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2019年2月14日 星期四

Willie Wilson's Valentine's Day giveaway | Amazon's box of chocolates for Chicago | No love for Obama library?

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Chicago Tribune

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February 14, 2019

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The Spin by Lisa Donovan

Businessman and Chicago mayoral hopeful Willie Wilson was handing out money again to people, helping pay their property tax bills on this Valentine's Day. Meantime, ex-White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen offered candidate Bill Daley a little love — in the form of an endorsement. I can already tell you those will not match the White Castle dinner Mr. Spin and I will be enjoying this evening. Love on a journalist's salary! (And, yes, we made reservations weeks ago.)

Speaking of Valentines, Chicago got one — sort of, kind of — from Amazon now that the mail order behemoth has pulled out of New York. Minimum wage earners are likely to see a pay increase over the coming years as the Illinois House approved raising the hourly wage to $15 by 2025. Gov. J.B. Pritzker's likely to sign it into law.

Remember the lawsuit that prompted George Lucas to scuttle plans for a lakefront museum? Well a similar suit, now before a judge, over the planned Obama Presidential Center on the South Side is prompting some in the legal world to question whether it could meet the same fate.

Welcome to The Spin.

 

1

Election day countdown: Willie Wilson hands out thousands of dollars to help Chicagoans pay property taxes

From the Tribune's John Byrne: "With less than two weeks until election day, mayoral candidate Willie Wilson on Thursday again held an event to pay out tens of thousands of dollars to help cover the property taxes of Chicagoans he said are struggling to make ends meet. Wilson said he would write checks totaling $30,000 to $50,000 to about 115 homeowners, many of whom lined up outside the Cook County treasurer's office Thursday morning." Read the full story here.

It's not the first time — and it's legal: "The money will all come from his foundation, Wilson said. That means the payments won't violate campaign finance laws, according to an Illinois State Board of Elections ruling after Wilson held similar events in July," Byrne writes.

Ozzie Guillen's Valentine to Bill Daley: The Cubs-owning Ricketts siblings are knee-deep in city politics this campaign season, with Tom Ricketts writing a $25,000 check for Daley and sister Laura Ricketts backing state comptroller and mayoral hopeful Susana Mendoza, so why shouldn't the White Sox? OK, ex-manager Ozzie Guillen has not been with the team for a few years but that isn't stopping the World Series-winning skipper from weighing in on the mayor's race. He told the Tribune's Lolly Bowean by phone Wednesday: "Bill's got the experience, the credentials. He's a Chicago man, and I think right now, we need a man like him." Read the story here.

Amara Enyia's ex-campaign spokeswoman is suing her: The former staffer alleges Enyia has refused to pay her $24,000 for four months of work, the Tribune's David Heinzmann reports. Read about that and some of Enyia's other financial issues here. In other legal news, David Krupa, the City Council candidate trying to oust 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, who is backed by powerful 13th Ward boss and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, has filed a $4 million defamation suit against the Chicago Teachers Union for a 'defamatory' campaign mailer. Read Juan Perez Jr.'s story in the Tribune here.

Mayoral candidate alignment: The Tribune developed an online quiz aimed at helping readers determine which of the 14 candidates they most closely align with. All the candidates were asked whether they support or oppose 14 ideas, and to rank their importance on a scale of 1 to 10. Readers can take it here.

Endorsement: The Illinois Education Association Region 67 whose membership includes those working at colleges and universities in the Chicago area, announced Thursday that it's backing former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot in the mayor's race.

Deeper dive: For more information about the candidates and the issues, visit our Chicago Voter's Guide.

Students staring down a career in government: In a nation where political divisions have never been deeper — and even shut down the federal government — DePaul students ponder a future in the thankless job of public service. Read Christopher Borrelli's piece here.

 

2

Amazon pulls out of New York, and Chicago gets a little Valentine in the process

From the Tribune's Ally Marotti: Amazon has dropped New York City as one of its new headquarters locations amid fierce backlash, and says it will not search for a new location. Instead, it plans to grow other tech hubs and offices, one of which is in Chicago. The online retailer has faced opposition from some New York politicians, who were unhappy with the tax incentives Amazon was promised. Read the story here.

3

Lawsuit means Chicago Obama center plan no sure thing; hearing today on legal challenge

From The Associated Press and the Tribune's Lolly Bowean: "Odds may still favor the eventual construction of former President Barack Obama's $500 million museum and library in a public park along Chicago's lakeshore, but it's no longer a sure thing in the face of a formidable legal challenge by a parks advocacy group. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey hears arguments Thursday in Chicago on a key motion by city attorneys to toss a lawsuit by Protect Our Parks that aims to halt the Obama Presidential Center from ever being built in the selected location." Read the story here.

The history: Look no further than the ill-fated Lucas Museum and you'll understand why things are a bit iffy.

The mayor's race: One of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs suing the city and the park district is mayoral candidate and former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti. So when Judge Blakey set the next hearing date for Feb. 26 — election day — Fioretti mentioned something about not being able to make it, drawing laughter in the courtroom. So the judge set the date for Feb. 27, drawing guffaws again. (Lolly Bowean)

4

Illinois House votes to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2025; Pritzker expected to sign it

From the Tribune's Dan Petrella: "llinois Democrats on Thursday voted to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, a move that will give Gov. J.B. Pritzker an early political victory, grant pay raises to workers and upset businesses across the state.

"Under the plan, the Illinois minimum wage would first rise from $8.25 per hour to $9.25 on Jan. 1, then gradually increase every year until it hits $15 per hour six years from now. Calls to have a higher minimum wage near Chicago than Downstate were ignored, so the plan approved Thursday would take effect statewide."

National landscape: "Illinois will join Washington, D.C., and at least four other states with a $15-an-hour minimum by 2025, an 82 percent spike in current base pay. But it may not be the momentous impact on low-wage workers that some supporters expected," The Associated Press reported this week.

The math: "Using state labor and federal inflation statistics, AP projected that assuming the current inflation rate of 2.1 percent each year through 2025, $15 then will be worth nearly $13 now."

It's hard to gauge the affect: From Quartz: The "research evidence of what actual minimum wage requirements do to job numbers goes both ways; many studies find that minimum wage laws reduce employment, and many other studies on the exact same laws find they have little or no effect on jobs." Read the report here.

5

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger's deployed with guard unit to U.S.-Mexico border

It's not the first time Kinzinger, a pilot who's also flown missions in Afghanistan, has been deployed with his Air National Guard unit. Read what the central Illinois Republican's staff had to say about the deployment and his views on President Donald Trump's push to build a border wall here.

ldonovan@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @byldonovan

 

Illinois House votes to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2025

Breaking News
Chicago Tribune
Feb 14, 2019
 BREAKING NEWS 

Illinois House votes to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2025; Gov. J.B. Pritzker expected to sign it

Thursday, February 14, 2019, 4:36 PM CT

Illinois Democrats on Thursday voted to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, a move that will give Gov. J.B. Pritzker an early political victory, grant pay raises to workers and upset businesses across the state.

Under the plan, the Illinois minimum wage would first rise from $8.25 per hour to $9.25 on Jan. 1, then gradually increase every year until it hits $15 per hour six years from now.


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Chasing HQ2 jobs, Emanuel and Pritzker write to Amazon

Breaking News
Chicago Tribune
Feb 14, 2019
 BREAKING NEWS 

Emanuel and Pritzker write to Amazon: 'You should take another look at Chicago'

Thursday, February 14, 2019, 4:21 PM CT

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker sent a joint letter to Amazon on Thursday, asking them to reconsider Chicago after the online behemoth announced it wouldn't locate a 25,000-job headquarters in New York City.

Chicago already could gain some jobs from Amazon's HQ2 change of plans, as the city is one of 17 tech hubs for the e-commerce giant. 


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Woman dies after being hit by CTA Green Line train, police say

Breaking News
Chicago Tribune
Feb 14, 2019
 BREAKING NEWS 

Woman dies after being hit by CTA Green Line train at Clinton station on Near West Side, police say

Thursday, February 14, 2019, 2:39 PM CT

A woman died Thursday afternoon after she was hit by a Green Line train at the Clinton station, according to Chicago police.

About 12:50 p.m., the woman was hit by the train at the station located in the 500 block of West Lake Street in the Fulton River District neighborhood, according to police.


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