Free Republic

There are no precise figures on how many Latino Muslims live in the Chicago area, where the population is about 30 percent Latino. But, according to various estimates, the 130 mosques in the city and suburbs are the spiritual home to a small but growing group of converts — Latino Muslims. Some converts from devout Catholic families say they sometimes are faced with skepticism and ignorance from their own relatives: “Oh, what are you an Arab now?” “Why did you join a black religion?” “Did you join ISIS?” “Take that thing off your head.”

Chicago, Ill., Jun 27, 2018 / 03:16 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The social advocate and Chicago priest Father Michael Pfleger has invited anti-violence activists to protest gun violence by closing a portion of the Dan Ryan Expressway, where it is part of I-94. As many as 1,000 people could join Father Pfleger July 7. Beginning at the entrance ramp on 79th Street, the protestors will march about mile and a half until the exit ramp off 67th Street, shutting down the highway’s northbound lanes. Father Pfleger is the pastor of St Sabina Catholic Church, a parish which has hosted similar protests...

The Justice Department said Wednesday it has begun distributing hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money that had been tied up in a major court battle over sanctuary cities. Byrne Justice Assistance Grants are used by localities and police departments across the nation to pay for equipment, training, personnel or other pressing needs. The Trump administration last year said it would condition the money on localities’ willingness to cooperate in holding illegal immigrants for pickup by federal deportation officers. Chicago sued, saying the conditions weren’t part of federal law.

Time and again we hear politicians from different parts of the country profess the virtues of a soda tax. Their reasoning ranges from wanting to improve the public health, by cutting back consumption of unhealthy drinks, to talking about how much revenue it will bring in. This proclivity of nanny statists to push policies to change people’s behavior hues quite closely to Einstein’s definition of insanity: Trying the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Policy makers of all stripes need to abandon their affinity for soda taxes. Put simply, soda taxes just don’t work. Take Berkeley, California, as...

**SNIP** The lawsuit was filed on Monday, May 14 by “Protect Our Parks,” a nonprofit organization that seeks a court order to “bar the Park District and the City from approving the building of the Presidential Center and from conveying any interest in or control of the Jackson Park site to the Foundation.” In its complaint, Protect Our Parks accuses the Chicago Park District of an “institutional bait and switch.” The organization said the park district transferred public land to the Obama Foundation to house an official federal Obama Federal Library. But that purpose changed when Obama decided his center...

FULL TITLE. Teen dies after Chicago paramedics allegedly mistakenly pronounce him dead, cover him with white sheet A teenage boy in Chicago died nearly a day after he was reportedly shot in the head at a party, then presumed dead and covered with a white sheet for at least an hour until bystanders saw the 17-year-old move and began shouting at paramedics to help him. Erin Carey suffered a “catastrophic” wound after gunfire broke out at a party in Chicago’s University Village neighborhood just before 5 a.m. Monday. Carey was among six people shot that night, FOX32 Chicago reported. "He...

What better way could there be to celebrate Obama's legacy than bankrupting a bankrupt state for the greater glory of Barry? Illinois now has the worst credit rating in the municipal bond market. Moody’s Investment Services pegs Illinois’ debt at Baa3, and it could further downgrade that credit rating later in 2018. The State of Illinois incurred deficits reaching nearly $15 billion in 2017, and those deficits are projected to double to $30 billion in 2018. Illinois has also accumulated hundreds of billions in unfunded liabilities in public sector pension and health-care plans. This has exposed local jurisdictions to the...

She was eager to tout a drop in the Cook County Jail population, down from more than 10,000 in 2013 to about 6,000 today. Preckwinkle and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx have crusaded for reforms that encourage judges to release non-violent suspects on their own recognizance, rather than require them to post cash bonds. That is saving taxpayer dollars and getting people back home to go to work and support their families. But, I noted, “there’s a perception that you and Kim Foxx are too lenient …” “Soft on crime?” she interjected. “It’s the term Republicans use to beat...

The weekend began with seven people shot in just an hour on the South Side. It ended with 10 people shot in two attacks on the West Side. By Monday morning, at least 56 people had been hit by gunfire in Chicago over the weekend. At least nine of them died(snip) "Most of Chicago celebrated and enjoyed this weekend," Chicago police First Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio told reporters,(snip) "However, we saw an unacceptable and frustrating level of gun violence in several communities. “There’s too many illegal guns on the street,” he added, echoing a constant theme of his boss, Superintendent...

Walking along Michigan Avenue the other day, my 8-year-old nephew who is visiting from Georgia noticed the shiny glass building towering over the Chicago River. “Look, it says Trump!” he shouted. “What do you know about Trump?” I asked. “Do you like him?” “Yeah,” he answered without hesitation. “He’s our president. He keeps us safe.” Granted, my nephew comes from a small town in a red state that gave Donald Trump 50 percent of the vote against Hillary Clinton’s 45 percent. It is quite possible that he has managed to escape much of the Trump disdain that is displayed so...

The Illinois tollway contends its no-bid process that uses a selection committee to makes recommendations to the board on expensive engineering contracts is independent and transparent. But when asked to provide meeting minutes, the agency blacked out the names of committee members in a majority of cases, making it impossible to see who is voting -- a response criticized by attorney and public access expert Don Craven as improper under Illinois open records law. When the names did surface they included tollway board Director Corey Brooks, who like all directors is appointed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, countering claims the...

The Illinois Tollway board on Wednesday approved a deal with a Canadian railway to allow highway ramps over train tracks just west of O’Hare International Airport, which will make possible long-anticipated western highway access to and from the airport. By a 6-0 vote, the Tollway board approved a “letter of intent” with Canadian Pacific Railway at a special meeting. Under the terms of the letter, both parties agree to withdraw litigation against each other and to allow construction to go forward. The letter also permits negotiations to proceed on issues like air rights and right-of-way. “This is an agreement that’s...

The Center still has a series of approval steps to go through, including a federal review, but has also faced a lawsuit by Protect Our Parks, which alleged that the city was engaging in a “short con shell game” to get the 12-story museum and library built on parkland. The lawsuit argued that while the purpose of transferring the land was to house the official Obama presidential library, the center will not include his presidential papers, only a digital copy. "Defendants have chosen to deal with it in a classic Chicago political way, known as a short con shell game,...

Stormy Daniels three-night, five-show run at the Admiral Theatre has been canceled after a dispute over revenue-sharing, according to the strip club’s owner, who says he plans to “file a lawsuit next week” against the porn star. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was scheduled to perform through the weekend at the Admiral as part of her national “Make America Horny Again” tour, a nod to her ongoing legal battle with President Donald Trump. The strip club’s owner, Sam Cecola, says her remaining sold-out shows Friday and Saturday have been canceled due to a dispute over revenue sharing stemming...

Janique Walker knows the cost of a split second. Her younger brother, 17-year-old Charles Macklin, was killed while trying to steal a Jeep from a Chicago fire lieutenant on the West Side last August. The lieutenant had left the Jeep running, and Macklin jumped behind the wheel. The lieutenant ran in front of the Jeep and shouted, “Get out,” according to a police report. When Macklin began pulling away, the lieutenant drew his gun and fired through the open driver’s side window, hitting the teen in the chest. Macklin’s last words were, “Sorry, bro,” according to the police report....

(snip)The Tribune combed through police files, court records and news reports to compile its own list. The analysis shows that: Most of those shot by CCL holders have been armed robbers. Others include carjackers, a burglar with a crowbar, a robber with a gun to a clerk’s head, neighbors, an ex-girlfriend, a father-in-law, an unarmed teen stealing a Jeep, a passenger in a car during a road rage attack and a naked man acting “aggressively.” They were shot by homeowners, customers, security guards, store clerks, a Chicago police dispatcher, a Chicago fire lieutenant, a Chicago Park District worker, a tow-truck...

http://wgntv.com/2018/06/14/stormy-daniels-to-perform-at-admiral-theatre-through-saturday/

In Barack Obama’s adopted hometown, of all places, his $375 million Obama Presidential Center is running into growing headwinds from a few gutsy souls. Ironically, the winds aren’t gusting from the usual direction—Republicans and others the left often labels racist Obama-haters. Rather, it’s blowing from the very people who have long lionized Obama: white Chicago lakefront progressives, University of Chicago professors, environmentalists, African-American activists, and a community organization of the kind that once employed Obama as an organizer. On May 14, a preservationist group called Protect Our Parks filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago, seeking a court...

Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) on Wednesday “This is about the United States Constitution, people. And half the people in this country aren’t in it,” Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who sponsored the resolution in the House, said. “They aren’t included in the United States Constitution. Isn’t that enough for you to realize the historic moment and step back from predispositions you’ve had and your heels dug in the ground on this issue and that issue and the other issue?” Rep Lou Lang (D-Skokie) on Thursday Activist Maryann Loncar is accusing Lang of years of harassment, intimidation and humiliation. “He...

Thirty-eight people were shot, at least eight fatally, in gun-controlled Chicago over Memorial Day Weekend. The murders are in line with what the city has witnessed over the past few years. ABC7 reports there were seven murders over the Memorial Day Weekend in 2017 and eight during the same weekend in 2016. Chicago’s overall murder rate is slightly lower than it was last year at this point. USA Today reports there have been 191 murders year-to-date, whereas there were 237 murders at this same time last year. However, the murder rate is still high enough that it puts Chicago “on...