https://www.ilnews.org/news/state_politics/rauner-ed-funding-numbers-criticized-by-senate-democrat-who-won/article_8cea2b3a-7c4f-11e7-b127-0b1a520eab75.html

SPRINGFIELD, IL –  (Greg Bishop, Illinois News Network.  Please click on the link above for the full story.  Here is an excerpt below.)

The Illinois State Board of Education is expected to soon release its analysis of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s suggested changes to the Democrats’ school funding reform bill.

Once the numbers are out, school districts will know how much money they can expect from the state under the plan put forward through Rauner’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1, which passed in May but wasn’t sent to the governor’s desk until last week.

With more than 850 school districts across the state, Rauner said it takes time for the education board to crunch the numbers.

“It’s very complicated,” Rauner said. It’s “not easily done and the majority of the General Assembly knows it takes time and knows the state board of education won’t run new numbers until there’s a specific bill to run numbers from.”

https://www.ilnews.org/news/state_politics/gop-asks-ag-if-dem-tactics-render-school-funding-bill/article_ee3f8626-7ba2-11e7-aa3e-735e16b1aa9d.html

SPRINGFIELD, IL – (Cole Lauterbach, Illinois News Network.  Please Click on the link above for the full story. Here is an excerpt below.)

Illinois Republicans say the Democrats’ education reform measure may have broken their own statehouse rules as well as the state Constitution.

The education reform bill, Senate Bill 1, was passed on May 31st. Senate Democrats put a procedural hold on it, saying they wanted cooler heads to prevail. But they kept it until July 31st, when the bill would have needed more votes to have passed than had originally voted for it.

But Senate Democrats put a procedural hold on it before sending it to Gov. Bruce Rauner, fearing a veto and saying they wanted cooler heads to prevail. They kept it until July 31, but a bill needs a supermajority – or 71 votes – in the state House after June 1.

Press Release from State Represenative Dave Severin (R-Benton) 

MARION, IL –     State Representative Dave Severin (R- Benton) will be holding satellite office hours at Anne West Lindsey Library, 600 N Division St. & Bryan Ave, in Carterville from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm on Tuesday August 8th.

Rep. Severin’s staff will be available to meet with constituents to address concerns and receive feedback on the issues most important to them.

If you have any questions, please contact Rep. Severin’s District Office at (618) 440-5090 or through the contact form on his website at www.repseverin.com.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/36072404/murphysboro-il-man-dies-after-being-pinned-under-tractor

MURPHYSBORO IL-  (KFVS-TV.  Please click on the link for the full story.  Here is an excerpt below.)

A man died after being pinned under an antique tractor in Jackson County, Illinois.

Late on Saturday night, August 5, Jackson County deputies responded to a Murphysboro home and found a man pinned under the front end of a farm tractor and against the tongue of a trailer the tractor was being hauled on.

The man was identified as 40-year-old Benjamin Arbeiter of Murphysboro.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/emanuel-chicago-lawsuit-justice-department-sanctuary-city-438855063.html

CHICAGO, IL – (Shelby Bremer, WMAQ-TV.  Please click on the link above for the full story.  Here is an excerpt below.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sunday that the City of Chicago will file a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice over efforts to block funding to sanctuary cities.
“Chicago will not be blackmailed into changing our values, and we are and will remain a welcoming city,” Emanuel said in a released statement.
“The federal government should be working with cities to provide necessary resources to improve public safety, not concocting new schemes to reduce our crime fighting resources,” he continued. “The City of Chicago will continue to stand up to President Trump and his Justice Department to ensure that their misguided policies do not threaten the safety of our resident

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sunday that the City of Chicago will file a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice over efforts to block funding to sanctuary cities.
“Chicago will not be blackmailed into changing our values, and we are and will remain a welcoming city,” Emanuel said in a released statement.
“The federal government should be working with cities to provide necessary resources to improve public safety, not concocting new schemes to reduce our crime fighting resources,” he continued. “The City of Chicago will continue to stand up to President Trump and his Justice Department to ensure that their misguided policies do not threaten the safety of our residents

 

Source: Chicago Sues Justice Department Over Efforts to Deny Funding to Sanctuary Cities – NBC Chicago http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/emanuel-chicago-lawsuit-justice-department-sanctuary-city-438855063.html#ixzz4p4obBpE3
Follow us: @nbcchicago on Twitter | nbcchicago on Facebook

http://www.wsiltv.com/story/36073761/ben-carson-to-visit-cairo-on-tuesday

CAIRO, IL – (WSIL, TV.  Please click on the link for the full story.  Here is an excerpt below.)

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson plans to visit the troubled housing projects in Cairo Tuesday, according to the Southern Illinoisan.

HUD officials plan to move nearly 200 people out of public housing in Cairo because of awful living conditions.

Carson told the paper he wants to see for himself if there’s anything that can be done to salvage the situation.

National Immunization Awareness Month celebrates the important of vaccines

Illinois Department of Public Health Press Release

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is recognizing August as National Immunization Awareness Month as a reminder that vaccines protect against a number of serious and potentially life-threatening diseases.  Vaccines give parents the safe, proven power to protect their children from serious diseases like measles and whooping cough (pertussis).

“Most young parents in the U.S. have never seen the devastating effects of diseases like measles and polio, but those diseases still exist,” said IDPH Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D.  “Children who don’t receive recommended vaccines are at risk of not only getting those diseases, but of having a severe case of those diseases.  You can’t predict if your child will become sick with a vaccine-preventable disease, or how severe the illness will be, but you can provide the best protection by following the recommended immunization schedule and getting your child the vaccines they need, when they need them.”

Many vaccine-preventable diseases are still common in other parts of the world.  For example, measles is brought into the U.S. by unvaccinated travelers who are infected while in other countries.  When measles gets into communities of unvaccinated people in the U.S. (such as people who refuse vaccines for religious, philosophical, or personal reasons), outbreaks are more likely to occur.  Illinois experienced a measles outbreak in 2015 in a daycare in which 12 of the 13 cases were infants too young to be vaccinated.  Vaccines don’t just protect your child; they help protect the entire community―especially babies who are too young to be vaccinated.

The U.S. has the safest vaccine supply in its history.  Vaccines are thoroughly tested before licensing and carefully monitored after they are licensed to ensure they are very safe.  The vaccination schedule also has been scientifically shown to be safe.  Although children continue to get several vaccines up to their second birthday, these vaccines do not “overload” the immune system.  Vaccines contain only a tiny amount of the antigens (the parts of the germs that cause the body’s immune system to respond) that your child encounters every day, even if your child receives several vaccines in one day.

When a child develops a disease like whooping cough, chickenpox, or the flu, they may miss several days of school.  It could also mean lost money because a parent or caregiver will need to stay home to provide care and make trips to the doctor.

The State of Illinois requires vaccinations to protect children from a variety of diseases before they can enter school.  For school entrance, students must show proof of diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, haemophilus influenza type b, hepatitis b, and varicella, as well as pneumococcal and now meningococcal (depending on age) vaccinations.  For more information about immunizations, including vaccination schedules for infants, children, teens and adults, visit http://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/prevention-wellness/immunization.

Families who need help paying for childhood vaccines should ask their health care professional about the Vaccines for Children program, which provides vaccines at no cost to eligible children who do not otherwise have access to recommended childhood vaccines.  For information, call (312) 746-6050 in Chicago or (217) 785-1455 for the rest of the state.