Free Republic

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced it has awarded $2 million to three different organizations to provide training that will increase access to safe, high-quality abortions across the state. The Abortion Provider Capacity Building Grant Program awarded grants to the Midwest Access Project (MAP), Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL), and the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Nursing. The first-of-its-kind in Illinois, state-funded training effort follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in the United States and allowed states to restrict access to...

Like communities around the country, Chicago is hemorrhaging cash to deal with the devastating consequences of Joe Biden’s border disaster. On Monday, the Budget and Government Operations Committee of the Chicago City Council voted 20-8 to send Mayor Brandon Johnson’s request for $70 million in additional City funding to care for illegals to the full Council. CBS News reports that the request is part of a spending plan announced by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in February. The State of Illinois and Cook County pledged a combined $250 million to help fund the crisis,...

Community Justice Exchange, part of the Soros-funded Tides Center, solicits legal defense donations for arrested protesters.. Scores of "Free Palestine" protesters across the United States took to the streets Monday to block major airports, highways, and bridges. Those who are arrested will receive bail money and legal support from a left-wing dark money behemoth funded by George Soros, an online fundraising page shows. The protests, which took place in dozens of U.S. cities including San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia, were organized by A15 Action, a newly formed group that worked to "coordinate a multi-city economic blockade on...

In 1985, Harold Washington issued an executive order that relaxed federal immigration laws under then-President Ronald Reagan, whose administration “aggressively used [the] detention of Central Americans as a device to deter migration from that region, where violent civil wars had caused tens of thousands to flee,” according to University of California Davis law professor Kevin Davis. Since Aug. 31, 2022, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has bussed or flown to Chicago nearly 40,000 individuals seeking asylum in an effort to use the welcoming aspects of Washington’s executive order as a political cudgel. On April 14, Mayor Johnson called out the...

Progressive activist groups from across the country are preparing to protest outside the Democratic National Convention “with or without permits” come August. Coalition leaders have attested their right to be within “sight and sound” of the convention’s center stage at the United Center, citing First Amendment rights in a federal lawsuit filed last month. On Saturday, leaders reaffirmed their commitment to be heard outside the DNC, despite the city’s denial of protest permits closer to the convention’s site. A couple of hundred people representing 78 activist organizations gathered Saturday for a day-long “working conference” hosted by the March on the...

Larry Robbins jokes he’s the last hedge fund manager to move to Florida. But unlike those who relocated before him — most notably Citadel’s Ken Griffin — Robbins’ move comes with a twist. The founder of Glenview Capital Management is going to make Florida his family home and keep New York his professional one, at least for now. Robbins, 54, will commute to Manhattan starting in August and largely abide by Glenview’s three-days-in-the-office policy — using his Alpine, New Jersey home as his br, he said in an interview. Meanwhile, he, his wife and three young children will temporarily live...

Dozens of plastic bags containing “repulsive” antisemitic flyers and possible “rat poison” were found scattered around a Chicago neighborhood Monday — in the third disturbing incident this year. A resident came across the hateful leaflets in the Lincoln Park area Monday morning and reached out to their local official. “This is not the first time our ward has seen incidents like this. To the people who are spreading these flyers, I have a clear message: you are committing acts of hate,” Timmy Knudsen, alderman for Chicago’s 43rd Ward, said in a statement.

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) claimed that Haitians trying to come to the U.S. “were met with whips and chains from like a bygone era and turned away.” Jackson later acknowledged after being corrected that Border Patrol agents didn’t whip migrants, but it “was a far cry from give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses that yearn to breathe free.” Jackson stated, “We’ve got a gentleman named Barbecue…in Haiti. … We can’t go in there and shore up what should be our longest, oldest ally in this hemisphere, Haiti,...

The 75 largest cities in America were collectively $288 billion in debt at the end of fiscal year 2022... 53 major cities that do not have enough money to pay their bills. Yet all of them claimed their budgets were balanced, as is required by law. That means lawmakers understated each city’s debt by not including future costs like employee pensions and healthcare ... New York City has a taxpayer burden of $61,800, the largest by far despite being the most populous. The city has only six cents saved up for every dollar it will need to spend on retiree...

The story began March 22, when a group called Behind Enemy Lines organized a protest near Chicago’s City Hall. The group says its purpose is to “stop the U.S.-Israel War Machine” and keep “Genocide Joe” Biden out of Chicago. “People are like, we want to confront some Zionists . . . we want to burn an Israeli flag, we want to take this protest to the next level.” As for the DNC, the group says it aims to “make bruises from Chicago police batons the 2024 back-to-school Fall fashion.” Democrats can’t be eager to have Joe Biden’s moment turn into...

DeMar DeRozan is a six-time NBC all-star, a devoted family man, and a quiet, unassuming NBA superstar. When he heard in early January that Oron Beilin, one of the victims of the Hamas massacre of Jews at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, was a huge Chicago Bulls fan, he autographed a special jersey for Beilin’s family with Oron’s name and the infinity symbol underneath.It was a simple, graceful act done without fanfare or press coverage. The gesture caught the attention of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which decided to honor DeRozan for his act of kindness. The Simon Wiesenthal...

Two men arrested for allegedly trying to lure children into a van were let go after a Chicago area judge released them under the impression that the recently posted no-bail SAFE-T Act prevented the men from being held. The two men detained by police in Cicero were also charged with violating parole and probation, according to CWB Chicago. The two suspects, Kenchi Edwards, 60, and Kraig McCauley, 55, allegedly tried to lure several 14-year-old children into their van with promises of “games” and the promise of meeting a “famous athlete.” The children did not get in the van, and the...

Two men accused of trying to lure children into a van where Cicero police allegedly found condoms, lubricant, and a mattress were not detained on the charges because prosecutors and the judge mistakenly believed attempted child abduction is not a detainable offense under Illinois’ cashless bail system. Both men have been detained for other reasons, one for violating parole and the other for violating probation. However, if those holds are released, they will go home on electronic monitoring. During an initial appearance at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California on Sunday, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Dale-Schmidt presented the...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- On Tuesday, the Chicago Health Department confirmed there are some cases of tuberculosis among migrants newly arrived in the city. They are not saying exactly how many cases there are, but did say it's a "small number." The city pointed out that many residents of Central America and South America have latent TB infections, which means they can't pass the virus, but it does cause a positive test result. The health department said it is taking steps to keep these infections contained.

CHICAGO — A Chicago man on parole for residential burglary and on electronic monitoring for three more residential burglaries he allegedly committed while on that parole is back in custody, accused of burglarizing yet another home while wearing his ankle monitor. Let’s start at the beginning, though: May 2019. That’s when prosecutors charged Kevin Purdis with burglarizing a Lincoln Park home while he was on electronic monitoring for allegedly using credit cards that were taken during burglaries. He sat in jail until a judge agreed to let him out due to concerns about the dangers of the COVID pandemic. Four...

Updated: Sunday, March 31, 2024 5:08PM CHICAGO (WLS) -- At least 31 people were shot, three fatally, in weekend gun violence across Chicago, police said. Twenty-one of the shootings happened between Saturday night into Sunday morning. A 33-year-old man was pumping gas there when a white Infiniti pulled up, police said. Three people got out and fired gunshots and rifle rounds at the man before fleeing the scene. Police said the victim, shot nine times in his body, then drove himself to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he is in critical condition. A 31-year-old woman, who was in the man's vehicle,...

After almost two weeks of uncertainty, Burke edged out Clayton Harris III for the nomination, with mail ballots tallied Friday sealing the most hotly contested race of the primary a full 10 days after the polls closed. The Associated Press called the race over — and the two candidates agreed.

The new head of Boeing’s troubled commercial airplane unit said the planemaker faces a “pivotal moment” as it works to boost quality and address significant concerns from regulators and airline customers after a panel flew off a 737 MAX 9 jet in January. “This is a pivotal moment for us, and we have serious work ahead to build trust and improve our operations,” said Stephanie Pope, who was named president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes ... Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced he would leave by the end of the year, while the company’s long-time head of commercial airplanes, Stan...

A Chicago veterinarian has been arrested for possessing and exchanging child pornography just days before he was due to fly to California to collect a baby he has purchased via surrogate. Adam Stafford King, 39, allegedly posted online about his plans to sexually abuse the infant boy once he was in his custody. King, a veterinarian who specializes in ophthalmology, was arrested on March 22 for trading child pornography under the username @pervchiguy in a chat with an unidentified man in New York. King posted in the chat that he liked young children “in the single digits” and preferred boys....

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a stabbing spree Wednesday afternoon in Rockford, Illinois, that left four people dead, including a U.S. postal worker and a teenage girl, and seven other victims injured, police said. The suspect, Christian Soto, was arrested in the frenzied attack, according to the Rockford Police Department. Soto faces four counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, as well as two counts of home invasion with a dangerous weapon, authorities said. A motive for the attack remains under investigation, police said. The names of the slain victims were not immediately released,...