A new year approaches, a time for holiday goodwill to wear off and reality to set in. Today, we have a story about the new Springfield power dynamic coming in 2019, as well as follow-up stories to two big Tribune investigations this year. Welcome to The Spin. |
 The Tribune's Rick Pearson takes a look at the changes coming to state government with the Jan. 14. inauguration of Democratic Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker. He describes the Pritzkers playing "dinner hosts at their North Astor Street mansion for Illinois' four legislative leaders and their spouses in early December, a rare bipartisan convening that belies the current political norm of hyperpartisanship." From Pearson: "But there is a new political reality for the shrinking Republican minority to stomach come January after an often bitter campaign found Democrats in November sweeping all statewide offices, including ousting one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, and expanding legislative majorities. In the early transitional stages, House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs and Senate GOP leader Bill Brady of Bloomington prefer to digest the new Democratic era with skeptical optimism and a hope that Illinois can return to a sense of normalcy and stability after four years of contentious battles based on partisan ideological wars that left the state financially scarred." Read the full story here. From the story: "The more politically active and Republican-allied Illinois Chamber of Commerce already is girding for the Democratic domination. A recent internet seminar promoted by the group warned that 'the Pritzker administration is going to be aggressively pro-labor when it comes to creating new workplace laws and greater regulation that this state has (believe it or not) yet to experience.' The title of the event was: 'The Employers' Survival Guide under Gov. Pritzker.'" |   |
 From the Tribune's Angie Leventis Lourgos: "While Women's March Chicago organizers cited high costs and limited volunteer hours as the main reasons for nixing the annual rally and march, the break comes amid splintering within the national Women's March leadership following accusations of anti-Semitism and scrutiny of its ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. "Marches and rallies are still planned for Jan. 19 in Washington, D.C., and dozens of cities nationwide and internationally, as well as other parts of Illinois like Rockford, southwest suburban New Lenox and northwest suburban Woodstock." Read the full story here. The march has been a cultural phenomenon, and the D.C. one inspired at least one local Democrat to run for state Senate. From the Tribune story: "Women's March Chicago held a local event in October dubbed "March to the Polls," which was designed to spur midterm election voting and attracted some 100,000 supporters to Grant Park, according to organizers. (March board member) Sara Kurensky said hosting these marches costs more than $150,000 and requires countless volunteer hours, so the group didn't have the resources to host a second one so soon after that." | |
 Chicago Public Schools officials removed a teacher from Lincoln Park High School earlier this year after a former student wrote a letter "to make them aware that one of their current employees had been in an inappropriate relationship with her during her 10th- and 11th-grade years." Read the full story about attorney Laura Lefkow-Hynes' complaint from the Tribune's Jennifer Smith Richards and Juan Perez Jr. From the story: "And then, sharing journal entries, she described to CPS investigators what she recalled: the pet names, the late-night, hourslong phone calls, him holding her hand and brushing his mouth against her neck. Driving her in his car. Chastising her when she kissed a boy at a party. Lefkow-Hynes wasn't sure anything would come of her complaint about the teacher, James Galinski. Her complaint set in motion an investigation and now a legal fight that is putting a spotlight on what happened all those years ago and what type of discipline is appropriate for the teacher. "District records also show Lefkow-Hynes' mother, U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lefkow, first reported concerns to a Lincoln Park administrator about the close relationship in the fall of 2001 and had even met with Galinski in person at a coffee shop to discuss discomfort about her daughter's crush on him." | |
 From Joe Mahr and Cecelia Reyes: "Despite being in a position of authority and tasked with protecting the public, security guards in Illinois can obtain state licenses even with criminal records and continue to work after encounters with law enforcement, a Tribune investigation found." "In the Tribune's latest review, reporters pored over dozens of records of those disciplined to find that the state approved applications from felons with charges involving drugs, guns, burglary and even attempted murder. State law doesn't prohibit anyone from being licensed outright — unlike Wisconsin, for example, where felons can't become security guards." The full story is here. | |
 Our condolences go out to the families of Brian Sleet and Dana Heupel. *From Gregory Pratt and Lolly Bowean: "In Chicago's competitive political circles, Brian Sleet was known as a forthright, well-connected strategist who would toil relentlessly to help candidates connect with marginalized communities in new and innovative ways, those who worked with him said. But even after laboring on more than a dozen campaigns and running unsuccessfully for City Council himself, it wasn't until he helped the first African-American woman get elected as Cook County state's attorney that he felt truly accomplished. Sleet, 41, was found dead in his Chatham apartment on Wednesday night, officials and his family said." Read the full story here. *Dana Heupel retired from his journalism career in 2014 as editor of Illinois Issues magazine after a long stint in the Copley and Gatehouse bureaus at the state Capitol. He died Wednesday at age 68, according to NPR Illinois. "It's not that I don't understand how government works; it's more that I refuse to give up on the notion of how it should operate. … I leave with the belief I spent the last few years of my career doing something important," he wrote upon his retirement. "Dana was a brilliant journalist, who wrote with passion, taught with patience and led with decency that made his community better. I will miss him," Maureen McKinney, an Illinois Issues editor who worked with Heupel, told public radio. | |
 * Campaign cash: "Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley reported an additional $128,700 in campaign contributions on Christmas Eve, bringing his total amount raised to more than $3.2 million — tops among all Chicago mayoral candidates." Full story from the Tribune's Gregory Pratt. * Ald. Ed Burke as "the king of recusals:" The latest story about Ald. Ed Burke, whose offices have been raided twice by federal authorities, comes from the Better Government Association and WBEZ. Find it here. "Burke's dual roles as the most powerful alderman on the council and high-end tax attorney for companies with business before the city have played out for decades. But the potential for conflicts of interest have taken on heightened interest after federal investigators raided Burke's City Hall and ward offices in recent weeks," the story by David Kidwell, Dan Mihalopoulos and Patrick Judge reads. "An examination of every City Council vote in the last eight years by the Better Government Association and WBEZ — the most comprehensive review of Burke's record to date — found that Burke has used a parliamentary maneuver to recuse himself a startling 464 times. The comparable total for all 49 other aldermen combined is 108." * Pritzker picks a taxman: Democratic Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker picked outgoing Republican state Rep. David Harris to lead the Illinois Department of Revenue, the state's key tax-collecting agency, his transition team announced Thursday. Full story. * County judges inspire students of similar backgrounds: From the Tribune's Kate Thayer: The Cook County's Heritage Courthouse Tours program "has offered students the chance to see Circuit Court proceedings at the Richard J. Daley Center and then talk to judges from cultural backgrounds similar to their own, said Marta Almodovar, a supervisor in the Chief Judge's Office who coordinates the tours. In 2018, more than 1,000 students participated in the office's 10 tours for Women's History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Arab-American Heritage Month, among others. While any student can participate, Almodovar said she tries to invite schools with students whose backgrounds correspond to the theme of the tour." Read the full story here. | |
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