January 14 Morning Edition

ABC7

— Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin to announce run for governor Monday, sources say – Craig Wall
https://abc7chicago.com/richard-irvin-aurora-mayor-jb-pritzker-avery-bourne-illinois-governor-election/11465958/
— Evanston reparations: 16 recipients selected to receive $25,000 for housing – Will Jones (COMMENT: How much have you, your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents, and the rest of your ancestors wounded Blacks?)
https://abc7chicago.com/evanston-reparations-program-illinois-il/11465347/

CBS2
— Evanston Awards Grants For Its African American Reparations Program
(COMMENT: How much have you, your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents, and the rest of your ancestors wounded Blacks?)
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/video/6185663-evanston-awards-grants-for-its-african-american-reparations-program/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— It’s time to end the disrespect toward high-profile Black women leaders. The mayor, the county clerk, a leader alderwoman, even the vice president, are all victims of our nation’s vitriolic political discourse. – Ald. Roderick T. Sawyer, Ald. Gregory Mitchell, Ald. David Moore, Ald. Derrick Curtis, Ald. Howard Brookins Jr., Ald. Michael Scott Jr., Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., Ald. Jason Ervin, and Ald. Chris Taliaferro
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/1/13/22882727/black-women-leaders-mayor-lightfoot-county-clerk-yarbrough-ald-michelle-harris-kamala-harris-op-ed
— Republican Steve Kim launches bid for Illinois attorney general, vowing to battle crime, corruption, Pritzker and Madigan. Launching his campaign on the first day candidates can start gathering signatures for nominating petitions; Steve Kim became the third Republican in as many days to announce a run for statewide office in the June primary. – Taylor Avery
https://chicago.suntimes.com/elections/2022/1/13/22883168/republican-steve-kim-illinois-attorney-general-kwame-raoul-pritzker-madigan-trump-2022-june

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— ‘This will help us heal old wounds’ An Oak Park resident makes the case for reparations and calls for a plan to build Black wealth in the western suburb of Chicago. – DEBORAH L. SHELTON
(COMMENT: How much have you, your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents, and the rest of your ancestors wounded Blacks?)
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/equity/oak-park-resident-makes-case-reparations

DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Suburban businesses, city of Aurora get grants to rebuild from looting in 2020 – Maria Gardner
https://www.dailyherald.com/business/20220113/suburban-businesses-city-of-aurora-get-grants-to-rebuild-from-looting-in-2020

EVANSTON ROUNDTABLE
— Robin Rue Simmons: ‘Today we take an important step in selecting the first reparations recipients’ (COMMENT: How much have you, your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents, and the rest of your ancestors wounded Blacks?)
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2022/01/13/reparations-robin-rue-simmons-important-first-step-statement/
— ‘A part of history’ (COMMENT: How much have you, your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents, and the rest of your ancestors wounded Blacks?)
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2022/01/13/reparations-part-of-history-michael-cr-nabors/

STAR TRIBUNE
— Henry Co. GOP holds pre-primary confab Saturday
https://www.starcourier.com/story/news/2022/01/14/henry-co-gop-holds-pre-primary-confab-saturday/9191855002/

NPR ILLINOIS
— Virginia’s first Black woman lieutenant governor says we need to move on from slavery – Ben Paviour
https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-01-13/virginias-first-black-woman-lieutenant-governor-says-we-need-to-move-on-from-slavery

NAPERVILLE NEW 17
— DuPage County Divided Over Drawing of County Election Precinct Maps
(COMMENT: Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, Independents, and RINOs redraw precincts to get rid of Republican Precinct Committeemen like me. For the second time now, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, Independents, and RINOs have drawn me in to the same DuPage County Milton Precinct 9 in Wheaton with Jeanne Ives.)
https://www.nctv17.com/news/top-stories/dupage-county-divided-over-drawing-of-county-election-precinct-maps/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: DuPage County voters could find they are grouped into fewer, larger precincts come the next election. Why Now? A new piece of legislation signed into law in November 2021 and discussed Tuesday at the county finance committee meeting reduces the number of DuPage County election precincts from 930 to 607. The current draft of the redrawn maps leaves fewer committeemen to serve as the voice of the voters, thereby impacting whether a party may be elected. What’s At Issue? Board member Amy Chavez said some precinct committee members and township officials have reached out to her, asking for changes to the proposed election precinct maps. “I think there is a lot of concern over these new lines,” Chavez said. Board member Sam Tornatore said something has to give. “It’s essentially a political attempt to change boundaries within precincts,” Tornatore said. The new state legislation comes on the heels of the county board agreeing on a new DuPage County redistricting map in a bipartisan effort in October 2021. Deputy County Clerk Adam Johnson said he stands by the election precinct maps put together by county clerk’s office staff. “It’s unavoidable that there’s going to be some people who are not happy with the way the maps turn out,” Johnson said. “Certainly, we’re open to constructive criticism on how that process could have been better massaged.” Board member Jim Zay said he would not support the precinct maps as proposed given the lack of time allotted for input. “We have a job to do,” Zay said. “This is not putting us in the best position to do our job.” Johnson tried to address concerns about the county clerk’s office getting input on the precinct maps. “While there hasn’t been a lot of time for as many outside parties to review the maps, from the feedback I have received, I haven’t heard much in the way of actual substantive complaints of how the maps were drawn in terms of meeting the state legislature’s requirements,” Johnson said. Tornatore said he doesn’t want to place blame on the county clerk’s office, but he believes taxpayer money may have been wasted. “I don’t know that the election division contemplated this legislation coming from Springfield,” Tornatore said. “I know it’s been kind of on the back burner. … Perhaps we should have taken it into consideration before we ordered as many printers as we did. But I’m going to presume that we have a printer for every precinct that if we now have 300-plus fewer precincts, we either should get a rebate for the money we spent or we’re going to have a lot of printers being stored that aren’t being used.” The county board authorized the purchase of new voting equipment valued at roughly $7.2 million in October 2021. That contract as awarded includes funding to pay for printers, among other things. The county has been in the process of matching polling places with election precincts to determine which ones will be combined into a single location. Officials anticipate a reduction in the number of polling places, but they believe the amount of new printers purchased will remain appropriate for the layout of available voting locations. Moving Forward. County board members acknowledge they don’t have a lot of time to spare. The election precinct maps need to be adopted no later than Friday. A special county board meeting on this topic is scheduled for Friday at 8 a.m.)

JOHN KASS
— The Ken Griffin political hat-trick to change the broken politics of Illinois: Back Vallas, fund a challenger to Preckwinkle, and then take Pritzker out.
https://johnkassnews.com/the-ken-griffin-political-hat-trick-that-would-change-the-broken-politics-of-illinois-back-vallas-fund-a-challenger-to-preckwinkle-and-take-out-pritzker/

FOX NEWS
— Matt Walsh: The left thinks they own your kids, but parents are starting to wake up. Walsh said, ‘It’s about who owns your kids. And they think that they do. And how dare you step in the way’ – Hannah Grossman
https://www.foxnews.com/media/matt-walsh-left-thinks-own-kids-parents-starting-wake-up

NEW YORK TIMES
— Let’s Not Invent a Civil War – Ross Douthat
(COMMENT: Democrats have declared a Second Civil War on Republicans. Democrats see those who are the following as being their soldiers in their army to get rid of Republicans once and for all: minorities, females, younger people, LGBTQers, citizens of foreign countries, renters, Trump-haters, moderates, liberals, Libertarians, Greens, Independents, RINOs, those who have financial, health, and/or other problems, non-married people, non-Christians, non-Protestants, non-Italian Americans, non-German Americans, those whose ancestors have not been in America for a long time, criminals, boozers, gamblers, stoners, etc.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/opinion/civil-war-america.html

Author: David Diersen

The opinions that I express in GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails are based on experience that I have gained doing many things since 1948. I base my opinions on what I learned a) working for the federal government for almost 30 years -- Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Government Accountants Chicago Chapter 1983-1996, and being a union member while I worked for the Post Office and IRS; b) earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a masters degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a masters degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997; c) passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981; c) serving as a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999, the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois Chairman 2005-2012, a member of the 2008 Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Platform and Resolutions Committee, a Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee member 2003-2011, the Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, and an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member 2001-2004; d) attending the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 IRP State Conventions as a delegate; e) being the subject of a nasty 4-page article in the February 1978 issue of Money Magazine; f) pursing litigation including Diersen v. GAO and Diersen v. Chicago Car Exchange; g) being married since 1978; h) living in Crete 1948-1972, in University Park 1972-1976, in Chicago 1976-1978, and in DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 1978; and i) being baptized, raised, and confirmed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran.