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Editorial: Darby Hills for Illinois 26th Senate District

Posted in BACOG, Chicago Tribune, Data Center, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Economy, Education, Elections, Flock Cameras, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Resident Spotlights, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Unions, Village Code on October 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »

State Sen. Darby Hills talks with a colleague during the legislative session at the Illinois State Capitol on Oct. 28, 2025, in Springfield. | John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune

By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune

This north suburban district stretches from Palatine and Barrington north to Lake County municipalities including Lake Zurich, Hawthorn Woods and Wauconda. Republican Darby Hills, 50, was appointed to the seat in early 2025 after fellow Republican Dan McConchie resigned to start a national nonprofit advocating for better access for the disabled. Hills, formerly a Barrington Hills village trustee, is running to be elected in her own right against Democrat Nabeela Syed, 27, an Illinois House member from Palatine in her second term.

Syed tells us she opposed the transit rescue legislation enacted in late 2025 because it included a “regressive” sales tax increase. Except she didn’t oppose it, at least on the floor of the House. As Hills points out to us, Syed didn’t vote on the package. For something so consequential to her constituents, Syed can’t have it both ways. She should have voted no if that was her position.

Hills did vote against the package in the Senate with the fair reasoning that transit-agency reforms should have preceded the hefty toll hike and sales tax increase that bailed out the system.

Hills has voted against her party leadership more than once, including on a measure this year to allow for state regulation of auto insurance rates for the first time, which was signed into law. The last thing the Illinois Senate needs is an even larger Democratic supermajority, and Hills has proven herself the sort of Republican who will work with the other side of the aisle. Darby Hills is endorsed.

Full editorial here.

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Village Board of Trustees meet tonight

Posted in Aunt Blabby, BACOG, BCFPD, Big Red, Board of Health, Cost of Living, Deception, Dumb and Dumber, Elections, ePacket Agendas, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Flock Cameras, Heritage and Environs Committee, Insurance Committee, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Lennie, OMA, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Club Commission, Roads & Bridges Committee, Taxes, Transparency, Unions, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer, Well Water Quality, Yabba Dabba Doo, Zoning Board on September 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting this evening beginning at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

A copy of their agenda, including info on listening to the meeting, can be viewed and downloaded here.

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Juliana Stratton is hiding from Illinois voters. That tells you everything.

Posted in Cost of Living, Deception, Democratic Socialists of America, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Economy, Education, Elections, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Flock Cameras, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Open Meetings Act, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Taxes, The Center Square, The Chicago Way, Transparency, Unions, WTTW News on September 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Juliana Stratton (left)

By Mark Glennon | Wirepoints

The balance in the United States Senate after November’s elections is likely to be razor thin, making each Senator’s competence critical in what is among the most dangerous periods America has faced, both internationally and nationally.

Juliana Stratton wants a promotion to the Senate from lieutenant governor — a mostly ceremonial post in Illinois. She’s asking for that promotion from behind a curtain, denying voters any opportunity to see whether she has even a meager understanding of the issues she will face.

Multiple debates and forums would be the best means to learn about Stratton — as well as about Don Tracy, her Republican opponent, whose Senate credentials are also little known to Illinois voters. Tracy accepted offers to no fewer than seven such events from CBS2 Chicago, FOX 32 Chicago, the League of Women Voters of Peoria, the Illinois Farm Bureau, the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the Technology and Manufacturing Association and the Illinois Municipal League.

Stratton, however, refused all but one , and it will be very late, set for October 20. Early voting starts September 24 in Illinois, nearly a month before that. And with Chicago’s PBS affiliate, WTTW, being the moderator, we should expect no tough questions for Stratton.

How about a long interview by a fair reporter versed on national issues?

Forget it. You will find none. For that matter, you won’t find one on any matter for the entire duration of her political career in Illinois. When asked for an interview in July by one source that can be reasonably expected to ask hard questions, The Center Square, Stratton declined. Tracy, in contrast, has given multiple interviews to sources both left- and right-leaning.

In fairness, Stratton did participate in multiple debates and forums when running in the Democratic primary. However, that was against fellow progressive Democrats who largely agreed with her and she was never challenged on the major issues that divide the country and would be important to undecided and swing voters.

What do we know about Stratton, aside from her record of complete allegiance to Gov. JB Pritzker on Illinois issues?

On her web pages and elsewhere you can find the standard list of the far left’s policy positions. They include abolishing ICE, which she says is unfixable; a national $25 per hour minimum wage, even in rural areas; Medicare for all, with no cost analysis provided; and ending the 51-year old Senate filibuster rule.

Her top priority, however, is fighting back against President Trump, she has emphasized. We might therefore expect some substance in her views about Trump, right?

Her most notable words about Trump were in an ad that did get her national and international attention, but it was ridiculed for its vacuous crudeness, even by left-leaning sources like Britain’s The Guardian. It was a 30-second ad in her primary race with a string of “F— Trump.”

Article continues here.

Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.

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Police say Flock is invaluable. But as misuse mounts, many wonder how to rein in the surveillance system.

Posted in AI, Big Brother, Chicago Tribune, Ethics, Flock Cameras, Politics, Taxes, Transparency on September 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“Every time you give a bunch of workers access to a database like this, there is going to be the temptation for them to search it for personal ends.”

By Rebecca Johnson and Lila Hempel-Edgers  | Chicago Tribune

The new headlines seem to pop up daily.

The Flock cameras were allegedly used by a former sheriff’s deputy in Wisconsin’s Kenosha County to stalk his then-girlfriend, who also worked as a deputy sheriff. In McHenry County, a police chief allegedly searched their vast network of automated cameras nearly 250 times to track former romantic partners and others connected to them.

In northwest Indiana, three misuse cases emerged in just one week, while officers in Bloomingdale, West Chicago, Itasca and Channahon have been put on administrative leave for alleged improper use.

Automated license plate readers — increasingly synonymous with Flock, though there are other brands on the market — photograph the license plates and other identifiers of passing vehicles. Police officers are then able to search and share the data for investigations.

But a growing number of cops throughout the Chicago area and across the country have been accused of searching those databases for personal reasons. Civil liberties activists too are alarmed that law enforcement departments could use the cameras to work with immigration officials or surveil ordinary citizens.

As allegations of misuse mount, police departments and lawmakers are grappling with what must be done to prevent wrongdoing.

Suburban police chiefs told the Tribune safeguards are necessary, but that the cameras remain invaluable tools in solving — or even stopping — crime. Meanwhile, Illinois state lawmakers are proposing new restrictions and towns are adjusting or canceling contracts. Passionate neighbors, in a rare moment of bipartisanship, are pushing to do away with the technology entirely.

“Every time you give a bunch of workers access to a database like this, there is going to be the temptation for them to search it for personal ends,” said Matthew Kugler, a law professor at Northwestern University.

“This is why hospitals do so much HIPAA training,” Kugler added, referring to federal patient privacy regulation. “The way you stop it is through training and auditing and controls.”

Report continues here.

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Illinois suburbs halt Flock use, suspend officers and review policy amid alleged improper use

Posted in Big Brother, Chicago Sun*Times, Deception, Ethics, Flock Cameras, Politics, Property Taxes, Taxes, TMI, Transparency, Unions, Village Government, WTF on September 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Homer Glen announced Monday that it was suspending the use of Flock cameras within its borders pending an investigation after a Will County sheriff’s deputy was placed on administrative leave amid allegations he misused the database of license plate-tracking data.

By Violet Miller | Chicago Sun*Times

Several suburban municipalities are reviewing the use of Flock cameras and placing police officers on leave amid a growing epidemic of alleged police abuse of the vast surveillance system.

Homer Glen announced Monday that it was suspending the use of Flock cameras within its borders “pending final determination of the investigation and review of the Sheriff’s ALPR protocol” after a Will County sheriff’s deputy was placed on administrative leave amid allegations he misused the technology.

“The Village understands that the investigation has to take its course and remains committed to public safety,” it wrote in a statement Monday. “However, given the limited information that has been reported to date, and the privacy concerns at issue, the Village has suspended the utilization of Flock ALPR cameras located within the Village of Homer Glen, pending final determination of the investigation and review of the Sheriff’s ALPR protocol.”

West Chicago is also reviewing its use of Flock cameras after officials announced Tuesday that city police officers may performed unauthorized searches between late 2024 and early 2025 using the technology. The Channahon Police Department is also making a similar review after an investigation found that its officers may have also made unauthorized searches. Officers accused of wrongdoing in each case were placed on administrative leave.

At West Chicago’s request, the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office is investigating alongside an internal inquiry into the officer’s conduct and a review of the safeguards around use of the system, according to a statement from the city.

“[West Chicago] recognizes the broader public concern surrounding the use of automated license plate readers,” the city said in a statement. “These tools have provided important public safety benefits, but their use must be balanced with appropriate safeguards, clear policies, meaningful oversight, and accountability.”

Report continues here.

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Equestrian/Riding Club Commission meets tonight

Posted in Algonquin Rd, Animal Welfare, Aunt Blabby, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Bicyclists, Commercial Horse Boarding, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Don't Change Barrington Hills, Elections, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Flock Cameras, Fox River Valley Hunt, FPDCC, FRVPC, Goat Rodeo, HARPS, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, IDOT, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Longmeadow Parkway, Mad Cows, Massbach Hounds, Overhead, Politics, Privacy, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Riding Club Commission, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Roads and Bridges, SOS Party, Taxes, The Other Half, TMI, Topics Of Interest, Traffic, Unions, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Your Barrington Hills on September 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Equestrian/Riding Club Commission will be meeting this evening at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

A copy of the agenda and Zoom link can be found here.

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Chicago-area police officers investigated for misusing Flock camera searches for personal use

Posted in ABC7 Chicago, Big Brother, Clown Car, Ethics, Flock Cameras, Police Reports, Privacy, Public Safety, Transparency on August 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

By Mark Rivera and Barb Markoff, Christine Tressel and Tom Jones | ABC7

Amidst growing outcry and mounting privacy concerns over misuse of powerful police surveillance technology, the ABC7 I-Team found multiple Chicago-area law enforcement agencies are now investigating their own officers for unauthorized use of the location tracking software.

From tracking ex-romantic partners to searching a former employer, at least two agencies have now forwarded cases of their officers misusing Flock Safety license plate reading technology to county prosecutors for review of possible criminal charges.

The I-Team filed 130 public records requests with local law enforcement agencies across Illinois and Indiana for internal investigation reports into misuse of FLOCK automated license plate reading (ALPR) cameras and others that can track a person’s location in real time.

Responses are continuing to come in but have already revealed cases of misuse.

In Prairie Grove, Police Chief Michael Goins said he discovered one of his officers had conducted hundreds of Flock camera searches, but not for any official purpose.

Goins said Officer William Copp was searching “ex-spouses, ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends of current girlfriends, people that had some sort of domestic relationship with him… One individual was searched approximately 140 times.”

Goins said he acted quickly and Copp was arrested and charged in McHenry County with official misconduct.

Prairie Grove is not alone.

The I-Team found at least 10 examples of local area law enforcement agencies investigating their own officers for misusing Flock and other license plate reading technology.

Report continues here.

Related: Some recent Daily Herald reports-

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‘Not 1984’: Flock cameras watching millions of Americans spark bipartisan revolt

Posted in AI, Big Brother, Cell Towers, Clown Car, Data Center, Deception, Flock Cameras, Fox News, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Privacy, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Transparency, VBHPD on August 26, 2026| 1 Comment »

A pigeon perches on a Flock Safety camera, mounted high on a traffic signal pole at the intersection of Chapman Avenue & Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove, Calif., on Aug. 14, 2026. | Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

By Elizabeth Elkind, Alex Miller | Fox News

There’s a new frontier in the national privacy debate that’s uniting people on the right and left, and it’s a tool that millions of Americans encounter every day without even realizing it.

Automatic license plate reader (ALPR) companies have been brought under scrutiny by lawmakers in Washington as privacy hawks warn that the growing sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is testing the bounds of what ALPR devices can legally learn about drivers on the road.

One company in particular, Flock Safety, has been taking hits in the media and political sphere as news of Flock cameras’ misuse — and occasional success — dominates headlines.

“There’s cameras everywhere, people know that, but if law enforcement has the ability to monitor the comings and goings of citizens, I think that’s wrong. I mean, we’re not the CCP, we’re not 1984 and an Orwellian society, and Americans have rights,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.

LICENSE PLATE CAMERAS ARE TRACKING DRIVERS EVERYWHERE

He pointed to a recent incident in his district where a now-former Sarasota police officer was fired and arrested after being accused of misusing Flock camera technology, using it to spy on one particular license plate over 300 times.

FLOCK SAFETY CAMERAS NEED CONSTITUTIONAL GUARDRAILS BEFORE FURTHER DEPLOYMENT, TENNESSEE MAYOR ARGUES

“I don’t think you’re gonna be able to stop these cameras from being out there, but at the very least, there should be some type of legal parameters put in place to protect people’s Fourth Amendment rights,” he said.

ALPRs automatically capture and analyze vehicle and location data on public roads without drivers’ consent. Supporters have argued that it’s a critical tool for public safety that only collects minimal information, while opponents labeled it an alarming expansion of the mass surveillance state.

LICENSE PLATE CAMERAS AT HOME DEPOT AND LOWE’S SPARK PRIVACY FEARS

Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, “These cameras are well beyond an automated license plate reader today. AI has made them so capable that they are now capable of facial recognition, of seeing what you’re doing inside your car. So it’s well beyond the license plate reader…that’s the problem. Technology has moved these beyond just looking at the back of a car.”

On the other side of the aisle, a spokesperson for progressive Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., pointed Fox News Digital to her recent comments responding to news that Flock was updating its oversight standards. Ramirez wrote on X, “Private tech companies have amassed record-breaking profits off our pain and the use of technology for mass surveillance is a threat to our democracy, civil liberties, and privacy. Congress must stop the ever-expanding surveillance state.”

The debate even exploded onto the campaign trail ahead of November’s midterm elections, where ALPRs join AI data centers as Big Tech’s big boogeymen.

Article continues here.

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Village Board of Trustees meet tonight

Posted in Aunt Blabby, Barrington Hills Park District, Big Red, Board of Health, Building Department, Clown Car, Economy, ePacket Agendas, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, Flock Cameras, Heritage and Environs Committee, Insurance Committee, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Lennie, One Barrington Hills, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Police Reports, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Club Commission, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Taxes, Transparency, Unions, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village President, Village Treasurer, Yabba Dabba Doo, Zoning Board on August 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting this evening beginning at 6:30 PM.

The only item of significance on their agenda appears to be recognition of William Walsh for 33 years of service. A copy of their agenda, including info on listening to the meeting, can be viewed and downloaded here.

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