illinois state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview. during a committee hearing | BlueRoomStream

By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square

Legislation that would help parents monitor their children’s social media activity through third-party software is moving through the Illinois General Assembly.

House Bill 5380 would create the Let Parents Choose Protection Act, or Sammy’s Law, to require that social media companies provide children’s social media data to third-party apps, which parents could access. Sammy’s Law is named for 16-year-old Sammy Chapman, who died after buying fentanyl-laced drugs through video messaging app Snapchat.

“It’s about giving parents a choice to securely use third-party safety apps for any social media platform that allows children users,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview.

Rose Bronstein of Chicago, who lost her son to suicide in 2021 after he was cyberbullied online, testified before the House Consumer Protection Committee.

“I want to emphasize to this committee how harmful and dangerous just one student’s singular action can be to another child online,” said Bronstein.

Hope Ledford, a spokesperson from the tech industry coalition Chamber of Progress, said her group opposes the legislation.

More here.

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