Dispatches from Chicago's south side.
You can read the update at CapFax. The man a Sprinfield business owner named Michael L. Hoyle pleaded not guilty and his trial is schedule for July. He was able to post a $15,000 bail the day after the incident.
Springfield-area man who allegedly chased Sen. Sims in his car and pointed gun enters not guilty plea https://t.co/1mHmKu8M9b
— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) April 23, 2021
Per comments on Worlee Glover's Concerned Citizens of Chatham and also info he's received from the regional manager at Studio Movie Grill the former Chatham 14 Theaters will soon be under new management. It won't be permanently closed, however, it will be available for a new buyer.
According to the Chicago Crusader:
Chatham’s Studio Movie Grill, the luxury entertainment complex that brought upscale dining, fancy menus and food delivery service to movie goers on the South Side, is closed for good.
Five months after the national chain filed for bankruptcy, a spokesman for the Studio Movie Grill last week confirmed plans not to reopen the Chatham location after it was temporarily closed because of the pandemic.
“All SMG theaters remain under review, but SMG Chatham isn’t currently part of our re-opening plan,” said Lynne McQuaker, senior director of public relations and outreach for Studio Movie Grill. “Whenever possible, it’s our intent to reopen these shuttered theaters. We will share updates publicly as we have them available.”
A former manager of SMG in Chatham told the Crusader that employees last November were given a letter, informing them of the facility’s permanent closure.
The multi-screen movie theater at 210 W. 87th St. temporarily closed in March 2020 days after Governor J.B. Pritzker issued a statewide stay-at-home order during the pandemic. The Chatham location was among many Studio Movie Grill facilities in U.S. cities that imposed similar COVID-19 restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease.
Would be very disappointed if this longtime stable and venue in our community is shuttered longer than this pandemic. Also in general the movie industry is struggling because of this pandemic as we saw recently Arclight which operated a movie theater near North/Clyborn has shuttered along with the rest of the company as noted in the above article.
Here's hoping SMG comes out of bankruptcy and will reopen our longtime movie house.
We see more about Mayor Lightfoot's hybrid proposal for the CPS school board which by 2028 will elect three to an 11 member board with ultimately 8 appointed by the mayor. However, the voters will elected two members to a 7 member board the remainder appointed by the mayor by 2026.
The comments in this CapFax is showing how this could go over and it's not very well. The legislation is sponsored by state senate majority leader Kimberly Lightford who unfortunately has tested positive for the coronavirus. I do wish her well at this time.
Beyond that your thoughts. You like the idea of a hybrid school board? Do you like the mayor's proposal? Do you think there needs to be an elected school board in Chicago?Lightfoot’s proposal would elect just three school board members https://t.co/vsZkraDxCU
— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) April 15, 2021
The issue of an elected school board has been debated for many years. On this blog years ago I was supportive of possibly a hybrid board of education partially appointed by the mayor and elected by the people. There's a bill in Springfield that calls for a hybrid board while there is also a proposal for a fully-elected Chicago Board of Education.
Rich Miller has more on his blog.
Found this of all places at Politico:
— New state rep appointed: Democratic leaders in the 32nd House District appointed Cyril Nichols, the associate athletics director for City Colleges, to replace Rep. Andre Thapedi, who has stepped down after 12 years. Nichols’ district encompasses part of the South Side and south suburbs and could be redrawn with the upcoming redistricting map. Others who applied: Allyson Scrutchens, who worked for Ald. Roderick Sawyer; Kimberley Egonmwan, a General Assembly staffer; and Cook County Young Democrats Chair Chakena Perry.
A headline from The Daily Line suggests that State Rep. Nichols is a placeholder at least until the state finally re-draws the state's legislative districts. Perhaps in 2022 as Illinois considers whether or not J.B. Pritzker should remain Governor, we'll have an open seat for 32nd District state representative?
I saw this tweet by Speaker Chris Welch announcing the appointment of Cyril Nichols as state representative of the 32nd District. With a photo of Rep. Nichols taking his oath.
Congratulations to Cyril Nichols, who has been selected to represent the 32nd House District - Welcome to the General Assembly! pic.twitter.com/cAwbmWDsoE
— Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (@RepChrisWelch) April 8, 2021
Just about a decade ago many residents in the 6th Ward especially were very concerned about the ward remap. We did see how the remap went in 2012, this time around who knows when the city will start to redraw the map for the next decade or so.
The state is gearing up as the Democratic House Caucus has created an online site for the public to propose their own maps. The process at least for Springfield might be different this year thanks to the changes in leadership especially in the House of Representatives so this should be interesting. Here's another site for the state Senate Democrats which also experienced a recent change in leadership with the same concept as the state house where the public can draw their own map.
Now we got to find out when the city will begin their ward remap process. While this is really old news since last year with the unprecedented global pandemic there were issues with the census and no doubt that fell behind. The remaps of wards, state legislative and congressional districts all hinge on the data collected from the once every 10 year US census.
h/t Illinois Review
BTW, here's a statement from the US Census Bureau stating all data needed for redistricting should be compiled and released to all states by Sept 21, 2021.
Also here's an update from WTTW, as of March 9, 2021 the city council nor the mayor has backed an independent process to redraw the city's wards so a independent groups have formed a coalition for that purpose.
Kamala Harris is a former U.S. Senator from California and recently made history as the first woman of color to become Vice President of the United States under the 46th President Joe Biden. It was in the news recently that she spent a little bit of time on 75th Street on Tuesday to visit Brown Sugar Bakery.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton met up with the new vice president at Brown Sugar Bakery on East 75th Street after Harris visited a nearby vaccination site. https://t.co/qvjvpYshis
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) April 7, 2021
