Multi-phase plan to reopen the state

[VIDEO] Im glad to see this plan from Gov. J.B. Pritzker as far as reopening this state. Illinois is a far more diverse state and there is a lot more to our state than the Chicago area. Chicago and Cook County - also certainly the collar counties - are more of a hotspot that other parts of the state. And 97 of the state's 102 counties have reported cases so far

I would recommend you check out the governor's remarks from Tuesday as he discusses his regional phased reopening plan.

There were some challenges by two downstate legislators and another by a pastor challenging the governor's' new stay-at-home order which went into effect on May 1, 2020. Here it is in full. There was a ruling by a federal judge on Monday declaring the governor's executive order as constitutional which involved the lawsuit by a pastor in Illinois

I do want to address this video many of you seen from Saturday afternoon in the parking lot at the shopping center on 87th street that contains a Jewel. It was a crowd of people standing outside and congregating and evidently a full parking lot. On a typical day with all stores open - although Burlington Coat Factory had recently closed - the lot wouldn't be that full.

I could see this as an act of defiance and the weather is getting warmer people will get restless. However, if encouraging people to stay home will help to get Chicago reopened then I'm definitely for it.

Here's the video below.

Joravsky: Does the Second Amendment apply to black people?

GO FALCONS and props to student artist who created this

Another item I missed from Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky bouncing off of the police shooting of Harith Augustus

With all the attention focused on the police shooting of Harith Augustus in South Shore, the silence coming from the gun rights groups is deafening.

I mean, just about everyone else has weighed in, one way or the other, on the July 14 shooting, including Black Lives Matter activists, Mayor Rahm, and the Fraternal Order of Police.

But not a word from the normally loquacious spokespeople for the National Rifle Association like Dana Loesch, Oliver North, or Wayne LaPierre.

And it's weird, 'cause if ever there were a case tailor-made for the NRA to join—or even lead—it would be this one.

Consider what we know from the footage released by Chicago police.

Unless I've missed something during the course of the past month, the attention on South Shore seemed to have died down. However it's a good question, in the case of Mr. Augustus, where is the NRA? Does a "right to bear arms" for self-defense stop at Chicago's city limits? Does it exist only outside of gun-violence plagued communities?

Read the whole piece and let us know what you think!  

Progress IL: Englewood Renters Left Without Electricity, Gas Due To Foreclosure: 'We Were Left In The Dark'

This is a very unfortunate story. Unless you follow real estate you may not realize that foreclosures is still affecting people almost five or so years after they really became headline news. We can talk about people who own homes that they couldn't afford, but let's bear in mind there are foreclosed properties involving renters. We take a look at the couple above Shantisha & Ezekiel Shaw whose family are exactly in that situation.

The Shaw’s landlord was foreclosed upon last year and Freedom Mortgage Corp. took over the deed for the building on December 14, as indicated by the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court.

But neither Shantisha, nor her husband, Ezekiel Shaw, said they were notified the building was being foreclosed upon. They said they were not given a 90-day notice to vacate, nor were they provided any instructions indicating where they should send their monthly $550 rent — which includes utilities — following the foreclosure.

The Shaws say they were not provided with any landlord or contact information pertaining to who would be responsible for maintaining the property after the foreclosure.

“We’ve been left in the dark, literally,” said Ezekiel, 45. “What are we supposed to do?”
...
In February the Shaws received an eviction notice from Pierce & Associates, a leading Chicago-based foreclosure law firm.

“Demand is hereby made upon you for immediate surrender of possession of the above premises,” the February 4 letter, identifying Pierce & Associates as attorneys for Freedom Mortgage, states.

“But we don’t have any money, I don’t know what they expect us to do,” said Shantisha.

I don't want to excerpt more from this article, but you should read the whole thing. We should bear in mind one thing when it comes to foreclosures. Banks do not want to be landlords, they have to maintain the properties they have to take.

I'm not sure of the entire situation involving the Shaws, but there's a problem if they're making this family leave their building because they don't want to be landlords and therefore responsible for maintaining this property. The Shaws had also reported that their utilities were shut off who knows if it's because the company that took over their property did it to make them move. Also recognize that if true shutting off utilities or other actions to make people leave a property is called "constructive eviction" and it's an illegal practice.

Anyway, I'm curious what everyone thinks of this story.

Chicago bloggers threatened

This is already news it has been for a while. Tom Mannis at The Bench sent some links to some blog posts and articles about this story. This morning I found that Instapundit, a top national blog, has gotten wind of this story.

You can read the gist of this story here:

Fix Wilson Yard, the grassroots community organization that claims to represent more than 2,000 Chicago residents, alleges numerous abuses on the city's part in the creation, planning, implementation and funding of the Wilson Yard TIF District and the corresponding Wilson Yard development.

Subpoenas were filed last month seeking information on Web sites hosted by Buena Park Neighbors and the Uptown Neighborhood Council. The revelation comes on the heels of subpoenas served at Google, asking for ownership information about two anonymous blogs, Uptown Update and What the Helen.

According to copies of the subpoenas obtained by News-Star, Google and its hosting service, Blogger, are being asked to produce information "related to the identity of the person or persons who created and/or control 'WhattheHelen.com' and 'Uptown Update' blogs and websites (sic)."

Uptown Update is an active blog that has gained popularity as a clearinghouse for information about the Uptown neighborhood. What the Helen was active during the 2007 aldermanic election and has not been updated in more than a year.

The neighborhood block club Buena Park Neighbors and the Uptown Neighborhood Council are also being subpoenaed for documents identifying contributors who have posted on both organizations' Web sites. The neighborhood organizations are being asked to produce all posts in "the form of a blog, chat room comment, website (sic) post or any other form that relates to the Wilson Yard development, Alderman [Helen] Shiller, or Uptown development."

In addition, the subpoenas ask for all documents pertaining to the six Uptown residents named as plaintiffs in the Fix Wilson Yard lawsuit.

You can go to Uptown Update and see the original story in addition to that you can see those other bloggers who took notice of this story.

Also you can check out this write up at the Chicago blog, Flying Debris. That write up was linked in the Instapundit post.

Fitz on Cook County Jail

Bill Barr discusses the issues found at the Cook County jail by the US Attorney's office.

Eye on Chicago: The future of the handgun ban

A video from WBBM-TV Chicago. Discussing whether Chicago's gun ban will suffer the fate of DC's gun ban.

Also please take note of ChicagoGunCase.com is a website regarding the attempt to overturn Chicago's gun ban.