ABC7
— What voters should know before March primary – BGA
http://abc7chicago.com/politics/weekend-watch-what-voters-should-know-before-march-primary/3095520/
WLS AM
— Can a middle-class candidate defeat millionaires in Illinois? – AP
http://www.wlsam.com/2018/02/17/can-a-middle-class-candidate-defeat-millionaires-in-illinois/
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Speaker Madigan: ‘I take responsibility’ for not doing enough on sexual harassment issue – Monique Garcia and Bill Lukitsch
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-speaker-madigan-sexual-harassment-letter-20180216-story.html
— Rauner’s budget cuts raise concerns among advocates for children, people with disabilities – Monique Garcia, Bill Lukitsch
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-bruce-rauner-budget-20180216-story.html
— States consider protecting benefits for DACA, TPS immigrants facing loss of status – Antonio Olivo (DIERSEN: What benefits are you getting and a) who wants to defend those benefits and b) who wants to cut if not eliminate those benefits? I should write a book about those who want to cut if not eliminate a) my Civil Service Retirement System pension, b) my federal health, dental, and vision insurance subsidy, and c) my Social Security. They hint/imply/argue/shout a) that the aforesaid benefits are much too generous, b) that taxpayers can no longer afford to pay me the aforesaid benefits, and c) my wife and I are undeservedly filthy rich, and therefore, we do not need the aforesaid benefits.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-states-daca-benefits-20180217-story.html
— Florida, angry and grieving, takes gun protest to streets – AP (DIERSEN: Instead of guns, they should protest the factors that created Cruz.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-florida-school-shooting-protests-20180217-story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: From a mosaic of public records, interviews with friends and family and online interactions, it appears Cruz was unstable and violent to himself and those around him — and that when notified about his threatening behavior, law enforcement did little to stop it. Cruz’s mother died in November and his father died years ago. He reportedly left a suburban Palm Beach County mobile home where he had been staying after his mother’s death because his benefactor gave him an ultimatum: you or the gun. The Palm Beach Post reports Rocxanne Deschamps said, “He bought a gun and wanted to bring it into my house” in public comments that have since been removed from her Facebook page. Chad Bennett, a friend of Deschamps’, said Cruz “chose the gun and he left.” He then went to live with another family. Earlier, Florida’s child welfare agency investigated after Cruz cut himself in an online video, but found him stable, according to state records. The Sun-Sentinel reported that Florida’s Department of Children and Families investigated when Cruz posted a video on the social media network Snapchat showing him cutting his arms in 2016. The agency was called to investigate. Cruz, then 18, was listed as an “alleged victim” of medical neglect and inadequate supervision; his adoptive mother, then-68-year-old Lynda Cruz, the “alleged perpetrator.” “Mr. Cruz was on Snapchat cutting both of his arms,” the Florida DCF abuse hotline was told in August 2016, the paper reported. “Mr. Cruz has fresh cuts on both his arms. Mr. Cruz stated he plans to go out and buy a gun. It is unknown what he is buying the gun for.” According to the paper, DCF’s investigation was completed that Nov. 12. The agency concluded Cruz had not been mistreated by his mother, was receiving adequate care from a mental health counselor and was attending school. Mental health center staff “came out and assessed the (victim and) found him to be stable enough not to be hospitalized,” the DCF report said. Cruz had been diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder that often leads to social awkwardness and isolation, and attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. The FBI said a person close to Cruz called the FBI’s tip line and provided information about Cruz’s weapons and his erratic behavior. The caller was concerned Cruz could attack a school. The agency acknowledged the tip should have been shared with the FBI’s Miami office and investigated, but it was not. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said his office had received more than 20 calls about Cruz in the past few years.)
— Naperville City Prosecutor Kavita Athanikar appointed associate circuit court judge in DuPage County – Erin Hegarty
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/ct-nvs-athanikar-judge-naperville-st-0218-20180216-story.html
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— At major Northwest Side bakery, labor issues pit blacks vs. Hispanics – Frank Main and Dan Mihalopoulos
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/at-major-northwest-side-bakery-labor-issues-pit-blacks-vs-hispanics/
SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
— 3 years later, Rauner tells similar incomplete story; Grasso vs. Harold – Bernard Schoenburg
http://www.sj-r.com/opinion/20180217/bernard-schoenburg-3-years-later-rauner-tells-similar-incomplete-story
JOURNAL STANDARD
— Re-energized Rauner makes his pitch for re-election – Chuck Sweeny (DIERSEN: What energizes you? For me, it is candidates who can and will a) a) defend and advance all the planks in the Illinois Republican Party and Republican Party platforms, including their traditional family, right to life, immigration, Second Amendment, equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) planks and the Milton Township Republican Central Committee resolution against video gambling and b) oppose the promotion of LGBTQ activity, abortion, mass/illegal immigration, booze, gambling, pot, and other vices, patronage, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation if they are elected.)
http://www.journalstandard.com/news/20180217/chuck-sweeny-re-energized-rauner-makes-his-pitch-for-re-election
PEORIA JOURNAL STAR
— Don’t spend that tax cut all at once – Doug Finke
http://www.pjstar.com/news/20180217/statehouse-insider-dont-spend-that-tax-cut-all-at-once
QUINCY HERALD WHIG
— Rauner’s pension shift proposal “financially devastating” to QPS – Deborah Gertz Husar
http://www.whig.com/20180217/rauners-pension-shift-proposal-financially-devastating-to-qps#//
BELLEVILLE NEWS DEMOCRAT
— Rauner’s budget plan makes property taxpayers cringe – Editorial
http://www.bnd.com/opinion/editorials/article200255184.html
ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE
— SHRINKING DECATUR TO FACE BUDGETARY HURDLES IN COMING YEAR – Joe Kaiser
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/shrinking-decatur-to-face-budgetary-hurdles-in-coming-year/
THE HILL
— Dems say GOP focus on mental health is redirection from gun control – PETER SULLIVAN
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/374304-dems-say-gop-focus-on-mental-health-is-redirection-from-gun-control
NEW YORK TIMES
— To Stir Discord in 2016, Russians Turned Most Often to Facebook – Sheera Frenkel and Katie Benner (DIERSEN: Facebook is a Democrat website.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/technology/indictment-russian-tech-facebook.html
