Forrest Claypool Says Rauner Administration Treatment To CPS Is Discriminatory

CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago Public Schools Chief Forrest Claypool said he is not holding his breath for help from Springfield to keep city schools open, but he is confident they will keep going.

Forest Claypool sought to reassure parents and students worried about how the schools would fare without state money. WBBM’s Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports.

“We will open the schools in the fall and we do whatever is necessary to do that, and the mayor is committed to that as well,” he said.

But in a speech to the City Club of Chicago he still portrayed the Rauner Administration’s treatment to Chicago Public Schools as more than discriminatory; he likens it to segregation.

“There is no way to sugarcoat this,” Claypool said. “As the lawyers representing CPS and five parent plaintiffs in the ongoing civil rights lawsuit against Governor Rauner, and the state of Illinois have written, although the state has not installed signs on schoolhouse doors that say ‘whites only’ and ‘colored,’ the state has used its check book to accomplish exactly that.”

The Rauner Administration has said CPS’ financial woes are the result of years of mismanagement. A spokeswoman for the Governor said, while Claypool gives speeches, the Governor and his team are in Springfield working to find a solution to our state’s budget crisis.

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Girl, 16, Charged With Fatally Stabbing Uber Driver In Lincolnwood

CHICAGO (CBS) — A 16-year-old girl has been charged with murder, for allegedly stabbing an Uber driver to death on Tuesday in north suburban Lincolnwood.

Eliza Wasni, 16, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 34-year-old Grant Nelson, of Wilmette, and was scheduled to appear in bond court in Skokie at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.

Lincolnwood police Nelson was stabbed around 3:20 a.m. near the intersection of Touhy and Lincoln avenues. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead around 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Grant Nelson (CBS)

Nelson had just finished Memorial Day dinner with his family when he decided to make some extra cash and drive for Uber, according to his family. Described as a gentle and kind man with no enemies, Nelson’s father calling the killing random.

The ongoing investigation revealed Grant was working as an Uber driver and was dropping off a fare in the area when the attack occured.

Lincolnwood Police called the stabbing isolated and stressed there is no risk to the community. Police said the suspect was found hiding behind a building nearby shortly after the stabbing.

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Preview: Cubs-Padres

Jake Arrieta opposes Luis Perdomo this afternoon at Petco Park.

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Trucker Killed When Semi Trailer Crashes, Rolls Over In LaPorte County

CHICAGO (CBS) — A semi truck pulling a double trailer crashed early Wednesday morning, killing the driver, on I-94 in northwest Indiana.

Around 6:06 a.m., the semi went off the road for unknown reasons and rolled over on I-94 eastbound at the 36-mile marker, two miles east of the Michigan City exit in LaPorte County, according to Indiana State Police.

The driver was trapped inside the tractor, which was wrapped behind a bridge pillar, ISP said. Food products and paint inside the double trailer spilled out onto the road, shoulder and into the Trail Creek waterway. Diesel fuel and oil from the tractor were also lost.

#MichiganCity – Ugly delay EB I-94 due to semi crash at Johnson Rd. It's parked starting before 421. Heavy wreckers & hazmat Crew on scene. http://pic.twitter.com/8PDwyoAy2N

— Jeanette Hudson (@JHudsontraffic) May 31, 2017

The driver had to be extricated from the semi, and died before an ambulance arrived, ISP said. The name of the driver has been withheld pending notification of the family.

Westbound traffic is open but two eastbound lanes are closed, ISP said. The only lane open is the closed construction lane.

Drivers are urged to use alternate routes for travel and to expect long delays, ISP said. There is currently no estimated time for how long the lanes will be closed for cleanup and investigating the crash.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2017. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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Urban League Calls For Lawmakers To Reject Gun Crimes Legislation

CHICAGO (CBS) — The Chicago Urban League has urged lawmakers not to pass legislation that would increase sentences for repeat gun offenders, saying it would only lead to more black people in prison and cost taxpayers millions, while not helping reduce violent crime.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson backed the legislation to increase penalties for repeat gun offenders, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel also lobbied in favor of the measure, but the Urban League said it won’t help reduce gun violence in Chicago.

In testimony submitted on the legislation earlier this year, Urban League President and CEO Shari Runner said the measure “targets people possessing guns, not shooting guns.”

It casts too wide of a net, failing to consider criminal justice risk factors that have been tied to future violence, such as previous violent acts within the home or neighborhood,” she said.

The legislation would increase the sentencing guidelines for judges handing down sentences for repeat gun offenders. Instead of a range of 3 to 14 years in prison, the guidelines would be 7 to 14 years. If a judge wanted to hand down a lesser sentence, they would have to explain why.

The House approved the legislation on Monday, but the House Black Caucus temporarily held up the proposal, arguing there is no proof tougher sentences would drive down crime, and would only lead to more minorities being locked up. The hold has since been removed, and the Senate is moving forward with likely passage on Wednesday.

The Urban League said mandatory minimum sentences for drug charges decimated the black community, leaving children without parents, and branding young people with criminal records. The group said the gun crime legislation would be more of the same.

Chicago Police First Deputy Supt. Kevin Navarro said race is not the issue.

“I think what it’s going to do is lead to the arrests of the right people: repeat gun offenders, regardless of race, creed, or color. So that’s the important thing,” he said.

The Urban League argued the new sentencing guidelines would only put more black people in prison, and cost taxpayers millions.

Runner also said the legislation doesn’t address the wide availability of guns in minority neighborhoods, or to crack down on illegal gun trafficking.

“This bill, were it to become law, would have no lasting impact on gun violence in Chicago, because it does not address the root causes that underlie violence: gun availability, poverty, trauma and the disinvestments in neighborhoods, schools and services that disadvantage families and communities,” she said.

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State Budget Deadline Looms, But No End In Sight For 2-Year Impasse

CHICAGO (CBS) — State lawmakers have one last shot to approve a budget deal before the spring session ends at midnight, and the task becomes even harder.

A House floor vote was expected Wednesday on a $37 billion budget plan approved by the Senate with only Democratic votes. The measure relies on more than $5 billion in tax increases.

Even if House Democrats can agree on a budget plan, Gov. Bruce Rauner likely will veto it.

Lawmakers worked over the Memorial Day holiday, in an effort to reach an agreement on the budget plan, but the governor said the Senate’s spending blueprint is too heavy on taxes; and too light on property tax relief, workers’ compensation reforms, and other structural changes he has demanded.

Hundreds of school superintendents from across the state planned to convene in Springfield on Wednesday, demanding equitable school funding now.

Rauner has said he supports efforts to change the state’s education funding formula so poorer school districts get more money, but he blasted House Democrats for trying to use the state budget to bail out the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools, blaming CPS for its own financial troubles.

“What we need is a true education funding formula that is fair for all school districts, all low-income school districts, including the city of Chicago; but not a special deal for Chicago where they get hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars more, that no other school district gets,” he said.

The governor said Chicago wants special treatment as part of a state budget deal.

“Unfortunately, the majority party in the House of Representatives hijacked the process in the Senate – as they have done repeatedly over the last two years. They took the bill and they inserted a whole lot of extra things to bail out Chicago; massive bailout to the city of Chicago, not fair, not right, not acceptable, unfair to the taxpayers of the state of Illinois,” Rauner said.

The House and Senate have until midnight Wednesday night to approve a spending plan for the next fiscal year with a simple majority vote. After that, they would need a three-fifths supermajority.

The state already has gone nearly two years without a full balanced budget.

Meantime, dozens of protesters were arrested Tuesday night at the Illinois State Capitol. Members of the Fair Economy Illionis group marched to Springfield, pushing for what they billed as a “people and planet first” budget. To make their point, they staged a sit-in and blocked the entrance to the governor’s office. Around 10:30 p.m., 34 members of the group were handcuffed and dragged out of the building, and charged with criminal trespassing.

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Taxi Driver Wounded In East Garfield Park Shooting, Robbery Attempt

CHICAGO (CBS) — A taxi driver was shot in the East Garfield Park neighborhood while trying to pick up a fare who apparently tried to rob him early Wednesday.

Police said the 58-year-old man was shot in the chest around 1 a.m., near Avers Avenue and Huron Street.

Paramedics picked him up a few blocks away, at Chicago and St. Louis avenues, and took him to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

The man’s sons said his name is Talal Kurdieh. They said he picked up a passenger early Wednesday in East Garfield Park, an area he is not used to working in, and the passenger shot him in the chest while trying to rob him.

“He just broke his fast, practicing Ramadan, and I guess he was just trying to make some money. Obviously, it’s his occupation, and I guess he got a pick-up. Instead of the guy coming into the car, actually he said it was a strong-arm robbery and he tried to kill my father,” Abed Kurdieh said.

He said, because of competition from Uber and Lyft, cab drivers like his father can’t afford to turn down any calls for pick-ups.

“You get a pick-up, no matter what or where, you can’t reject it no more. You don’t get as many calls. You just want to make sure you get that money and get out,” he said.

The victim’s sons said he has been a cab driver for more than 30 years, and has never encountered anything like this. They said he is doing well, and called them from the hospital himself to tell them what happened.

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