CPS response to ICE threat

 

January 24, 2025

A Note From CPS Leadership

Click here to view this letter in Spanish, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Filipino, Polish, Ukrainian, Urdu, or Vietnamese. Use the Google Translate feature at the top of the page to change the language.

Dear CPS Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,

Much has happened in just the first week of the new presidential administration, including the elimination of a long-held policy that named schools as “sensitive spaces” when it comes to immigration enforcement. I know that this has many in our CPS community feeling deeply unsettled, and I am truly sorry for the unfair burden of fear and anxiety that is being placed on our immigrant families right now.

I want to speak directly to our CPS parents. Even with everything that’s happening, the best, safest place for your children is at school. First off, school is where they will receive the high-quality education they need and deserve. But beyond that, each CPS school is FILLED with adults who will go above and beyond every day to protect and care for your children.

As we’ve said many times, CPS DOES NOT ask for the immigration status of our students or families, and WILL NOT cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who come to our schools unless they have a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge. Even in that rare instance, we have a team of lawyers available at all times to review those warrants.

I want families to know that our District, city, and state are completely aligned on this issue. There are laws and policies, including the Illinois Trust Act and Chicago Welcoming City Ordinance, that are in place to protect our children, regardless of any changes that are made at the federal level.

The one thing we are asking of our families is to make sure your school has updated emergency contact information on file. Beyond that, we simply want you to send your kids to school every day with the confidence that we will protect and care for them.

Families can find a wealth of resources on immigration services, including a schedule of free “Know Your Rights” trainings and workshops, on our website at cps.edu/newadminguidance.

46 towns have passed a grocery tax. Is your town next?

Dylan Sharkey

Assistant Editor

January 16, 2025

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Already 46 towns around Illinois have voted to impose a 1% grocery tax in 2026. Other Illinoisans will start to save 1% on groceries when the statewide tax ends.

There are 46 Illinois towns that will continue the 1% grocery tax once the statewide tax ends in 2026, according to data from the Illinois Department of Revenue. The rest of the state will start to see 1% savings at the grocery store.

The map below shows which towns will begin taxing groceries in 2026, but the list will only get longer unless residents show they are opposed to taxing residents’ unavoidable need to eat. Even if a town is not on the map, communities have until October 2025 to decide whether to keep or kill the 1% tax on everyday grocery items.

Grocery shoppers around the state saved $360 million the year state leaders suspended the tax as a way to combat rampant inflation. That was roughly $30 per Illinoisan. That means a family of four could save about $115 a year on food, depending on where they live.

Grocery tax revenue exclusively went to local governments, so they will choose between budget cuts and grocery taxes. Illinois is one of only 13 states with a grocery tax, and the only state among the 10 most populated.

Grocery tax revenue by community for 2023 is in the table below, which is a gauge for what the tax repeal or imposition could mean for you and your neighbors.

In 2026 the tax could be gone for good, a move 70% of Illinois voters supported. Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the tax “kind of embarrassing.”

“It was the most regressive tax you could possibly have, taxing people on food,” Pritzker said. “Wealthy people, middle-class people can afford to go to the grocery store and pay 1%. Everybody else, it’s hard. That’s one of the reasons I went after it.”

Communities can choose to tax their residents on the need to eat. Or, they can give their retailers a competitive advantage by taxing 1% less than some tax-hungry neighbors.

 

As of yet neither Rockford nor Belvidere have passed the tax.To see map as to which cities have, go to: 

46 towns have passed a grocery tax. Is your town next?

ERA is now law????

Biden Says ERA Is Ratified, But Supreme Court Gets Final Say

By Ed Kilgore, political columnist for Intelligencer since 2015

 

 

READ the rest of the story at:  Biden Says ERA Is Ratified, But Supreme Court Gets Final Say

Congressman Kinzinger was a “real hero” back in 2006

EXCLUSIVE:  Adam Kinzinger's damsel in distress reveals true story of PTSD knife attack

Read the story at:  Adam Kinzinger's damsel in distress reveals true story of PTSD knife attack | Daily Mail Online

Off-duty Belvidere police officer charged with sexual assault, abuse

 

By FOX 32 Digital Staff

Updated  January 10, 2025 11:49am CST

Illinois

FOX 32 Chicago

article

Robert. E. Kozlowski | Illinois State Police

BELVIDERE, Ill. - An off-duty Belvidere police officer was arrested on sexual assault and abuse charges Friday.

Robert E. Kozlowski, 52, turned himself in to Illinois State Police.

On March 19, Belvidere police received a complaint that a woman was sexually assaulted by Kozlowski while he was off-duty.

Belvidere police contacted Illinois State police to launch an investigation and placed Kozlowski on paid administrative leave.

On Thursday, Kozlowski was indicted by a Boone County Grand Jury on one count of criminal sexual assault and two counts of criminal sexual abuse, all felonies.

Kozlowski turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He is being held at the Boone County Correctional Facility with no bond.

If convicted of all counts, Kozlowski could be sentenced to a maximum of 21 years.

Belvidere is a city of 25,000 people roughly 70 miles northwest of Chicago.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

Above is from:  Off-duty Belvidere police officer charged with sexual assault, abuse | FOX 32 Chicago

California Fire Facts

• LIE – California Cut Firefighting Budgets

  

  • FACT: The number of CalFIRE personnel has nearly doubled since 2019 (from 5,829 to 10,741)
  • FACT: CalFIRE’s budget has nearly doubled since 2019 ($2 Billion to $3.8 Billion)
  Above is from: California Fire Facts | Governor Gavin Newsom 

‘

See the truth on other fire issues at the above site

•  

  

  Alternet

 

Data proves Trump 'inheriting an economy that is about as good as it ever gets': report

 

Click o the following for the story:  Data proves Trump 'inheriting an economy that is about as good as it ever gets': report