Posted in Community Alerts, DARCHED, FUBAR, METRA, Road construction on June 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Even though the Village of Barrington reported the repairs to the Metra tracks on Main Street were scheduled to reopen, “on Friday, 6/23/23 at 5:00 PM,” as can be sign by this photo taken less that an hour ago the crossing is still closed. Further, there was no evidence work would take place today.
As soon as a status update becomes available, we’ll notify readers.
Related: “Metra/UP crossing closure of Main Street in Barrington starts tomorrow morning”
Posted in Deception, FUBAR, New Normal?, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, Transparency, Unions, WTF on June 16, 2023| 1 Comment »
“Pat”
The insurance code for Pap smears and prostate exams will soon be gender neutral as a result of a new law.
Instead of men receiving prostate exams and women receiving Pap smears, it would be “individuals” receiving the exams. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 2350 last week. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.
Former state Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago, said the bill was conceived because transgender and gender non-conforming people have historically struggled with accessing health care.
“So many people born male may not identify as male, and the same for people born female who need certain tests but no longer identify as such,” said Pacione-Zayas.
During debate, state Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, called the legislation bizarre.
“I cannot get a prostate exam in the state of Illinois. I can’t. It doesn’t exist for me. My colleagues that are male can’t get a Pap exam. It’s just the way it is,” Tracy said.
She added that she is for inclusivity and folks getting proper care, but wondered why the bill was being prioritized over more important bills that are stuck in committee.
State Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, said this type of legislation confuses kids.
“Biological males cannot get Pap smears, it’s not possible, it is physically and anatomically impossible,” Chesney said. “It’s not even following science.”
More here.
Posted in Agendas, Algonquin Rd, Animal Welfare, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Countryside Elementary School, Ethics, Financial Statements, Fox River Valley Hunt, FPDCC, FRVPC, FUBAR, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Massbach Hounds, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Transparency, Unions, Well Water Quality on June 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The Barrington Hills Park District Board will hold a, “Decennial Committee on Local Government Efficiency,” meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. A copy of the meeting notice can be viewed and downloaded here.
Additionally, the District web page reads, “June 14, 2023 Board Meeting Agenda (posted on June 12),” indicating the Board may have intended to have a regular monthly meeting tonight as well. However, no agenda is posted, and per state law, “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.”
Instructions for accessing tonight’s meeting(s) remotely can be found here.
Posted in FUBAR, Property Taxes, Springfield on June 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Illinois has more units of local government than any other state. That fact has some critics asking the question: how much is too much?
Just exactly how many local government units there are in the state, including cities, counties, townships and other special purpose entities, is hard to say. The Illinois Policy Institute, a right-leaning think tank, found just over 6,032 units, while the Civic Federation found almost 9,000. The 2017 U.S. census found close to 7,000.
Whatever the precise number, Austin Berg, vice president of marketing for the Illinois Policy Institute, say it’s too high.
“We can barely get a reliable estimate on how many units of local governments there are. That’s how crazy this problem has really become,” said Berg.
“The problem with this massive proliferation of local governments throughout the state is that it was very easy to create these once-upon- time,” Berg said. “That’s why we have thousands and thousands and thousands. But it’s almost impossible to change them. To redesign them. To get rid of them. I think what most people in Illinois agree on is that we pay really, really high property taxes – the first or second-highest in the nation depending on how you calculate it – but we’re not getting the first or second highest quality in government services.”
Berg said his organization wants it to be easier for voters to decide on local units.
More here.
Posted in FUBAR, Topics Of Interest on June 11, 2023| 1 Comment »
A party bus struck the Robert Parker Coffin Bridge near Robert Parker Coffin Road and Schaeffer Road in Long Grove Saturday afternoon. | Photo: The Chatter Box of Long Grove
A bus became the 50th vehicle to hit the historic bridge in Long Grove after the bus scrapped the bridge’s canopy, causing the bus’ roof air conditioning unit to rip off.
The incident involved a bus from the company M&M Buses and occurred Saturday afternoon.
The bus was traveling eastbound when it struck the Robert Parker Coffin Bridge, located at Robert Parker Coffin Road and Schaeffer Road in Long Grove.
The bus did not remain at the scene despite the vehicle’s roof air conditioning unit being ripped off and falling onto the roadway.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy stopped the bus a quarter-mile away in front of The Chatter Box of Long Grove.
The bridge has been struck at least 50 times now.
The collision comes approximately a week after a box truck and a van struck the same bridge in separate incidents.
More here.
Posted in FUBAR, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on June 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Have mercy if this list is woefully incomplete. The recently concluded session of the Illinois General Assembly sent a blizzard of some 560 bills to Gov. JB Pritzker for signature, so we certainly don’t know what all is in them (and most lawmakers don’t, either.)
Below, however, are some of the more foolish bills that caught our attention. Keep in mind that each will require Pritzker’s signature before becoming law.
What’s clear from the session is that progressives were unrestrained, passing laws supposedly providing government answers to whatever they see in the world that they don’t like. Take just the output of lawmakers from my area, for example, who are all progressives. Rep. Robin Gabel sponsored 65 bills and resolutions, 44 of which passed. Sen. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz sponsored 92, 61 of which passed. But Rep. Laura Fine beat them both – 203 of which 92 passed. That’s according to a compilation by the Daily Northwestern.
We’d like to hear from you if you know of others we missed:
Converting deserts to oases – at taxpayer expense. Don’t have a decent grocery store near your home? SB 0850 directs the Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity to establish the “Grocery Initiative” to study “food deserts” in Illinois and give grants to grocery stores in those areas. This bill is a nice illustration of the statist mentality prevailing in the General Assembly. Illinois, being mostly rural or empty, is covered with deserts of all kinds – areas lacking a nearby pharmacy, dentist, car mechanic, public transit, healthcare specialists and countless other goods and services. Is it now the taxpayers’ obligation to assure that these are conveniently in reach for everybody?
Unknown cost of unfunded kindergarten mandate means unknown property tax increase. House Bill 2396 will require school districts around the state to provide full-day kindergarten by the 2027-2028 school year. Nice idea, provided the schools don’t extend their political indoctrination down to that level. But the bigger problem is the legislature didn’t bother to tell taxpayers or anybody else how much that will cost local school districts. Why bother when they can just impose another unfunded mandate? The Illinois Principal’s Association opposed the bill because of those unknown, unfunded costs.
Another mandate on schools – to enforce antiracism and anti-harassment. SB 0090 will make school districts liable for a civil rights violation if they “fail to take appropriate corrective action to stop harassment” or fail to comply with reporting requirements imposed by the bill. Along with the onerous reporting requirements, the bill lays out lengthy details on required anti-harassment and anti-racism training. The state will be required to produce a model training program.
Find more here.
Posted in FUBAR on June 2, 2023| 1 Comment »
NAPER-BEARS?
Chicago Bears officials met with Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli on Friday to discuss the possibility of abandoning their plans for a new stadium development in Arlington Heights in favor of building it in the western suburb.
In a move that could be used as bargaining leverage, the team said in a statement Friday that plans to build “the largest single development project in Illinois history” are “at risk” in Arlington Heights.
The Bears objected that recent tax hikes on the former Arlington Park racetrack, which the Bears bought this year, would result in taxes far higher than its worth while it is not operational.
“We will continue the ongoing demolition activity and work toward a path forward in Arlington Heights, but it is no longer our singular focus,” team officials wrote. “It is our responsibility to listen to other municipalities in Chicagoland about potential locations that can deliver on this transformational opportunity for our fans, our club and the state of Illinois.”
The organization maintains plans to build an enclosed stadium with accompanying entertainment and residential development in Arlington Heights is not a done deal. There remains outstanding questions on the team getting certainty on property tax limits and public subsidies to help build infrastructure for the project.
Those uncertainties led Wehrli to send a letter May 24 to Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren in which the mayor acknowledged the team’s commitment to developing and operating its own stadium, which “is essential for on-field success and pursuing championships.”
“I would like to formally introduce our community to your organization as you consider or reassess your planned relocation,” wrote the new Naperville mayor, who was elected this spring and took office a month ago.
Read more here.
Posted in Algonquin Rd, County, FUBAR, Horizon Farm, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, Politics, Traffic on June 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Thanks to $12.5 million in funding secured by local state legislators, people using the Longmeadow Parkway bridge over the Fox River will not need to pay a toll when it opens next year.
“I made a promise to the people of my district that this brid
Thanks to $17.5 million in funding secured by local state legislators, people using the Longmeadow Parkway bridge over the Fox River will not need to pay a toll when it opens next year. (Gloria Casas / The Courier-News)
e would not become a toll bridge,” said state Rep. Suzanne Ness, D-Crystal Lake, whose District 66 includes parts of Algonquin, Carpentersville and Elgin.
“We’ve needed another way of passage across the Fox River, and it would be wrong to ask working families to pay more than they already do just to go to work, get groceries or take kids to a sports field,” she said.
The $100 million Longmeadow Parkway Corridor is a 5.6-mile roadway that runs through portions of unincorporated Kane County, Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills. Funded with a mix of federal, state and local money, it is designed to relieve traffic congestion in northern Kane County.
The Kane County Board authorized the sale of bonds to cover its share of the bridge expense and planned to collect tolls from bridge users in order to repay the debt. The toll cost was expected to be about $1.75 to $1.95.
The additional funding needed for the bridge was included in the state’s newly passed 2023-24 budget. In addition to Ness, state Reps. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, and Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles, advocated for it in the last legislative session.
More here.
Posted in Barrington Education Association, BOHICA, Commodius Maximus, Deception, Ethics, FUBAR, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Resident Spotlights, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on May 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Illinois is infamous for political corruption and has a bad reputation for fiscal malfeasance.
Backers of a new state budget say they’re turning that around with a balanced plan crafted in cooperation. Republicans, however, say the measure that passed the state House of Representatives around 2:30 a.m. Friday — while most Illinois residents were kicking off a sunny holiday weekend — largely ignores their input and sets the state up for obligations it won’t be able to meet.
The spending plan doesn’t increase taxes, but it will cost people $10 more for a new car title. That means come July, it will cost $165 for a certificate of title, with the additional funds to be used to update the Illinois secretary of state’s IT infrastructure, which an external assessment found to be very outdated. The secretary of state’s office said the increase “won’t come close” to raising the $200 million needed to overhaul the “archaic” system “to better protect personal information, increase cybersecurity and prevent outages … but is a decision the GA (General Assembly) made to help generate more for modernization.”
That’s a small portion of the $50 billion spending plan approved by lawmakers and that Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to sign in advance of July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.
One freshman lawmaker, Rep. John Egofske, R-Lemont, a former mayor and company CFO, said watching how the $50 billion plan was put together was “enlightening and frightening.”
Lawmakers behind the plan promised it contains no gimmicks, but Barrington Hills Republican Rep. Martin McLaughlin said “there’s more hiding, shifting, obfuscation of stuff that would make a three-card monte dealer blush,” and Rep. John Cabello, R-Rockford, said projected savings are “straight out of fantasy land.”
More here.
Posted in FUBAR, Public Safety, Springfield on May 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Another try for Lindsey’s Law, an Illinois measure increasing penalties for drunk drivers that kill someone and injure others, will have to wait for the fall.
In 2015, cosmetologist Lindsey Sharp of Springfield went to Walmart with her son and her boyfriend. In the parking lot, Antione Willis, 31, who had been drinking and smoking marijuana, hit the three with an SUV, killing Lindsey and critically injuring her young son and her boyfriend.
Then State’s Attorney John Milhiser said Willis pleaded guilty and was given the maximum sentence that the law allowed. State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, told The Center Square that the 14-year prison sentence was not long enough.
Under current Illinois law, Willis was sentenced for causing Sharp’s death. The state was unable to add more years to his sentence for the injuries he caused to Sharp’s son and her boyfriend.
If Sharp’s son or her boyfriend had died, the state could have added more years to his prison term, but because they survived, the prosecutor’s hands were tied.
“That to me does not do justice to victims in our state,” McClure said.
Lindsey’s Law would remove that barrier, he said, and if it is passed by the state legislature the state could have charged an additional four to 20 years in prison for the injuries to the son and the boyfriend.
More here.
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