Chicago City Wire

Some Illinois churches will hold services in defiance of Gov. Pritzker's orders

By W.J. Kennedy | May 21, 2020

The Philadelphia Romanian Church of God in Ravenswood is pressing on with in-person services despite being one of three churches slapped with a $500 fine by the city for defying Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order limiting religious services to 10 or fewer.

From NW Illinois News

Pritzker concedes to churches holding services with limited attendance

By W.J. Kennedy | 5 years ago

Facing legal action from a Christian church in Lena, Gov. Pritzker updated his executive stay-at-home order on April 30, allowing churches to reopen and hold services if they limit attendance to 10 or fewer.

Planned tuition increases at City Colleges of Chicago delayed due to COVID-19 crisis

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 30, 2020

Citing the disruption over the COVID-19 pandemic, City Colleges of the Chicago Board of Trustees has delayed a recommended 3 percent across-the-board increase in tuition, and the implementation of lab fees.

Pro-life legal group requests en banc review of ruling in trafficking of body parts case

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 24, 2020

A national legal society has asked a federal court for an en banc review of an open records ruling centering around the trafficking of body parts of aborted fetuses by a research lab at the University of Washington.

Illinois lags in COVID tests vital to restarting the economy; Pritzker blames feds, equipment manufacturers

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 20, 2020

Roseland Community Hospital on the South Side is one of the few bright spots in Illinois when it comes to testing for COVID-19.

From West Cook News

River Forest Trustee Thomas Cargie insults local residents and national figures in Facebook posts

By W.J. Kennedy | 5 years ago

River Forest Trustee Thomas Cargie, a Democrat, has distinguished his time in public service with his colorful, sophomoric put downs of his political and personal enemies.

U.S. warns health care providers not to ration coronavirus treatment based on age, disabilities

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 16, 2020

An individual’s civil rights will be violated by health care providers rationing treatment during the coronavirus pandemic based on age or disability, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced recently in a bulletin.

Pro-life leader hopes Lightfoot 'touched' by Stations of the Cross devotion

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 10, 2020

One of the featured guests of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s online presentation of the Stations of the Cross will be one of the city’s leading pro-choice advocates, Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Families of victims of illegal immigrant crime blast Lightfoot’s order granting benefits to immigrants and refugees

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 9, 2020

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s executive order granting coronavirus benefits to immigrants and refugees stings especially hard for one group of Americans -- families whose loved ones were victims of illegal alien crime.

Public health expert: CBS News fuels panic with video of Chicago-based nurse lying about lack of protective equipment

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 8, 2020

CBS News recklessly added to the panic over the coronavirus pandemic by failing to vet a video it promoted of a Chicago-based nurse crying – and lying it turns out – over the lack of a protective equipment at Northwestern Medicine, says public health expert and former journalist AnnMarie Schieber.

GOP congressional candidate: Lightfoot’s haircut ruling shows she is more 'image than substance'

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 8, 2020

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot this week was caught breaking her own directives over the coronavirus emergency when an innocent social media posting over the weekend by her hairdresser showed the two standing close together – neither wearing masks or other protective clothing.

Citizen activist, Jerry Baggot, calls seniors to check on wellness during pandemic

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 7, 2020

Jerry Baggot is on a long-term mission to change Washington and a more urgent one to make hundreds of wellness calls to older Chicagoans during the coronavirus crisis.

Health expert: Careless news reports of child’s death from coronavirus worsened fears

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 31, 2020

A public health expert said sloppy reporting surrounding the death of a 9-month-old from Cook County who had tested positive for COVID-19 needlessly put others at risk for exposure when parents, upon news of the child’s death, rushed their children to hospitals for checkups.

Second-tier elderly, disabled treatment during coronavirus emergency violates federal law, rights groups say

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 26, 2020

Alarmed by reports that care for the elderly and disabled might be rationed during the coronavirus emergency, a public interest law firm and civil rights group issued a joint legal memo warning officials that prioritizing treatment violates federal law.

Chicago FOP claims two officers unfairly dismissed for 2016 shooting

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 24, 2020

Chicago’s police union said that two officers dismissed last week by a disciplinary board is unfair as a July 2016 South Shore was “completely justified.”

Advocate for crime victims of undocumented immigrants questions if Lightfoot would welcome Capone back

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 23, 2020

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tried to turn the tables on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), whose director recently blasted her and the city’s sanctuary policies over the February sexual assault of a 3-year-old by an undocumented immigrant.

From Prairie State Wire

Restaurateurs plead with Gov. Pritzker for help after shutdown order

By W.J. Kennedy | 5 years ago

Chicago Chef Erick Williams, and other members of a coalition of city restaurants, are urging Gov. J.B. Pritzker to immediately release unemployment funds and enact additional emergency measures to help their employees withstand the economic shock of his directive to close all the state’s restaurants and bars until March 30.

Chicago Police union president to be decided in runoff election

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 9, 2020

No candidate in the March 5 election for president of the Chicago Police union, FOP Lodge 7, received more than 50 percent of the needed votes, sending it into a runoff.

Chicago FOP looking for its own exoneration in federal wrongful conviction trial

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 9, 2020

The Chicago Police union is closely following a civil trial in federal court brought by a Chicago man, Stanley Wrice, who spent 31 years in prison for his alleged part in a rape and torture.

Robling: Rashid “unqualified for any position of public trust”

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 28, 2020

Abdelnasser Rashid, a Democratic candidate for Cook County Board of Review, should apologize and abandon his campaign after boasting of the appearance of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) as the headliner at his upcoming political fundraiser, says Chris Robling, a Chicago-based political strategist.